Page 30 of Treacherous

"So anyway…technically there's less than a year between Noah and my brothers."

"Where's his mother?" I surprised myself by asking.

"Whose?" Hope mumbled.

"Noah's. She's married to Ellie's dad, right? Well, I've had the misfortune of meeting Mr. Dennis, but I've never even laid eyes on Noah's mom. Where is she?"

"That's a very good question, Teagan," Hope muttered without elucidating any more information.

We lay silently after that, basking in the heat of the sun, and enjoying the peace and quiet. The sound of a door banging next door and raised voices burst our serene little bubble.

"…Get out of my face, Ellie, I'm not talking about this right now…"

My ears pricked up at the sound of Noah's deep voice and I sat up.

Resting my weight on one elbow, I nudged Hope with the other, but she didn't stir. She was breathing slow and even and I realized she was asleep.

"Since when did you grow a conscience, Noah?"

"What makes you think I've grown a conscience?"

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

"I'm not lying down…"

"Hope?" I hissed. "Wake up. They're fighting."

"Go away, Cam," Hope mumbled as she rolled onto her stomach and tucked her face into her arms.

"Then when?"I heard Ellie demand and I lay back down quickly, hoping they wouldn't notice me eavesdropping on their conversation.

Noah didn't answer her, well, let me rephrase that to Noah didn't verbally answer her, but the sound of a punching bag being decimated was proof enough that the conversation was over for him.

"If you don’t then I will, Noah."

A door slammed again and then all I was left with was the sound of a punching bag being pulverized and some very masculine grunting noises.

Thoughts of Noah that I really didn't want to have while I was sprawled half-naked with sweat trickling between my breasts plagued me.

I tried to push him out of my mind but he wouldn't fuck off. The more he punched that bag the more I squirmed.

Dammit, I couldn't cut a break.

****

Noah

I was regretting ever looking out my kitchen window.

I had been trying to keep my distance from the girl-next-door, but the view of her sprawled out on her garden lawn – with those killer fucking legs and that mane of unruly blonde hair – from my kitchen window was too much to ignore.

I couldn’t cut a break…

"Looking good, birthday boy." Ellie's painfully irritating voice filled my ears and I closed my eyes, willing myself to be calm.

"Thanks," I told her. Today was my eighteenth birthday and so far it had been nothing short of a disaster. I screwed up in a biology test this morning because I had to work last night instead of studying. I'd been refused visitation at the hospital this afternoon and to top it off Cameron Carter had showed an abnormal amount of interest in my after-school activities during lunch. Worrying about that hot-headed idiot was something I could do without…

"So, I invited Reese, Abby, Pam and Kate over tonight to celebrate – oh and Jason of course."

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