Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Heart racing, I cling to Ryker’s shoulders as he slowly lowers my feet to the ground. It’s dark enough that I don’t think Noah or Marco have seen us yet, but the bright-yellow headlights of a passing car illuminate them with perfect clarity.
Every muscle in my body screams for me to run, but that would only draw more attention to the fact that we’re here in the first place.
“Come on,” my brother sighs, throwing his hands in the air. “Why are we still talking about this? I don’t need another fucking babysitter policing my actions.”
Stomach twisting, I take my first cautious step backward, tripping over my feet when Marco grabs Noah by the throat and slams him against the brick house.
“Fuck you, Noah Dunn,” he sneers, palm pressing into my brother’s windpipe.
I stop on a dime. Oh, hell no. Spitting mad and ready to tear Marco a new asshole for daring to lay hands on my brother, I take one seething step forward before Ryker grabs me by the waist and yanks me backward.
“ Wait ,” he hisses, tugging me to his chest and clamping a hand over my mouth. Unable to move my head, I can only stare straight ahead as Marco leans forward and brushes his lips against my brother’s with surprising tenderness.
Dumbfounded and slightly in shock, my body goes limp when Noah melts into Marco’s touch, smiling into the kiss as he runs his hands through Marco’s hair to pull him closer. The act is gentle and intimate—a far cry from the unpracticed movements of a fumbling first kiss.
“I hate seeing women draped all over you,” Marco says, nipping at Noah’s nose playfully. “If you don’t behave yourself at the bar, you’ll be looking for a new boyfriend in the morning.”
Boyfriend?
A jolt of pain stabs through my heart. Marco is his boyfriend ?
The rational part of my brain knows that who Noah loves and who he chooses to tell about it is nobody’s business but his. But the irrational part feels sucker punched by the idea that my own brother trusts me so little he thought he had to hide his relationship from me…
“We need to get out of here,” Ryker whispers against my ear, waiting for me to bob my head before removing his palm from my mouth.
Heart in my throat, I allow him to lead me toward the back patio, dragging my boots through the dead grass until we’re out of earshot. When my steps falter, Ryker turns to face me.
“You already knew?” My voice is small and quivers slightly.
“I did.”
“How long?”
Ryker’s lips press into a thin line as he clamps a hand on the back of his neck. “I’ve already fucked up so bad by not telling Noah about us. I’m sorry, Princess, but this is really a conversation you should have with him.”
I drop my chin. First Isabel, now my brother. Do none of the people I love trust me?
As if reading my thoughts, Ryker reaches out to cup my cheek. “ Noah not telling you has more to do with this small-minded fucking town than anything else. Give him time. Let him do this his way.”
A truck door slams in the driveway, and I turn as another dark figure enters the side yard, my blood chilling when his sharp voice cuts through the air like a blade.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Cooper Blackthorne spins his keyring on his pointer finger, his taunting laugh menacing and maniacal. “Looks like I might have some fun tonight after all.”
Heart thudding against my ribs, my entire body goes on high alert. Cooper rarely travels alone, which means any second now the rest of his idiot friends will emerge from the shadows and we’ll be outnumbered…
“Listen, Coop. This is getting sad,” Noah says, interrupting my doom-planning for how to keep Ryker out of this fight while also protecting my brother. Noah pushes off the wall, smoothing down his mustache. “I know you miss my cock, but that doesn’t mean you can show up here whenever you want.”
I blink, brain short-circuiting as I struggle to comprehend what I just heard.
“Why the hell not?” Cooper asks, taking a step closer to my brother while gesturing to Marco. “Because you’re with this asshole now? That’s bullshit and you know it.”
“I happen to be dating that asshole,” Noah bites back, his voice lower than I’ve ever heard it.
Behind him, Marco rolls his eyes, mumbling something under his breath that sounds a lot like “ thanks, babe .” Then he pinches his nose and sighs. “Looks like you two need to have a conversation. Noah, I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done.” He squeezes my brother’s shoulder before disappearing around the opposite corner.
Brows knit, I duck out of Ryker’s grip, keeping to the shadows near the wall while I inch forward.
Once Marco is out of earshot, Cooper shifts from one foot to the other, a hint of hesitation lacing his tone, almost like he’s embarrassed. “That asshole comes back to town and suddenly you’re done with me? After eight fucking years?”
Fire replaces the ice in my veins, immediate and all-consuming.
Eight years… They’ve been hooking up for eight years?
“Coop, come on, man,” Noah says, softening his tone. “I’ve finally got something good going for me and I won’t mess it up. You could have that too if you’d just?—”
“Don’t,” Cooper snorts. “I don’t need you or your advice. Especially when we both know you’ll come crawling back to me like you always do.” Cooper’s grin is calculating and malicious. “In the meantime, I heard Willa’s here tonight. Maybe I’ll go find out if she sucks dick as well as you do.”
