Page 17 of Strong Side
Well, fuck. That doesn’t sound good. And I swear to God, if she’s about to tell me she’s getting back with Trey … I’m gonna have to walk out of the room. Instead of answering with words, I just nod.
“So, I ran into Trey recently. You know I’d blocked him after everything happened, and he wouldn’t stop calling and texting, so I hadn’t talked to him since that day we shall not discuss.” She pauses and looks at my expression, which I’m keeping neutral. She continues, “I knew, coming back to campus, there would be times I might run into him, but not one-on-one, right?” She starts moving her hands, twisting her fingers around each other.
I nod. “Okay, and?”
“Well, he must have found out or figured out my schedule because, the last few days, he’s been waiting outside my classes and following me around. He brought me flowers.” She holds up her hand. “Which I didn’t accept.”
I’m a pretty calm guy by nature, but this guy makes me want to crash out. My jaw is clenched, to the point that I wouldn’t besurprised if I cracked a tooth. And I can’t lie and say we’ve never had a confrontation. Noelle just doesn’t know about it.
She pauses, eyes roaming over my face. “I had it under control … until today. He told me he loved me and that everything was behind us. He told me to get over it and started spouting off about how I was his, and just in general, he was being an asshole. Why on earth I stayed with him, I have no idea.” She looks down and shakes her head.
I mean, I know why she stayed with him. The guy’s a narcissist and played into her emotions, but that’s not what she needs to hear right now. She needs me to listen, so that’s what I’ll do.
“So, how did you get him to walk away?”
“Funny enough, Silas walked up to us. He must have recognized me from moving day and stopped. There was no hiding the fact that Trey and I were fighting, and I think he wanted to make sure I was okay.” She tries to smile, and she reaches out and sets her other hand on top of mine.
I clear my throat. “And the bruise is from him?” I’m trying to stay calm, but I’m about to fucking lose it.
“Yes, He squeezed my arm pretty tight.” I start to shift, but she squeezes my hand, trying to keep me in place. “Case, I’m fine. Honestly. I pissed him off, and that was his reaction. I just spoke before I thought about it.”
“Noelle, no man should ever, for any reason, lay a hand on you. Do you hear me? Ever. You understand he needs to pay for this, right?” I shake my head back and forth.
“I know, and I agree. I’m not making excuses for him anymore, like I did when we were together.” She tries to bring my attention back to her.
“I know of one other time he did something like this to you. Are you telling me it happened more than that?” I roll my lipsover my teeth to keep from saying anything more. Like what I did to him when I found out about it for the first time.
“I mean, no. But honestly, Casey, I’m trying to tell you more about why he did it. Because it involves you. Something I said about you.” She closes her eyes and tilts her head up. “Please don’t be upset.”
I sit up now because I can’t imagine what would make me upset with her, aside from wishing she’d kicked him in the balls. “Tell me.”
She lowers her head, opens her eyes, and looks at me. I can see pink tinting her cheeks, and she’s holding her bottom lip between her teeth. “I’m not sure I can look at you when I tell you this.”
I can’t help but laugh because this girl is never shy with me. “Noelle, come on. Tell me what you said.”
She covers her face with her hands. “I told him you were my boyfriend now.”
My stomach drops, but not in a bad way. In a very fucking good way.
To make sure I heard her correctly, I pull her hands from her face and wait for her to open her eyes to look at me. “You told him I was your boyfriend?”
“And I might have alluded to us having sex. I believe my exact words werewild, crazy … raunchy.” She scrunches her eyes at the last word as if she’s embarrassed. One of her eyes opens to gauge my reaction.
I’m not really sure how to react here. Internally, I couldn’t fucking be happier. But I’m also not sure I want to show all my cards until I understand the situation fully.
“I’m sorry.” She winces. “It just slipped out. He was going on about how I was his and how him cheating was my fault,” she mutters. “I hope you’re not mad. It just literally spilled out of my mouth. I don’t want him thinking it’s okay for him to keepfollowing me around.” Her head drops, and her hair covers her face, slightly hiding her from me.
“And I think I said you were my boyfriend because it was an easy answer and it was reactive because I knew our friendship always bothered him. Once I said it, I knew it was wrong because he’s going to expect us to be a couple.”
I don’t think I could stop the smile from forming on my face if I tried. “I accept.”
She laughs. “You accept?”
“You bet your ass I accept. You told him I’m your boyfriend because Trey is a manipulative motherfucker. Anything I can do to make him squirm, I’m game. What do you need from me then?”
“Casey, I thought you would be mad. Or feel weird about this.” She tilts her head in question.
“Why would I feel weird? Definitely not mad.” I laugh.
