Chapter 19 #2
“I’m giving you an extra twenty-four hours.” He points at Noah. “If you don’t pay up, even your girlfriend won’t be able to bail you out.” With that, he reels around and storms off with his lackeys hauling after him.
Great. I have a plummeting feeling in my gut that a rumor will be whirling around school that Noah and I are dating.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Noah mutters once the guys are out of sight.
“I think you meant to say you’re welcome.” I bend down to scoop up a phone that’s lying on the ground. “Is this yours?”
He takes it from me and shoves it into his pocket. “It must’ve fallen out when I tripped over the bench.” His chest rises and falls as he huffs out a breath. “I’m so screwed.” He reaches up, drags the hood of his head, and yanks his fingers through his hair.
“Why?” I wonder, shifting my weight.
“Don’t worry about it.” He starts to walk away.
I snag a hold of the sleeve of his jacket. “You owe me an explanation because I have a feeling that what I just did is going to come back to bite me in the ass.”
His eyes search mine, and then he sighs. “I was supposed to sell them something, but I couldn’t get the merchandise.”
“What? Like steroids?”
“No,” he responds too quickly. When I lift a brow, he anxiously scratches the back of his neck. “It’s not steroids, but another type of performance drug … How did you even know it was about that?”
“Lucky guess,” I reply. “But mostly, it was because the auburn hair guy looked like a wannabe athlete.”
“That auburn-haired guy’s name is Daniel, and he may look like a wannabe athlete, but Greyson—the big dude—is on the boxing team, so Daniel could’ve had mine or your ass kicked.
I think he just backed off because you’re a girl.
” He pulls an apologetic face. “Sorry, that probably sounded sexist. I just meant that most guys don’t feel comfortable hitting girls. ”
“You’re fine,” I assure him. “And maybe most guys around here don’t, but on northside, they do.” My mind drifts back to the night I was arrested when Drew and his friends jumped me. God knows what would’ve happened to me if the police hadn’t shown up. Then again, I was arrested, so …
“How come you came up short?” I wonder. “I mean, with the steroids? And why are you even dealing, anyway? Because I’m guessing you don’t need the money.”
He wavers, fidgeting uncomfortably, heavy reluctance flowing from him.
“You owe me,” I remind him again. “So, come on; tell me your story, bro.”
His gaze slides to mine, and his eyes are sparkling with shocked surprise. “You’re extremely pushy.”
“And you’re being extremely cagey. Which, whatever, I really don’t care. But like I said, I just put myself on the line for you, and I’d like to know why.”
He blows out a breath, his lips parting, “When I was in high school—”
“Maddy?” River’s voice cuts through the moment as he walks toward us from the direction of where I was heading before I decided to intervene with this guy’s drama.
He’s wearing a pair of dark blue running shorts, a blank top, and running sneakers. His dark eyes shift from me to Noah, and he literally stops in his tracks. He blinks a few times then continues toward me.
“What’re you doing?” He directs his question to Noah.
“Standing here, talking to Maddison,” Noah replies in an even tone.
“No, I mean, why are you even out here?” Noah stops just short of him. “You don’t usually get up this early.”
“There’s a first for everything,” Noah tells him while pulling his hood back over his head. “Chill, I was just out for a walk. And now I’m going to go get ready for class.” With that, he walks away, his gaze sneaking in my direction.
I give a look that warns him this conversation isn’t over.
“What was that about?” River asks when Noah is out of earshot. “I can tell Noah was lying through his teeth.”
“Maybe you should talk to him about it,” I suggest. “I don’t want to get caught in the middle of this.”
He wavers, rubbing his lips together as he studies me. “Just be careful around him, okay? He always comes off nice initially, but there’s more to Noah than what he shows people.”
“All right.” I’m surprised he’s letting this go so easily. “Sorry I’m late for our practice session. I was on time, I promise. But I got distracted with … well, you know.”
“You’re fine,” he assures me as we walk up the path toward the track. “I always add ten minutes onto any time I give someone to meet me. I do it mostly out of habit because Finn is always late.”
I smile at that. “I saw him in the hallway, running late because he forgot his water bottle.”
“He’s good at forgetting stuff, too.” He smiles as we reach an iron gate. “And is slow to respond to text messages.”
“What’s he good at then?” I wonder as he grabs the gate handle and pulls it open.
