Teagan
"What the hell were you thinking, Teagan?" Hope's father demanded as he stalked around his kitchen like a mad-man. "Have you lost your damn mind?"
That was the tenth time Kyle Carter had asked me that question and this was the tenth time I didn’t bother answering him. I, like everyone else in the room – which consisted of a pale faced Lee Carter and a grinning Derek – knew he wasn’t finished ranting.
Besides, if I told him what I was really thinking – that I was mad as hell that Derek and Jordan had interrupted us – I doubted it would be appreciated.
"Seventeen," Kyle groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. "She's seven-fucking-teen, Princess," he growled as he looked at his wife, despair evident in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled, not knowing what else to say, as I sat at the kitchen table. "I'm eighteen in a few days…"
"See," he hissed. "She's a goddamn baby." He let out a sigh. "They're kids – kids, for Christ's sake." His gaze locked on his wife. "The world is going to shit, baby. Kids…"
"Kids." Derek snorted. "You're a huge fucking hypocrite, dude."
"Don’t you start with me, douchebag," Kyle shot back, nostrils flaring. "Don’t think I didn’t see the way your spawn was luring at my baby in there…"
"Calm down, Kyle," Lee replied in a soft tone as she trotted over to where her husband was turning purple and patted his chest. "Breathe," she coaxed.
Kyle seemed to relax under his wife's gentle coaxing and I silently thanked god that there was someone on this earth who could tame the wild beast.
"What the hell am I supposed to tell your uncle when he gets here?" Kyle asked me. He ran a hand through his thick dark hair before dropping his hands on his hips, towering over me with a look of horror etched on his face.
The kitchen door swung inwards and my entire body froze when Noah stepped inside – thankfully fully dressed in faded jeans and a navy hoodie.
"I thought I told you to go home," Kyle snarled, eyes flaring with anger as he stalked towards Noah.
"And I'm going," Noah replied in a level tone, standing head to head with Hope's dad. Mr. Carter was taller, but only just and when Noah's gaze flickered towards me I felt dizzy. "But she's coming with me."
My heart summersaulted around in my chest.
She's coming with me…
Noah shot me a meaningful look and I quickly climbed to my feet.
Oh, I was so going with him…
When I reached Noah's side he wrapped his hand around mine and squeezed.
"You know, what, Noah," Kyle said in a disappointed tone of voice, shaking his head, distracting me from reveling in Noah's touch. "I thought more of you, kid, I really did."
Noah's jaw clenched and I had a feeling Kyle's words had hit a nerve. "It's not what you think," he replied stiffly.
"I've been where you are, Noah," Kyle continued. "And this…" He gestured towards me. "Her…in my house…you think it's no big deal, but it is." Kyle shook his head in disgust. "Because she's …"
"She's my girlfriend," Noah announced, shocking the hell out of me. I squeezed his hand and Noah looked down at me smiling. He met Kyle's stare. "She's my responsibility. I'll walk her home."
The front door slammed behind us. "Actually, she's not your responsibility," an achingly familiar voice growled from behind us and I wanted to cry.
Uncle Max stalked into the Carter's kitchen and shook hands briefly with Kyle before turning to glare at and Noah.
"Until the twenty-fifth of this month, when she turns eighteen, she's mine," Max said in a tight tone of voice, eyes locked on Noah. "So keep your grubby little hands off her."
Noah's hand tightened around mine and I could tell he was as pissed as I was. This was unbelievable. We had no luck.
I glared up at Hope's father, feeling completely betrayed. "You sold me out."
"If you were my daughter I'd want to know," Kyle replied as he ushered Lee and Derek from the room. "We'll leave you three to talk it out."
"I'm not your daughter," I muttered under my breath. "Or his."
"Well let me tell you something, Teagan." Max looked down at me and I could see the disappointment in his eyes – I could hear it in his voice. "I'm glad Kyle called me about this. It's called being a responsible parent and I for one am extremely thankful because I have absolutely no intentions of wasting my life raising another kid that's not mine."
I stepped back, feeling physically winded from his words. I gaped at my uncle like I'd never seen him before in my life, and in a way I hadn’t. This version of Max was completely new to me.
"Do you really believe that?" I asked, biting down hard on my lip, as I stared up at my uncle's face. "That you wasted your life raising me?"
"Absolutely, if the first thing you do is spread your legs for that piece of shit the minute my back is turned," Max shot back heatedly.
"The minute your back is turned?" I shook my head in disgust, hating the way my voice was trembling. "You're back is constantly turned, Max. Since we moved here you're never around for me. I'm on my own ninety-nine percent of the time. And he's not a piece of shit…"
"So you're acting out for attention?" Max roared into my face. "Behaving like a tramp…For god's sake, have you no respect for yourself – or for me?"
