Page 74 of Treacherous

"Yes, youkissed," Hope countered as she pressed a button on her car key and her white Jeep lit up. "And a hell of a lot more – while you werenaked. This is huge, Teagan – you can't tell me it's not."

"Whatever." I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. I walked over to the passenger side of her jeep and flung the door open. I clenched my eyes shut and tried to block out the memory of Noah kissing me, and just how good it felt, but Noah's words had stung like the lash of a whip.

"You're not worth the fucking hassle…"

Yeah, that still stung like something fierce.

"I'm over it," I muttered, climbing inside. Truth was I was nowhere near over it. I hadn’t seen Noah in weeks. He wasn’t in school today and I forced myself to believe that I was happy about this, ignoring the dull ache in my chest. Maybe he had chickenpox, too… Ugh, it didn’t matter to me because I didn’t care about him.

Iwouldn’t.

"Do you like him?" Hope persisted as she climbed into the driver's seat. "Seriously, Teagan, do you have any feelings for him at all?"

"Does hatred count?" I offered sweetly as I rooted through a pile of CDs and placed a disc I wasn’t familiar with into the car stereo. "He's good," I mumbled as a voice I was familiar with blasted through the speakers. "Is this his new one?"

"Yes he is and it is, don't change the subject." Turning down the volume on her stereo, Hope turned to look at me. "Well?"

I exhaled heavily, knowing she wasn’t going to let this go without a full confession. "He sets me on fire," I reluctantly admitted, leaning back in my seat, the memory of Noah touching me was causing my entire body to heat.

I closed my eyes and shivered. "Noah Messina lights me up like a firework and I can't even begin to explain the multitude of emotions he rouses inside of me."

Hope's eyes widened but I carried on now that I was on a roll. "It's terrifying and addictive and wrong and right all at the same time. My brain can't stand him, and my body can't get enough of him." I let out a sigh. "Happy now?"

Nodding, she grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at me.

I automatically blushed and Hope's grin widened. "He's so bad for me, Hope," I confessed quietly. "The things he's involved in. He's so…he's…"

"Iknewyou were hot for him," Hope said smugly. "How far would you have gone with him – if Jason, Reese and Ellie hadn’t interrupted you?"

All the way…"I'm going to pretend you never asked that question," I shot back quickly.

"Dude, you have no idea how lucky you are having Noah live next door to you."

I rolled my eyes. "As opposed to?"

Hope's face was suddenly serious. "The object of my desire lives in a different state, Teegs," she huffed. "And won't touch any part of my body that's covered with clothing." Her brow wrinkled in confusion as she stared down at her hands. "I don’t get why Jordan won't sleep with me."

"Okay," I chuckled, shaking my head. "Talk about a subject changer…"

"I'm serious, Teagan," Hope snapped before letting out a pained groan. "I've loved him my whole life." Hope's shoulders slumped and she rested her forehead against the steering wheel. "And hewon'tgive it up – which makes me feel like a huge virgin slut becausewhothinks like me?" She exhaled dramatically. "It's supposed to be the man who's desperate to take the next step, but Jordan…" Hope threw her head back and slammed her palms against the wheel in frustration. "He's like a freaking priest."

"Maybe he's trying to respect you?" I offered lamely, not knowing what else to say. "You said he's older than you, right?"

"Twenty-one," Hope replied immediately. "He istwenty-oneyears old, Teagan." She stared at me like I was missing something crucial. "Name another twenty-one year old man who wants towait."

"Edward Cullen?" I offered, struggling to keep my face straight.

Hope glared at me. "He was one hundred and nine," she snapped. "And I know we're supposed to be talking about your screwed up tryst with Noah, and I am interested, I swear I am, but Jordan's coming home this weekend for the holidays and I'm done with the waiting. Hehasto have sex with me." Hope blew a curl off her face. "Please help me make my boyfriend have sex with me, Teagan," she begged.

I stared at her determined face with a horrified look on my own. "Well this is the most uncomfortable conversation we've had in a while," I muttered, shaking my head.

Hope didn’t have a chance to respond because the back doors of her jeep opened and three testosterone fuelled triplets piled in.

"This conversation isn't over," she mumbled before shifting her car into gear and tearing off. "You're still sleeping over tonight, right?"

"Yeah," I mumbled. "I'll swing by after my workout."

"Great," Hope muttered. "We'll hatch a plan then."

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