Noah (The Mitchell/Healy Family #1)(10)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“Who you calling little?” Jax asked.

Okay, so they were my size, but I was still stronger.

Bells grabbed me by the arm and walked me out of the room, while her mother walked over to attend to her sons.

Once outside, we burst into laughter.

A couple things happened a few moments later.

A car pulled up, and out walked Bella’s ass**le boyfriend.

My father and uncle Ty came flying out of the front door pissed, with my cousins coming out behind them. Jake had a paper towel in hands that was soaked with blood, while Jax still had the plastic fork attached to his skin.

My father came up and shoved me against the siding on the house. “I would think that after all of the work put into this party for me and your mother, that you would at least have the decency to set a good example for your younger cousins. You need to go home and cool off.”

I could hear a commotion approaching the door near where we stood. My mother appeared, as well as my aunts and my grandmother.

Jake came at me, bloody hands and all. “YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I’VE GOT PRACTICE NEXT WEEK!”

I could tell he was pissed, except it didn’t make me want to care. I’d done something that they’d probably done themselves. So what if his hands were bleeding? They deserved it.

I shoved my cousin away. “Get the f**k off of me.”

Then all hell broke loose.

He came back at me swinging and I took him down easily, but before I could throw one punch I was being grabbed by two different people and pulled off of my cousin.

“Boy, what is wrong with you?” My father had this look on his face that I recognized right away. “I said cool it.”

I held up my hands. “He deserved it. That’s all I’m sayin’.”

Out of the corner of my eyes I could see my mother covering her face. For the most part our family get-togethers didn’t involve fist fights, however trips to the Emergency Room were common. We’d all rolled around in the dirt before, so it wasn’t like it was a big shocker.

Another shove from my father slammed me back into the side of the house. “You need to not only apologize to your mother, but also to everyone here.”

“Fat chance. I ain’t apologizin’ for shit they do all the time. Don’t sit there and claim you and uncle Ty didn’t do the same shit. Do you even want to know why I did it?” I pointed toward Jake. “That little f**ker was messin’ with –.”

He didn’t let me finish. “You know what Noah, it doesn’t even matter. Here lately you’ve been on my last damn nerve, boy. Get your shit straight, son. You hear me?”

“Dad, I’m tryin’ to tell you that I was protectin’ –.”

“Shut your mouth, Noah! There ain’t no reason to do somethin’ as stupid as you did. You know how important sports are to that kid’s future. He’s on a scholarship, for Christ sakes. This wasn’t the time or place, and you know it. Go home and settle down. Let your mother enjoy the rest of the night without drama for once. By mornin’ it will all be calm again and we can enjoy their visit.”

I shoved away from him and started walking. “This is why I can’t do this shit anymore,” I grumbled under my breath.

I felt him pull on the back of my shirt. “What did you say, son?”

And there we were.

Staring each other down like things always ended.

This time I was determined that I wasn’t backing down.

“I said I ain’t dealing with this SHIT anymore.”

I think the shock of me standing up to him caught him off guard. For a moment he stood there contemplating what to do or say to me. After looking around I discovered that the whole family was outside, watching us. I spotted Bells in the crowd and noticed her douche-bag boyfriend with his arm around her. I think it was at that moment when I just snapped.

I was tired of being pushed around by my dad, and expected to live my life a certain way. No matter what I did was never good enough for him. I wanted more out of life and this was my opportunity to let him and everyone else know it. “Speechless? Is that what you are, Dad?” I backed up more so he couldn’t hit me. “You heard me right. I’m sick of this place. I’m tired of you bossin’ me around and tellin’ me all that I do wrong. You want the god damn truth about it, well I’m tired of you. If I had a choice, I’d get the f**k out of here and never come back.” In my defense the last comment wasn’t true. There’s nothing more important to me than my family, and that sentence had guaranteed that I’d never have their support again. Before my father could even say anything, I knew that to be true.

His cock-eyed look let me know that he was officially flabbergasted. He held up his hand and pointed toward the main gate of the ranch. “Pack your shit and get out then. You think you’re so much better without this family then go on. There ain’t no other place for you out there, Noah. You’ll come home cryin’ sooner or later.”

I walked past him, keeping my eyes on his the whole time. “Yeah, well see about that.”

“We certainly will.”

My mother came rushing to my side while I was climbing on the golf cart to head back to my place and pack my bags. “Noah, please don’t do anything stupid. Your dad is just mad, that’s all. He doesn’t want you to leave. I don’t want you to leave. This is your home. Just go home and sleep it off.”

“That’s just it, Mom. I don’t think I can be here any longer. Before all of this happened I was plannin’ on tellin’ him that. I ain’t happy here.”

She pulled on my arm when I started to move forward. I hit the brake and finally looked into her tear-filled eyes. I had to clench my jaw to hold in my emotions. My heart was beating like crazy after having words with my dad, but this was something entirely different. She was pulling at my heartstrings and there was nothing I could do about it.

Acting like a hard-ass came easy, but breaking my mother’s heart was something I couldn’t handle. I’d promised myself a long time ago that I’d never let it happen again. One look into those blue eyes of hers and I knew it was too late. “Mom, please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to ruin your party.”

“I don’t care about that,” she cried. “Where will you go?”

I reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it with mine and caressing the skin with my thumb. “I’ll find a place to call home. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m a grown man. I’ll be fine.”