Untouchable: Haven Falls (Book 1)

by Sheridan Anne

  I haven’t seen him since Saturday morning and to be honest, I’m glad. I couldn’t bear to hear about this baby anymore. I mean, God bless every little child on earth, but I just can’t seem to like this one very much. I will for Tully’s sake, though. Hell, I’m sure if it came out with his green eyes and looking just like his daddy, I’d probably instantly fall in love, as for now, the idea of being salty sits really well with me.

  Tully hasn’t admitted it yet, but she’s excited about being an aunt. I can just picture it now, she’ll buy the kid all sorts of new toys, teach it bad words, go to the park, and teach it how to be awesome just like her.

  She’ll be in her zone. She’s definitely going to love being an aunt.

  And well, Noah… he’s going to be the best father this world has ever seen. You know those ‘World’s best dad’ awards, they’re going to go straight to him. He’s going to work his ass off and will be fiercely protective of his kid. Loyal, trustworthy, and fun. Everything a kid could want in a dad.

  Monica doesn’t know how lucky she is, but then, maybe she does.

  A hard body falls into the locker beside me and I’m just about to tell Noah to get lost when I realize it’s not actually him. I mean, am I that consumed by him that I just assume he’s around me all the time? God, I’ve got to pull myself together.

  Spencer grins down at me as though I’m some kind of meal. “Where’d you disappear to on Friday night?” he questions, stepping in a little closer. “Things were just starting to heat up.”

  I turn and look up at him. “Are you serious, right now?”

  “Yeah,” he chuckles. “Course I am. Let’s fuck off out of here and we can finish what we started.”

  “No way in hell,” I laugh, turning back to my locker and rifling through for my things.

  Spencer pulls at my elbow to drag my attention back to him. “What’s up? You’re so hot and cold all the time.”

  “Spencer,” I groan, pulling my arm free before hissing under my breath. “You marked my fucking skin. You made me look like a battered woman you’d claimed. You’re lucky my dad wasn’t home to see that shit. He would have hunted you down with a fucking rifle.”

  “Whoa,” he laughs. “Chill the fuck out, babe. It was just a little fun.”

  “Fun for who?” I question, feeling a little guilty because, deep, deep down, he means well. “I’m sorry, but screwing around at the back of some random party isn’t exactly my idea of fun. I was drunk. I would have been up for anything.”

  He pulls on my elbow again. “Come on. I’ll make it up to you and I promise, no more hickeys.”

  I go to pull free again when Spencer is grabbed from behind and thrown against the lockers on the other side of the hallway. Students scream and scramble to get out of Noah’s way as he pins Spencer up against the lockers with a hand held at his throat, reminding us all who the fucking pack leader is around here. “You put those fucking marks on her?” Noah demands. “What were you trying to do? Claim her as your own? Make her look like some kind of used slut?”

  My eyes widen at the phrase. “What did you just call me?”

  My question gets ignored as Spencer gasps for air. “Dude,” he says with terror behind his eyes, clearly knowing just how dangerous Noah can be, and trust me, his bad side is not somewhere you want to find yourself. “Back the fuck up. What’s your problem?”

  “My problem is that dickheads like you shouldn’t be allowed to touch fucking angels.”

  Fuck, I want to hate him so bad, but ‘angels’? How could I when everything he does makes my heart beat faster?

  I break my way through the students gathered around, trying to watch their King take down the school jock. This shit needs to stop here. I will not go down for this, and more so, I don’t want Noah going down for it either. “Noah,” I yell, trying to break through his rage. I grab onto his steel arm and try to pull Spencer free before he does any damage, but it’s like trying to raise the dead - damn impossible. “Let him go.”

  Noah’s eyes cut to me for a brief second before he lets up on Spencer’s throat, but that doesn’t stop him from keeping the guy pinned to the lockers and shaking me off. “What’s your fucking problem?” Spencer questions again, though this time it’s a low tone, used only for our ears, hoping he can dissolve the situation with a little one on one, but maybe he forgets who he’s dealing with.

