Untouchable (Haven Falls 1)

She scoffs, just like her brother had. “You wish.”

A knowing smile spreads across his face making it clear as day that something is definitely going on here, or at least, Rivers wants something to go on. I wonder what Noah thinks about that.

“Come on,” Tully says, grabbing my hand and dragging me down the hallway before I have a chance to escape.

I follow on as I hear Rivers’ voice behind us. “What the fuck are you doing bringing in strays?”

Tully pulls me into her room and closes the door behind her, cutting off Noah’s response, but honestly, I don’t know if I want to hear it. “So,” Tully says, crossing her room to open her closet doors, “what’s going on? Why’d Noah bring you here? Are you guys a thing?”

“A thing?” I laugh. “No. He saved me from giving Candice a black eye and then wouldn’t leave me the hell alone. How do you think I ended up here?”

“Seriously?” she questions with a knowing smile, looking over her shoulder at me. “I think someone has a little crush.”

“What?” I laugh. “No, I don’t like your brother.”

“No, I meant that he’s crushing on you.”

“I seriously doubt that,” I tell her. “He was taking pity on me and using me to get back at Monica. Are you forgetting about the spaghetti thing? I covered him in front of the whole school. I doubt he’s just going to forgive and forget.”

Tully shakes her head. “He’s not like that. He doesn’t give a shit what Monica thinks and if he wanted to get back at her, he would do it without using anyone. That’s not his style. Besides, why would he pity you? You’re beautiful, tough, and can stand up for yourself. You put him in his place today and he would have loved that.”

“Has it not occurred to you that I’m the school loser?”

“You’re not,” she tells me. “You’re the girl who fell in love with the wrong guy. We’ve all been there.”

“Thanks, but…have you been living under a rock?”

“No,” she laughs. “The way I see it, if Noah thought you were a loser, he would never have stepped in at school, he never would have driven you back to your place, and no way in hell would he have brought you here. He does not pity you, he respects you. I guess the question is how much?,” she muses. “We’re not exactly known for bringing people in.”

My brows pull down, taking it all in. If that were true, then there must be some other reason he spent the afternoon with me as hanging out with me, just to be nice, doesn’t make sense to me. Respecting me? Well, that makes even less sense “Huh,” I grunt, feeling more and more unsure of myself.

Tully turns back to her closet and reaches up before trying to grab something from the top. “Look,” she says, trying to explain it a little more. “Noah doesn’t usually let anybody in. The fact that you’re standing here right now tells me that there’s something about you that he likes.”

“Yeah,” I scoff, “my ass and tits.”

“No, that’s just an added bonus,” she tells me as she finally reaches a box of popcorn from the top of her closet. “You’re tough and edgy. You don’t let other people’s bullshit affect you and he’s drawn to that. You fucking called him out in front of the whole school.”

“What are you saying?” I question, leaning against her desk as she drops down onto her bed, making me realize just how easy she is to talk to. Maybe I’d misjudged her earlier.

“I don’t know,” she muses. “But the last time he let someone in like this, it was Rivers and the fucker is still here.”

“So, Noah wants a new BFF?” I question. “And why the hell are you stashing popcorn in your closet?”

“Shhhhhhhh,” she demands, desperately trying to hush me before double checking the door is firmly closed. “The boys have a popcorn obsession. Whenever I buy it, it disappears within seconds. In order for me to get any, I have to hide it,” she explains, wiggling her eyebrows at me with a knowing glint in her green eyes. “And as for Noah, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Damn it.

Shit like that makes me nervous. I don’t like not knowing people’s intentions. If somebody wants something with me, then I need to know what that is, but sensing she’s spoken the last word on the topic, I turn the spotlight back on her. “So, what’s going on with you and Rivers?” I ask, hoping I’m not overstepping the line.

“Ugh, don’t get me started,” she groans, but I have a feeling she’s more than ready to talk about it. “There’s been this awkward sexual tension between us for the past six months and it’s clear he likes me, he’s told me as much, but he doesn’t want to act on it because of Noah.”