CHAPTER 37
BELLA
Country music fills the air as the band on stage sing a cover of Belong Together by Mark Ambor.
My hips sway to the beat, my body damp with sweat from all the dancing the girls and I have been doing all night.
Savannah has her arms loosely slung around Hunter’s shoulders as she drunkenly sings the lyrics to him.
Liv is sitting on Grayson’s lap, his hand secured protectively on her thigh as they watch from our table.
Daisy sways next to me as Killian and Noah stand on either side of our table, their eyes locked on us.
The two of them have barely spoken all night other than a quick greeting when we first arrived.
It’s weird, tense and quite frankly; it’s starting to piss me off.
From what Noah told me, my brother had given him his blessing.
Yet I haven’t missed the way his jaw ticks and he looks away every time Noah touches me in any way.
“He’ll come around,” Daisy says, her voice loud enough to be heard over the music.
I look at her, rolling my eyes. “I don’t care whether he does or not. It’s not his decision to make.”
She laughs, her hands finding mine as the two of us dance together.
The alcohol thrumming through my veins makes my body run hot and my hair sticks to the damp skin of my exposed back.
Daisy is completely sober, her face glowing in that way that only a pregnant woman’s would, but somehow, she’s managed to keep up with the rest of us the entire evening.
The song comes to an end, and I blow out a breath, dragging her off the dance floor and back to our table, only releasing her hand when we’re clear of the crowd and my brother steps forward to greet her.
I don’t spare him a glance, instead moving toward Noah who leans against the wall, his legs crossed at the ankles with my drink in his hand. I take it from him and smile.
“Thank you, baby,” I sing-song his words from earlier back to him, bringing the straw to my lips and sucking the cool liquid down as I watch his eyebrows raise in surprise.
“Baby?” he asks, lips tilted in a smirk.
I shrug, cheeks heating. “Thought I’d try it out.”
He pushes himself off the wall and steps towards me, his strong hands finding my hips as he pulls my body flush against his. “I like it.”
“You do, huh?” I ask, tilting my head back to look up at him.
“Mm-hmm,” he hums, leaning down to capture my mouth with his. I melt into his kiss, my body coming alive under his touch as he cradles my face in his hands and licks along the seam of my lips.
I open for him, allowing his tongue to tangle with mine as my arms come around his neck. I let my body weight fall against him and he stumbles back a step, breaking our kiss with a chuckle. “You’re drunk, baby.”
His hazel eyes twinkle with amusement under the dim light of the bar.
God, he’s so pretty.
I giggle up at him. “Am not.”
“No?” he asks, one brow raised.
I shake my head. “Nope.”
He laughs again, swiping a hair off my forehead and tucking it being my ear. “You’re not very good at lying.”
I open my mouth to respond but whatever I was about to say is swiftly cut off by a deeper, much colder voice. “Well, if it isn’t my whore of an ex and the man she was sneaking around with.”
Noah’s entire body tenses, his spine snapping straight as his eyes darken on the man standing behind me. I spin in his hold, sobering up quicker than I’ve ever sobered up in my life.
Sneaking around with? The only person here that was sneaking around was him.
Narrowing my eyes, I open my mouth to say just that when I’m cut off.
“Fuck off, Justin,” Killian says, coming to stand beside us for the first time all evening.
Relief floods me at the protectiveness in my brother’s tone.
I haven’t spoken to him since I sent him the text message to let him know I was staying with Noah, but the way his body slightly blocks mine lets me know that despite being pissed at me for whatever reason, he’s on my side no matter what.
Justin’s glassy eyes move from Noah, to me, to my brother, his face curling in a spiteful smile. “Ahhh, big brother, Killian.” He spits, the venom in his tone making me shrink back into Noah slightly.
He’s got that same crazed look in his eyes that he had that night, and I’m hit with the memories of his hands on my body, the cold bathroom countertop at my back as he tried to force his hand down my pants.
It’s ironic how only a few short hours ago, Noah had my body pressed against the bathroom counter as his hands moved all over my body in much the same manner, but I didn’t feel even the slightest amount of fear.
“How does it feel knowing your little sister is nothing but a used up, dirty little slut?”
The warmth from behind me disappears as Noah side steps me and moves towards Justin, his eyes burning with a fury I’ve never seen from him before. “The fuck did you just say?”
