He placed his fingers against her stomach.
“I’m not pregnant, Noah. I took … pills to make sure.”
He nodded. “I figured you would.”
She placed her hands against his, needing his touch. “This is so hard right now. They’re all whispering.”
“Ignore them. They’re all fucking useless. They think they know what happened, but they don’t. Just you and me.”
“And Mitch and whoever watched.”
“True.” He didn’t stop touching her.
Again, another growl and he smiled again.
“He’s still out there, Noah.”
“I know. I think it’s only fair that I take you to feed you.”
“I can’t go in there.”
“Why not?”
“Haven’t you noticed the whispers? The pointing?”
“I notice it, but the difference is, I don’t give a fuck.” He tugged her out of the locker room and went toward the cafeteria. Right near the doors, she dug her heels in, making it impossible for him to keep on walking. “Why are you being so difficult about this?”
“I don’t think we should go in together.”
“Why not?”
“The school is intent on keeping us apart.”
“They’re not going to do that, and I’m not going to let them. Seriously, Skye, what happened to your fighting spirit? We’ve been letting our parents and other people walk all over us since we got back. We’re their children, but we’re not kids anymore. Neither of us is. We’re so much more than that. You’re the only person I can trust, and we’re walking in there together. I’m not going to let them keep us apart, no matter what.”
“What if we don’t have a choice?” she asked.
“This is our choice. This is our life, Skye. We can let them live it, or we take control now, like we did back at that place.”
She smiled.
“What?” he asked.
“You don’t know what to call it? I’ve tried to think of many words for it. A prison. A home. A mansion. I keep coming up blank. I have no idea what to say or what to do. I think of it as more of ‘that place.’”
“I do as well. I don’t know what else to say.” He held her hand a little tighter. “I know we both are from different circles, but you’re the only one I can see myself with right now. You’re the only person who understands. I wanted to kill Howdes today.”
“You did?”
“Yeah.”
“I did as well. It was kind of an … uncomfortable realization that I hated him.” She smiled. “I’ve been moved to different classes, and I got so mad.”
“I did as well. No one would tell me if you were here, but I guess you saw Rebecca’s little kiss.”
“It looked like a pretty intense kiss.” Her stomach chose that moment to growl. “I think we need to move this along. You’re starting to look like a piece of chicken.”
“You want to eat me?”
Her cheeks heated at thinking of parts she could lick and suck.
Her innocence had died weeks ago.
“Come on, stop saying stuff like that.”
He tugged her through the doors, and there was no time for doubt, no time for anything.