“Yeah, but…you were being an idiot.”
“And you weren’t?” he says before letting out a breath. “You hit me.”
“You told me to.”
“But…before that,” he says, referring to the almost slap in the cafeteria.
I let out a broken sigh. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just…you have this ability to infuriate me and don’t act as though it wasn’t provoked. ‘Fucking try me, babe’,” I mimic.
“You called me a rat bastard for the whole fucking school to hear. What was I supposed to do? Get down on my hands and knees and grovel for your forgiveness? Show weakness in front of the vultures? Yeah fucking right.”
“I guess we put on a bit of a show,” I murmur.
“You guess?” he scoffs. “That little performance is going to have them forgetting all about Nate and Jackson’s race.”
I roll my eyes, realizing he’s right. “Who made the mommy and daddy fighting comment?”
Noah scoffs again. “Spencer,” he says with a bit of a huff. “Guess the fucker didn’t learn his lesson the first and second time.”
“Guess not,” I grumble, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Are we all good?”
“Yeah, Spitfire. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I think I was surprised to hear you say that about Lily when it’s only ever something that’s been inside my head. No one’s ever said something to me like that before.”
“Well, you’ve never really let anyone close enough to know you before.”
“And I just had to pick the one strong enough to put me in my place.”
“Damn straight, you did,” I laugh before climbing off his lap and searching around for my clothes. “Come on,” I tell him. “I need to eat before our lunch break is over and I think we need to show all the vultures that nothing can tear us apart, not even ourselves.”
“Nah,” he says, reaching for me. “Let’s just stay here.”
I smirk down at him. “Tell me, Noah. How did you know there was a lock on this door? Have you been in here before?”
“Oh, shit,” he says, jumping to his feet and grabbing his clothes. “Lunch is nearly over and you need to eat. Let’s not waste any time.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I laugh as we get ourselves dressed.
It doesn’t take long before we’re walking back to the cafeteria, hand in hand. “So, correct me if I’m wrong here, but it sort of looked like Tullz was about ready to kill me too.”
“Yeah,” I laugh.
“What?” he questions. “Why? What the fuck did I do to her?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Girl Code.”
“Are you serious? My own sister turned her back on me.”
“Hey,” I defend. “You’re not the one who’s listened to her ranting about how much she hates Rivers right now. She owed me.”
He lets out a sigh. “What’s going on with them, anyway?” he questions. “One minute they’re hot, the next cold. They’ve always had this thing between them, but it’s never been this bad. I swear, it’s almost as though Tully is about to shred him to pieces.”
I look away as he thinks it over. “Shit,” he sighs.
“What?”
“She made a move, didn’t she? And he turned her down. That’s the only thing that could make sense. Fuck. No wonder she’s hating on him so much.” I let out a breath as he looks down at me. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“Yeah,” I sigh, hating that I’m not telling him the whole truth right now. “He turned her down and it tore her apart. You know, I think they’re in love with each other.”
Noah scoffs. “Yeah, right,” he laughs. “They like each other, sure, but they’re not in love.”
“You sure about that?”
I smile as he looks back down at me, now not so sure of himself. “Are you sure about it?”
I nod. “Think so.”
“Ok, so if that was the case, why the fuck would he turn her down? Not because of me?”
“I mean, I guess you’re part of the reason. He doesn’t want to be disrespectful to you, but more than that, he doesn’t think he’s good enough for her.”
“Shit, well, no fucker is good enough for her,” he tells me, “but…fuck. I don’t know. I don’t like the idea of her with anyone.”
“Of course, you don’t. You’re her brother. That’s how you’re supposed to feel, but one day, she’s going to be with someone whether or not you approve of him.”
“Stop,” he says. “You’re totally killing my vibe, right now.”
I shrug my shoulders and laugh. “I’m just saying it like it is. She’ll find some guy, get married and have kids. But when you think of her like that, wouldn’t you prefer the guy to be Rivers, knowing how much he cares about her? He’s so loyal, just like you. He’d never let her get hurt.”
“It’ll never happen,” he tells me. “Even if they dated for a short while. They’re both too stubborn. They’d drive each other insane.”