Page 141 of Forever Defiant
“Come see this.”
I followed her inside. Noah was slumped in his seat, head tipped back, sound asleep.
“Should we leave?” I asked her quietly.
“Hell no.” Savannah crept up behind him and then shouted, “Wake up!” in his ear.
Noah jumped, swung, and punched the dean’s daughter right in the face.
My hands were over my mouth, Noah looked at me in horror, and we both looked down at Savannah, who was blinking on the floor as if she couldn’t understand why she was suddenly flat on her back. It took one slow-motion second of dreadfulness, and then her nose started to bleed.
“Oh shit!” Noah crouched down. “Fuck, Savvy, I’m so fucking sorry.” He offered her a hand.
I dug in my purse for tissues, and then I was kneeling on the ground beside her. “Here, take this.” I pressed the tissue to her nose and glanced at Noah, who looked sick.
“What the fuck, Matthews?” I whispered to him. “That was insane!”
He looked at me wide-eyed. “What the hell do you expect when someone creeps up on you?”
“It’s not swing first, ask questions later.” I helped Savannah sit up. “Savvy? Are you okay?”
She had tears running down her face, but she nodded. She gripped Noah’s hand. “Not your fault.” She didn’t sound like herself; she sounded like she was underwater.
“I can’t believe you hit her,” I muttered, switching out tissues. I took the tissue away from her. “Is it broken? I don’t know if it’s broken.”
Noah leaned forward and hesitantly raised his hands. “Savvy? Can I see?” She nodded, and he lifted the tissue. “I think it’s okay, but we need ice and a towel.” He looked at me, his eyes wide. “What now?”
“Ice and towel, what are you waiting for? Go!”
When the door closed behind him, I looked back at Savannah. “Okay. You can let it out.” She sagged into my arms and started to cry.
“It hurt’th sho bad,” she mumbled. “I can’t feel my face, but it also feelth like my head ith exploding.”
I nodded. “I know, hon. I’m so sorry, I...” I grabbed another tissue. “Note for future you, don’t wake up Noah by screaming in his ear when he’s sleeping.” I squeezed her hand. “Or, you know, don’t wake him up at all. Ever.”
The door opened, and Noah was back with a towel and a cup of ice. “Coffee shop,” he explained.
“Did you teleport?”
“No, I ran.”
Jesus.
“I called Dante, he’s coming.”
Savannah gave him an exaggerated look as I put the cloth over her face. “He’th going to overreacth.”
I gave her a flat stare. “Mmhmm, I wonder why.” I glanced at Noah; he looked devastated. “You okay?”
“No,” he told me like I was an idiot. “I just punched my friend in the face and almost knocked her out.”
I snickered. He looked affronted. Savannah giggled at his reaction. I hit her shoulder because she was making him worse. She winced, and I giggled louder.
“Why the fuck are you both laughing?” he asked us, bewildered.
“Because apart from the blood, snot, and tears, it’s a little bit funny,” I told him. I scooted closer to Savannah. “Tip your head back.”
The three of us were still on the floor, adding more ice and trying to find non-bloody bits of the cloth for her, when the doorflew open, and Dante strode in, with a disheveled Dustin behind him. Dante took one look at Savannah, and Noah was on his feet.
