13. Noah
Chapter 13
Noah
My eyes opened with the sour smell of ammonia filling my nostrils. I waved a hand, and the nurse stepped back from the bed.
“Your blood pressure dropped there for a bit. How are you feeling?”
“Like I took a brick to the head.”
“Good thing you have a damn hard head. There’s no damage other than that gash and a few abrasions,” Abel said, scowling in the corner.
“Mara?”
He looked nervously at the curtained doorway.
I sat up.
“What happened?”
“Nothing, just lay there and relax, man. She’s fine.”
I knew my brother like the back of my hand. He was not only lying to me, he was full of shit too. I looked at the nurse and shook my head.
“Any chance you won’t lie to me?”
She smiled. “I know nothing other than the fact that if you get out of this bed, I have orders to strap you down.”
I groaned, letting my head fall back.
I couldn’t say how long I laid there, worrying about what they weren’t saying. That was until the curtains opened and the girls came in. They were not alone. Nick held onto Max, his hands cuffed in front of him. His grandmother was at his back.
“Noah…” Mara moved to the bed and hugged me. I closed my eyes, letting the feel of her against me relieve the tension in my muscles.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. I am now. They said you would be okay. Nothing broken, no internal bleeds, and from the looks of it, only a slight concussion. You’ll be back to your normal self soon.”
I motioned toward where Max stood, his face drawn.
“Max here and I had a nice long talk.”
“Mara Louise Lawson.”
“Oh no, you don’t. I will punch you, hospital or not. I was nice, dammit.”
“She was too kind if you ask me,” Max’s grandmother remarked. “Your wife was kind enough to come check on him after Deputy Stroud told her what happened.”
“I’m pissed, don’t get me wrong. If you were an adult, I’d have beat the stupid out of you,” Mara said, looking back at Max. “But, you are allowed one stupid mistake at thirteen. We’ve all been there.”
“Thirteen is the time to be stupid. What he did was reckless. If you’d have been anyone else, he’d most likely have been hurt badly or dead. Is that what you want, kid? Huh? Your grandma to get a call saying you’ve been fucking shot by the cops for being a dumbass?” Abel was moving toward him. Brenna put herself in his way, pushing him back.
Abel scrubbed his face hard.
Max stood there, his face wet with tears.
“Nick, get him to the station. For my part, I’m not pressing charges.”
“What?” Abel snarled at me.
I gave him a sharp look. “Everyone gets one free pass. This is yours, kid. Do not make me regret it. Nick, tell the Sheriff I will call him as soon as I can.”
“You’re an idiot, man. He could have killed you.”
“He didn’t. Let it rest, man. I know you’re upset, I am too, but beating down a kid who’s already had a shitty life isn’t on my bucket list for the year.”
Alarms started going off, and the nurse came back in, frowning. Once we were calm, I reassured them all again that I was fine. About an hour later, after my call with the Sheriff, I was discharged.
We left the hospital, went by Nick’s, and then went home; I needed to hold my daughter and wife tonight. Once I was inside, propped up in bed with Kelsey sleeping on my chest and Mara beside me, I finally started to relax.
Abel, however, was ready to go crazy. He and Brenna had left shortly after to go have a look around the shop. That clean-up was going to be a mess.
Abel
Six hours later, two of my shop windows had been boarded up, and the graffiti had been scrubbed from the outside walls. To say I was pissed was the catastrophic understatement of the century. We’d closed the shop, for the time being, until this shit show was resolved. My guys would be paid for the unexpected time off. They shouldn’t get fucked over because I was knee deep in shit.
“Hey, man. I’m going to go get some grub for everyone. Any requests?”
Thank god for my boy, Spencer. He has always been my number one guy, and I appreciated it so much. The dude had a past he wouldn’t talk about, meaning it was fucked up, but still had the heart to care about others. That said a lot.
“I’m good with whatever. Just make sure you bring caffeine for the wife, or she’ll have both sets of our balls in vises. Especially right now. Mommy is extra ragey.”
He laughed as he walked away, but knew it was the damn truth. This whole Willow and Leah fiasco had her on edge, and it killed me. She didn’t deserve any of it. When this was all said and done, I was taking her away, locking her in a hotel room, and I was going to fuck the rage right out of her. It was how we like to resolve our issues, and it was pure bliss.
“Abel, I need to wash up. I feel like a sweaty whore in church. It’s not a good time. Can you please come into the shop with me? I could use some help, getting those unreachable spots, if you know what I mean?”
That got me hard in two seconds. I scooped up my wife and carried her inside. When we reached the bathroom, I set her down on the toilet. Grabbing some hand towels, I started cleaning her face and arms, and she let out a little moan.
“Fuck me, babe. Did you plan this, you little minx? Hell, it doesn’t matter.”
I grabbed her freshly washed face and smothered her in kisses, like a starving man. It wasn’t a lie. I was starving. For my wife.
“I need you inside me now, Abel. Please.”
I peeled her shorts and panties off, as she unbuttoned my jeans, and I lifted her onto the edge of the sink. Yanking my rock hard cock out, I thrust into her, hard and fast. No time for foreplay today. We needed this connection. Raw and pure.
“Yes! Harder, Abel. Please.”
The back of her head slammed into the mirror, and it just ignited our fire even more. A little pain was our pleasure. Some people might think it was sick, but for us, it was ultimate euphoria.
