Page 31 of Treacherous

"Of course," I mimicked, rolling my eyes in disgust.

Jason Graham was Ellie's latest string-along. He devoted himself entirely to her every need and demand and she in return fucked him on a regular basis. That was the only way I could explain their relationship because it sure as hell wasn’t a monogamous one.

"Who have you invited, Noah?" she asked, placing her hand on my arm.

"Cam, Colt and Low," I replied in a frustrated tone, brushing her hand off as I turned to look at her. I was fucking frustrated because I didn’t want to talk to Ellie. I wanted to stare at Teagan and Ellie was preventing me from doing so.

"And Teagan and Hope?" Ellie asked in a sarcastic tone. "Did you invite them too, or were you just planning on staring at them the entire evening?"

Busted…

"What are you talking about?" I grumbled as I stepped around her and made my way to the back door.Shit, I hadn’t even noticed Hope out there…

"I'm talking aboutyou, Noah," Ellie hissed as she followed me into the back yard. "And your twisted fascination withher," she grumbled. "It's been over a month and you're still without a ride because of that bitch. She's trouble for us – I can feel it…"

"Get out of my face, Ellie," I snapped as I stalked down the garden towards the plastic-roofed, make-shift gym I'd built when we first moved here. "I'm not talking about this right now," I told her.

Unfortunately Ellie followed me. "Since when did you grow a conscience, Noah?"

Grabbing a roll of tape off the bench, I quickly taped my knuckles – all while ignoring a fuming looking Ellie. "What makes you think I've grown a conscience?"

"The Noah I knew wouldn’t take her shit lying down…"

"I'm not lying down," I spat.

"Then when?" she demanded. "When are you going to make her pay?"

I didn't answer Ellie's question – I couldn’t. Instead I pummeled my fists against the punching bag, letting off some steam and letting her know this conversation was over for me.

"If you don’t then I will, Noah," Ellie warned me and a flash of concern for the girl-next-door rushed through me.

****

Teagan

I slept badly last night, waking up around four in the morning with a crick in my neck from sleeping on the couch. Even though I went upstairs to bed and tried to get some shut eye I became so restless that I ended up getting up and showering at 5am.

Out of boredom I had taken more care than I usually would in my appearance, straightening my ash-blonde hair so it fell artfully down my back, and applying full make up before dressing in a sleeveless white chemise, black skinny jeans and my chucks. By the time I was dressed and fed I still had about an hour to spare before I had to leave for school so I decided to sit on my porch and have a bash off Martin.

I played quietly, aware that I wasn’t in aswamp, allowing my fingers to glide over the strings as I played an acoustic version of Florence and the Machine'sKiss with a Fist.

"You hit me once I hit you back…"As I played my mind drifted to the Facebook message I'd received from one of the girl's in my class back home.

She'd let it slip that Liam was seeing Katie Horgan now – had been since the week I left. Three years together and he'd gotten over me in less than a week.

Well fuck him…

Throwing my head my, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to become engrossed in the song I was playing, letting the music flood me, drowning out the pain of Liam's fickle love and his stupid penis."…A kick in the teeth is good for some…"

"A kiss with a fist is better than none."

I screamed, literally screamed at the top of my lungs, and jumped to my feet, wielding Martin as a weapon as I swung around and locked eyes on the creeper who'd frightened me.

"You." Narrowing my eyes, I lowered my guitar and let out a shaky breath. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Noah smirked from where he was sitting on his porch before taking a sip from his mug. "You seem attached to that thing." He inclined his head towards Martin. "Good to know." The way he said it was menacing and I immediately stiffened.

"Don’t even think about doing anything to Martin," I hissed. "I will hurt you if you so much as look at him crooked."

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