Untouchable (Haven Falls 1)

Oh no. Tully Cage. She is not my kind of girl. She’s…kind of fucked up. She’s forward and hard, and hell, from what I’ve seen, she’s as loyal as anything and won’t hesitate to cut a bitch. Ugh. Me and her equal a bad idea. “Uh, thanks, but no,” I tell him. “I’ll pass.”

“It’s not like you’ve got anything better going on,” he says, calling me out with a scoff.

Damn it, Henley. Clean up the boy’s shirt and send him on his way before he uses you as his chew toy. It’s the smart thing to do. You do not need this kind of drama in your life.

Fuck, I’ve got to stop talking to myself. Is this the first stage of insanity?

“I… do too have something better going on,” I lie.

His scoff from under the truck is loud enough that the spoiled rich kids in Broken Hill could probably hear. A few grunts and groans are heard before Noah wriggles out from under the truck and props himself up on his elbow to look at me. “You’re a shitty liar.”

“And you’re cocky with a big ego.”

He winks and I don’t doubt the typical ‘that’s not the only thing that’s big’ response is on the tip of his tongue. A sly grin spreads across his face and I can’t help but notice how good it looks on him. “Aren’t you supposed to be making my lunch?”

That little…

You know what? Maybe removing myself from this situation is actually a really great idea. Something screams that I’m toeing the line of dangerous territory and that’s the kind of shit I don’t need in my life. I salute this weird stranger. “Hope you like noodles.”

With that, I turn my back and scram inside. What the hell is happening here? The Haven Falls pack leader is fixing my dad’s truck. What the actual fuck? Did I wake up in an alternate universe? Why is he even entertaining this? He puts on such an act of being untouchable, yet here he is, being the complete opposite of the guy he is at school.

This sort of stuff doesn’t happen. Losers like me get pushed aside, forgotten, and disregarded. We don’t have the future prom king walking around half naked in our homes, quizzing us on our social skills, and giving secretive little winks as though we’ve known each other for years.

I walk back into the house and figure that Noah will still be working on the truck for another half an hour or so and decide a little cleaning would go a long way. Hell, assuming he stays here to eat, I could probably get his shirt through a quick wash and have it dried in no time. Maybe I might even wash a few of my own clothes.

But…first things first. These wet jeans have been sticking to my ass all day. I mean, what a day to go commando.

I find wherever I had put Noah’s shirt down and toss it into the wash before heading down to my room. I quickly glance out the window and make sure Noah is still outside and see his body completely bent over the hood. I have to smile as from this angle, it looks as though dad’s old pick up is trying to swallow him whole.

With Noah occupied, I try to wriggle my way out of these tight jeans and end up having to sit down so I can work one leg at a time.

I pull off Candice’s black tank and toss it into my laundry basket before spying a pair of knickers in the very back of my closet. Score! I must have missed them in my rush this morning.

I quickly step into them and slide them into place before finding something that’s not wet or dirty to wear. When I’m finally comfortable, I hurry around my room collecting all the laundry which I tossed around this morning and quickly straighten up my bed, not that anyone will see it, but having a good looking bed just makes the rest of the room seem so much cleaner.

I take the laundry basket up the hall and dump it in front of the washing machine as it’s already busy with Noah’s shirt.

Next up, the kitchen.

I get some noodles cooking and clean around me as I go before remembering dad’s note and the cash in the back pocket of my jeans. I hurry back to the laundry and scramble through the basket searching for the jeans, horrified by what could have happened if that money had ended up in the wash.

I go back down to my room and double check Noah is still occupied outside. With the coast clear, I get down on my hands and knees and pull up the old floorboard which has been broken for the past few years. It’s been my secret hiding spot since the day I discovered it and as far as I’m concerned, it’s still secret.