“What do you want me to say?” I throw back at him trying to keep my mouth shut, but the annoyance over the past few days comes ripping out of me. “I said I’m sorry. I’ve realized I fucked up, and next time I feel like getting high, I’ll get your written approval beforehand, your highness.”
“Are you serious, right now?”
“Well, yeah actually. You haven’t talked to me in three days. What the hell did you expect? I’m not some bitch you can just push aside because I didn’t follow your expectations of how a well behaved girlfriend should act.”
“Henley.”
“No, don’t ‘Henley’ me. You’ve been an ass.”
“And you’re being a brat,” he demands.
“I’m not the one who’s been pushing me out the last few days,” I remind him. “I’m not Monica. I’m not going to come crawling back every time you decide you don’t want me. I have a little more self-respect than that.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’ve got the shits with you.”
“And whose fault is that?” he hollers down the phone. “You smoked a fucking joint at a party with my fucking sister and didn’t tell anyone. You could have been hurt. Don’t you get how dangerous that was? What kind of guys would have willingly taken advantage of the three fucked up girls who were high as shit and wouldn’t have been able to put a face to the accusation the next morning?”
“So, what your saying is that you can go and do stupid shit every fucking day with Rivers, but when I fuck up just once, I’m going to be treated like shit from the one guy who’s supposed to…”
“Supposed to what?” he demands.
Love me?
“Supposed to give a shit.”
I end the call, unable to trust myself not to say something that I’ll regret.
I thought watching my mom walk out on us was hard, I thought losing Jackson and Kaylah was hard, I thought being the school’s designated punching bag was hard, but I’ve never been so wrong. Having Noah Cage tear me apart from within is easily the hardest, most soul shattering thing I’ve ever endured.
I don’t even know where we stand. I can easily guarantee that he’s never had a girl challenge him like that and something screams at me that I’ve just fucked it all up. The start of the call was going alright until I decided to fall into a pathetic rage.
My phone lights up with another call and the tears instantly start streaming down my face. I can’t handle this right now. I can’t handle knowing that when I answer that phone, he’s going to tell me that we’re done. I can’t handle knowing just how badly my heart is going to shatter. I can’t handle the fear of not having him in my life.
So, instead of taking the call that will end the best thing that’s ever happened to me, I turn off my phone and pull the covers right over my head before crying myself to sleep; wishing this was all some kind of terrible dream.
Chapter 8
Tully comes storming through my bedroom door and dives for my bed. “Henley, wake up. We’re late for school.”
I smother my face into my pillow as the events of last night’s phone call with Noah comes slamming to the forefront of my mind. “I’m not going,” I grumble.
“Come on,” she insists. “I’m not screwing around. We’re late. Didn’t you set your alarm?”
“I turned my phone off,” I say, grabbing the blanket and pulling it over my head. “I’m not going.”
She lets out a frustrated groan. “Why the hell not?”
“Because your brother is an ass.”
“You’ll have to be more specific,” Tully insists.
I clarify to help her understand a little better. “Because your brother is a really big ass.”
“What happened?” she sighs, realizing something must have gone down last night that she’s not aware of. “What did that big turd do now?”
I let out a breath. “Nothing I didn’t deserve,” I grumble before looking up at her from under the blanket. “He called last night and we got into a huge argument about the whole ‘getting high’ thing. Actually, I’m impressed you slept through it.”
“Really?” she questions, scrunching up her face, “I didn’t hear a thing.”
“Yeah, he just… he pushed all my buttons and I sort of hung up on him, and now I’m spending the day in bed pretending it never happened.”
“Seriously?” she grumbles.
“Uh huh. If I don’t turn on my phone and I’m not at school, he doesn’t get a shot at breaking up with me.”
“He’s not going to break up with you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yeah,” she scoffs, “I do.”
I pout up at her and she finally gives in. “Fine,” she groans, throwing herself off my bed and into my closet. She rifles through, searching for something that will suit her style, but let's be honest, apart from ripped jeans, boots and tanks, there’s not much in there.
“Do you want to take the truck?” I question, trying to be helpful.
“No, I can’t drive that death trap,” she scoffs. “I’ll just walk.”
“Won’t that make you late?”
“Probably,” she shrugs, stepping into a pair of jeans.
“You’ll get detention,” I warn her.
“Who me?” she gasps in mock horror. “Unlikely. Principal Evans thinks I have proof of us getting it on. I’m set for the rest of senior year.”
I grin back at her. “I’d forgotten about that.”
She winks and carries on getting ready for school. “You sure you don’t want to come?”
“Nah,” I say, snuggling back into bed. “I’m happy pretending I don’t exist for the day.”
“I can stay with you if you want.”
“And let you skip up the chance to tell Rivers how desperately you need him to fill the gaping hole in your life? No thanks.”
“I’ve never heard truer words,” she tells me, walking towards the door. “But I have a feeling you’re referring to a metaphorical hole, while I’m taking it a little more literal.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not surprised, whore,” I call after her as she disappears out the door.
