Teagan
New Year's Day and the remaining week of our Christmas holidays passed in a beautifully snowy – yes, it snowed – blur, and consisted mostly of stolen moments of passion and intimacy between me and the boy next-door.
Noah would either sneak over here when my uncle went to work, or if Max was home I'd wait for him to fall asleep before sneaking outside and meeting Noah in his car. Thankfully, Noah's so-called family stayed away and we were able to remain in our little bubble for a little longer. With George out of town, Noah's knuckles were in semi-retirement mode which was absolutely fine by me. I didn’t want him fighting anyway.
I was slowly coming around to the idea that I adored the tattooed muscle head next-door. It was a terrifying feeling, though, because I'd been in love before – with Liam – but the…burning intensity and hunger I felt for Noah was pungent. It was smothering, overwhelming and completely enthralling and to be honest I was pretty sure I'd never be the me I was before I met him again…
My stomach felt like it was going to fall out of my butt as I walked into English class on Monday morning. The prospect of seeing Noah without sneaking around – and as an official couple – had my stomach twisting in knots. I was both nervous and excited as I scanned the classroom for his familiar face.
I spotted Noah's empty desk and my heart sank.
It sank even further when I noticed who had recovered from his chicken pox epidemic.
Jason grinned at me, waggled his eyebrows, and I wanted to gag.
Oh god…
****
"They hate me," I told Hope as we walked through the cafeteria towards our usual table. "I'm serious, Hope. I can never show my face inside your front door again."
"Stop being such a drama queen," Hope chuckled, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "My parents do not hate you. They've had weeks to get over it – and they have. So stop being a baby and call over sometime. I really want you to meet Jordan – clothed."
I slumped down on the chair beside Ash and let out a heavy sigh. "Do you think it's possible for a person to die of embarrassment?"
"Depends on the circumstances surrounding the case," Ash shot back in an amused tone.
"Oh, well how about Hope's entire family catching me stark naked – with the exception of my knickers – and underneath Noah back at Christmas. Does that constitute as a good enough reason or should I add my uncle throwing a conniption fit to the list?"
"You and Noah?" Ash squealed, dropping her spoon onto the table. "When…how…where?"
"The how I'm still unsure of," Hope chuckled as she took a seat opposite us. "But the when was a few weeks ago and the where was my couch."
Ash's eyes gleamed with delight. "You little skank."
"Yes," I mumbled, casting Hope an evil glare. "I'm all of that and more."
"So what does this mean?" Ash demanded excitedly. "Are you two, you know, a couple now?"
"Yeah," I muttered, red-faced. "But I thought he'd be here today and he's not…I hope…it's just…ugh god, this sucks." I buried my head in my hands and groaned. "I'm so confused. He makes me so confused and flustered. I don’t feel normal."
"Well you are," Hope cackled. "You're having a normal reaction. Just a perfectly normal teenage girl – whose hormones are raging – reaction to her hot teenage boyfriend – with equally raging hormones...err…hey Noah."
My entire body froze and Hope's whole face reddened as a pair of strong hands clamped me under my arms and lifted me out of my chair.
The sound of cat calls and wolf whistles was drowned out by the frantic beat of my pulse as Noah turned me in his arms and crushed his lips to mine. He did that thing with his tongue bar and I was putty in his hands.
I could hear people whispering loudly around me, I could feel eyes boring into my skull as the majority of students were lapping up the gossip we were providing for them, and in that moment I couldn't have cared less. The rest of the world seemed to slip away when he was this close to me.
"I could eat you," he whispered against my mouth. "You smell fucking awesome."
I knew we were in the middle of the cafeteria, with a fully seated audience, but in that instant wild horses couldn’t have dragged me away from him. "Where were you this morning?" I asked against his lips.
"I overslept," he husked. "This little nymph next-door kept me up half the night. But I'm here now."
Noah's hands moved to my waist, tugging me closer as he sat on the table with me facing him on his lap. "Let's get out of here," he purred, his voice seductive and his offer extremely enticing. "We need to talk about something."
"Can't," I breathed. "I have a practical test in biology after lunch. We're dissecting a cow's heart."
"I'll test you," he husked. "I'll give you a practical lesson in human reproduction."
"Noah…"
"And I'll give you an A plus," he teased. "I'm very thorough. All you have to do is bend over and spread your…"
"That's quite enough, Mr. Messina," a stern voice ordered, cutting Noah off mid-sentence. "Put Miss. Connolly down."
Noah growled against my lips before reluctantly placing me on my feet. He kept his hands on my hips and I buried my face in his neck feeling like I was about to die of shame.
While I was contemplating how much trouble we were in for our public display of affection, Coach Johnson said, "In future please refrain from copulating until you're on your own time."
"Sure thing, Coach," Noah replied before looking down at me in confusion.
Coach shook his head and stared at us with a look of total dismay. "I just can't figure kids out nowadays."
"Copulating?" Noah mouthed, looking down at me.
"Mating," I clarified, red-faced.
"Oh goodie. A new fun word," he declared in a sarcastic tone, showing me a side of him I hadn’t seen before. "Sweetheart, would you care to join me in the janitor's closet. I'm feeling a very strong urge to copulate with you."
