Chapter 4 #2
I feel Noah’s hand fall lightly to my waist. Whatever I say to Delia, he’ll be able to catch. And has he actually done anything? Why can’t they teach us what to do in these situations in high school instead of making us memorize the Pythagorean theorem?
“I’m great?” I shout at Delia. “This is fun!”
Dec leans down and kisses Delia’s neck. Her eyelids flutter.
“I’m so glad.” She shoves Dec off, giggling. “I think…I think I’m gonna go hang out at Dec’s for the night.” She gives me one last hard look. “Rose, I’m serious. Are you okay if I go?”
My heart is throwing itself around my rib cage. Truthfully, I wish she’d stay, but I don’t want to ruin her night.
“Go have fun! I’ll take the bus back.”
“You’re the absolute best, Rose.” Delia throws her arms around me. I close my eyes and squeeze her back. “I’m so, so happy they put me in your room,” she whispers. She pulls back with a Cheshire grin. “Have fun. I know I will. I’ll tell you all about it.”
And then she and Dec have disappeared into the crowd.
“I love this song.” Noah’s voice brushes against my ear. I fight the urge to jump away. He gently grips my hips and starts swaying them side to side. I count to one hundred before I can’t take it anymore. I whirl around.
“Um, actually, I’m gonna go home?” I wipe at the sweat pouring from my hairline.
“Already?” Noah’s face goes stony. “What the hell?”
“Sorry, I drank too much,” I say, backing away. “Plus I have an early class tomorrow, and, you know, first year, good impressions? I…Thanksforthedrink!”
I turn around and shove my way through the writhing crowd, clawing toward a hallway with an arrow pointed toward the back exit.
I burst out the door into the freezing, cleansing night, taking deep swallows of sweet, fresh air.
I’ve spilled out into an empty, narrow alleyway behind the club.
Full trash cans line the building, as well as a large recycling bin of empty alcohol bottles.
I don’t even care that I’m surrounded by trash. I’m blissfully alone.
Tears prick in my eyes, and I laugh with relief, doubling over. Now that I’m outside the Ballroom, I’m wondering if I was just being dramatic.
“Thought you were going home.”
My head snaps up. Noah’s walking slowly toward me, hands in his pockets. The cross on his arm twitches, his biceps flexing. Every hair on my body stands up. His footsteps are slow. Menacing.
“I…I thought this was the front exit.” I back up until my hands hit the doorknob. I try it, but it’s locked. Unfortunately, Noah clocks the motion.
“See.” He wipes a hand down his face. “That hurts my feelings. I’ve been nothing but nice to you all evening. I bought you a drink.” Noah’s getting closer and closer. There are no exits. “I called you pretty. And then you lie to me?” I’m pressed back as hard as I can against the door, shaking.
“I didn’t…” I gasp. “I promise I didn’t mean—”
“Shut up. My turn to talk now.” Noah’s smile is ugly. He grabs my wrist, and I scream. Noah’s fingers wrap around me, a squeezing grip grinding my bones—
Then suddenly, it’s gone.
Noah is somehow rolling around on the grimy asphalt, six feet ahead, struggling to get back on his feet.
I stop breathing. That’s impossible. How?
A shadow twists from the brick walls. In the space of a single blink, the towering silhouette of a man appears between Noah and me.
I can’t see his face, only the muscles rippling across the furious set of his broad shoulders, his long, rigid fingers curled into claws.
“You’re dead,” Noah shrieks when he’s back on his feet, staring down at his cradled wrist. “I’m gonna kill—” Noah looks up into the man’s face and immediately freezes. His jaw drops. His eyes bulge. His face turns the color of soured milk.
“If you ever touch her again,” snarls the man, and I sway on my feet because I know that voice. Deep, lush, dark, it’s a voice that haunts my bones, has haunted them for over a year.
“I w-won’t, I swear, I swear to god.” Noah scrambles away so violently, he slips on a wet puddle and stumbles again.
When Noah’s footfalls fade, the man rolls his shoulders, cracks his neck. His hair is thick, windswept. The color of the night sky.
I can’t blink, too afraid he’ll vanish. Please let this be real, I think.
I reach out a quaking hand.
“Get back inside.” He turns around, and there he is—no man, but a boy, the boy, the boy who saved my life.
“Now.” Even with his cold fury, his low, rich voice is making me dizzy.
I close my eyes, take a steadying breath.
When I open them, he’s already several strides away, his long legs carrying him almost out of sight.
“Wait a minute.” I sprint after him, and this time, I manage to snag his sleeve. As soon as I touch him, he jerks out of my reach. I don’t have time to nurse the sting. The boy has whirled around, is looming over me, his eyes a black storm. Slowly, he backs me up against the side of the building.
“You don’t get it, do you?”
“Don’t get what?” I whisper. I feel this sudden, inexplicable urge to trace my fingertips along the cord of muscle up his neck. To press myself against his lips.
Something flashes across his face, and he recoils. Pushing off the wall, he puts distance between us, turning his back to me.
“You’re lucky I was passing by.” He scrubs a hand across his jaw. “Go back inside. Before someone worse comes along.”
“Worse than you?” I say, breathless.
He pauses. Shakes his head. When his shoulders twitch, just the tiniest bit, I realize he’s breathing a laugh. There’s nothing pleasant about his amusement.
“Like I said, you don’t get it.” He glances over his shoulder, and I flinch at his expression. “There’s nothing out here worse than me.” He turns away again, and this time I know it’s for good.
Or it should be. I should listen to the terrified thrum of my heart. The ice in my veins. But I can’t help but try one last time.
“I know you,” I call after him. “Surely…surely you know me?”
He doesn’t break his stride, even a little. “Nah.” Doesn’t even turn his head when he shouts, “Never seen you before in my life.”
I blink once, and he’s already gone.