“Don’t forget to take a shower at some point,” she calls back. “You smell like a pack of rats crawled up your ass and died.”
“Love you too.”
“Skank.”
With that comes the sound of my front door slamming closed.
God, I love her.
I fall straight back asleep and at some point wake up, remembering that I have to eat to survive. With my hair falling around my face, looking like a bird’s nest and no pants, I stumble out of my room, hating how my eyes still feel sore and puffy from crying all night.
Making my way into the kitchen, I pass the mess Tully and I left from our nachos and dive through the fridge for the leftovers when I realize there is none. I stare at the fridge in confusion. I swear I put leftovers in here last night. I mean, it’s possible that Tully stole it for her breakfast or took it for lunch but she ran out of here like her ass was on fire. I seriously doubt she would have allowed time to take her lunch, she would have ordered the boys to go and get her something instead, and then washed it down with a coffee.
I straighten myself up, scowling with annoyance as I try to figure it out. Maybe I forgot to put it in the fridge and it’s been sitting out all night.
I start scanning the kitchen, looking from left to right, taking in every last piece of the kitchen with a cringe, realizing how much of a mess I’ve got to sort out today. I probably should have done it all last night, but what can I say? Tully and I are lazy bitches.
I make my way around the kitchen and stop in complete and utter confusion as I take in the dining table.
“What the hell is that?” I grumble to myself.
I walk towards the dining table with my eyes scanning over the massive nerf gun and then stand there like a complete idiot, gawking at the thing and trying to work out w
here the fuck it came from. This thing is huge. I would have specifically remembered buying it for myself because there’s no way in hell I would, and even if I ever considered buying one, I wouldn’t have gotten one this big. I mean, this thing could probably hold at least fifty of those little foam bullet things at a time.
It takes all of three seconds for me to notice the note laying right beside it and even less time for the words written on it to force a smile to rip across my face.
Spitfire,
You were right, I am an ass, but I bet you don’t have enough balls to make me admit it out loud. Loser has to apologize first.
Rules – There are none!
Come and find me, baby.
Noah.
By the way, you look fucking sexy sleeping in my shirt.
Oh, and your nachos were delicious. Could use a little more chili powder though!
I pick my jaw up off the floor. If he wants to play, then, by all means, we’ll play.
I grab the nerf gun off the table and smile as I notice he’s already loaded it for me, which makes me wonder how long I was asleep for and why the hell he didn’t wake me up when he got here.
No doubt he came to talk about last night, but something tells me that he isn’t here to break up with me after all. Maybe I read things wrong or maybe I need to be giving him a little more credit. Maybe all he needed was a kick up the ass and a little more time. I guess a girl can always hope.
In the meantime, I need to literally kick his ass. That turd burger owes me an apology.
I push up from the table when I hear the sound of the back door slamming followed by a stick scratching against the glass window. That little……he’s trying to scare me out.
It’s taken me up until this moment to not only realize that Noah was here, but he’s hiding somewhere waiting for me to start a war.
And I’m standing here, out in the open like a sitting duck.
Shit.
I fall to the ground, away from the windows, realizing he’s probably outside. I remember his note. ‘Rules - There are none!.’ I’m going to make him regret that.
I glance around the dining table, double checking that he’s not peeking in through a window and that I’m clearly out of sight before army crawling across the floor and back into the safe confines of the kitchen. I’ll have to be quick. If he walks in here right now, I’m screwed.
I find an old grocery bag and shuffle my way over to the fridge before filling it up with every last egg we own.
I sling the bag over my neck, letting it dangle at the side and position my nerf gun as though I’m some kind assassin.
Game on, sucker.
I run from the kitchen, knowing this is probably the worst place for me to be right now. From the sounds he made on the window, I’m assuming he knows I’m awake by now and onto his little plan, but I’m also banking on the fact that he doesn’t know about my secret weapon.
I want nothing more than to army roll my way out of here but I’m too terrified of breaking my eggs before I have a chance to break them on his head.
Giddiness soars through me. Who would have thought?
The adrenaline pulses through my veins as I storm down the hall, past the living room and clearing in four massive strides. As I pass dad’s open bedroom, I catch him out the back, leaning up against the tree, watching the house like it’s about to explode.
It’s the worst spot to stand. Well, for his benefit it’s probably the best. He can see absolutely everything from there. Every corner of the backyard, every door, and window. How the hell am I going to get the drop on him? But damn, maybe I don’t want to, maybe I should surrender like a good little prisoner and let him take me. After all, the way he stands with his nerf gun against his chest as though it’s his only lifeline is damn sexy.
No. Must not cave. I am stronger than that. I can let him have his wicked way with me after I force an apology out of him.
I duck down and continue hurrying down the hallway so he doesn’t see me before ducking into my room. I go to my window and silently slide it open as my plan falls into place. He’ll never see me coming.
I step up onto my open window and hold on for dear life, grinning because it’s at the front of the house and he won’t see me until it’s too late.
