Teagan
We took my car to the Ring of Fire, which, may I add, was in the back ass of nowhere, although Hope drove – which was probably for the best since I lost feeling in my toes by the time I reached the bottom step of Hope's staircase.
I'd never looked skankier or felt shadier than I did right now.
I had on a skin-tight white mini-skirt that was so short I was fairly certain the cheeks of my butt were on display, and a pair of black thigh-high fuck-me-boots.
My top – if you could call it that – was worse. All that covered the girls was a silver sparkly bandeau that literally just covered my chest. I was bare from my ribs to my hipbones and from the bottom of my ass to my thighs.
Boy did I feel good about myself.
We travelled away from the hill, the city, the street lights and basically all human civilization. Hope pointed out a few different places as we travelled higher into the mountains – where she used to live, where she used to camp – none of which I remembered because I was too nervous. It was dark, I was freezing, and we were traveling into the unknown – the unknown didn't bide well with me.
After spending twenty minutes driving in silence down a secluded dirt-road, Hope took another sharp left and suddenly a huge abandoned quarry pit came into view.
The further we drove into the quarry the more suffocated I started to feel. Walls of resolute rock over eighty feet in height surrounded us. Burnt-out shells of cars lay scattered on either side of us as we drove and within seconds my eyes locked on…oh yeah we were here.
I was staring at a ring of fire.
I kid you not, a circling blaze of red-hot flames blew high into the night-air. Several smaller bonfires were scattered around the clearing surrounded by crowds of people, and I really did not want to get out of this car without a fire-extinguisher.
"Are they insane?" I hissed as Hope parked my car at the edge of the clearing where all the other cars were parked. "I mean really, are they seriously crazy?" I gaped at the side of Hope's face. "This place is a death-trap."
Hope was right.
This was the playground for the shady and reckless…
"I guess they don't care," she whispered, staring straight ahead at the scene unfolding in front of us. I wasn't sure if we'd landed ourselves into the middle of a brothel, a fighting ring, or a bloody car chase.
Shit was happening…like everywhere.
Nickelback's Burn it to the ground was blaring from the humongous pair of speakers sitting on the back of a truck, pumped no doubt by the huge generator next to it.
Women wearing far less clothing than us were parading themselves around in front of men.
There were people in cars doing donuts and all types of dumb shit, and a huge mob of people were forming a circle in the center.
"You owe me, Hope," I grumbled as I climbed out of the passenger seat and adjusted myself as best I could. I caught my reflection in the car window and glared at the back of Hope's head. "You really, really owe me."
"I know," she replied in a serious tone as she tried to walk in a pair of sky-scraper black stilettos. She was wearing a flimsy red-dress and the only thing comforting me in this moment was the fact that there was as much of Hope on display as there was of me. But as much as I detested what I was wearing – and I loathed it – Hope had been right to make us dress up. At least we blended in. And the way I saw it blending was good, it meant we could get in and out of here without being noticed.
"Can you see him?" I asked, taking the key of my car from Hope and popping it into my top, while I spied the crowds for Cameron and prayed I wouldn't see Noah or worse, Ellie.
Jesus, knowing my luck she was here too.
"No," Hope muttered as she bit down on her lip nervously. "He looks tough, Teegs," she whispered, clutching my hand in hers. "And he is, but he's got this horrible temper that makes him vulnerable. That temper fuelled with his ADHD makes for a very unpredictable Cameron."
"We'll find him," I coaxed, feeling a huge chunk of sympathy for my fiery friend. Hope acted so tough and carefree, but I could tell by her eyes that she was scared to death for Cam.
The ground was littered with stones and I was finding it incredibly tricky to keep my balance. I spotted something – more like heard someone's name being called out – to the left and groaned.
"Hope."
I caught her attention and pointed over to where a group had formed a circle around two guys fighting.
The stench of cigarettes even outside in the fresh air was overpowering and I had a feeling these people were smoking more than tobacco. Everyone was rowdy, jittery even, and there was this buzz in the atmosphere.
We made our way over to the crowd and I could have wept when I saw who was in the center of the circle fighting.
"Messina," people screamed and cheered, meanwhile I swallowed some vomit. There was blood on the ground, mixed in with dirt, and Noah…Noah was bleeding from his eyebrow.
