Page 65 of Treacherous

Without thinking twice about what I was doing, I closed out the door behind me and crept over to the far end of the wall – the one that separated our gardens – and crouched low, shifting around until I found an upturned plastic flowerpot to sit on.

"…Don’t you think I know that, T..."

I stopped breathing. Was he on the phone or was someone out here with him?

"…broken rib…"

Who had a broken rib? Did Noah have a broken rib? I hadn’t realized…

"…Yeah, me, douchebag…"

I dropped my torch with fright and had to cover my mouth as the fear of god spread through me. I'd thought Noah was answering my thoughts but thankfully he rambled on.

"…No, he doesn’t know about it…"

He sounded annoyed.

"…She's not for you, T…"

Who? Who wasn't for him?

"…I mean it…"

I cracked the flower pot I was sitting on.

I cracked the fucking flower pot.

"…Hang on, I think someone's out here."

I clenched my eyes shut and stayed as still as a statue for the longest time.

"…No, must've been a bear or a mountain lion,"I heard him say and my heart froze in my chest.

They had bears and mountain lions?

Of course they bloody had and now I was going to be nom-noms for one of them.

Fuck that. Run. Run. Haul ass to the house.

Dropping onto my hands and knees, I crawled as quietly as I could through the mud and leaves towards the house, trampling the bed of petunias in my bid to survive. I made it to the back door and felt around for the door handle.

It wasn't bloody there.

Where the hell did it go?

Dammit, I could have kicked myself in the ass for dropping my flashlight in my rush to safety.

"Curiosity killed the kitty," I heard a voice say and I could have wept.

A light shone down on my head and I ducked my face in shame.

It wasn't a bear or a lion.

It was worse…

****

"Noah," I sighed heavily. "I was just…" I racked my brain, trying to think of a good enough lie to explain why I was outside in the dark, on my hands and knees and covered in compost.

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