Chapter 28
Noah
I woke up too hot.
The fact that I had Briar wrapped around me was the reason, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to move.
No matter what TV shows lead you to believe, waking up naked, under the sheets with a girl wrapped around you, especially if she has long hair and it’s spread over you, is uncomfortably warm.
I eased to the side, gently disentangling myself from my new favorite barnacle.
Then, like a creepy ass stalker, I watched her sleep.
Her freckles were more pronounced in the morning light, and she looked adorable.
Knowing how fearless Briar was, I don’t think she’d appreciate being called ‘adorable.’ I didn’t care.
Her hair was a wild tangle from last night, her mascara had smudged around her eyes, and I was pretty sure that was me that was on her chin. I licked my thumb, then gently rubbed it off. Just in case.
Her shoulders were slim, and in the morning light, I was able to look more closely at the small tattoo she had across her ribcage. A simple line of script that read, Only you can heal your hurt.
Who hurt her?
Fierce possessiveness raged through me, and I had to make an effort to pull myself back from waking her and demanding to know.
My reaction to everything about her kept catching me off guard.
I was angry about things that happened before I knew her.
That wasn’t something I’d felt before. I now understood how Dante and Dust had fallen for their girls so hard, so quickly.
Briar had gotten inside me and probably wouldn’t leave anytime soon.
Which was scary but also exactly what I wanted.
I mean . . . for all I knew, she thought this was a one-and-done, whereas I was already thinking of punching every guy who had ever hurt her. Or whoever looked at her again.
I picked up a lock of her dark hair. Its purple sheen was nice, but I wanted to know what her actual hair color was. Mason had dark-brown hair; was hers the same?
Thinking of Mason while lying naked in bed with his sister was not where my head needed to be. But I did want to know how the social media posts were being received, and my phone was in my suit jacket.
I got out of bed, snagged my boxers, and left the room without disturbing her.
Phone in hand, I looked around her kitchen. I don’t drink coffee, but I wanted to make her some and then realized I didn’t know if she did. There was a machine, but it looked so new, I wasn’t sure it had even been used.
I opted for a bottle of water from her fridge and sat down to scroll social media.
Two more posts last night, both inflammatory, both with hundreds of comments. More and more people were saying they knew someone or something had happened to a friend, and I wanted to DM them all for details.
I checked my messages next and had nothing from either of my friends, and one message from my brother.
Tate: I need to talk to you. Are you awake?
I sat up straighter and immediately called him. The text had come in the early hours of the morning.
“Noah?” He sounded groggy, like I woke him up. The fact that he’d been asleep helped ease my worry.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, moving to the kitchen window, which was furthest from her bedroom door.
“Brock Bronson.”
I rolled my shoulders back. Do not lose your temper.
“What happened?” I asked calmly, while my temper soared.
“Don’t overreact.”
Too late. “Just tell me.”
“I got in a fight with him.”
He could have said anything else, and my jaw wouldn’t have dropped as it did now. “He hit you?”
“No, Noah. I hit him.” Tate’s voice turned wobbly. “I’m suspended.”
“What the fuck do you mean you’re suspended?” I could feel the rage burning. “That prick has bullied you for years!”
“They said I was unprovoked and I just . . . I just laid into him.”
I was back on the couch, sitting down, my head not quite accepting what was happening.
“What? You?” I heard his sharp inhale. “No, no, don’t get excited. Tell me what happened. Exactly what happened.”
“Well, he’s been more of a dick to me than I told you,” Tate rushed on when he knew I was going to react.
“And I know you, Noah. You were going to come down here and swoop in and save your geeky little brother, and you have such a big future, I couldn’t let you risk it because I’m too weak to stand up to a bully like Bronson.
So,” he took a big breath. “I stood up to him.”
“You hit him!” I grinned; I couldn’t help it.
“Several times. I don’t think he was expecting it,” Tate said sheepishly.
I covered my mouth to stop my laughter. It wasn’t funny, but it was. “I’m so damn proud of you, kid.”
Tate sounded relieved. “Well, thanks. But I got suspended. So, maybe hold the pride.”
“Nah. You’re a rockstar, Tate. I mean, is he hurt? What are you suspended for? People fight all the time.” There was no way my little brother would have caused much harm; he would lose a fight with a wet paper bag.
“I broke his arm.”
“Holy . . . What?” I was back on my feet.
“I read about how the best way to break an arm is and how to make a clean break.” He let out a small huff of disappointment. “The book didn’t mention body-to-weight ratio, and I think I overcompensated.”
“You broke his arm by following a tutorial in a textbook?” If I sounded like I didn’t believe him, it was because I didn’t believe he had it in him.
