Page 87 of It Was Always You

"Don't even think about going after him." My dad shut the front door and blocked it.

"But I need to know if everything is okay," I pleaded.

"I think you need to be more worried about yourself than that boy. But if you can't, I'm not above getting a restraining order."

"What are you guys talking about?" Easton asked.

"I caught your sister kissing Noah in her room. Turns out he's been sleeping in her room."

"My closet, Dad! There's a huge difference there."

"You are so naive, Lexi! Can't you see that he was using you? It starts out with the closet, then once you're comfortable, it's your floor by the closet, and then pretty soon he's in your bed. Does thatpurity ring on your finger even mean anything anymore?"

"Of course it does, Dad. I didn't do anything wrong! I'm not Maddie!" I shouted. Why wouldn't he just listen to me?

He shook his head. "If I ever see that boy around you again, Yale is off. I will not pay one penny for your college. I paid my own way, and you can too. We had a deal. And if you break my trust, it's over."

Then he turned on his heel and went to his room, slamming the door and making the whole house shake.

I shoved my hands into my hair, resisting the urge to pull it all out. "Dad is ridiculous!" I huffed and dropped onto the loveseat in the living room.

"Noah was sleeping in your room?" Easton asked in a quiet voice from behind me and when I turned to glance up at him, he had a look on his face that made me think he felt betrayed somehow.

"Nothing happened."

He walked over to the couch and dropped down. "Was it real then? Were you sneaking around right in front of my face this whole time?"

I rolled my eyes. "It was all fake until today, Easton. We told you the truth. Noah just needed somewhere to stay since he got kicked out of his house."

"Wait... What?" Easton shook his head like he didn't think he'd heard me right. "Since when did Noah getkicked out of his house? And why the heck did he tell you and not me?"

I scooted forward on the loveseat and sighed. Telling Noah's secret was probably the only way to keep my dad from getting a restraining order on him. "His stepdad kicked him out on Saturday."

"He's been sleeping here since Saturday?"

I blew out a frustrated breath. "If you’ll just let me talk, I can explain everything."

So I told him all about Noah getting kicked out and sleeping in his car and me finding him in there. "He just slept in my closet for two nights. I promise he didn't lay a finger on me. I'm still wearing my purity ring, see?" I hated that I had to say it.

"But why didn't he tell me?"

"He didn't want anyone to know. The only reason why he told me was because I found him. He probably would have stayed in his car in the freezing cold last night if I hadn't begged him to come over."

Realization dawned on his face. "Is that why you didn't want me looking in your closet?"

"Yes." I crossed my arms.

Easton shook his head. "I still can't believe he didn't tell me."

We were quiet for a while. But then he said, "Wait, you said it wasn't real until today. What happened today? I thought you broke up."

Oh man. My stupid mouth was ruining everything, wasn't it?

"Lexi..." he prodded when I didn't say anything.

I blinked my eyes shut, knowing I'd been caught. It wasn't like it mattered, anyway. There was pretty much no chance of Noah ever talking to me again after all the things my dad had said.

I opened my eyes again. "Turns out, Noah actually liked me."

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