Summer

Chapter 19

I really wanted to ride the Ferris wheel with Noah, but he doesn't need to know that. It takes two to tango in his little dance of mind games, and if he thinks he can mess with me then he's sorely mistaken.

Cassie and I head back to the bar so that she can pick up another cocktail. Despite my hesitance, she then forces me onto the wooden dance floor, and I can't help but scan the room. I haven't seen Noah in a while, and I don't know why that bothers me.

"Who are you looking for?" she asks over the live band that's playing in the background.

"No one," I lie as I bring my eyes back to her. "What do you say we find Kyle and leave soon?"

"Okay. I just need to run to the bathroom again. Go get Kyle. The last time I saw him he was standing by the Basketball Toss. Or, better yet, just look for a tall, skinny guy with glasses. That's his friend Jordan. Kyle should be with him."

"Okay. You sure you're okay to go to the bathroom alone?"

"I'm fine, Fee, I only had two drinks. You know how high my tolerance is."

I head to the Basketball Toss to find Kyle, but he's nowhere in sight. I continue to walk around the area, hoping to find him, when I notice a bunch of guys rallied around the parking lot, chanting something. When I get closer, I notice that it's actually a physical fight.

I see a lengthy guy in glasses standing in the middle trying to pull...wait a minute, that's Kyle! My eyes naturally move to Kyle's opponent, and while I can't decipher who it is just yet, I see Justin holding the person back, which can only mean one thing.

Noah.

I'm having deja-vu.

Noah escapes Justin's hold and comes at Kyle, knocking him to floor. Seconds later, he's on top of Kyle, lifting his right arm back before connecting his fist with Kyle's jaw.

"Hey! Break it up," I insert myself into the situation and shout, but they don't listen. "Stop it!"

Cassie runs up from behind me and pushes people out of the way when she sees Kyle laying on the cement floor. "What the hell happened?" she cries out.

Noah really did a number. Kyle's face is bloody, and I can already see the bruise that's starting to form around his eye. Thankfully, Kyle's awake and responsive, but there's no way he'll be showing up to baseball practice tomorrow morning.

Cassie looks at me before she turns to Noah, and shoves him with her palms. "What the fuck, Noah?" I attempt to hold her back, and thankfully, she doesn't oppose. I can feel her muscles throb, and I'm relieved when she runs back over to Kyle. She squats down next to him and gently strokes his face. "Baby, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Cass," he whispers, completely out of breath.

"Holy shit man, you almost killed him," I hear Justin say to Noah, who's just standing there, fuming.

Noah's shirt is covered in sweat. He has a tiny scratch above his right eye and a cut on his bottom lip, but besides that, he looks untouched.

"You okay?" I walk over to Kyle and ask.

"Yeah. Noah Collins is just a fucking asshole. What else is new?"

"Did you see what happened, Fee?" Cassie asks.

"No. I just saw a group of guys huddled in a circle. When I got closer, I saw that Kyle and Noah were the ones fighting."

"I hate him," Cassie seethes as she intensely glares at Noah. If she stares any harder, she'll burn a hole through his shirt.

"Don't worry, Cass. I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

"Yeah? How are you going to do that?"

"By going straight to the source," I say, studying Noah, and her eyes follow my gaze.

"No!" she protests. "I'm not letting you near that piece of shit."

"Don't worry, Cass. I can handle my own. Plus, we both know that Kyle's not going to tell you what happened, so let me at least try and get it out of Noah."

"I just...I don't trust him when he's around you."

"What do you mean, Cass? It's not like he's going to hurt me."

"It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know," she shakes her head. "I don't like the way he looks at you."

I can't help but chuckle. "And how does he look at me?"

She pauses before responding. "Like you're his."