Noah (The Mitchell/Healy Family #1)(3)
Author: Jennifer Foor

We were right there, ready to seal the deal when I sat up in my bed and looked around the room.

Pissed, I narrowed in on what had disturbed such an awesome dream.

It only took a few seconds to realize that I’d woken to the sound of someone beating on the door. Ever since I’d decided to stay in the old doublewide at the back of the ranch I never got visitors, especially in the middle of the night.

Until now.

I looked around the room for the brunette, just to make sure that I hadn’t been dreaming about the sound. Sure enough, I heard the knocking again. My feet fell to the floor and I wiped my eyes, discovering the clock on the bedside table read three-fifteen. Since I knew my phone was on, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out who it was.

Instinct should have told me that there was something wrong. Maybe I should have known that it would be her all-along. Out of anyone in my life, she’d always come running to me first. I’d always been that one person she could count on.

After making my way to the back kitchen door, I flipped on the exterior light. One glance allowed me to verify who’d woken me up. My stomach dropped when she looked up and I saw the makeup smeared over her cheeks. Even in the dim light it was that apparent. I opened the door quickly, moving out of the way as she rushed in. Perhaps I should have not been so blunt, but this wasn’t the first time she’d coming running to the ranch. Here lately she’d been calling more, complaining about the same thing each time. “What the hell? Tell me you finally broke up with that piece of shit, Bells?” My cousin wasn’t just family, she’d been my best friend for as long as I could remember, probably since before we were old enough to know what that meant. Living in different states never stopped our connection. She knew all of my secrets and I knew hers. She was that one person that nobody else came before. Seeing her in pain broke my heart.

She fell into my chest and wasn’t able to answer as her sobs completely overwhelmed her. I held her tight and thought back to the first time she’d called me crying. Even though they’d been a couple for a long time, since their senior year in high school, her boyfriend wasn’t as serious as my cousin wanted him to be.

I held her tight in my arms, content with the fact that I’d do just about anything to take away her pain, including beating the shit out of his scrawny ass. He’d cheated and lied so many times, but she never learned. “Bells, you know you can’t keep doin’ this to yourself.”

“I know,” she snapped. It was the confirmation that I needed. Her boyfriend was the culprit.

“You also shouldn’t be drivin’ this late all messed up.”

“I couldn’t go home to my parents. Besides, they’ll all be here in the morning. Do you really think I could ride in a car with them or my grandparents for all that time? Look at me. They’d know and drill me until I told them. I just knew I couldn’t do it. There’s no way I could deal with Jake or Jax. Mom would know immediately, and she’d tell Dad.” She pushed herself out of my arms and walked over to the sink to wash her face. I grabbed some paper towels and handed them to her as she turned off the faucet.

The whole family was coming to the ranch for a surprise anniversary party for my parents. Since the actual date was still months away, they had no idea they were being ambushed with a celebration, instead of a plain old visit.

My cousin continued. “Home is the first place he’ll look. Besides, you and I both know that if my dad finds out what he’s done, he’ll kill him. He just about promised it the last time he caught us fightin’.”

I wanted to snicker at the comment. Isabella was my first cousin. We’d grown up being the best of friends. I’d protect her with my life, especially from scumbag boyfriends that didn’t have any business getting into her pants. Although she acted like she didn’t need it to her parents, I was always the shoulder she could cry on.

“What’d he do this time?”

She sniffled. “I found a ton of messages on his phone from that same girl. Apparently his friend Jeb never even existed. Instead he’s been spendin’ his nights in bed with Jen. All those nights I felt bad that he was workin’ so hard. This whole time he’s been bangin’ some whore. Let me get my hands on her and I’ll shove my foot so far up her snatch that she’ll never be able to have sex again.”

She took a deep breath while I clenched my jaw to prevent from laughing at her explanation of what she’d like to do to the girl. “I think the blame should be on him, Bells. He’s the one who can’t keep his dick in his pants.”

She shook her head. “They grew up together. She was his first.”

Right away I saw her changing her attitude so that she would be able to forgive him again. It pissed me off so much, because I knew things would never change. As long as she was letting him get away with it, he’d keep doing it. In my experience, she was giving him the best of both worlds. Sure, she’d be mad for a time, but then he’d come crying back at the right moment and somehow earn a spot back in her good graces. This wasn’t anything recent either. Through college they’d been on again off again, never able to call it quits or settling down. “I just can’t believe he did this shit right before the big party. Everyone’s goin’ to wonder why he’s not here. What am I supposed to tell them?”

“The truth. You say he was a loser and you dumped his stupid ass.”

She covered her face. “Maybe I’m just a shitty girlfriend. Maybe I smother him.”

“Maybe he’s just a douche. Look, Bells, you’ve been a good girlfriend. I think it’s time you realized that there’s other guys out there that would treat you better.”

She pulled her hands away from her face and let out an air-filled laugh. “Don’t even go there, cuz. You forget that I know your secrets. If you’ve taught me anything, it’s that you can’t trust a man.”

“That ain’t true.” I don’t know why it offended me so much. “Just because I don’t want a serious relationship don’t mean that men can’t be faithful. It’s a choice. Do you really think your daddy, or even mine would consider strayin’? You know they wouldn’t.”

“They’re old, though. Who knows what they did when they were our age?”

I shook my head and laughed. Knowing for a fact that my dad was crazy about my mom, I knew there was hope for mankind after all. Sure, I was shameless, picking up women for a good time without a single call afterwards. It filled my need and left me without the stress of having to impress someone twenty-four-seven. I needed freedom, and it was for that reason that I was living in an old double-wide instead of with my parents or at the main ranch house on the property with my grandmother.