Page 110 of Love to Hate You

Chapter Thirty-Four

Daisy

“Yeah, sure.” Carter nods and gives my fingers another squeeze before releasing them. “Where do you want to go?”

“Not you,” Noah snaps and stabs a finger in my direction. “I want to talk to her.”

“What?” Carter’s brows jerk together as he glances at me in surprise.

I’m just as thrown by the request. “Me?” I place a hand on my chest to clarify. “You want to talk with me?”

Noah’s scowl intensifies. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him this angry. He looks ready to bust a nut.

“Yeah, you.” He jerks his head toward my room. “Let’s go.”

I catch Carter’s gaze and shake my head in confusion. “Um, okay.”

This isn’t the way I saw the conversation unfolding. Noah stalks to my bedroom and I trail after him before closing the door. I knew he would be mad. My cousin has always gotten bent out of shape when his friends or teammates looked sideways at me. So, this reaction was to be expected. Although I’d assumed he would want to have it out with Carter, not me.

But maybe this is for the best. Maybe I can diffuse the situation so that it doesn’t continue to spiral out of control. The last thing I want is for Carter and Noah to be at odds with one another.

“I’m sorry about keeping this from you,” I say. “We never—”

“You and Carter aren’t happening and that’s all there is to it.” He folds his arms across his chest and glares.

Me being with any of Noah’s friends would go over like a lead balloon, but the fact that it’s his best friend makes it even worse.

I moisten my lips and try again. “Noah, let me explain—”

Refusing to listen, he shakes his head. “There’s nothing to explain, because you’re going to end things with him now before it goes any further.”

Surprised, I blink at the fierceness of his tone. “Look, you have every right to be upset.”

“You’re damn right, I do,” he bites out.

My fingers twist together in front of me. “But I don’t want you to be pissed at Carter. He didn’t do anything wrong. This was all me,” I admit.

Noah frowns and his fists clench at his sides. “I never thought otherwise, Daisy.”

My brows draw together. “Wait…What?”

“Carter would never go after you.”

There’s no denying that Noah is angry that Carter and I are together, but his ire doesn’t seem to be directed at his friend. It’s directed at—

“Wait a minute.” I draw up to my full height and press a hand against my chest for a second time. “You’re angry with me?”

Noah rolls his eyes. “Yeah, Daisy, I am.” He jerks his hand toward the door. “What the hell are you doing?”

Have I entered The Twilight Zone? Because nothing he’s saying makes sense.

I shake my head to clear it before muttering, “I don’t understand…”

Noah growls, “Carter isn’t like the other guys you mess around with.”

I huff out a frustrated breath. “That’s not what’s going on here.”

What Carter and I have is so much more than that. This relationship might be new, but already I can tell that my feelings for him run deep. Maybe they always have, and I was just too stubborn to see it.

---