“Yes.” He giggled. “I think that’s why I’m suspended. They said it was premeditated.”
“Was it?” I needed to know so I could defend him properly.
“No! Violence is never the answer!”
Says the guy who read how to break an arm and then carried it out on his bully. “Okay, I’m coming down. I’ll fix this.”
“I don’t think you can,” he said, sounding miserable. “They suspended me for a week. It will go on my record. You might make this worse. Because, you know . . .”
“Because I have a bad temper when my little brother gets fucked over?”
“Yeah. That.”
“Too bad. I’m coming. I have a friend who might be able to help.” Would Savvy know how to get out of this?
“You do?” he sounded more surprised that I had a friend more than I had on discovering he’d willingly gotten into a fight.
The bedroom door opened, and Briar came out wearing my shirt.
Jesus . . .
“Don’t sound so surprised,” I scolded him. “I’m a very popular guy.”
I saw her eyebrow raise, and I couldn’t hold back the smug feeling of satisfaction at seeing her so disheveled.
“I’ll talk to my friend Savvy. And Dustin said I could use his air miles. I’ll sort this out.”
“Noah—”
“Trust me, I will fix this.” I reached out to Briar, who took my hand and let me pull her into my embrace. “I’ll call you.”
I hung up and looked down at the woman in front of me.
“What’s happening?” she asked, her voice husky and still full of sleep. “What are you fixing?”
“My little brother got suspended for breaking his bully’s arm.”
She blinked a few times. “How?”
“He read a ‘how to’ guide, and carried it out.” I dropped a kiss onto her nose. “I’ll fix it, but first, let’s fix you. You look sleepy.” I walked her back to the bedroom. “I think you should be in bed.”
Briar gave me a look of protest, already shaking her head. “No. We’ve done enough bed.”
I kissed her neck, over her shoulder. “Have we? I dunno, I still feel like I need more.”
“Noah . . .”
“Shh.” I kissed her. “Let’s not pretend we’re not going to end up in here anyway.”
I got a look of resignation mixed with hesitation, and then she simply lifted my shirt over her head and got back under the covers.
“That’s my girl.”
I followed her, and the next time I woke up, she was standing at the foot of the bed, holding my phone.
“Fuck, what time is it?” I asked, rolling over. “Is that my phone?” I sat up. “Is it Tate?”
Briar was in leggings and a T-shirt. Her glare was enough to tell me it wasn’t Tate.
I sat up in bed. “Can I have my phone?”
She threw it at me, and it just missed, bouncing off my head.
“Why the fuck is my brother texting you?” she demanded, crossing her arms and looking like she wanted to remove my head from my shoulders.
“Is he?” I don’t know why I opted for vague. There was no vague reason why Mason Sterling would be texting me.
Briar marched to where my phone had landed and scooped it off the floor.
“Get up and meet me in there.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, turned, and strode to the door. “And put some fucking clothes on.”
I lay back in bed and stared at her ceiling. It was a light blue, reminding me of the team, and despite her temper, I got a thrill knowing she went to bed and woke up with the reminder of me above her.
“That’s the start of insanity right there,” I muttered as I got up. “Talk about a thin thread.”
I put on my pants, pulled my shirt over my head, and didn’t bother buttoning it as I padded out to the living room, where she was sitting perched on the edge of the couch looking ready to spring off it at a moment’s notice.
“What’d it say?” I asked her, picking up my bottle of water from this morning.
“Why don’t you tell me what it might have said?”
I laughed. “Honey, I’m good, but I’m not that good. Is he telling me I played well yesterday?”
Her look could kill. She might kill me.
“Okay, can I have my phone so I can see?” She threw it towards the end of the couch nearest to me. “Careful, I can’t really afford a replacement.” I picked it up and opened my app.
Mason: Everything’s working as we hoped. What’s next?
Huh. Vague but still not vague enough.
“Noah?”
I looked up and saw her fury. I could lie.
“Do not even think about bullshitting me.”
Or not.
“So you see—”
“You?” She was on her feet. “You’re the one posting on social media.”
“No.” Not yet.
“Do not lie to me!”
“I’m not. I haven’t posted anything.” I hesitated. “Yet.”
Her eyes were wide. “Yet?” She looked me over. “Mason? Mason is posting?”
She was right to sound doubtful; I was sure he was just as clumsy with social media as I was.
“No. Not Mason.”
She glowered at me. I could hear the wheels turning and then with a sigh, she sat down. “Hadley?”
I didn’t confirm it.
“You and Hadley?” Briar dropped her head into her hands. “And you got Mason involved?”
“To be fair, he kind of involved himself.”