Without thinking twice about what I was doing I let go of Hope's hand and pushed forward, butting several other spectators out of my way until I got to the front.
The other guy looked so much worse off than Noah and a tiny part of my body sagged in relief, briefly – very briefly. My relief ended the second the other guy began punching Noah repeatedly in the face.
But Noah…he just didn't seem to feel it, smirking with each blow as if he was feeding off the pain.
And then he let rip and the crowd went berserk.
I'd seen boys my age fight before. Liam had been in plenty of scuffles over the years – both on and off the football pitch. I'd seen blood drawn in fights, hell even a broken rib or nose.
This was different.
Noah was like the terminator. I'd never seen a man's fists move like I did in that moment. He was everywhere, the crowd were deafening, and I realized pretty quickly that I was in the middle of something I really didn't want to be involved in.
The display of brutality I had just witnessed wasn't normal. There was a level of viciousness in Noah's dark eyes as he pounded his knuckles into opponent's face that chilled my blood.
Turning my back on the fight, I tried to push my way through the mob, but no one would budge. I banged off some huge guy's chest and twisted around, trying to steady myself, but I was shoved in the back and then I did something incredibly unattractive.
I fell forward into the makeshift ring and face-planted the ground.
I tried to climb to my feet but the people behind me surged forward, either too engrossed in the fight or too ignorant to care that I was still on the ground, leaving me with no choice but to curl into a ball and protect my head with my hands.
People rushed forward, some stepping on me, and I held my breath in fear. I felt a sudden sharp spike of pain when some asshole's boot connected with my face. Another one stepped down on my ankle, hard enough to make me cry out, and I braced myself for the stampede, every muscle in my body locked and coiled tight in fearful anticipation. You could imagine my surprise when I felt a hand wrap around my arm and drag me along the dirty, blood-stained gravel and out from underneath the masses.
"Have you got a goddamn death wish?" Noah demanded as he dragged me roughly to my feet.
The second he let me go and stepped away I fell forward, unable and unwilling to put any weight on my ankle.
It was hurting so bad and I was having a mini-breakdown.
I nearly died.
I could have died.
I almost died.
Oh Jesus…
Noah cursed under his breath and caught me again, slipping his arm around my back to hold me up. "You're a goddamn thorn in my side," he snarled as he walked me over to where a small group of men were standing beside a sweet looking wine colored Subaru.
I tried to limp along with him but failed miserably and after another muttered curse Noah lifted me into his arms.
"She yours, Messina?" I heard a man ask but I couldn't hear Noah's response.
To be honest I was still in shock that he'd dragged me to safety in the first place. Noah hated me enough to leave me there – he'd said it himself; I was a thorn in his side – and I doubted I would have helped him or Ellie if I'd been in his position.
With my chest-heaving I tried to catch my breath, but I could feel the blood trickling from my lip and that did nothing to calm my emotions.
When we reached the men Noah sat me down on the hood of a car.
The metal was cold against my bare thighs and I welcomed the feeling. The backs of my legs were burning from being crushed, the front of my thighs were stinging from being dragged over gravel, I was covered in dirt, and my hair was knotted and hanging limply over my breasts.
Yeah, I wasn't a pretty sight.
Noah clutched my jaw for a brief moment as he studied my face with eyes full of anger. He gently ran his thumb over my lip and wiped some blood away before dropping his hand from my face. He growled and ran a hand roughly through his thick black hair.
His chest was bare, his knuckles were swollen and the white tape covering them was blood encrusted. He had a nasty looking cut over his eyebrow that had started to clot, and the faded jeans he had on were covered in a mixture of blood and dirt.
"Do you mind telling me what the hell you're doing here?" Noah demanded, eyes wild and frantic as he pushed his black hair out of his eyes.
I opened my mouth to respond but a sharp stinging sensation caused me to shut it fast.
Noah shook his head in disgust and stalked around me. He opened the door of the car I was sitting on, and rooted around for a couple of seconds before coming back to where I was sitting and dropping a white shirt on my lap.
I immediately picked it up and pressed it to my mouth, desperate to rid myself of the horrible taste of blood – blood that I suspected was coming from my lip. "I'm looking for…Cameron!"
I spotted Hope's brother less that ten yards away from us and tossed the t-shirt at Noah before shimmying off the hood of the car. "Hey, Cameron, get back here."