She dug her nails into my ass cheeks, letting me know she was about to come. We always came together, so I thrust a few more times, as deep as I could get. We reached our orgasms together, as we went limp in each other’s arms.
“You. Are. Perfection.”
She kissed my neck and sighed. There was no other word that described her. Just perfection. As we cleaned ourselves up, I heard Spencer calling out for us.
“Hey, horndogs! This is your only warning. I’ve brought the food and caffeine. Clean yourselves up, and come on out. Don’t forget to wash your hands!”
Spencer was a germaphobe. Like, the worst one I’d ever seen. He probably covered his bed in plastic wrap before he did the deed with poor Cindy. I was sure she could tell us a story or two about our boy.
“Yes, Daddy. Wouldn’t want to leave my specimens lying around. I could use a hand, my man.”
Brenna smacked my arm as she walked by. I heard her apologize to Spencer for my stupidity, as he made very loud gagging noises.
“Hurry up, husband, or I’m eating your sandwich. Your Dr Pepper looks awfully delicious, too.”
She wouldn’t? Would she?
“Don’t you dare, you little foodie! Daddy needs nourishment, after what Mommy just did to him!”
Damn. The moment I got the look of death from Brenna, I knew I’d screwed up. She hated when I referred to myself as ‘daddy.’ In her words, it gave her the creeps. Yet, she was okay with being called mommy? I seriously didn’t get chicks at all.
“Shut it, Abel. Eat your food, so we can finish up here and go home. I’m mentally and physically exhausted from this day.”
I did as I was told because a nice long nap sounded awesome right now. I was still a little pissed that Noah had let that little jerk, Max, off with a warning and some community service. He was lucky my brother was a softie for kids. I wouldn’t have been so nice. I was sure once I cooled off, I’d see it his way, but not at this moment in time. Not after we’d just had to spend the whole damn day cleaning up the mess he and his buddies had made.
All the bullshit led right back to Leah and Willow. Who knew Willow was the crazier of the two? When Noah unloaded all her past and present shenanigans on us, I’d almost shit myself. The girls, of course, claimed they knew she was crazy. I called bullshit! They might have figured it out sooner than us guys, but they were still pretty shocked.
Brenna and Mara were ready to go balls to the wall on her, but Noah basically begged them to chill for now. We were waiting for her to hang herself. All I knew was, it had better happen soon. We could only hold Thelma and Louise back for so long, ya know?
“Hey, man. I think we may have a problem. I spy, through the front window, crazypants Willow is here. She’s just staring at the building with dead eyes. Should I call your brother, or do you think we can handle her on our own?”
I looked to where Spencer was pointing, and he was right. She was just staring at the front of the shop, like she was in some kind of a trance. She finally noticed Spencer and me watching her, and suddenly moved out of our eyesight. What the hell was she doing now?
“Hold up, zippy. You’re not going out there alone, guns blazing. I got your back, bro. Brenna, please stay inside. I beg of you.”
Spencer even made praying hands and his sad puppy dog face for her. Damn. I bet that won Cindy over all the time. As cute as he looked, begging and pleading? I wouldn’t say no to him, that was for sure.
“Fine. Only because you look so damn cute right now. Just know, if you guys aren’t back in here in five minutes, I’m coming out. Got it, bub? I’m timing you, so you better beat feet outside.”
We both knew she meant it, so we scurried out the door like little rats hunting down cheese. When we ran into Willow, she was messing with something in her hoodie pocket and looked like a mix of pissed off and excited. That couldn’t be a good combination, especially with Wacko the clown.
“Willow? What are you doing here? You know you shouldn’t be here. I’ve made it crystal clear, so has my brother, or didn’t you get the memo?”
Spencer squeezed my shoulder and that told me he wanted me to back off a bit. I guess it wouldn’t be wise to piss her off even more, since she already looked like she was ready to spit fire from her eyes at me.
“You’re always so cocky, handsome. That’s one of the things that makes me love you so much. I’m not here to hurt you; I just want to apologize. Seems I’ve been a very bad girl.”
I laughed in her face. I couldn’t help it. She’d been a bad girl? Really? No, she has been a bag of crabs on my fucking ballsack!
“Jesus, Willow. I think you surpassed bad girl status a long time ago. As for an apology? I think you owe Brenna one. Not me. You’ve put us through some fucked up shit these past few months. Don’t you get it? You need some professional help, darlin’.”
Spencer cleared his throat, and it got my and Willow’s attention. As we turned our heads in his direction, Brenna was standing next to him, quietly watching what was playing out in front of her.
“Just the girl I was looking for. I assumed you wouldn’t be too far away from MY Abel. So you and the Scooby gang figured me out, huh? It’s a shame because I was having so much fun.”
Brenna stepped towards her, and I saw what Willow was messing with in her hoodie pocket. I jumped in front of Brenna, but I wasn’t quick enough to completely block the bullet that was just shot at my wife.
“I guess I owe Brenna an apology, after all, but it won’t happen. She deserved this; why can’t you see that? Don’t worry, Abel, once she’s gone, we can finally be together.”
Spencer tackled Willow to the ground, and the gun flew out of her hands, letting off another shot as it hit the ground. He frantically yelled for one of the onlookers to call 911, while I was stunned into silence. I saw blood surrounding me, and I wasn’t sure if it was mine or Brenna’s.
Please, god, let it be my blood.