CHAPTER THIRTY
NOAH
Strolling onto campus with Dominik at my side gave me a heady rush. His hand was warm in mine, holding tight like he never wanted to let go. I knew the feeling.
Even though most people didn’t look twice at us, a few took note of our coziness.
I wanted the whole world to know that Dom was mine.
He got inside me, taking hold. I didn’t know where this might go.
I only knew that I had to find out. Nobody brought me alive the way he did.
This man lit a fire inside me every time he looked at me.
No way in hell was I giving that up without a fight.
Once we got inside, I insisted on walking him to class before parting ways. I wasn’t ready for that yet. As we walked by a group of cheerleaders, a short brunette spotted our joined hands and muttered, “Damn. Too bad.”
I loved the thought of having nabbed the man she wanted all for myself. Eat your heart out, bitch.
When we reached Dom’s classroom, Stray and Codie lingered in the hall outside, engaged in their own little makeout session. Not giving a damn who saw. They pulled apart as we walked up. Stray took in the sight of Dom and me together, a large grin spreading over his face.
“About time you two stopped screwing around and finally made it official,” he said. “I called this a long time ago.”
“Yeah yeah.” Dom gave him a playful shove. “No need to bust my balls about it. You’ve done enough of that.”
“You guys are so cute together,” Codie gushed.
Dom rolled his eyes, ready to get the hell away from these two. “And on that note, I’ll catch up with you later, Noah.”
“I have an hour between classes at twelve thirty. Meet me?” I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. I kind of liked Stray and Codie’s reaction.
“Sure. I’ll text you when I’m on break.” There was a moment of hesitation when I thought Dom would simply walk away. He surprised me by going in for a kiss. Lingering long enough to slip me a little tongue.
“Is it weird if I found that hot?” Stray chuckled, grunting when Dom punched him in the shoulder.
The two of them headed into the class they shared while Codie and I went our separate ways to our own classes.
My mood was light. I felt incredible today.
Even after Damon had expressed his doubts to me this morning.
He didn’t have to share my feelings toward Dom and me. I already knew he was the one.
Taking a computer science course required a lot of attention and focus.
As I tried to work, I found my mind drifting back to Dom.
To the night we’d shared. I couldn’t wait for more.
Something told me that Project X wasn’t going to make it easy for us to have our blissful happiness.
Not without more violence and bloodshed first.
When I got out of class, Damon was waiting in the hall for me. He leaned against the wall, watching a group of girls walk by. He glanced up at my approach.
“Hey, man. I just wanted to apologize for this morning. I should’ve been more supportive.” He fell into step with me as we walked down the hall.
“I get it. If the roles were reversed, I’d probably feel the same way. I think this is a good thing though, Dom and me. Maybe now there can be peace between us and the Kings.” I didn’t want Damon to feel excluded. Like I was making arrangements with the Kings without him.
He rubbed his arm, the arm the Kings had broken. “Peace wouldn’t be a bad thing. If you think that’s possible. Have you considered what might happen if things go badly between you and Dom?”
“Nope.” I vigorously shook my head. “That’s not an option. Not for me. There’s something about him, Damon. I can’t explain it. We have this connection. It’s powerful. I refuse to believe this will end badly. I refuse to believe it will end at all.”
Damon let out a whoosh of breath. “That’s pretty heavy. I hope for your sake that you get what you want. If he makes you happy, then I’m happy for you.”
“What about you?” I asked, dodging a girl who was too busy staring at her phone to notice she almost walked into me. “What would make you happy?”
Damon ran a hand through his black hair, giving his head a shake. “Hell if I know, dude. If I figure it out, I’ll fill you in.”
Since Damon’s former girlfriend had cheated on him with multiple men two years ago, he had yet to date seriously.
He’d been bitter for a long time. Understandably.
He seemed to take it out on other women.
Using them for a good time before tossing them aside.
A real fuck boy mentality. I figured he just had to meet the woman who could put him in his place and bring him to his knees.
We turned the corner, almost colliding with Storm and Athena. Their chatter cut off as Athena jerked back to avoid crashing into Damon. She fumbled her phone, swearing as it fell from her hands.
