Page 102 of Treacherous

Chapter 21

Teagan

New Year's Day and the remaining week of our Christmas holidays passed in a beautifully snowy – yes, itsnowed– blur, and consisted mostly of stolen moments of passion and intimacy between me and the boy next-door.

Noah would either sneak over here when my uncle went to work, or if Max was home I'd wait for him to fall asleep before sneaking outside and meeting Noah in his car. Thankfully, Noah's so-called family stayed away and we were able to remain in our little bubble for a little longer. With George out of town, Noah's knuckles were in semi-retirement mode which was absolutely fine by me. I didn’t want him fighting anyway.

I was slowly coming around to the idea that I adored the tattooed muscle head next-door. It was a terrifying feeling, though, because I'd been in love before – with Liam – but the…burning intensity and hunger I felt for Noah was pungent. It was smothering, overwhelming and completely enthralling and to be honest I was pretty sure I'd never be themeI wasbefore I met him again…

My stomach felt like it was going to fall out of my butt as I walked into English class on Monday morning. The prospect of seeing Noah without sneaking around – and as an official couple – had my stomach twisting in knots. I was both nervous and excited as I scanned the classroom for his familiar face.

I spotted Noah's empty desk and my heart sank.

It sank even further when I noticed who had recovered from his chicken pox epidemic.

Jason grinned at me, waggled his eyebrows, and I wanted to gag.

Oh god…

****

"They hate me," I told Hope as we walked through the cafeteria towards our usual table. "I'm serious, Hope. I cannevershow my face inside your front door again."

"Stop being such a drama queen," Hope chuckled, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "My parents do not hate you. They've had weeks to get over it – and they have. So stop being a baby and call over sometime. I really want you to meet Jordan –clothed."

I slumped down on the chair beside Ash and let out a heavy sigh. "Do you think it's possible for a person to die of embarrassment?"

"Depends on the circumstances surrounding the case," Ash shot back in an amused tone.

"Oh, well how about Hope's entire family catching me stark naked – with the exception of my knickers – and underneath Noah back at Christmas. Does that constitute as a good enough reason or should I add my uncle throwing a conniption fit to the list?"

"You and Noah?" Ash squealed, dropping her spoon onto the table. "When…how…where?"

"ThehowI'm still unsure of," Hope chuckled as she took a seat opposite us. "But thewhenwas a few weeks ago and thewherewas my couch."

Ash's eyes gleamed with delight. "You little skank."

"Yes," I mumbled, casting Hope an evil glare. "I'm all of that and more."

"So what does this mean?" Ash demanded excitedly. "Are you two, you know, a couple now?"

"Yeah," I muttered, red-faced. "But I thought he'd be here today and he's not…I hope…it's just…ugh god, this sucks." I buried my head in my hands and groaned. "I'm so confused. He makes me so confused and flustered. I don’t feel normal."

"Well you are," Hope cackled. "You're having a normal reaction. Just a perfectly normal teenage girl – whose hormones are raging – reaction to her hot teenage boyfriend – with equally raging hormones...err…hey Noah."

My entire body froze and Hope's whole face reddened as a pair of strong hands clamped me under my arms and lifted me out of my chair.

The sound of cat calls and wolf whistles was drowned out by the frantic beat of my pulse as Noah turned me in his arms and crushed his lips to mine. He did that thing with his tongue bar and I was putty in his hands.

I could hear people whispering loudly around me, I could feel eyes boring into my skull as the majority of students were lapping up the gossip we were providing for them, and in that moment I couldn't have cared less. The rest of the world seemed to slip away when he was this close to me.

"I could eat you," he whispered against my mouth. "You smell fucking awesome."

I knew we were in the middle of the cafeteria, with a fully seated audience, but in that instant wild horses couldn’t have dragged me away from him. "Where were you this morning?" I asked against his lips.

"I overslept," he husked. "This little nymph next-door kept me up half the night. But I'm here now."

Noah's hands moved to my waist, tugging me closer as he sat on the table with me facing him on his lap. "Let's get out of here," he purred, his voice seductive and his offer extremely enticing. "We need to talk about something."