Humorous Noah…Wow, this was kind of a revelation.
I rose my brows in amusement. "Sweetheart?"
Noah's face broke into a huge smile and my chest tightened. He didn’t smile enough. It was a truly beautiful sight. "Well I'm kinda scared to call you baby," he told me in a teasing tone. "But I feel like I should have an endearing name for my girl."
For my girl…
Oh Jesus…
Taking his outstretched hand I waved to the girls and followed Noah out of the cafeteria. "Teagan," I told him, forcing my lips not to smile at him as my lungs played havoc with my oxygen supply. His words squeezed something deep inside of me. "You can call me Teegs or Teagan."
"Okay, my little thorn," Noah replied sweetly before pressing a kiss to my nose as we wandered outside into the bitter cold.
I liked the snow here in Colorado. Back home, the closest I'd been to snow was in the form of a can – the horrible sticky kind people sprayed on window panes for Christmas-dynamic purposes. Here snowflakes fell from the sky in abundance and it made me feel all squiggly inside.
"Why do you always say that? That's like the millionth time you've called me Thorn," I asked Noah, shuffling closer to his body for warmth from the arctic air.
"I told you," he chuckled, smoothing his thumb over my knuckles as he led me down the snow-covered steps towards his car. "You're my thorn, if you leave me I'll bleed out."
My heart sky rocketed when those words left his mouth and I felt kind of dizzy.
Deep breaths…
"Oh…hey, I told you I have a test after lunch," I reminded Noah when he unlocked his car, opened the passenger door and gestured for me to get in. "I'm not skipping, Noah. I'm in enough trouble because of you as it stands…"
"Relax," he coaxed. "I need a smoke, that's all." He shrugged and smiled lazily at me. "Thought you could keep me company."
"And partake in some secondhand inhalation," I grumbled, watching as Noah walked around to the driver's side. "Wow, Noah, you sure know how to treat a girl."
"Don’t you just know it," he shot back with a smirk before climbing inside.
Didn’t I just…
I sat into the car with him but I pretended it was because I was cold. I was a liar though because I was fairly certain I'd inhale the fumes of a jumbo jet if it meant I could keep him company.
God, I was a very sad girl…
"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked him as I watched him flick cigarette ash out his window. "You said there was…"
"Ellie's back," Noah husked before exhaling a cloud of smoke. Turning his face, he looked directly into my eyes and sighed. "Which means George is on route."
My heart sank.
Everything had been so perfect these past few weeks and Noah's so called family returning would ruin it.
"Ellie's back. Yay," I muttered sarcastically. "I was missing our little sparring sessions."
"Can you do me a favor and try not to antagonize her?" he muttered in an irritated tone and his irritation seemed to set off mine.
"No, actually I can't," I shot back petulantly. "She's a bitch and I happen to be deathly allergic to her particular breed."
Noah snorted and I looked over at him and smirked. His eyes darkened as he stared intently at me.
This lunch could be salvaged yet…
"You know, you're turning me into a rule-breaker," I purred. A seedy image of the two of us sparked to life in my vivid imagination and I blushed. "I'm still not supposed to have contact with you – of any kind."
"Well, it's lucky your uncle doesn’t know about the elevator then isn’t it," Noah crooned as he flicked his cigarette butt out the window and dragged me across the console so that I was straddling his hips. "Or our nightly get-togethers… He might try to keep you away from me until your twenty-first birthday."
"He might," I agreed, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Thorn, you know what George returning means for me, right?" Noah whispered and my heart shriveled inside in my chest. "You know what I'll have to do for him…for her?"
I nodded slowly.
I knew what it meant. Noah would have to fight again and it put the fear of god inside of me…
"I don’t have a choice, Teagan," Noah added, noticing my sudden deflation. "You know that."
"I hate this," I told him, burying my face in his neck. I knew Noah didn’t have a choice, but that didn’t mean I had to be okay with George Dennis using him as a human punching bag. "I hate him."
"Me too, baby," Noah coaxed, pressing a kiss to my collarbone and I didn’t bother correcting him. "That's why I need you to not argue with Ellie." He let out a heavy sigh as he trailed his lips up my neck. "We don’t need to draw unwanted attention to…"
The driver's door flew open, causing Noah to trail off and me to yelp in surprise.
"So it's true?" Ellie sneered, holding the car door open, wrecking our private moment and boiling the blood in my veins. "You're with her now?" She looked at me straddling Noah and shook her head in disgust. "You idiot."
"Walk away, Ellie," Noah shot back in a tight tone of voice. "Now."
"You should take your own advice," Ellie hissed. "And walk away – from her."
"What the hell is your deal?" I snapped. Enough was enough and I'd taken all I could from Noah's skanky sister.
"Stay out of it, Thorn, I'm handling this…" Noah began to say but I shut him up with one look.
He had my hips clenched so tightly I had to physically remove his hands from my waist so I could climb off his lap and out of the car.
"No," I warned him in an even tone as I stood outside his car. "I may be your girlfriend now but I still have a mind of my own, so I will speak for myself, thank you very much."