“Flirting, football, pretending he doesn’t give a shit when he really does.” He walks through and lets the gate swing shut behind him. “He’s a good guy, though. A bit flakey, but he can be a good friend if you don’t mind dealing with that.”
“I can be flakey sometimes, too. But that’s mostly because I’m not used to having obligations. Well, except for track and school. Those are choices, though.”
“Your parents don’t give you any rules?” He treads cautiously as we stop on a grassy section beside the track. Beside one of the few benches nearby is a green bag and a jacket lying on the ground.
“My mother had one rule for me, and that was not to be seen or heard. If I obeyed that, everything was peachy.” I set my bag down beside his.
“Of course, when I got older, she changed the rules and wanted me to be seen and heard while I was talking to her. You got a glimpse of that while I was in jail.”
He rubs his hand. “What about your dad?”
My heart rate increases at the mention of my father, because not only is he a terrible man, but he’s the root of most of the problems weeding my life right now.
“You know, you don’t need to talk about him if you don’t want to,” River says, as if reading my emotions.
“Thanks.” I shake off the anxiety creeping up on me and plaster on a cheery smile.
“So, what exactly are we doing on this fine, sunny morning?” I peer up at the sky and note dark clouds looming in the distance.
“Or I guess I should say a partly sunny morning that has the potential to get all stormy.”
“Don’t tell me the girl who handed Finn his ass while we were all in jail is afraid of running in a little bit of rain,” River teases me with a grin.
Holy hell, this is the first time I’ve seen his teasing grin, and it is absolutely gorgeous. I manage to keep a level head, though.
“I did hand him his ass, didn’t I?”
Laughter slips from his lips. “You really did.” He walks over to the green bag and opens it up.
“I’m pretty sure no girl has ever smarted off to him like you did.
” He takes out a bottle of water. “You should have heard him on the way home. He was rambling about it the entire way.” He tips his head back and takes a long swig before dropping the bottle back into the bag.
“Well, then I guess that night wasn’t an entire loss because that makes me kind of happy inside.
” I waver. “Although, weirdly, even though my mother blew off bailing me out, someone else did. So, I guess that’s a positive, too.
Being in jail definitely wasn’t.” An idea occurs to me, one that’s a long shot, but it’s worth trying.
“When you guys got bailed out, you didn’t by chance see or hear some rando there mentioning my name and giving the cashier lady some money for my bail, did you? ”
He shakes his head. “Why?”
“Because the person who bailed me out wanted to remain anonymous, which is not only driving me crazy, but it’s so weird.
Nothing good like that ever happens to me.
” I hold up a finger. “Again, I’m not referring to being in jail as a good thing, but someone bailing me out with no strings attached is definitely not something that ever happens to me.
And I’ve been in jail a couple of times. ”
“Really? For what?” he asks curiously as he grabs the neck of his tank top and pulls it off.
I try not to stare at the lean muscles carving his arms, but wow … just wow.
I tear my gaze off of him. “Fights, mostly. They weren’t started by me.” I slip my fingers into the hem of my sweatpants and pull them down. Then I shuck off my hoodie
This is the first time I’ve worn clothes that put my tattoos on display, and his eyes rove all over me as he takes in the ink curling up my upper thigh, a series of intricate lines and shadings that form a wolf with a moon and tear drop.
I also have another one on my shoulder of a raven with purple-tinted feathers and flowers trimming it.
“So, are we going to work out, or are you just going to stand there and gawk at me?” I tease.
He blinks at me, his cheeks flushing. And holy hell, I never thought a blushing guy could be hot, but on River, the look is.
“Sorry.” He gives a slight shake of his head, as if attempting to shake whatever thoughts he was having out of his mind. “I’m just not used to seeing tattoos on … well, anyone really.”
“Rich people don’t get tats?” I question with a cock of my head.
“Not really,” he replies. When I continue to stare at him, confuddled, he tacks on, “Many of our parents view tattoos as like a gateway drug to becoming troublemakers that will tarnish their family’s name.”
I snort a laugh. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Agreed.” He leans over to stretch, and while he’s not paying attention, I check out the lean muscles that line his back. The moment he straightens, I divert my gaze to the ground and hurry and go into a stretching pose.
Seriously, can I be any more obvious?
Facepalm.
River doesn’t remark on what happened, so perhaps he didn’t see me.