Teagan
School was torture for the next month. Most of the students ogled me and whispered about the parking lot incident. I ignored their stares as best I could, managing to keep my head down and, surprisingly, my mouth shut.
I couldn’t count the number of times I had a phone shoved in my face over the past few weeks – the video of me whacking Noah with a guitar was a huge hit.
One guy even had the balls to ask me for an autograph. Apparently half the school had labeled me a badass for taking on the infamous Noah Messina and the other half had labeled me bat-shit crazy. To be fair, I was probably a bit of both.
Loner personified was my latest coping technique and the only person I felt comfortable being around anymore was Hope – who had been a noble friend by not mentioning any of my prior satanic antics.
But the memory of Noah on Halloween night caused my body to break out in a hot, muggy sweat. Weeks later and I was still reeling. He'd kissed me and then destroyed my guitar before putting his fingers inside my body…
"I'll do more than just put my fingers inside you..."
I felt like I was splitting in half because when I thought of Noah my brain raised huge, giant, enormous red-flags, but my body…my body was all kinds of slutty when it came to thoughts of Noah.
I managed to stay out of trouble for the next month – that was until I walked outside for gym class – minus Hope, who faked a headache to get out of class – and caught sight of someone who made my blood boil and my heart race.
Noah was standing at the edge of the field with a string of girls swarming him. He looked like his usual annoying self, showing off his tattoos in a gray sleeveless shirt, his muscular legs on display in a pair of gym shorts, and the wolf tattoo on his leg looked fiercer than ever.
Noah was giving one particular brunette his undivided attention as he stretched his arms over his head and smiled down at her.
Jealousy flowed through me and I balked.
What the hell was I feeling?
I wasn’t jealous.
I hated him.
Layton, who had come to stand beside me, noticed my tension. "You okay, Teagan?"
I looked up at Layton and saw nothing but affability in his golden eyes. "Do you think I'd get off on diminished capacity if I killed him?"
"Ignore him," Layton chuckled, wrapping his arm around my shoulder as he led me onto the field. "He's not worth getting upset over."
Noah, as if he sensed we were talking about him, looked our way and the look in his eyes was of pure rage.
"Yeah, I'm just going to…" I mumbled, letting my words trail off and I broke into a run, silently thanking the heavens above it was track today. A nice isolated sport and I was fast.
When Coach blew his final whistle I was the first one off the field and into the locker rooms. I showered and dressed in record time, desperate to get out of the hellhole and avoid confrontation.
As I passed the door of the boys' locker room a huge body stepped out, blocking my exit.
"What do you want?" I hissed, looking up at Noah with narrowed eyes.
"We need to talk," he replied harshly as he crowded me, invading my personal space.
"No, we don't." I tried to shoulder past him, but Noah grabbed my elbow and pulled me down the hallway before shoving me into the small alcove behind the bathrooms.
"You just don’t learn, do you?" Baring my teeth I made a snapping gesture and backed further into the alcove – basically backing myself into a corner.
Space was limited and Noah was taking up most of it. "You know I have a tendency to bite when threatened by repulsive creatures," I told him as I pressed my hand against his chest and tried to claim back some of the space he was taking up.
Noah grabbed my forearm and held it roughly to the wall above my head, as he stepped even closer to me, his face mere inches from mine. "And you know what I'll do if you bite me again," he snarled. "So shut the hell up and listen to me for a second."
"You shut up," I shot back petulantly.
Noah shook his head and exhaled impatiently. "I want to make it clear to you that I wasn’t the one who broke your guitar."
"Whatever, Noah," I snapped, chest heaving. "I heard what you said – you seem attached to that thing." I did a terrible impersonation of his voice before rolling my eyes and glaring into his furious looking eyes. "I know it was you."
"I kissed you, Teagan," he spat, his tone incredulous. "Why the hell would I break your guitar if I ...fuck," he growled as he looked up to the ceiling before glowering down at me. "You're the biggest fucking headache I've ever dealt with."
"Because I kicked you in the balls, that's why you would break it." Shaking my head, I planted my free hand on his chest and glared at the man beast in front of me. "And as far as headaches go there's not an aspirin on this bloody continent strong enough to handle a pain in the brain like you."
Noah stared at me for what felt like an age before nodding stiffly and stepping away from me.
"Just so you know," he sneered as he ran a hand through his thick black hair. "Ellie did that to your guitar. Not me."
My eyes narrowed. "Like I'd believe you…"
"I don’t give a damn what you believe anymore, Thorn," Noah spat before turning his back on me. "That's the truth."
****