Thorn: Carter Kids #2 (25 page)

“TEAGAN!” I ROARED, BANGING
on her bedroom door with my fist. “For fuck’s sake, don’t be like this.”

“Go away,” I heard her scream seconds before music blared from her bedroom, obviously intending to block me out.

“You know what?” I roared, kicking the door once in frustration. “Fucking suit yourself,” I muttered as I turned around and walked away. My brows shot up in surprise when I walked out of her apartment and straight into…

“Colton
?” I shook my head and gaped.

What the hell…

“Noah?” Colt exclaimed, clearly puzzled, as he struggled to rebalance himself. “What the hell are you doing here, man?”

“I could ask you the same question,” I replied before embracing my nephew in a hug.

“Dad sent me to make sure Hope got her ass on a plane home,” he told me with a grin. “It’s good to finally see you, man,” he added. “It’s been too long.”

I hadn’t seen any of the Carter’s since my mother’s funeral. I knew it was a dick move, but I had needed space, time to come to terms with the path my life was going in. And time to take on board the fact that I had a family that wanted me. I’d never had that before them, and I had handled it all fucking wrong. “I needed time, Colt,” I told him, hoping he would understand my seven year absence. “I wasn’t exactly in the right frame of mind back then,” I added in a gruff tone.

“Dude, shut the fuck up,” he chuckled, patting me on the back, before staggering through the open doorway of the girls apartment. “I’m too drunk for this deep and meaningful talk.”

Laughing at Colton’s easygoing disposition, I followed him back inside, choosing to remain in the doorway. “Hard night?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” I watched as Colton dug around in the fridge for a moment before removing the orange juice and swigging it straight from the carton. “Dude, I’m totally wasted. It’ll be a miracle if they let me board the airplane,” he told me with a grin.

“When are you guys leaving?” I asked, curious. Checking the time on my phone, I swore loudly when I saw that it was after six in the morning.

Christ, where the hell had the time gone?

“Now,” I heard Hope reply as she staggered down the hallway with a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes, and a baseball cap on her head, looking rougher than I’d ever seen her look before. The case she was carrying wasn’t closed properly and items of clothing were hanging out.

“Come on, Colt, we’re late,” she muttered, shoving her case into her brother’s arms and pushing him towards me.

Unfolding my arms, I stepped back to let them pass.

“Yes ma’am,” Colt replied, saluting me before he stepped through the doorway. “Wait, where the fuck is the door?” I heard him ask himself in a puzzled tone before going out of sight.

“Oh yeah, mister-I-have-no-respect-for-other-people’s-property,” Hope growled, poking me in the chest with her finger before rushing down the hallway after her brother. “You owe me a door.”

“I’ll get it sorted,” I muttered, forcing myself not to laugh at Hope being all pissy and hung-over.

When she reached the elevator the end of the hall, Hope swung around and said, “Oh and one more thing,
Uncle
Noah.”

“I’m all ears, my favorite niece,” I shot back with a smirk.

Hope shook her head and pointed her finger at me. “I heard you two doing the horizontal dance and if you hurt her again, I will personally hunt you down and kill you slowly. And I should warn you, Noah, I’m like a ghost – you’ll never see me coming for you.” Smiling, she added in a voice as sweet as honey, “It was good to see you. Don’t be a stranger,” before stepping into the elevator and disappearing from sight.

Scratching my head, I watched Hope leave, feeling confused and a little fearful for my safety. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I didn’t bother checking who it was before putting it to my ear. Besides, I knew full well who was calling.

“I’m on my way,” was all I managed to get in before an impressive string of curse words filled my eardrums.

“You can bet your ass you’re on your way,” was the first coherent sentence my trainer formed, followed quickly by, “If you’re not here in twenty minutes you’re on your own, Messina. I’m not fucking around this time. I mean it…Hang on a second,” Quincy wheezed down the line, “Are you
drunk
?”

“No,” I denied before shaking my head and letting out a sigh. “A little bit,” I mumbled after a moment. “Sorry.”

“You’re a pain in my ass, Messina,” he roared. “Get your ass out of whatever broad’s bed you’re lying in and over to the gym
now
!”

WHEN I WAS OUT OF HER APARTMENT BUILDING
, and was sitting in the back a cab on the way to the gym, I found myself brooding over the woman whose bed I had just climbed out of.

Fucking Teagan had been a huge mistake, not because I didn’t want her – I did,
badly
– but because it only complicated an already messy situation.

