“What?” I grunt, looking over at him, though to be honest, I’m not surprised. He’s shady as shit, protective and loyal. Of course he’s going to check out the chick who’s suddenly stealing his best friend’s attention and getting close to his girl.
“Can you blame me? I had to know who my boy was hanging out with. Besides, you didn’t have such a great reputation. How could I not check you out?”
“Fair call,” I groan looking up at Noah. “If a picture of my ass gets posted on my page, you’re going to die.”
“Is that a challenge?” he grins back at me with a mischievous sparkle in his green eyes.
“A warning,” I tell him.
We watch with a sick amusement as Monica makes her way through the students, admitting to each and every one of them that there is, in fact, a little bouncing baby growing inside her stomach which is when Noah strides towards the box.
He pushes it across the table so it sits right before Monica. “Here,” he says. “Present time.”
Monica looks up nervously, but doesn’t want to appear ungrateful for her party and smiles up at him. “Thank you,” she tells him. “I’ll open it at home.”
“No, don’t be silly,” he says. “Open it now.”
Worry flashes behind her eyes, but I have to give it to her, she hides it pretty damn well. “If you insist,” she says with that same fake smile. She leans over the box and cautiously pulls open the lid. The second the lid is removed, blue ink spurts up and covers Monica from head to toe before a blue glitter bomb is released all over her.
“HAPPY GENDER REVEAL!” Noah roars through the cafeteria. “IT’S A BOY!”
Monica squeals out as the students throughout the room laugh and cheer, having no idea that Noah is being less than genuine right now.
Blobs of ink and glitter drop off Monica and I can’t help but laugh, knowing that shit is going to stain her skin for days. “Hey, it’s Smurfette,” I announce, gaining nothing but a shrill growl from the beast.
She goes to step in my way before Rivers takes a step in her direction, letting her know how it is, which has her thinking better of it and running for the door. I can’t help but glance across at Rivers with a warm smile, feeling like I’ve finally got his protection and just officially got accepted into the ranks.
Noah grabs my hand as Rivers does the same with Tully and we haul ass out the fire exit at the back of the room. The alarm instantly goes off, but we couldn’t really give a shit. “Where are we going?” I yell over the top of my panting, because come on, who can actually talk normally while running?
“You don’t want to miss her grand exit, do you?” Noah throws over his shoulder as he drags me along.
I slap my hand over my ribs, hating the way my heavy breaths makes it feel ten times worse. “No,” I tell him. “I really don’t.”
Cutting through the back of the cafeteria puts us down at the student parking lot a shitload faster than Monica, and when the new and certainly not improved Smurfette comes running towards us, Tully and I can hardly contain ourselves.
Monica looks up and comes to a startling stop as she finds the four of us lined up in front of her car, blocking her way like the impenetrable force that we are. I can’t help but feel special, standing with the three of them as a part of them, no longer an outsider.
“Why?” Monica whines with a fake cry.
Noah steps forward as the leader of the group and gives her the cold, hard facts. “You fuck with one of us, you fuck with us all, and lucky for you, you took the grand prize because you fucked with two of us. This is only the beginning, Monica. Everywhere you go, you’re going to have to look over your shoulder because we’re going to be there to fuck it up. Fuck you up,” he says in a tone that I’ve never heard from him before, a tone that sends shivers down my spine.
“But…”
“No,” he says, deathly low that if I was on the receiving end of that, I’d want to shit my pants. “You touched my girl. You should know better,” he tells her. “You used to be that girl so you should know better than anyone just how far I’ll go to protect what’s mine. You made me believe I was having a baby. You made me hurt her, and for that, I will never stop making your life a living hell.”
Monica’s eyes flick to mine before focusing back on Noah’s, but I’m far too caught up with the way he just called me his girl. Damn, it felt good.