  Noah steps into him. “Don’t fucking touch her. She’s not interested.”

  Spencer grins wide. “And you think she’s interested in you? It wasn’t you that she was grinding her ass into on Friday night. It wasn’t your lips all over her.”

  The rage pouring out of Noah is enough to even scare me and if Spencer keeps running his mouth, it’ll end up wired shut for six to eight weeks with a broken jaw. “Tell me,” Noah grins, wickedly, looking more and more terrifying by the second, “when you were all over her, did she scream your name or was she thinking of someone else? Was it you who took her home? Were you the one in bed with her all night? I don’t fucking think so.”

  My cheeks flame at the way he describes our Friday night. He technically hasn’t lied, but the way he’s describing it makes it’s sound like a lot more went down then what actually happened. I mean, the only thing that went down was my dignity.

  Spencer’s eyes flick between us before he calls him on his crap. “Bullshit,” he says. “I fucking know you, man, and if the rumors are true, you wouldn’t be fucking Henley, not when you’re with Monica.”

  Noah’s jaw clenches as he raises his chin, challenging Spencer. “What fucking rumors?”

  I watch the boys and it’s almost as though Noah just dared the guy to say it, even though we all know exactly what rumor he’s talking about.

  Spencer grins. “You knocked her up, didn’t you?” he says. “And about fucking time. I was getting sick of her always hanging off my dick.”

  Oh, no. Despite the fact that Noah can hardly stand the skank, he’s still possessive over what’s his.

  I pull on his arm again. “Noah,” I warn.

  Crack.

  Noah’s fist slams across Spencer's face, shooting towards him at the speed of light. He goes down like a sack of shit as every girl in the hallway screams and starts to run, more than aware of the dangers of being around Noah Cage when he’s about to get down to business.

  Noah won’t leave now until the job is done. Until Spencer gets the fucking point that I’m not to be touched and remembers who’s the fucking King around here.

  Noah goes for Spencer again and I dive in behind him, trying to get him off the guy, but it’s damn near impossible. His fists sail into Spencer over and over again as people stand around watching with their phones out; watching their king in action.

  “Noah,” I scream, wishing Rivers was here to peel him off Spencer, knowing damn well that Noah has the ability to cause serious damage, hell, lethal damage if he’s not careful. None of the guys around here would have the balls to get involved to try and pull him off Spencer, so right now, I’m all alone. I’m all he’s got. His only protection.

  I go for him again just as Noah rears back, not realizing just how damn close I am and within the blink of an eye, his elbow clocks me in the face, sending me hurtling back into the crowd of students before collapsing to the ground.

  “Fuck,” I cry, falling back with my hand pressed against my aching cheekbone as tears instantly spring to my eyes.

  Noah spins around with wide, frantic eyes, looking like some kind of wild animal that’s been caged for way too long as he completely forgets about Spencer laying motionless on the ground behind him.

  Noah dives for me. He grabs me and instantly peels my hand away from my aching face, revealing a palm full of blood. “Shit, Spitfire,” he gasps with his heart on his sleeve, looking like he could be sick. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you behind me. I never would have…fuck.”

  I cut him off, flinching away from his touch. “What the hell is wrong with you, Noah?” I demand wit
h tears pouring down my face, though they’re not from my broken soul, they’re here purely from the pain coursing through my face. “I told you. I’m done with you. I don’t need you getting in the face of every guy who comes near me. I can handle myself.”

  “But I…”

  “No,” I snap. “You made your decision. We’re through.” I wave a hand in Spencer’s general direction. “Shit like this can’t be happening.”

  “Come on,” he says, ignoring my ranting while trying to help me to my feet, still with that crazed animal look deep within his eyes. “Let me take you to the nurse.”

  “I told you. I can handle myself,” I yell at him, pulling myself free with a hard yank. “I don’t need you.”

  With that, I turn and walk away, leaving nothing but brokenness behind me with a shitload of whispers.