Yeah the sex had been incredible, and moving inside her was like nothing else I had ever experienced before – it was like fucking ecstasy and coming home rolled into one; her soft, pliant body beneath me, taking what I was giving, pulling me in – but emotionally nothing had changed. Teagan still blamed me for our relationship ending, and I still resented her for abandoning me. She had her own twisted beliefs on what happened that night and I had the truth. It wasn’t like I had thought that one night together would miraculously erase seven years of hurt and pain, but I had hoped it would make some of the anger I had inside of me fade.

It hadn’t.

I was still hurting – worse now than ever.

Treacherous.

Throwing my head back, I thrummed my fingers on my knees, forcing myself to believe that I didn’t care. Forcing myself to believe that it didn’t cut me open. Seeing that tattoo on her spine and knowing it was directed at me hurt like nothing ever had.

She hadn’t even denied it.

The woman who hated tattoos more than anyone had permanently inked her skin with a symbol of warning.

That fucking tattoo had screwed with my head and knocked the hell out of my confidence.

Teagan really thought that about me.

She considered me dangerous to her – treacherous – when the truth was I would do anything to protect her.

Yeah, I was a fuck up in my past, but I turned it around. I was successful now. I’d made something of myself.

Why couldn’t she see past the guy I used to be and see the man I was now?

Because the man I was would do anything to keep her out of trouble.

The man I was now would never take those kinds of risks again.

Dammit, why was I letting her get inside my head like this?

I didn’t need this shit in my life anymore. I was a grown ass man and I had seen and experienced too much pain to even contemplate getting back in the ring with that little fruitcake. Teagan Connolly was bratty, childish, and incredibly insecure. She was the worst possible thing for me and I needed to forget about her. In a couple of days, I would be back in the States, and too busy with training to think about anything else.

Especially not her.

So why did you follow her home, dipshit,
a voice inside my head asked.

Because I
had
to find her.

Because even though she hurt me worse than anyone ever had, and drove me batshit crazy there was just something about her that made it impossible for me to permanently walk away.

Because there was a fierce desperation inside of me, a driving urge that kept leading me back to her.

I was lost when it came to that woman.

There was no escaping her.

“HOPE?” I CROAKED OUT HOARSELY
, when I woke up the Thursday morning, alone on my bedroom floor, naked as the day I was born, and nursing the headache of all hangovers. “I really need a cuddle right now,” I called out weakly. “And some painkillers.”

When she didn’t answer, I gingerly dragged myself to my feet, and tossed on my nightdress before padding across the hall. Pushing her bedroom door inwards, I saw her empty, unmade bed and frowned.

Stumbling back into the bathroom, I showered in a semi-conscious state of awareness. It wasn’t until I was out, and had dried myself off and had got dressed for work that I noticed the lipstick scrawled note on the bathroom mirror.

Gone back to The Hill with Colt.

Call you later.

H. X

“What the hell?”

Since when had Colton been here?

Shaking my head in confusion, I headed into the kitchen on a mission to find some painkillers – and a time machine.

“Whoa,” I exclaimed when my eyes landed on the man standing in my kitchen. “Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my flat?”

“Your boyfriend called about getting a door fitted,” he informed me and it was only then that I noticed the freshly painted door hanging where our old one had been.

“Wow, that’s impressive,” I muttered before stumbling back to his previous statement. “Wait, he’s not my boyfriend.”

The man shrugged, clearly not bothered about my romantic status.

“I’m not paying you,” I added, folding my arms across my chest. I couldn’t if I wanted to – my bank account was in the red.

“It’s already been taken care of,” the man replied before picking up his toolbox and heading over to the door. “The keys are on the counter. You have a good day now,” he told me before leaving.

When he was gone, I grabbed the new set of keys off the counter before heading out. Even though the last place I wanted to be right now was at work, especially since Liam and I were in a fight, I knew I couldn’t let him pick up my slack.

How I planned to walk into the gym and pretend I was fine and be professional when my whole world had been turned upside down was beyond me, but I would damn well try.

On my walk to the gym, I found myself pouring over last night’s events. My behavior towards Noah had been disgraceful. I wasn’t so stubborn that I couldn’t admit that.

I wondered if I could ever stop being such a manic bitch and just sit down and talk it all out with him like a grownup. I never seemed able to because I could never get past the red-hot flames of rage and desire that took me over whenever I was in his presence.