Not until he knew, without a doubt, I was his.
I back away, but Chase grabs me.
“Don’t do this,” he pleads.
“Let me go.”
“Arianna, please.”
“She said” —my brother slips between us— “to let her fucking go,” he growls, shoving Chase hard in the chest.
My body jerks forward as Chase staggers back, but he quickly releases me, and I catch myself on the grass.
Cameron rushes over, but I manage to wobble to my feet, right as Mason advances on Chase, throwing a right hook before Chase can say a word, blood spilling from his lips.
“Come on, motherfucker, don’t puss out now.” Mase spits to the side, diving for him.
He tackles him to the ground, and Chase gets him into a headlock, but Mason rolls out, bringing his elbow down on his nose.
“Fuck,” Brady mumbles, moving in. “All right, that’s it.”
Brady grips Mason by the arms, yanking him backward, and Chase hops to his feet.
“I can’t fucking believe you!” Mason seethes. “You fucked my sister?!” Mason kicks, but Brady holds him at bay.
“It wasn’t like that!”
“Yeah, it fucking was. This is why she was depressed when we got here. Because you fucked her and you left her.”
“You’re the one—”
“Don’t fucking finish that sentence, asshole. You chose to be with her and then you turned your back on her.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you!” Chase confesses, but it only makes Mason angrier.
“That’s fucked up and you know it! If hurting me protects her then that’s what you do. That’s what I’d want. You fucking know me, man!” He shakes his head. “You know this.”
Chase looks away, ashamed. “I didn’t want to ruin anything.”
“You ruined everything when you took her virginity and left her broken-hearted.”
Chase’s face is an instant sheet of white, his eyes snapping to mine. Everyone else’s follow.
My mouth is agape, my eyes brimmed with tears.
“No…” he whispers, subconsciously moving forward. “Arianna, no.”
Mason jerks an arm free, shooting it out in time to grip Chase’s shirt before he can pass, and he yanks him into his face.
But as Mason looks into the eyes of his best friend, and Chase’s shoulders fall, Mason’s frown finds me behind him. “You didn’t tell him?”
My neck is stiff, but I shake my head frantically, in apology. In regret.
I look to Cameron, who bites on her nails, to Brady, who hangs his head.
“I… have to go.” I take backward steps, my hand darting out when I bump into the car on the curb and I rush around it, crossing the street.
“Ari, come on,” Mason snaps, and together, they all move down the yard toward the sidewalk. “Get back over here.”
“Arianna, wait!” Chase calls next, and I grip my temples.
“Back the fuck up!” Mason screams.
“I’m going to grab her!”
“You’re not going anywhere near her!” he booms. “Ari! Where are you even going?!”
Shaking my head, my vision blurs.
I don’t know.
I can’t think.
“Don’t make me lay you out, Chase, because I fucking will.”
“Fuck you, Mason.”
“You guys stop!” Cameron screams. “Mason let him go!”
I squeeze my eyes shut, blocking them out.
I can hardly breathe.
I have to find Noah.
I want to talk to him.
I need to tell him I know what I want.
That it’s him.
I need to tell him that I love him.
Noah
* * *
My feet stop, and I bend, putting my hands on my knees. My chest pounds furiously, and I try for a deep breath, but it’s easier said than done.
The second I saw Ari’s text come through, I was a six pack in, but I knew I had to get to her, so I locked my truck up and started running.
I ran for no less than five miles without stopping.
My breathing calms a bit, so I stand and as I get a few feet farther, shouting reaches my ears. I look up, squinting past the last couple houses before mine, and that’s when I see her.
Ari, clutching her stomach, as she takes backward steps.
I jog toward her, my eyes widening when I spot Mason and Chase shoving at each other, and Mason throws a punch, screaming in Chase’s face, but I stop at the edge of the sidewalk.
“Mason, let him go!” Cameron yells.
I step from the sidewalk, ignoring them.
“Juliet,” I call to her.
Her body jolts upright, as if she’s slammed into an invisible wall, and slowly, she finds me.
Her lips part, a broken cry slipping from her lips. “Noah…”
The longing in her tone about wrecks me, and I clutch my chest.
Baby…
Her shoulders hunch in apprehension, her arms wrapping around herself as if readying for a blow, in case I serve her with one, like I did the other day.
Like I’ve done the last week.
My Juliet, I hurt you, too.
Regret burns through my every vein, and I glance at Mason and the others.
At Chase, who stands not ten feet from me, both his lip and right brow split open. They stand at the edge of the grass, tension whirling in the air around them, both looking from me to her, to each other. I don’t know what I walked up on, but I don’t care.