Chapter 1
Rivers’ fist slams into Noah’s jaw, sending him flying back a step as a low guttural groan pulls from deep within him. I flinch with the contact despite the fact that it’s not my face. “No, no, no,” I grumble to myself. Does he really have to go for his face? It’s too pretty. Get him anywhere except his face. Oh, and his junk. I’d like to put that to good use later and I can’t if there’s a packet of frozen peas on it.
“The fuck?” Noah demands, rubbing his hand across his face as Tully and I let out frustrated sighs. I mean, how many times are we going to do this trivial shit?
Rivers’ shoulders pull back, standing his ground. “You heard me,” he spits. “You don’t have what it takes.”
“Hey,” Noah’s mom shouts, sticking her head around the corner, poking it out from the kitchen before walking out. “What the hell is going on in here? I told you idiots; no fighting in the house.”
Naturally, both boys ignore her as they stare off, both scowling and fuming.
Violet sighs and comes to stand beside me and Tully. “What happened now?” she questions quietly. “Did Noah finally work out that you and Rivers have been bumping uglies?”
Jaw meet floor.
I whip my head around to face the mother and daughter. Did Violet seriously just say that? “What?” I shriek while still managing not to alert the boys of our conversation as I stare down Tully. “You told your mom that?”
“First off,” Tully defends, looking at me. “Of course I told her, and even if I didn’t, she would have worked it out. Second,” she continues, turning to her mom, “We’re not bumping uglies. No plural. It happened once and it won’t be happening again.”
Yeah freaking right. I can’t hold back my scoff which earns me a sharp glare from Tully and a knowing smirk from Violet.
“Right, so if it isn’t about you two, then what’s it about? Cause something big has seriously crawled up those boys’ asses lately,” Violet murmurs.
“Tell me about it,” I grumble.
Tully scrunches up her face, deep in thought before she shakes her head. “As far as I can tell, Rivers is PMSing again. I think it’s something to do with his mom, and he just happened to catch Noah on a bad day. They’ve been at each other’s throats since the second he walked through the door. Noah could tell Rivers had a chip on his shoulder again and he wouldn’t let up about it until Rivers just…snapped.”
Violet lets out a sigh just as Noah charges full steam ahead into Rivers. He throws his arms out and slams his shoulder into Rivers’ stomach until the two of them have left a wide Noah and Rivers size gaping hole in the living room wall.
They fall to the floor and suddenly it’s on. Fists start flying as grunts are heard from deep within them.
Boys will be boys, right?
“Damn it,” Violet growls, still being ignored by the boys. “I told you no fighting in the house. How am I going to explain this to your father?”
All I can do is shake my head as I watch.
Something is going on with Rivers and as far as I can tell, it’s got something to do with his family. I don’t know how much of that he’s shared with Tully, but as for me, I’m in the dark. As much as I love Rivers and have come to know who he is, when I really think about it, he’s still a stranger to me.
I know nothing of his personal life, and I haven’t been able to work out if that’s a good thing or not. Something tells me that the second he walks out of this house every night, darkness clouds him, and I think the reason he’s not sharing that with me is because he doesn’t want to bring that down on me. I want to thank him for that, but at the same time, I want to hate him for it. It makes me feel like I’m being left out of the loop.
But hell, who even knows how much he’s even shared with Noah and Tully? Rivers is a mystery and I have a feeling he’s someone that no one is ever going to figure out. Tully might get close, but I don’t think he’ll ever truly let her in.
Noah’s elbow rears back and slams another hole in the wall, and to be honest, I don’t even think he realizes. His fist comes forward and nails Rivers in the gut before Rivers swiftly responds with one of his own.
“Shit,” Violet sighs, shocking me with her cursing. “This could go on a while. I’ll go get some ice ready.”
Tully presses her lips into a straight line. “I’ll find the bandages.”
They both scurry off and I drop down onto the couch. “And I will watch the show.” With that, I prop my feet up onto the coffee table and sit back, watching these two guys beat the absolute shit out of each other.