Page 40 of Noah
They would have killed me if they knew I slept with Molly. The were nearly as protective of her as I was, and that includedprotecting her from a no-good, tattooed, somewhat rebellious rock star. I might be their friend, but I didn’t think that would matter. They’d take her side over mine.
I didn’t blame them for that. I would have been angry at them if they didn’t.
Still, there was no side to take right now. At least I didn’t think there was. Unless Molly had told someone else about what we’d done. God, maybe they all knew and no one had the guts to say anything to me about it.
Suddenly the looks I’d been getting from the guys were less about a shared joke and more about knowing something I didn’t. Knowing what I’d done.
At that moment, Molly came around the corner like I’d called her into being. And she was alone.
This was exactly the opportunity I’d been waiting for, and I didn’t waste it. I moved toward her quickly, pinning her against the wall, and then, instead of saying anything, grabbed her wrist and made for the closest exit. We were going to have a conversation, her and me, and I wanted to be outside, where no one could overhear us. I could see through the window that it was pouring down rain out there, but I didn’t care. I wanted the privacy. The open air around us.
We’d just have to find shelter somewhere.
We got through the door and into the parking lot, and it was raining a lot harder than I’d thought. The rain hadn’t seemed like a problem before, when we were in the hotel, but now...
“Shit,” I murmured.
“What, you didn’t realize it was raining out here?” she asked sharply. “That failed to catch your attention when you kidnapped me?”
I snorted at that, because I hadn’t done anything of the sort, but I had bigger problems right now. Rain problems. We were ina tiny hotel near the venue and the roof didn’t extend beyond the outer wall of the building, so we couldn’t stay here.
I mean we could, but we were going to get soaked.
On the other side of the parking lot, though, I saw a wide, spreading pepper tree. One of those trees whose branches drape all the way to the ground.
“See that tree?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I could hear the frown in her voice as she wondered what the hell I was talking about. But I could also hear the start of curiosity. She’d never turned down an adventure, and some of our best days had started with a question just like that.
“Race you,” I said, grinning.
I started running before she answered, counting on her to take the bait. Sure, she’d been ignoring me for two weeks and had every right to be angry at me. But she was also incapable of saying no to a challenge.
I raced through the parking lot, doing my best to avoid the puddles and go around any hazards. Molly, on the other hand, blew right through the puddles and hurdled anything that got in her way. She was a small, brown-haired streak through the rain, and her speed surprised me enough that I almost paused to watch her.
Then I realized she was going to win the race, and sped up.
She had too much of a lead on me, though, and no matter how hard I ran, she was faster. What had she been doing, training on her speed? She was way faster than she was when we were little. And my legs were about twice as long!
Molly went skidding through the draping branches of the willow tree and disappeared, and moments later I went in after her, breathless and exhilarated by the run. I stared into the gloom, looking for her, but couldn’t see much. The tree’s branches provided plenty of shelter from the rain, but also cutthe light, and I felt like I was standing in some sort of green-tinted cave.
Without a Molly.
Had she run right through to the other side? Left me the moment I lost sight of her? That wasn’t part of the rules.
Then again, sleeping together hadn’t been in the rules, either.
“Losers lose,” a voice suddenly said from behind me. “And also, they buy lunch.”
I turned, laughing, to find her somehow behind me, soaking wet and pink-cheeked. Incredibly beautiful. “Buying lunch was never part of the deal,” I noted.
She shrugged. “Things change.”
That made me remember why I’d dragged her out here in the first place. “Like you? What’s with you ignoring me, Bug? Where the fuck have you been?”
She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean, where have I been? I’ve been on tour, same as you. Doing my job. Same as you.”