I reach up and grab hold of the roof, cringing because I probably could have found a safer way to haul my ass up onto the roof, but I guess it’s too late now, I’ve already committed. I swing my eggs around to my back so they don’t get squished in the move, and suck in a breath. I can do this, and if I can’t, Noah is just a blood curling scream away.
I haul myself up onto the roof, regretting the decision to have so many nachos for dinner last night and army crawl up the roof tiles, hoping I’m not destroying them in the process while my nerf gun remains securely in my hand.
I get to the peak of the roof and feel like a fucking boss. I can see everything, but most importantly, I see Noah in the backyard, almost cowering behind the tree, looking everywhere except up. He expected me by now and it’s putting him off that I haven’t come storming out the back door with a warrior cry.
I can’t help but grin. Who’s the sitting duck now?
Egg or nerf gun? Egg or nerf gun? Decisions. Decisions.
Egg. Definitely egg.
I reach into my grocery bag and curl my fingers around a nice cool egg, holding it like my lifeline while trying my hardest not to roll off the roof. I mean, Noah is good, but he’s not that good. If I fell from here, there’s no way he could catch me in time. It’s going to hurt…a lot.
I bring the egg out and smile down at the little thing. “Serve me well, soldier,” I whisper before giving it a little kiss. “Your sacrifice is truly valued. Fly true, baby.”
I resist saluting my little suicide bomber and rear back with a shit eating grin, hoping to whoever exists out there that my aim has improved since the last time I did something as stupid as this.
My arm sails forward and I release my egg, watching it fly through the air like a little grenade that just lost its pin.
My shit eating grin only grows wider as the angels smile down on me. The egg soars like a soldier and not a second later, smashes right into Noah’s hard chest, sending egg guts all over him.
He rears back in shock, eyes widening as though he can hardly comprehend what the hell just happened. He looks down at the egg as I slam my hand over my mouth, stifling my laughter, but it’s too much, it booms out of me and instantly gives me away.
All he can do is gawk. “What….?”
I pull out my next egg. "You better run,” I warn him.
He picks off a piece of eggshell stuck to his arm before gawking up at me once again. “You threw a fucking grenade at me,” he calls. “Who said anything about eggs?”
“This is war, Noah. Ain’t no rules when it comes to war. You said so yourself,” I remind him. “So, what’s it going to be? I’ve got the whole carton up here. You want to test my aim or do you want to start running like a little bitch?”
I gently throw the egg up before catching it with a soft hand, hoping it doesn’t crack on me. That slight movement, combined with my shit eating grin has him jumping into action.
“You’re dead, Spitfire.” He races forward and I start scrambling around to see where he goes, but the fucker goes and does some fancy parkour style shit, shocking me to within an inch of my life as he easily launches himself off the ground, shoots up to the window sill, flings himself up and lands crouched down like a cat ready to pounce on the roof.
“Oh, fuck.”
I sit myself up and slide my ass down the side of the roof like a kid on a slide at the park, distantly realizing that I’m not wearing any pants and the whole freaking neighborhood could probably see me right now.
I stop myself with my feet before I tumble straight off the side of the roof. I can’t help but look back over my shoulder to see Noah standing in the middle of the roof at the highest point looking like some kind of ruler with his
gun pointed right at me.
I don’t waste a second. I let the next egg fly.
Naturally, it misses, but I’m not hanging around to dig through my bag for another.
I throw myself off the side of the roof, thanking my lucky stars that I live in a one story house. “Fuck, babe,” Noah calls after me. “Are you still alive? I would have given you a second to get off without killing yourself.”
“Trust me, Noah,” I shoot back, laughing at my own quick wit from the ground. “You need more than a second to get me off.”
“Come on,” he says, taunting me with his approach. “You and I both know that’s not true.”
I’ve got to give it to him. He’s right.
I make a run for it.
I dart through the front door, never feeling so happy that my sense of security completely sucks. Hurrying to the living room and standing by the entryway of the hallway, I stand and look around. This has to be the best place. From here, I can make a quick escape in any direction.
I hear Noah’s feet on the roof and my heart races with an excited fear. As I glance out the front window, I watch him jump from the roof, once again landing like a cat before searching me out instantly.
He strides forward and I shuffle towards the back of the couch, ready to duck for cover as I pull out as many eggs as my hands can hold.
Noah steps across the threshold and he doesn’t disappoint.
Game on.
The first egg flies from my hand as Noah returns fire. I squeal and laugh and before I know it, he’s chasing me through the house as little foam bullets seem to fly from every angle.
Eggs go everywhere and I’m woman enough to admit that only a handful of them seem to actually hit him, but it’s not long before he somehow tackles the bag from around my neck and is throwing the eggs right back at me.
Less than a few minutes later, we’re both completely out of ammunition and I have absolutely no idea who the hell won, the one thing I do know though, is that for the last few minutes, he’s made me forget all about the pain of the past few days.
Sensing our war is over, Noah throws his empty gun aside and strides forward with his heated eyes on me. I drop my gun and surrender.
Unbelievable: Haven Falls (Book 2) Page 8