The Dealers

Chapter 8 - Noah

My life was nothing short of tragic but I was no victim. The hand that I'd been dealt was a crappy one but I played it the best way that I knew how. I was a survivor and there was nothing that I couldn't overcome.

I could stomach a lot more than the average person. I was used to high stress, life or death situations and there was always a lot riding on my shoulders.

Sitting there in Lena's truck, I was unexpectedly overwhelmed and it was chipping away at the strong exterior that I'd built up for so long. In such a short time, that forsaken town had thrown me for a big fucking loop.

I worked so hard to toughen myself up because there was no room for weakness. The only way to process the insurmountable stress that I dealt with in my daily life was to compartmentalize it.

Going to Cedar Falls and meeting Lena for the first time, I was knocked on my ass straight away. I had to get to know her and my inability to resist her forced me to face intense emotions that I'd locked away a long time ago.

It was hard for me to fully let myself feel those things for Lena because they were terrifying and I didn't know how to navigate them. More so, those feelings came attached to a million other emotions that I wasn't used to, either.

Jealousy, for one, was a new sensation that I struggled to keep in check. Jacob brought it out of me like no other and he pushed my buttons more than even my own brothers did. I was constantly thinking of the worst and reminding myself how much guys like Jacob wanted Lena.

Protectiveness—yet another side effect to falling for the beautiful girl sitting beside me. I had just met her but I felt like I needed to protect her at all costs. Somehow, in whatever fucked up way, she was mine and no one else's.

Could she feel it, too?

Driving along dark and windy country roads—most of which, weren't even paved—Lena wouldn't tell me where we were going. It had been nearly thirty minutes of driving far off from civilization and street lights. It was as if she were following the moon as it shone bright and full in the night sky.

The moon and stars were amplified by the lack of city lights as we put distance between ourselves and Cedar Falls. Lena knew these roads well as she maneuvered the truck skillfully through treacherous roads and faded road signs.

Finally, Lena turned off a long stretch of road and headed uphill until we entered a dense wooded area and continued climbing in altitude. After a few miles, the tree coverage around us parted and the magnificent sky in all it's glory shone over us.

A steep edge not far away, Lena parked the truck in the middle of a clearing. Cutting the engine suddenly, a sharp silence fell over us as the sounds of nature engulfed us.

This place was amazing and I was nearly overwhelmed knowing that Lena had chosen to bring me here. Even after the way I treated her, she gave me the second chance that I hoped for.

I couldn't fuck this up twice.

I could tell by the way she drove there that she'd navigated those roads many times before. I could tell by the way she curved around the steep cliff that she'd parked her truck up here in the past.

A part of my heart ached at the thought of her bringing someone else up there or worse, someone else bringing her up there.

Is that how she found this place? A past lover?

"This place is..." I started, as we both got out of the truck and Lena reached into the small space behind the drivers seat, "it's something, huh?"

Pulling out a stack of folded blankets from inside the truck, Lena tossed them over and into the bed, hoisting herself up and gesturing for me to do the same. Copying her footing, I got myself into the tall truck bed and we both situated ourselves on and underneath the blankets.