Noah’s phone vibrates under my ass and he adjusts me to slide it out of his pocket. He quickly checks a text message before hauling me up to my feet. “Showtime,” he declares, slapping on a fake grin, and picking up his confetti bomb from the table.
He gets into position and as if on cue, the rest of the students in the cafeteria copy him. Shrugging my shoulders, I grab my own confetti bomb and wait for the door to open.
Monica pushes through the cafeteria door with Candice right by her side and within the blink of an eye, hundreds of confetti bombs echo through the room as shit flies everywhere. “Congratulations,” Noah yells for everyone to hear.
Monica’s eyes widen, realizing exactly what’s going on. She’s being outed publicly for a teen pregnancy that isn’t even real. For her to deny it now would be admitting that she faked it for the sake of getting Noah back which would be social suicide, but to go along with it… also social suicide.
She’s fucked either way and every damn person in this room is going to believe it because the pack leader was the one to tell them. Besides, why would anyone go to these lengths if it wasn’t true, right?
Monica goes to back out of the room and Noah’s voice rings out. “Stop her,” he says to anyone, knowing damn well that at least fifty people would rush in to be the one who got to fulfill his wishes. “Don’t be shy, Monica. It’s a party in your honor.”
All his little minions move, closing the door and blocking Monica in the room. Having no other option, she puts on her show face and strides across the room towards us. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“This is what you wanted right?” Noah questions, feigning ignorance. His voice raises for everyone to hear. “You told me you were pregnant. What did you expect? That I wasn’t going to be happy for you and Spencer?”
“What?” she sputters out, clearly confused.
Noah grabs her and pulls her hard into his chest for a congratulatory hug. “Smile,” he murmurs. “Everyone’s watching and now the whole damn school knows that you’re pregnant.”
“But…”
“But what?” he demands, hushing his voice once again with the dangerous look in his eyes making her shrink back. “Is it not true? Is there no baby? I wouldn’t want to be you if it turned out to be a lie.” She swallows as Noah releases her. “Like I said, you better smile. It’s a fucking party in your honor.” Noah takes my hand and steps away from her before stopping and looking back over his shoulder. “Good luck faking a pregnancy in front of the whole fucking school.”
With that, we move away and in the blink of an eye, students are rushing up to her, pressing their hands on her stomach and congratulating her on nothing but the egg and bacon burger she ate for breakfast.
“What about the box?” I question.
“Patience,” he murmurs, running his fingertips over my shoulder as Rivers appears from somewhere and gives Noah a nod, making me extremely suspicious.
“Geez,” Tully says, joining us. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
“Come on,” he laughs. “I’ve done much worse shit to you over the years.”
“Yeah, like hacking my Facebook page and posting a photoshopped picture of me taking it up the ass. Everyone thought that was fucking real by the way. I still get creepy fuckers asking me if I’m down and it was nearly three years ago.”
Noah chuckles as Rivers high fives him over the top of my head, clearly having something to do with that one. “You deserved it,” Noah reminds her. “Served you right for hiding a pink lacy thong in the bottom of my bed for mom to find.”
Tully chuckles to herself and I have to laugh at how similar the sound is to Noah’s. “You two are idiots,” I tell them. “You both better stay off my Facebook page.”
“Do you even have a Facebook page?” Noah questions with a plan clearly being formed in his twisted mind.
“Nope,” I lie.
“She does,” Rivers informs him. “I stalked it when you two first started hanging.”
“What?” I grunt, looking over at him, though to be honest, I’m not surprised. He’s shady as shit, protective and loyal. Of course he’s going to check out the chick who’s suddenly stealing his best friend’s attention and getting close to his girl.
“Can you blame me? I had to know who my boy was hanging out with. Besides, you didn’t have such a great reputation. How could I not check you out?”
“Fair call,” I groan looking up at Noah. “If a picture of my ass gets posted on my page, you’re going to die.”
