Page 172 of Forever Defiant
He gave me a flat stare. “You went looking for more?”
“Of course.”
He glared at Savannah. “Youbothwent looking for more?”
I rolled my eyes. “You left us here. What did you think we were going to do? Did you think we would lie in your beds and masturbate when you weren’t here? I mean, we’reresearchinga story.”
Noah gave a sharp burst of laughter. “My tissues are by my bed for that reason,” he said, heading to his room. “If you ever need to, you know,” he added with a wink.
“She will never need to ‘you know’ on your bed,” Dustin huffed indignantly as Noah closed his door, cutting off his laughter.
I couldn’t keep my face straight.
“And are you allowed to be wherever you were,researching?” Dante asked coolly.
“Technically—”
“So no?” His whole attention was on Savvy. “What were you thinking?” He sighed. “I thought you’d be smarter than this.”
Savannah looked pale. He walked past her and closed his door, making it clear he wasn’t in the mood to talk.
Dustin looked at me and shook his head. “Seriously? Today? Fuck me, you don’t disappoint, Hadley.” He went into his room, and his door was closed.
I exchanged a look with Savannah. “Sensitive.”
She hastily wiped her eyes. “I have a tutoring session to get to.” She picked up her purse. “Walk me?”
She looked like she was about to cry. I groaned. “Yes. But don’t you want to yell?”
“No.”
To heck with that. “Well, I do.”
I rapped my knuckles hard on each closed door. They all opened their doors more or less at the same time. I met two scowls and a mildly amused look.
“You left your girlfriend and herreporterfriend in your apartment. We looked. We have a story to uncover. To do that, you need to do work. You know, actual investigative work. That’s what we did.” My sharp glare cut off whatever Dustin was going to say. “We weren’t noticed, and we didn’t find anything. No harm done.”
I met Dante’s heated gaze. “You’re a control freak, I get it. It’s why you’re a QB. But you need to apologize to Savvy. You’ve upset her, and she didn’t want to go along with it. It was my idea.” I made a face. “So be pissed with me, I know how easily it comes to you.”
“You scare me,” Dustin muttered. “You know that, right?”
I pointed at Noah. “He isn’t.”
Dustin frowned. “What?”
“Noah — he isn’t pissed or scared. In fact, I’d say he thinks it’s funny. But you three have had a rough afternoon, your dynamic feels off, so he can’t laugh because he’s unsure if he’s allowed. Meanwhile, you all immediately go all super possessive. That’s why Savvy and I think Noah’s the best one of you three.”
Dustin’s eyes were wide as he stared at me. “Then why are you dating me and not him if he’s so great?” He flushed.
“No idea,” I told him, crossing my arms. “Noah? Why didn’t you ask me out?”
He was grinning. “Because you were already taken,” he said with a smile. “And you’re too much for me, Hadley. I’m just a simple man.”
I winked at him. “Darn.” I jerked my thumb at Savannah. “And Savvy?”
“Savannah ismine.” Dante’s tone dared any of us to tell him differently.
“Exactly.” I refused to look at Dustin. “So we all cleared up?” The three of them looked at me — one amused, one pissed off, and one ready to wring my neck. “Alright. I’ll see you later.” I spoke to Dustin, not looking at him. “Savvy, you ready? You have your tutoring session.”
