Page 104 of Sweet Ruin

Both boys became rigid as they scowled at each other, and I wished Noah hadn’t chosen to stand so close to me. It somehow made everything look so much worse.

“Wes…” I reached out to him, but he took a firm step back as he glanced between Noah and me.

The anger in his eyes was palpable. “You’re herewith him,” he said.

“I’m not here with him. Noah wasn’t even supposed to be here.”

“Right, and that’s why you’re wearing his sweatshirt?”

“Wes…” I tried to explain, but he wouldn’t give me a chance.

“If you’re not here together, why was he chasing after you?”

“Because—"

“Did you cheat on me?”

His accusation chilled me to the bone, and I let out a shocked breath. “No! I would never.”

Noah stepped forward as if to protect me from Wes’s words. “She didn’t cheat on you,” he growled. “And if you believe she’d even consider that for one second, you clearly don’t know Isobel at all.”

Wes stepped forward too, squaring up to Noah so they were inches apart. “This is none of your business, Hastings.”

Noah didn’t back down, and his scowl deepened as he stared at Wes. The boys were matched in height and build, and it felt like only the tension filling the air between them was stopping them from colliding.

“It became my business when you started hurling baseless accusations,” Noah continued. “When you started dragging my name through the mud right along with hers.”

“This is between me and my girlfriend,” Wes fired back.

Noah stood his ground though, maintaining the barrier he’d created between Wes and me. Standing between us only seemed to be aggravating Wes more though. Noah was making everything worse.

I pushed my way past Noah and turned on him. “Noah, would you please just go back inside?” I pointed into the house. Over his shoulder, I could see Anna, Sawyer, and Luther poking their heads out from the corridor that led through to the balcony. They’d obviously heard the commotion.

Wes let out a dry laugh when Noah didn’t immediately move. “Well, if he won’t leave, then I will.”

He turned on his heel and marched away from the house. I shot Noah a scowl before I took off after Wes.

“Wes, wait,” I called after him, but he continued powering across the driveway toward his house like he hadn’t heard me at all. “Wes, please.”

He didn’t look back, and it wasn’t until he got to the front door that I managed to catch him. I reached out to lightly touch his arm. “Would you just talk to me,” I said. “I can explain.”

Wes stepped back from me and shrugged off my grasp. “Explain?” he balked. “Isobel, you’re wearing Noah’s hoodie…”

I’d never seen him like this before. He was practically shaking with anger. “I didn’t know it was his,” I said. “It was the first sweatshirt I could find when I got out of the hot tub. I didn’t cheat on you. I would never.”

“You were still in the hot tub with him.”

“For about three seconds.” I folded my arms across my chest. “And it’s not like we were alone.”

His eyes were narrowed as he considered my explanation. “Is this why you didn’t text me to tell me what you girls were up to? So you could spend time with him?”

I was starting to get frustrated now. “No, I didn’t text you because I didn’t think I needed your permission. And like I’ve already told you, Noah wasn’t supposed to be there.”

He looked like he wanted to argue with that, so I cut him off before he got a chance. “I was just hanging out with my friends, Wes. And yes, Noah turned up, but I decided to leave once he arrived.”

“You didn’t think he’d be at the househe’sstaying at?”

“Oh my gosh, Wes! Luther said he’d be gone all day, and Cress thought so too.” I shook my head. “But that’s not the point. The point is you don’t trust me. And if you can’t do that; if you can’t believe me when I say nothing happened, then something about this relationship isn’t working. It shouldn’t be this hard!”

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