“Is that a challenge?” he grins back at me with a mischievous sparkle in his green eyes.
“A warning,” I tell him.
We watch with a sick amusement as Monica makes her way through the students, admitting to each and every one of them that there is, in fact, a little bouncing baby growing inside her stomach which is when Noah strides towards the box.
He pushes it across the table so it sits right before Monica. “Here,” he says. “Present time.”
Monica looks up nervously, but doesn’t want to appear ungrateful for her party and smiles up at him. “Thank you,” she tells him. “I’ll open it at home.”
“No, don’t be silly,” he says. “Open it now.”
Worry flashes behind her eyes, but I have to give it to her, she hides it pretty damn well. “If you insist,” she says with that same fake smile. She leans over the box and cautiously pulls open the lid. The second the lid is removed, blue ink spurts up and covers Monica from head to toe before a blue glitter bomb is released all over her.
“HAPPY GENDER REVEAL!” Noah roars through the cafeteria. “IT'S A BOY!”
Monica squeals out as the students throughout the room laugh and cheer, having no idea that Noah is being less than genuine right now.
Blobs of ink and glitter drop off Monica and I can’t help but laugh, knowing that shit is going to stain her skin for days. “Hey, it’s Smurfette,” I announce, gaining nothing but a shrill growl from the beast.
She goes to step in my way before Rivers takes a step in her direction, letting her know how it is, which has her thinking better of it and running for the door. I can’t help but glance across at Rivers with a warm smile, feeling like I’ve finally got his protection and just officially got accepted into the ranks.
Noah grabs my hand as Rivers does the same with Tully and we haul ass out the fire exit at the back of the room. The alarm instantly goes off, but we couldn’t really give a shit. “Where are we going?” I yell over the top of my panting, because come on, who can actually talk normally while running?
“You don’t want to miss her grand exit, do you?” Noah throws over his shoulder as he drags me along.
I slap my hand over my ribs, hating the way my heavy breaths makes it feel ten times worse. “No,” I tell him. “I really don’t.”
Cutting through the back of the cafeteria puts us down at the student parking lot a shitload faster than Monica, and when the new and certainly not improved Smurfette comes running towards us, Tully and I can hardly contain ourselves.
Monica looks up and comes to a startling stop as she finds the four of us lined up in front of her car, blocking her way like the impenetrable force that we are. I can’t help but feel special, standing with the three of them as a part of them, no longer an outsider.
“Why?” Monica whines with a fake cry.
Noah steps forward as the leader of the group and gives her the cold, hard facts. “You fuck with one of us, you fuck with us all, and lucky for you, you took the grand prize because you fucked with two of us. This is only the beginning, Monica. Everywhere you go, you’re going to have to look over your shoulder because we’re going to be there to fuck it up. Fuck you up,” he says in a tone that I’ve never heard from him before, a tone that sends shivers down my spine.
“But…”
“No,” he says, deathly low that if I was on the receiving end of that, I’d want to shit my pants. “You touched my girl. You should know better,” he tells her.
“You used to be that girl so you should know better than anyone just how far I’ll go to protect what’s mine. You made me believe I was having a baby. You made me hurt her, and for that, I will never stop making your life a living hell.”
Monica’s eyes flick to mine before focusing back on Noah’s, but I’m far too caught up with the way he just called me his girl. Damn, it felt good.
Monica starts backing away and for the first time in her life, she seems to be doing the right thing. “That’s right, Monica,” Noah continues in that tone that terrifies me. “You’re done.”
She swallows visibly and I watch with drawn brows as Noah holds out his hand expectantly. Monica looks down at it in confusion. “Phone,” he demands.
“What?” Monica sputters.
“I won’t ask you again.”
Reluctantly, Monica pulls her phone out of her pocket and hands it over, seeing that she clearly has no other option. I watch as Noah flips it over and starts taking it apart. He pulls her sim card out of it before flicking it back towards her. It falls to the ground and she dives after it as Noah hands me the iPhone. “You owe Henley a phone,” he explains.
