Page 121 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

Noah tensed beside me. “Kaeli, this is Leah. She was undercover at your school. She was supposed to be watching out for you.”

He said the last bit like he wasn’t happy. I didn’t understand. His whole body language had changed dramatically. Sarah…Leah, or whoever the hell she was, narrowed her eyes. She was still blatantly ignoring me.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she said quietly. “Alone?”

I tried not to stiffen, but she was putting me on edge. I didn’t understand why she was being so cold towards me. What had I ever done to her?

“I don’t really have the time right now, Leah,” Noah said coldly.

“Come on, Patch. Please? You know I’ve been trying to see you since the bust.”

Noah shifted on his feet. I could tell he didn’t want to, but he obviously felt he owed her or something.

Squeezing his hand, I t

ried to be the good girlfriend. The good, not jealous girlfriend. It was tougher than I thought.

“Uh…I can just go wait in the car…?”

Noah looked like he wanted to say no, but I gave him a smile I hoped told him I was fine. A little confused by the sudden tension, but fine just the same.

Sighing, he handed me the keys and squeezed my hand. “Thanks. I won’t be long.”

Nodding, I said a quick goodbye to Leah and let myself into Noah’s car.

I watched them as I waited. I tried to make it look like I was checking my cell, but of course I wasn’t. Noah looked pissed, and Leah went from looking like she was pleading, to pissed as well.

Then she touched him.

I didn’t know what it was about that touch. It was just a simple hand on his arm, but it instantly made it all click into place. There was something more than work between them. Her behavior made so much more sense now.

I instantly felt sick. Since the day he’d turned up at school I hadn’t thought once about him with another girl, but watching him just then, with a girl who obviously liked him, I was suddenly panicking. The thought of him leaving me for her was the scariest thing I’d ever faced.

When I saw him shake her off and start towards the car, I forced myself to get my shit together. I was not going to be the jealous girlfriend. But I was silently shitting myself.

Chapter 68

Noah

I fumed like the fucking devil the whole way back to the apartment. Running into Leah had soured my whole fucking day. I’d been so proud of Kaeli at the range. She’d shot better than even some of the guys the first time they’d been there. It’d been such a fucking turn on, all I wanted to do was take her home and show her how fucking sexy I thought she was. But then Leah had to show up.

I’d come so close to telling her to go to hell. I still hadn’t forgiven her for convincing Walt to pull detail from Kaeli. As far as I was concerned, that was unforgivable. She’d let jealousy get in the way of doing her job. A job that was to serve and protect. She’d failed.

I still couldn’t believe she had the audacity to ask me if we could catch up. Of course, she’d tried to cover it up by saying it was just to talk about everything. Clear the air. But I knew Leah, and I knew when she was making a play.

She hadn’t been happy when I’d straight up said no, and she’d been even more so when I told her I was with Kaeli. I left her with a warning to stay the hell away from me. I knew that was probably overkill, but I was too mad with her to mince words.

Throwing my keys on the kitchen counter, I frowned. I’d been so far in my own head, I didn’t even know if Kaeli had followed me inside.

Turning, I saw her standing near the closed door, her face a mask of confusion and uncertainty. Fuck.

“Shit. Kaeli, I’m sorry,” I said, striding over to pull her against me. “I didn’t mean to ignore you. Leah just really pissed me off.”

Her silence panicked me. Fuck. Had I messed this up more than I’d thought?

Pulling back so I could try to get a read on her, I took her hips in my hands. “Baby? Are you okay?”

She bit her lip, worry flashing through her pretty eyes. “I’m trying really hard not to be the insecure girlfriend, Noah, but that didn’t look good. Is there something you need to tell me about Leah? Did you used to date her or something?”

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