His fists clench at his side and I watch the movement as he advances on Justin, already knowing what’s about to happen. Before Noah gets the chance to swing for Justin, however, Grayson stands, blocking his path as he says something to his younger brother in a quiet voice.
Justin laughs, the sound sending chills down my spine as his eyes find mine through the space between the men. “How do you think big brother would feel about his bestie fucking his little sister at his birthday party only to forget about it come sunrise?”
My face drops at the same time my heart sinks low in my gut. My chest heaves with ragged breaths as my eyes find the back of Noah’s head. His entire body is tense, his jaw ticking as he glares at Justin.
“What?” Killian asks, his gaze trained on Noah.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” Noah spits, attempting to break free of Grayson and now Hunter’s – who’s taken up his other side – hold. “Let the fuck go,” he growls at his brothers.
They don’t.
Justin only chuckles, still looking at me. “That’s how much of a boring, unmemorable bitch you are.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Killian yells, his hands fisting in the front of Justin’s shirt.
“Ask him.” Justin nudges a chin in Noah’s direction and Killian’s head spins toward his friend. “Ask him how he took your sisters virginity and then forgot about it.”
Killian’s head rears back and snaps forward, connecting with Justin’s nose with a crunch that sounds around the busy room.
He stumbles back, a strangled cry leaving him as his hands fly up to his nose to catch the blood as it begins to pour. Killian turns his back on him, coming to stand in front of Noah.
“What. Is. He. Talking. About?” Every word is spoken between gritted teeth, his eyes a blazing inferno.
Noah simply straightens and turns his head, his eyes finding mine for the briefest of moments before he trains them back on my brother. But it’s in those split seconds that I see it.
Guilt.
Apology.
Betrayal.
All the breath is sucked from my lungs when his lips move and he confirms my suspicions, shattering my heart into a million pieces.
“I slept with her eight years ago. And when I woke up the next morning and realised what I’d done, I acted like I didn’t remember.”
Silence.
Nobody speaks for long minutes, and I stand stunned speechless as I stare at the man I’ve been in love with for weeks. At the man I no longer recognise.
“Well, isn’t that just the icing on the cake,” Justin cackles, breaking the silence, his voice nasally as his nose lays flat against his face at an unnatural angle. “He remembered it all along.”
Noah moves toward him again, Hunter and Grayson both snapping to attention to stop him, but it all happens in slow motion.
Another figure steps forward and in a blur of long black hair, a small fist flies through the air, connecting with Justin’s nose and I watch in shock as his eyes roll into the back of his head and he falls flat on his ass, his body hitting the ground with a resounding thud.
All eyes land on Liv as she shakes out her fist, her chest heaving with angry breaths as she stares down at the man on the ground.
“Fucking piece of shit doesn’t know when to shut his mouth,” she spits.
Despite the utter turmoil happening inside of me, my mouth drops open, the urge to laugh taking over.
“Fuck me,” Grayson shakes his head with a groan, releasing Noah as he rushes toward his fiancé, scooping her small body into his arms.
Me, on the other hand? I double over, my hands clutching my stomach as I laugh hysterically at the absolute fucking absurdity of everything that has just happened.
How can this even be real?
Noah fucked me and pretended to forget. Justin, my cheating ex-boyfriend and the man who tried to sexually assault me, just outed my oldest secret to everyone I care about.
My brother just broke said ex’s nose, and my best friend finished the job by knocking him out cold while Hunter restrains his brother dressed in a fucking tutu.
I’m aware of every eye in the room coming to land on me as I continue laughing, tears streaming down my face.
I laugh and I laugh and I laugh, until I can’t catch my breath and my hysterical laughter turns into choked sobs, and the tears rolling down my face fall faster until suddenly, I’m not laughing at all.
“Bella.” Somebody says my name, but it’s muffled by the deafening sound of my heart pounding in my ears. A hand grips my arms, lifting me from the floor before I’m clutched against a warm, solid chest.
“Get the fuck off her.” Another voice demands as I’m carried to the doors of The Dusty Boot.
“Not a fucking chance,” the other voice replies and it’s only when I feel the rumble against my face that I realise who it is that’s carrying me.
“Put me down,” I order, breaking out of the fog I was suffocating under.
Noah’s movements come to a halt, and he sets my feet on the ground in the parking lot. The moment I find my bearings; I push against his chest with all the force I can muster. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
CHAPTER 37
NOAH
I stumble back a step, my hands coming up to clutch my chest where Bella just shoved me.