  I take myself to the nurse and have to wait as she deems Spencer’s injuries to be worse, and honestly, so do I. Maybe I jinxed him with the whole ‘broken jaw’ thought because it sure as hell looks broken to me. He ends up being carted off in an ambulance so he can get his jaw x-rayed and that’s when the nurse finally pays attention to the massive cut and bruising rapidly spreading across my face.

  A familiar dark-haired beauty sticks her head through the door as the nurse tends to my wound and prepares my face for stitches. “Oh shit,” she laughs, slapping a hand over her mouth for her inappropriate giggles. “He’s seriously going to hate himself for that.”

  “He should,” I grunt as she comes in to get a better look. “It freaking hurts and it doesn’t help that she keeps touching it and making it sting like a fucking bitch,” I seethe glancing up at the nurse who presses her lips into a tight, unimpressed line, having dealt with much worse than me in this very room.

  “I bet,” Tully says, trying to keep me calm. “I can’t say I’ve ever been on the receiving end of one of his punches, but I’ve sure seen him in action. The guy could be a fighter if he wanted.”

  “I believe it. I mean, Spencer went straight down.” The nurse pokes at me and I suck in a pained breath. “Shit, that hurts.”

  “Sorry, but if I don’t clean it up, you’ll end up with an infection.”

  “What about a scar?” Tully asks. “Is her pretty face going to be all messed up?”

  The nurse presses her lips together and shrugs. “It’s hard to tell, but if she doesn’t start sitting still, she’ll end up with something a little more than a scar.”

  I scoff and roll my eyes before turning back to Tully. “I hardly think one little scar is going to mess up my face,” I tell her, knowing damn well that it’s not going to be a little scar, it’ll be pretty damn big, pink and ugly.

  “No, but it’ll make you look like a hardened criminal and tear Noah apart every time he looks at you.”

  “In that case, hit me again,” I tell her. “Make it look worse.”

  “Don’t be stupid,” Tully says, always ready and prepared to defend her twin brother. “He feels bad enough as it is. You should see him. He’s fucking torn up. It was just an accident.”

  “Well, maybe you should get Monica to make it all better,” I grumble under my breath before turning back to her. “It wouldn’t have happened if he had just left me the hell alone. You know he was only getting at Spencer because he found out it was him who gave me the hickeys, right?”

  “Shit,” she laughs. “For Spencer’s sake, he better hope Noah never finds out what he did to me over the summer.”

  I burst out laughing, making it that much harder for the nurse to finish up. “I can just imagine,” I tell her.

  Tully sits with me until the nurse is done fixing up my face and I walk away with three little stitches just above my cheekbone and a phone call made to my father which is only just going to make him worry.

  Tully hops off the bed and helps me up behind her before grabbing my phone and passing it to me. "You know there's probably a few unread messages on that thing," she warns me.

  "I know," I grumble, knowing that she’s referring to her more than guilt-ridden twin brother. "There are twelve to be exact. I've been counting them as they come in."

  "Have you read any of them?" she questions sheepishly. "You know, he’s only going to keep texting until you reply. He's worried about you. He’s like me, just not as bad, actually, this might just be the exception."

  I let out a heavy sigh, but can’t help smiling at her comment. "I know he's worried and I get that it was an accident, he didn’t see me behind him and I shouldn’t have tried to break up a fight that was way out of my league. That was just asking for trouble and I don't blame him for that nor will I hold it against him. I'm angry that it could have been avoided if he had just left it alone. He wants to be with Monica. What am I supposed to do? Go and tell him everything is fine in the world and that he's still my special little guy while my vag grows cobwebs? No thanks."

  "For the record, he doesn't want to be with her and you know that. He wants to be with you. It’s clear as day, but he wants a family for this kid. He wants to do it right."

  I let out a frustrated groan. "Why are we even talking about this anyway?" I question. "She's pregnant. Me and Noah are done. There's nothing more to it."

  Tully rolls her eyes and grabs me to stop me from storming off in some kind of dramatic exit. "There's so much more to this," she informs me. "Just because you guys can't be together doesn’t mean he doesn't care about you. He's crazy about you and this whole situation is killing him. Hell, the fucker made me bail out of class just to come and check on you. You realize I had to fake a diarrhea explosion, right?"