Monica’s fingers curl around the little sim card as a defeated squeak sails out of her. The second she straightens out again, I see the desperate need to escape and I’m just about to step out of her way when Tully speaks up. “Oh, Monica,” she says stepping forward.
The moment Monica’s eyes focus on Tully, her fist pulls back and she slams it hard across her face like a fucking MMA fighter. Her face rebounds off Tully’s fist like a bobble-head and I stand there, gawking as Monica lets out a squeal.
“Get the fuck out of here, Monica. You’re done,” Tully demands.
Whoa. Is it inappropriate to high five her right now?
Monica scrambles away with a hand pressed to her face as I gawk at my best friend. Noah grins like he’s never been so proud while Rivers looks as though he’s about to fall at her feet and kiss the ground she walks on.
“Holy shit,” I say, nudging Tully who starts rubbing her knuckles. “What was that?”
“Sorry,” she murmurs as we watch Monica dive into her car. “Couldn’t help it.” Rivers picks up on the fact that she’s hurt her hand and is beside her in the blink of an eyes, rubbing it and checking over her knuckles, making sure she’s alright.
The sound of Monica’s car door slamming has all our attention drawn back to her. I cringe with the way the blue ink instantly stains her car seats, but I honesty couldn’t give a shit. She deserves to spend the next few days scrubbing them clean. “You’re just going to let her go?” Tully questions.
“Just watch,” Rivers murmurs for only us to hear before placing a discreet kiss at her temple and pulling her into his side.
Monica fumbles with her car keys and eventually jams them into the ignition. The second she gives the key a twist, smoke billows out from under the hood, stalling the engine. “What?” I laugh in shock. “Did you guys do that too?”
Noah shrugs with a proud grin. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Monica dives out of the car, probably terrified that it’s about to explode, but surely the boys wouldn’t be that stupid, right?
Without bothering to check on her car, Monica races back from where she came, no doubt, so she can escape through the front gates and run her blue ass home.
Chapter 21
My eyes rake over Noah’s body as he pulls his shirt off and tosses it to the side before leaning back over the hood of his Camaro and managing to get grease everywhere.
It’s race day and I’ve never been so excited, but if this is the kind of show I’ve been missing out on over the past few weeks, I need to be apologizing to my soul. Hell, I don’t even know if he realizes what kind of affect he has on woman kind, or at least me. The tattoos, the muscles, the light sheen of sweat, the sunkissed skin, the grease smeared across his chest. My God, this shit is too good.
“You’re drooling,” Rivers grunts as he drops down in the seat beside me before handing me a drink.
I reluctantly tear my eyes away from Noah’s strong back and focus on Rivers’ smirking face beside me. “Jealous?” I question. “No one’s been staring at you like this.”
“Fuck off,” he laughs. “And trust me, she looks at me like that all day long. It never gets fucking old.”
I grin back at him, loving how he knows that I’m referring to Tully. “What’s going on?” I ask, cracking open my soda and taking a quick drink as my eyes slide back towards Noah as he changes out the oil before tonight race. “Don’t you usually help him with this shit?”
Rivers shrugs. “Sometimes,” he tells me, “But he’s a big boy. He can handle it himself.”
I can’t help it, the words just come tearing out of me. “Damn straight, he’s a big boy.”
“Shit, Henley,” he groans. “I don’t want to hear that shit.”
I chuckle to myself as I realize Tully hasn’t followed him outside. “Where’s Tully gone?” I question. “Don’t you two usually stick like glue when Noah’s distracted?”
He grins as though he hadn’t quite realized how observant I was until now, but when it comes to Tully, I need to have her back. Her business is my business. “Surprised you even noticed with your attention stuck on his ass all day,” he tells me.
“Trust me, I notice everything,” I tell him. “Sort of like I noticed the way you’re suddenly treating me like a human being rather than a bug you stepped on.”
