Page 86 of It Was Always You

"I guess I better leave you with something else then." He pulled me against him and kissed me one more time.

I let myself lean into him, still not believing this was real.

"What's going on here?" My dad's voice cut through the air.

Oh crap!

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!

I slowly turned to face my dad, knowing the guilt on my face would make him doubt anything I said next.

"It's not what it looks like, Dad," I hurried to say, stepping away from Noah, hoping that if I moved fast he'd have less time to imprint the image of me and Noah kissing in my closet into his mind.

"You need to get out of here now, Noah!" My dad stepped into my room, looking more threatening than I'd ever seen him before.

"I promise this is not what it looks like, Dad." I stood in front of Noah as if that would protect him from my dad. "I was just giving him back his shirt."

"His shirt?" My dad looked incredulous. "What in the world do you have his shirt for? What have you two been doing together?"

He stomped closer to Noah, and the look on his face had me worried about what he might do.

From what he'd just seen and heard, he probably thought his worst nightmare had come true.

"I promise I didn't do whatever it is you're thinking," Noah said.

"What I just saw was more than enough. You are never going to step another foot in this house again. You hear me?" He gripped Noah's arm and yanked him away from me, catapulting him toward my door. "I warned you to stay away from my daughter, and this is what youdo? I knew better than to let Easton be friends with you."

Noah glanced at me, his expression pained, before going into the hall with my dad on his heels.

I chased after them. "I was helping him out! If you would just listen, I could explain."

My dad looked over his shoulder at me. His face was red, and it looked like his vein was about to pop on his forehead because it was so pronounced right now. "Oh, I'll bet you were helping him out. I know exactly what kind of guy he is. This isn't the first time I've had my daughter taken advantage of by an older boy."

We were in the living room now. Noah grabbed his coat from the closet and shrugged into it like he couldn't get out of here fast enough.

"Is this why you had me fix your window last night? So you could sneak that...that..." He pointed at Noah like he couldn't even bring himself to say his name. "That boy into your room?"

"We didn't do anything. He just slept in my closet."

I clamped my mouth shut, and from the look Noah gave me I realized that I'd said too much.

My dad gritted his teeth. "You need to get out of here, Noah." He pointed to the door behind him. "Now!"

Noah looked like he was debating on whether to leave or not, but a moment later he sighed and put his hand on the door handle.

But before Noah could make his escape, Easton appeared at my side.

"What's going on here?" he asked Noah.

"I have to go," was all Noah said, not looking anyone in the eyes as he pulled the door open.

"Wait," Easton said, stepping past my dad and putting his hand on Noah's shoulder. "You forgot your phone. I looked at the screen and you missed a few calls from your sister."

Noah's eyes went wide as he took his phone. Panic rose to his face and he disappeared out the door.

Was something wrong with his sister?

I wanted to chase after him to find out.

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