  "Yuck,” I cringe, scrunching up my face and making it hurt that much more. “But thanks. I thought you would have come and checked on me just because you wanted to, not because your brother made you."

  "Shut up," she says, practically shoulder charging me. "You're fine. You and I both know it. Noah is just worried you might be hating on him."

  "He’d be right. I am hating on him."

  She lets out a sigh. “Hating on him because of this morning or the baby thing?” she questions, being able to read beneath the surface.

  “Baby thing,” I grumble.

  “That’s not fair,” she scolds. “She’s like, six or seven weeks along. That shit happened way before you showed your pretty little face. You can’t hold it against him.”

  “Doesn’t stop it hurting though.”

  “I know, I’m feeling it too,” she sighs. “I mean, out of all the chicks he could have impregnated, why did it have to be her? She’s such a…”

  “Skank?” I offer.

  “Ha. Yeah,” she grins before her face becomes serious. “I assume you’re going to pretend the nurse sent you home?”

  “I’d be stupid not to take advantage of the opportunity,” I tell her.

  “Ok,” she says as the bell rings for first break. “I better go and find Noah before he comes looking for you.”

  “In that case, I’m going to scram.”

  “Good plan,” she laughs. “I’ll see you later. Text me if you need anything.”

  Tully turns and walks away and I duck into the senior bathroom to quickly pee before getting out of here. Tully wasn’t wrong, I’ve only known Noah for a few weeks, but I know him well enough to know that he’s going to come looking for me and right now, I simply can’t handle that.

  I walk into the bathroom and lock myself in a stall before getting down to business, but people walking in make me groan. I’ve always hated peeing with people in the same room. It’s not like we’re in the same stall together, but the walls are paper thin, so we might as well be.

  Their shrill, over the top voices, instantly alert me to the fact that it’s Monica and Candice, and surprise, surprise, they’re bitching about me. What’s new?

  I try my best to tune them out, but their arrogance continues to draw me in, and the fact that they’re getting all the details wrong about what went down this morning just seems to irritate me further.

  �
��Cammy D. said that Noah and Spence were fighting over you and that Henley got jealous and threw herself at him. That’s how she got hurt,” Candice informs her with a laugh. “It was fucking perfect. You should have seen the trail of blood left up the hallway. You would have loved it.”

  “Really?” Monica gasps. “Tyler in my math class said that Noah went all Hulk on Spencer because he told everyone that they fucked.”

  I roll my eyes. At least that’s a little closer to the truth. A little.

  “Don’t believe it,” Candice says. “Noah doesn’t give a shit about her. She’s a loser. He loves you.”

  Yeah fucking right.

  Monica doesn’t respond and it’s clear she’s mustn’t agree with what Candice is suggesting. After all, Monica has been there to see the way he has chosen me over her time and time again. Hell, she was there when I walked out of his bedroom on Saturday morning.

  “What does it matter anyway?” Candice continues. “You got him back.”

  “Yeah, but for how long?” Monica says in a hushed whisper. “He’s going to realize sooner or later that there’s no bump. You know, yesterday he asked me to see the ultrasound picture you’re supposed to get. I had to lie and say that the doctor didn’t print it out.”

  What. The. Actual. Fuck?

  The bitch isn’t even pregnant.

  I scramble around for my phone, realizing that I’m not going to stumble upon this kind of information again. I hit record and pray to whoever exists out there that this conversation continues.

  “Don’t be such wet blanket,” Candice says with a slight slur, probably applying a layer of bright pink lip gloss as she talks. “It’s simple. Baby bumps don’t show straight away so just fake a miscarriage in a few weeks. It’ll get him off your back and you won’t have to worry about Henley. He’ll feel obligated to stay with you for a few weeks after that and in that time, you can work on sorting your shit out.”

  “You think?” Monica questions.

  “Yeah, for sure,” Candice says. “My friend at Broken Hill did it to her boyfriend and it worked like a charm.”