Noah looked up at me with reluctant admiration shining in his dark eyes before nodding his head slightly.
"Well isn’t this a Kodak moment, L?" A familiar voice laughed. "Noah's breaking all of his rules these days." Reese walked over and stood beside Ellie glaring daggers at me.
"You’re telling me," Ellie replied coldly.
"Jesus fucking Christ," I heard Noah grumble as he got out of the car and came to stand beside me. "Come on," he husked, wrapping his hand around mine. "Let's get just leave."
"You know he'll get bored, right? You're just a fresh challenge for him," Reese sneered, flicking her red-hair behind her shoulder. She looked me up and down slowly before scrunching her small nose in distaste. "You're no different than me, Ellie, and dozens of others girls at this school."
Ouch…
"Wow," I replied, keeping my tone light and carefree even though I was anything but... "Thanks for the heads up and all, but you're kinda reeking of jealously, Rice." Shrugging I added, "It's a very ugly trait, you know."
"It's Reese," she hissed. "And you won't be so smug when you see what we've got…"
"Reese, let's go," Ellie interrupted, staring meaningfully at her friend before stalking off.
Reese's whole face lit up and without another word she rushed after Ellie.
"Let me guess," I sneered when the girls were out of earshot. "You slept with both of them?"
"Teagan…"
"She's his youngest child – daddy's little girl – there to do her father's dirty work and get all the staff on board…"
He was staff… "You slept with your own step-sister?"
"Did you take her virginity, too, or was that just me?" I hissed, feeling outrageously pissed. "And what about Reese and the dozens of other girls at this school?"
"Thorn, just calm down and listen to me," Noah coaxed, tugging me closer to him. "I never claimed to be a saint…"
"Don’t talk to me, you man-whore," I hissed. Breaking free from his grasp, I turned on my heels and stalked back towards the school.
"You're jumping to conclusions without hearing me out again," Noah growled as he chased after me and tried to hold my hand.
"I told you not to talk to me, slapper," I shot back, slapping his hand away. "And it's not so much jumping to conclusions as it is putting two and two together." The thought of Noah with any other girl, not to mention dozens, drove me freaking crazy. "Go run after your little brothel buddies," I hissed. "I'm done."
"Teagan…"
"Fuck you," I snarled.
"You already did that," he shot back.
"Go away, Noah." Ugh, jealously was an ugly trait and right about now I was bursting to the seams with it. "That's obviously why Ellie's been such a bitch to me," I hissed. "You're with her."
"I'm with you," Noah growled.
When Noah tried to grab my hand again, I swung around and pointed my finger in his face. "Back up, buddy," I warned. "I'm pissed as hell with you right so just respect my personal space."
"No," Noah snapped, stepping forward. He grabbed my hips and pulled me flush against him. "I won’t respect your space, because it's my space too."
"What the…?" I shook my head and began to protest, but Noah interrupted me by pressing a rough kiss to my lips.
"I'm either fighting with you or I'm fucking with you," he growled against my lips. "There's no middle line, Teagan. Not between us."
"But you slept…"
"I understand why you're mad, Thorn," Noah told me, snaking his arm around my lower back. "I do, and we can hash it all out later, but first you need to understand this."
Raising one hand, he clasped my chin and lowered his face to within an inch of mine. "There will be no storming off and breaking it off with me," he said slowly. "I've risked too much to fuck this up on a tantrum, so if you've got an issue, Thorn, you better raise it with me because you're not walking away from me."
"I wasn’t having a tantrum," I muttered sulkily. My cheeks were burning and I felt like a grade A idiot. "I didn’t have one…"
"There will be no break-ups," Noah continued, stroking my chin with his thumb. "In fact there will be no breaks of any fucking kind."
"We've been boyfriend and girlfriend for less than a month," I managed to choke out, my voice thick with emotion. "Don’t you think you're being a little full on?"
"We've been a lot more than this for a lot longer than that, Thorn," he husked, pressing a kiss to my lips. "You know it as well as I do."
I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck
Noah was right. I knew it too, and that knowledge scared me to death.
****
Max's face, when I climbed out of Noah's car after school, was one of pure unadulterated rage. He stood on our porch glaring down at us as Noah rounded the car and pulled me into his arms.
"Your uncle sure looks chipper this evening," he chuckled before pressing a kiss to my cheek.
"Yep," I replied with a sigh as I wrapped my arms around Noah's waist and hugged him tightly. I knew I was going to hear about this from Max but to be honest I really didn’t give a damn of what he thought anymore. I was quickly discovering the only thing I truly cared about was the boy whose arms were wrapped around me.
"I'll see you tonight, okay," Noah whispered, stroking my cheek with his thumb. "After he falls asleep…"
"I'll leave a key under the mat," I told him before reaching up and covering his mouth with mine.
When Noah eventually stopped kissing me and went inside his house, I remained standing in my driveway, staring at the front of his house.
I needed to help him.
I couldn’t sit back and wait for George to return and ruin his life all over again.
I needed to fight for Noah Messina just as viciously as he fought for his mom.
****