Stepping forward, Max did something that he'd never done before. He put his hands on my shoulders and shook me like a ragdoll.
"Hey man, back the hell off," Noah growled, stepping in front of me, shielding me from my uncle's menacing glare. "Don’t touch her like that."
"And who the hell are you, man?" Max shot back in a condescending tone before shoving Noah in the chest. "Only the jumped-up little shit who's been bullying her for months."
"Don’t touch him, Max," I surprised myself by saying.
Both Max and Noah swung their gazes on me and I realized in that moment I'd taken sides.
I'd taken Noah's side over my own uncle.
"Are you serious, Teagan?" Max asked in a disgusted tone of voice. "You're actually going to defend this…loser?"
"He is not a loser," I snapped, feeling acutely protective of Noah. "And you are overreacting here, Max. You don’t know anything about him."
"I know more than either of you do. He's bad news, Teagan," Max roared. "I know he's been admitted to the ER more times in the past six months than any other eighteen year old." Max leered at Noah like he was a piece of trash. "I know that every time he's brought in by those men so is another misfortune – always in much worse condition than him," Max hissed. "And I know his mother is a…"
"Finish that sentence and I will bury you," Noah snarled, chest heaving. "Uncle or not…"
I stepped forward and grabbed Noah's hand, squeezing it gently to calm him down.
Max, noticing my actions, shook his head and laughed humorlessly. "Well I've seen it all now," he sneered.
"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," he told me as he pushed between us and stalked towards the door. "But I'll tell you the same thing I told your mother when she was your age," he choked out in a pained voice. "Don’t come crying to me when he breaks your heart. Because he will."
"What the hell does that mean?" I called after him.
"It means do as you damn well please, Teagan," Max roared. "You're just like your mother. You're not going to listen to a word of sense while you've got love tinted glasses perched on your pretty nose so I'm not standing around here wasting my breath."
The door slammed shut and I stood frozen in the middle of the Carter's kitchen, eyes wide and locked on Noah's.
"Well that was a little excessive," I finally muttered, feeling like my world had just been pulled out from underneath me. "I've never seen him so angry."
Noah's jaw ticked as he stared down at me with a stormy expression in his eyes. "He's right you know," he husked. "I'm bad news."
"I know you are," I told him as I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around his waist. I didn’t need Noah or Max to tell me something I was completely aware of. I'd been to the ring of fire and I'd been with him tonight. I wasn’t stupid. I knew he was involved in dark and shady things – he'd told me as much… "But just because you're bad news that doesn’t mean you're a bad person."
"Teagan…" Noah clenched his eyes shut and exhaled heavily.
"Did you mean what you said to Kyle?" I asked Noah as he pressed his forehead to mine. "That I'm your girlfriend?"
"Yeah," he husked and my heart soared in my chest. "But there's more stuff you should know about me before you decide to be with me," he whispered. "And I can't tell you…"
"Why can't you tell me?" I asked him.
"Because I want to keep you safe," he admitted in a vulnerable tone. "And I'm terrified the more you know the more danger you'll be in…"
A tremor of fear rolled down my spine.
He was warning me.
I should listen to him – to my gut instinct that was screaming danger…
But I didn’t.
Ignoring the spasm of fear I wrapped my arms around his neck and let out a sigh. "I'm happy I did what I did with you tonight." I closed my eyes and bit down on my lip. "I just wanted to tell you that."
"If we do this Teagan," Noah said in a gruff tone as his hands smoothed over my hips. "It's not going to be easy – being with me…" He paused and trailed his thumbs against my cheekbones. "It's gonna be rough, Thorn...I'm the worst kind of wrong for you."
"I'm well aware of that," I admitted honestly. "But I also know there's more good in you than there is bad, Noah."
Noah looked at me for a long time before letting out a weary sigh. "How the hell did we get here?"
"Get where?"
Pressing his lips to my throat, Noah ran his tongue over my pulse. "To the point where I can't fucking breathe without you."
His words shot a tremor through my body and I let out a sigh. "You broke my windshield," I breathed, tilting my neck sideways to accommodate his lips. "And I…"
My words were smothered by Noah's lips as they crashed down on mine, searing me and I was sure I'd never be the same again. I would never understand him, and maybe that was okay. I only had to accept him and my heart seemed to do that without consulting my brain so I figured that would be enough. I was taking a gamble with Noah – on being with him – but I knew in my bones I'd never feel like this with anyone else...
"Okay, break it up," a male voice – I recognized as Derek's – said in an amused tone. "I've been given instructions to walk this one home."
Reluctantly I pulled away from Noah. "I guess I'll see you…tomorrow or something?" I muttered, feeling flustered and a little unsure.
"You definitely will," Noah told me with a reassuring smile.
****