His face scrunches up. “Yeah… that’s why I came out here actually. I wanted to apologize.”
I suck in a breath. “Apologize? I wasn’t aware you knew the meaning of that.”
He looks at me blankly. “You want an explanation, or what?”
I nod my head. “Yeah, I’ll shut up.”
“Thank fuck for that,” he grumbles before letting out a deep breath. ‘Look, I don’t know how much Tully has told you, but I’m not exactly a welcoming person. I like things the way they are and when change happens…well, I just don’t like it.”
I nod. “She might have mentioned something like that, but it wasn’t hard to figure out for myself.”
“Don’t take it personally, yeah?” he says. “I had to look out for what’s mine, and you…well, you don’t exactly have a great reputation.”
“And yours is stellar?”
“No, but this ain’t about me.”
Noah turns around and narrows his eyes suspiciously on the two of us talking before Rivers gives a quick nod. Noah instantly relaxes and it’s almost like they have some sort of secret language that doesn’t actually require words. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve had each other’s backs for so long.
“So, what’s it about then?” I ask, pushing for a little more.
“You chicks. Noah brought you back here that very first day and despite the fact that he did it to fuck with Monica, there was something else there. He liked you and I didn’t like that. We’re a fucking pack and when chicks come in, they fuck things up. They try to get between us and suddenly our kingdom crumbles.”
“I’m not like that,” I tell him.
“It took me a while to figure it out,” he admits. “You got close with Tully, and don’t get me wrong. I love that she has a good friend now, but I hated that because it took her away. She was confiding in you and it drove me fucking nuts.”
“You were jealous,” I murmur. “But you know there’s nothing to worry about, right? That’s just what girlfriends do so the guys we like don’t see just how crazy we are.”
His eyes narrow on me before continuing. “I wasn’t fucking jealous,” he defends, but the conviction is there. He was jealous. “Not only that, but Noah was suddenly all about his little Spitfire. Things were changing, and to be honest, all the extra time he was spending with you actually freed up a little of Tully’s time, so I guess it wasn’t a complete disaster.”
“Are you in love with her?”
His eyes widen
for a second before he shakes his head. “Nah…just. I don’t know. There’s something there, but it’s complicated.”
“Just… don’t hurt her, ok?”
He shakes his head before glancing up at Noah. “Never.”
“So, you and me? We’re all cool? You’re not going to try and kill me in my sleep?”
He shakes his head with amusement shining through his dark eyes. “I honestly don’t know how the fuck you did it. No one has ever been invited in like that, but you were, and for some reason, I’m not completely hating it.”
“Well, thanks, I think,” I laugh.
He grins back at me. “You’re one of us now. Part of the pack,” he tells me before getting up and placing a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t fuck it up and don’t hurt him.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
With that, he walks away, leaving me gawking after him, completely stunned.
Noah turns around and takes in the confused, blank expression on my face. “You good, babe?”
I smile back it him. “I’m part of the pack.”
“You better fucking believe it,” he says, striding over to me. He grabs my hands and hauls me up off the seat. My body slams into his and I brace myself against him, my hands on his warm chest. Not a second later, his lips are crushing down on mine, completely devouring me.
He pulls back and I groan, needing more. “You sure you really want to come to this? You chicks usually aren’t into this kind of thing.”
“I thought you’d have learned by now, I’m not like most chicks.”
“Thank fuck for that,” he murmurs.
Ten minutes later, Noah slams his fist against the front door. “You fuckers get your asses out here. We’re leaving.”
Tully and Rivers eventually dawdle out, both with guilty expressions on their faces that has me smothering a smile and shaking my head.
We head for Noah’s Camaro and I call ‘shotgun’, though not because I have a desperate desire to sit up front with Noah, but because listening to Rivers groan about it is just too good.
“Fuck that,” Rivers says, grabbing Tully’s elbow and leading her away. “We’ll take my car too.”
Untouchable: Haven Falls (Book 1) Page 21