Page 123 of Treacherous

Tears were spilling from my eyes. I needed to get a grip, but every time I tried to grab onto the ledge of something rationaltheirsweat-soaked naked bodies fused together impaled me and I felt like bursting into flames.

I could forgive a lot of things, and maybe I had my priorities all wrong, but I couldn’t forgive this.

I couldneverforgive this.

Noah didn’t respond.

But she did.

Twisting her head to one side Reese glanced at me with a smirk. "Bye now," she sneered before lowering her mouth and claiming Noah's…

And that's when I ran…

"What the hell happened to you?" I demanded when I saw my best friend standing at my front door, drenched from the rain that was hammering down, with mascara running down her cheeks. She was shaking so badly I didn’t think she could answer me.

"Hope?" I asked softly as I wrapped my arm around her waist and led her inside. "Hope, what's wrong?"

"He's gone," she said in a flat tone. Her whole body shook violently. "He…he broke his promise…"

"I…" I paused, unsure of what to say. She looked in shock, like she was in a daze of some sort, and I was terrified because I'd never seen her cry before.

"I'm going too," I told her. "I can't… I can't stay here, Hope. Not now. I'm going home."

****

I bit down hard on my lower lip and forced my hands to stop shaking as I dragged my suitcase onto my uncle's porch and closed the front door out behind me.

The sun was rising and I wanted to be long gone before anyone woke up.

Taking one final glimpse at Noah's house, I inhaled a deep breath and held my head high as I made my way down the steps towards my taxi.

"This all you got, hun?" The taxi driver asked me and I nodded.

I couldn’t speak. I was afraid I would break down and cry if I did.

"You ready?" he asked me and again I responded with a small nod.

"Teagan, wait up." A familiar voice sounded from behind me.

My mouth fell open when I spotted Hope running down her driveway with a suitcase in one hand and a duffel bag in the other.

"I'm coming with you," she puffed as she opened the back door and tossed her luggage in before climbing in.

"What do you mean you're coming with me?" I demanded as I climbed in beside her. "Hope, you can't be serious? What-what about Jordan?"

"Don’t talk to me about him," she hissed before turning her attention to the confused looking taxi-driver. "Seriously, dude, put your foot to the floor before my dad finds out."

He must have heard the warning in Hope's voice because he tore off without another word.

"Have you got somewhere we can stay?" Hope asked.

Her eyes were bloodshot, but not one single tear fell from them

"You can cry, Hope," I said quietly. "It's okay to feel..."

"The only man I'll ever cry over will be the man who is worth my tears," she snarled, chewing on her lower lip. "He's not."

I watched as she played with the ring on her pinky finger before slowly removing it and placing it in her pocket. I was burning to ask her what had happened between her and Jordan but she'd kept her mouth shut about Noah, so I let her be.

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