Damon managed to catch it before it smashed onto the hard floor. He shoved it into her hand, snarling, “Watch where you’re going next time.”
He continued on without a glance back. Refusing to take his attitude, Athena called after us, “Maybe you should watch where you’re going, dick.”
No wonder Damon had such a bad rep with the women around here. He went out of his way to be a supreme asshole.
“That was nobody’s fault,” I said. “Maybe you should tone down the attitude a little.”
He scoffed, giving me a look that said I didn’t get it. I held up both hands in surrender. Whatever. It wasn’t my problem.
My phone went off then with a message from Dom. Can you meet now? Outside by the picnic tables. Rebel is calling an emergency meeting.
“Something must be up,” I said to Damon. “Everyone is gathering outside. We should go too.”
The rest of the Kings had already gathered when Damon and I walked up. I couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated. There were five of them and two of us. They’d proven themselves to be the greater threat over the years. Dom and I having a connection didn’t change that.
The five of them stood in a circle. They opened up enough space for the two of us to join. I stepped in next to Dom, feeling a weight lift inside me at the sight of him.
“We have serious trouble,” Rebel said, getting right to the point. “Project X just burned down our church.”
“What the fuck?” Auryn gaped at him in surprise.
“How do you know?” Damon asked.
Rebel pulled out a small cylindrical container of joints and lit one up. “I saw it on the cameras we have hidden around the graveyard’s perimeter. It happened fast. We never would’ve got there in time.”
“Obviously, they’re trying to send a message,” Casper signed. “Now we have to send one back.”
I found myself leaning into Dom’s warmth, enjoying the way he felt next to me. He surprised me by taking my hand. Rubbing his thumb over the back of mine. I saw the way Casper’s gaze fell to our hands, his brow furrowing.
“We can operate just fine without the church,” Dom said, his shoulder brushing against mine. “I’m not sure what they were hoping to achieve, but whatever it is, it isn’t going to work.”
“It feels like a power-play. Like they want us to wonder where they’ll hit next. We can’t give them the opportunity to come after us on the streets or in our own homes.” Rebel passed the joint around the circle. His jaw was hard set, his eyes filled with anger.
“So we need a plan.” I glanced at Damon to make sure he was on board with this. “We need to hit them before they hit us.”
There was a moment of quiet as we all glanced around the circle at each other. Finally, Auryn said, “So that means this is us now? The seven of us?”
Rebel looked straight at me. “You two are together.”
It wasn’t a question. Knowing that he directed the statement at me instead of Dom for a reason, I nodded. “We are. I hope that’s cool with the rest of you, but if it isn’t, I really don’t give a fuck. I’m here to help take care of Project X regardless. You can trust Damon and me.”
“But can we trust you with Dom?” Casper signed, taking a menacing step forward. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that if you hurt him, I hurt you.”
Dom held up a hand, gently pushing Casper back.
“Easy there, big guy. Let’s not go there right now.
I appreciate you looking out for me. Really.
I know there’s a lot of bad history here.
All we can do now is move forward. Start a new chapter.
To do that we have to give Noah and Damon a chance to prove themselves”
“Fine with me,” Rebel said, getting back to business. “So here’s the plan. Damon and Noah will reach out to Project X. They will tell X that they’ve decided to join them in their war against us. They’ll ask to meet up. When they do, the rest of us will be there.”
“And if Project X anticipates such a move?” I asked. I was more than willing to play my part, although I wasn’t sure Garrett and his followers would fall for that.
Rebel seemed annoyed, not with me, but with the entire situation. With an exasperated sigh, he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. “Then we track them down and ambush them. Total annihilation. Whatever it takes.”
“I’m pretty sure I can convince them,” Damon spoke up. “Leave it to me. When do you want it to happen?”
“As soon as possible. Get them to meet in a private location. Somewhere without witnesses.” With that, Rebel dismissed the rest of us.
We all headed back inside, eager to get out of the cold. I held onto Dom as long as possible before we were forced apart. I still had another class to get through. One I would now be late for.
Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined we would join the Kings in any way. This was a necessary partnership. A way for me to prove that I was done with conflicts of the past. My focus was on the future now. And that future was Dom.