Noah’s jaw flexes. “Don’t you fucking dare?—”
“Don’t what ?” Cooper sneers. I’m only ten feet away now, but with the two of them breathing down each other’s throats, neither seems to notice. “Don’t press you up against this wall and fuck you? Don’t shove my cock so far down your throat you can’t breathe? You like it rough. Always have. We both know no matter how hard Marco tries, he’ll never fill that need. I bet he’s still giving you shit every time you look at a girl, isn’t he? He’ll never fully trust you because he doesn’t understand how we can be attracted to both. He’ll never understand you , not the way I do.” Cooper’s voice cracks.
“ Coop ,” Noah warns, but then he brings his hand to Cooper’s neck, thumb rubbing his jaw with so much intimate familiarity it makes my chest hurt. “Come on, man. We were fucking toxic together. Sometimes love just isn’t enough.”
A hailstorm of emotions crosses over Cooper’s face. Then he clicks his tongue and slowly nods his head. “Fine,” he says coolly, ducking out of my brother’s grip before rolling up his long sleeves. “You don’t want to remember how good we were, let’s settle this like we used to when it was bad …”
Having heard more than enough, I close the distance in three long strides. Cooper’s eyes widen in surprise a millisecond before I ram my fist into his groin, throwing my full body weight into the punch.
He doubles over, a whoosh of air escaping his lungs in a soundless howl of agony at the same time bolts of white-hot pain shoot up my wrist—because of course I forgot to keep my damn thumb on the outside.
“Don’t ever threaten my brother,” I spit, bouncing from foot to foot while shaking out my hand to ease the sting.
Unable to stand straight, Cooper gives me the finger.
I stop bouncing, my head cocking to the side a split second before I bring my leg back and slam my knee into his face. A disgusting crunch echoes through the side yard and Cooper collapses to the floor, flailing in blind agony as bootsteps sound from behind me.
“God- fucking -dammit, Willa. That was even worse than the first time!” Ryker huffs, snatching up my hand and gently palpating my knuckles and bones to make sure they’re not broken. “This is exactly why you should have let me teach you how to throw a punch.”
I must pass inspection because his jaw hardens. “And you.” Ryker’s raven hair juts forward as he releases my hand to point a raging finger at my brother. “It’s fucking criminal that you haven’t taught her to fight. What’s wrong with you?”
Noah blinks. “Are you serious right now?”
“Fucking Dunns,” Ryker mumbles. “Y’all are gonna get me kicked out of the academy before I even start.”
He leans down to grab a whimpering Cooper by the collar, effortlessly maneuvering him up and over his shoulder before his gaze bounces between me and Noah. “I’m going to toss this asshole in his truck and call one of his buddies from the station to come pick him up. Figure your shit out by the time I get back.”
The moment Ryker disappears around the corner of the house, I ball my aching fist, pausing the tiniest fraction of a second to make sure my thumb is positioned correctly, and slam my knuckles into my brother’s nose .
His head snaps back, a delicious crunch cutting through the night air.
Wow. That really did hurt way less…
“What the hell was that for?” Noah snivels, blood leaking from his nostrils and dripping onto his shirt while he clutches his face.
“You’ve been sleeping with Cooper Blackthorne for eight fucking years ?” I jam my fingers into his shoulder. “You said you fucking loved him. After the way he’s treated me? How could you?” I seethe, chest heaving as I contemplate hitting him again.
Noah peers at me through his bloody fingers, eyes wide and horrified while the sharp tang of iron swirls in the air around us. “What are you talking about? I haven’t— I’m not?—”
I cross my arms, trying to keep my anger from dissipating at the slight way his voice wobbles—like he’s afraid of what I’ll think or say. “Noah, I heard your entire conversation.”
His jaw drops, eyes rapidly searching my face in the darkness. “Whatever you think?—”
“Save it.” I hold up a hand. “As far as I’m concerned, you can sleep with and date anyone you want to—anyone except the asshole who stole my first kiss, locked me in an incinerator, and basically told me to kill myself.”
“Willa, I…” His words trail off, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
Even though I’m riled up, there’s a small part of my brain that registers that outside of the Cooper betrayal, this is an important moment for us. No matter how mad I am, I need my brother to understand that my feelings about this situation are based entirely on Cooper being a monster.
“Please hear me when I say this: If I wasn’t so mad at you right now, I’d be telling you how excited I am for you and Marco. I will love and support you to the ends of the earth. I will destroy anyone who tries to stand in the way of you being happy with whomever you want to be with—as long as that person isn’t Cooper fucking Blackthorne.” Trying to keep my voice even, I take a deep breath. “Do you understand me? Anyone but him.”
My word choice hovers in the air between us like a line in the sand.
A beat passes. And then another.
Until, in slow motion, Noah’s blue-gray eyes meet mine. “Anyone but him?” he repeats, eye twitching and voice hard as iron. “Why does that sound so familiar?”
Shit .
A sticky coating of guilt threatens to extinguish the anger raging in my chest, but it quickly turns to ash. While he’s not exactly wrong, it’s not the same thing. Ryker was never his tormentor. And Noah doesn’t actually know that anything happened between us. Instead of apologizing and taking ownership of what a betrayal this is, he’s just looking to spin it on me.
What a joke.
“That’s what you have to say?” I shake my head. “You know what, Noah? Go fuck yourself.”