Landing awkwardly on my ankle I bent forward and placed my hands on the ground to stop myself from falling. I tried to stand but my ankle wouldn't hold me, so I stood there for a moment with my butt in the air, contemplating what the hell I was going to do next.
"Where'd you think you're going, Messina," I heard a deep male voice demand. "You're not finished here. Get your head in the game."
"And how exactly do you expect me to do that?" I heard Noah snarl. "When she's got her fucking ass in my face."
"I don't give two shits how you do it," the man warned. "Just fucking do it. You know better than to bring pussy here."
Moments later a large hand clamped around on my lower hip, holding me still, and another hand grabbed the fabric of my skirt and pulled it downwards – covering me, I realized and I reddened in embarrassment.
"I'm done for the night, JD," Noah stated coldly.
"We'll talk later, Messina."
I didn't catch a glance of the man Noah had called JD because he had already turned around and was walking away.
"Thank you for helping me," I whispered, knowing I owed him my gratitude. He'd saved my butt – big time.
"Don't talk to me," Noah hissed as he lifted me into his arms and carried me over to where the cars were parked. "I mean it, Teagan. I'm so fucking angry right now I could strangle you."
That was not a comforting thought considering my sore ankle would hinder my chances of escaping. I remained silent and rigid in Noah's arms as he walked over to my Honda Civic and dropped me on the hood.
"Who did you come here with?" he demanded, standing between my legs, looking fierce and furious.
"Hope," I replied as I gingerly rubbed my lip with my thumb. "She's looking for Cameron."
Noah's brown eyes widened in surprise before he threw his face up to the sky and muttered a string of curse words.
"So you didn't come here with Cameron?"
"No, I didn't come here with Cameron. The idiot must've…" Noah snapped his mouth shut and glared at me, a look of pure disgust.
"Must've what, Noah?"
"Let's get something straight right now," he hissed, leaning towards me until his face was only inches from mine. "You don't get to question me. In fact, you don't fucking look in my direction again unless I tell you to."
"Fuck you," I shot back heatedly, feeling hurt and angry. "You don't get to tell me what to do."
"Your little stunt cost me a lot tonight, Teagan," he roared. "A lot more than what you already owe me for my fucking car."
Backing away from me, Noah clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists. He glared at me like I was the most disgusting creature he'd ever seen. "That's a long list of things you owe me for, Thorn. One of these days I'm gonna come looking for payment."
"Teagan? Oh my god, where the hell have you been?" The sight of Hope walking towards us did little to comfort me.
"What happened to you?" Hope demanded when she reached us. I must've looked a mess because she flinched when she studied my mouth. "What the hell did you do to her?" Hope demanded as she swung around and glared at Noah, jabbing her finger in his chest.
"Hope, he didn’t…" I began to say but Noah exploded before I had a chance to explain.
"What did I do?" Noah roared in outrage before running a hand through his hair. "I just saved her ass from being trampled on." Noah paced around in circles, clearly furious. "Because your girl here can't seem to keep out of my business."
Hope took a step back from him.
I leaned back a little further.
"I lost a shit load of money tonight because of her," Noah roared. His eyes were black as coal and locked on my face. "She cost me…Just keep her out of my way, Hope," he snarled before stalking back towards the bonfire.
"Are you okay, Teegs?" Hope asked with a sigh as she leaned against the hood and watched Noah walking away from us.
"No," I managed to grind out through clenched teeth. "I'm not."
"I'm sorry," she mumbled as she reached over and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. "I shouldn’t have dragged you into this crap."
"What's done is done." I wasn’t going to make her feel worse than she obviously did. "Did you see Cameron? I saw him earlier. He was watching Noah's fight."
"Oh, I saw him all right," Hope snarled as she helped me into the car. "About ten seconds before he sped off in a car with Amy Valentine."
I scrunched my nose up in distaste. I'd only met the girl once or twice, but Amy Valentine wasn’t the type of person I would like my brother to date – if I had a brother.
"What are you going to do about Cameron?" I asked as I fastened my seatbelt and glanced over at Hope.
"I was going to ask you the same thing about Noah," she replied in a worried tone as she slipped into first gear and pulled out of our parking spot.
I have no idea…
"Men suck," I grumbled.
Hope chuckled. "Amen to that, Sugar."
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