I rattle off our ‘findings’ and half an hour later, we walk back into the classroom feeling as proud as can be.
There are only a few minutes left before the end of class and the end of the school day, so I quickly scrawl out a report in my notebook and wait patiently for the bell to sound.
As I finish a little earlier than expected, I use the last few moments of class to daydream about my hunky boyfriend. I glance up, expecting to find him either staring straight back at me or fast asleep on his desk, but what I don’t expect is for him not to be there at all.
I look around what small parts of his classroom I can make out and I’m completely stumped. I pull out my phone and check to see if he’s sent me a message. Usually, when he needs to rush out of here to do a shady job for Anton Mathers, he sends me a text. But today, there’s nothing.
Damn it.
“Hey,” I whisper to Tully. “You didn’t get anything from Noah?” I ask. “He’s not in class.”
Tully looks up and scans his classroom before shrugging her shoulders. “Don’t know,” she grumbles. “I left my phone in my locker.”
Hmmm. How strange.
At least the day is just about over so I can call him as soon as class is done.
The next few minutes are the longest few minutes of my life. I pack up my things and impatiently watch the clock ticking, and as soon as the bell sounds through the classroom, I’m out of my seat in the blink of an eye with Tully right beside me.
We’re the first out of the classroom and the first to reach the lockers. We stop by hers first so she can check her phone and when we find nothing, we stop by my locker and grab our things before heading out of the school.
I slip my phone out of the back pocket of my phone and press Noah’s name before bringing the phone up to my ear. Tully rambles on about something as I listen to the call ringing out.
We pass the student office before walking past Principal Evans’ office when Tully grabs onto me and howls out in laughter. I turn to see what’s caught her attention when I peer through the blinds of Evans’ office.
Noah is sitting across from him, elbows pressed on the desk, and an amused smirk on his handsome face telling me that whatever he’s being accused of doing right now, he certainly did and he’s damn proud of it.
Noah catches us watching him from out the window and grins wide, only making Evans lose his cool, but naturally, Noah doesn’t have a single fuck to give.
Geez. I should have known. Of course, he was getting in trouble. If he was on a job, he would have texted because he knows I worry. I hate what he does for Anton and I hate it even more that he won’t stop, but it’s not my place to ask him too. It’s his life and his decision.
Noah feels that he owes Anton for the help he offered his family during the hardest time of their life. There’s not a damn thing I can do about it except support him and keep an eye out for him, hoping and praying he doesn’t get himself into any trouble.
Seeing us out here, waiting, Noah pushes to his feet, not bothering to allow Evans to finish ranting at him. He makes his way out of the office with Evans yelling behind him, telling him to sit his ass back down, but Noah sees something more important.
Me.
His arm falls over my shoulder as his lips press to my forehead. “Let’s go get Ari and go home,” he tells me. “I’ve been missing you.”
Well, how could I deny the man what he wants?
“Let’s go,” I smile before looking back into Evans office to see him scowling at the two of us. “What was going on in there?” I ask. “What did you do?”
His eyes light up with mischief. “Oh nothing,” he grins. “Just a little misunderstanding is all.”
“Bullshit.”
Chapter 5
I walk through my home with my phone glued to my ear, explaining for the twentieth time what pizza toppings Aria wants. Is it really that hard to understand? It’s basically a pepperoni pizza with only a million changes. Maybe we should have gone to the store and gotten all the ingredients. At least that way she can make it herself and have no one to blame when it inevitably comes out wrong.
Dad was supposed to be home two days ago, but the job keeps getting bigger and bigger, then add a flat tire and issues with the brakes, and you’ve got yourself a job that seriously isn’t going as planned.