“Yeah, you’re right,” I say, pursing my lips as I think it over, though my thinking quickly morphs into daydreaming about the nice relaxing bath that I could have been in right now. I mean, what was the point in all this? Tully isn’t even here.
Noah’s arm falls over my shoulder as I walk into the house and the second the door closes behind us, he pulls me in tight to his side, making sure to press a kiss to my temple despite us only seeing each other a few hours before.
“Oh, thank God,” Violet murmurs from the entryway of the kitchen. “Tell me you’re here to talk to that daughter of mine? She’s in the worst mood. Has been since she got home.”
“Well, I thought I was coming to talk to her, but she seems to have done a runner.”
“What?” Violet grunts, peering around the corner and down the hallway. “When was this? I didn’t see her leave.”
“Like two seconds ago,” Noah grumbles in amusement.
Violet sighs again as she looks back to me. “Damn. Do you know what’s going on?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
Noah turns on his heel and starts stalking down the hall towards her bedroom. “Fuck it. I’m going in.”
“What?” I rush out, hurrying down the hall after him. “If you go snooping in her room, she’s going to kill you.”
He looks back over his shoulder and grins. “We’re a team, Spitfire, and no matter what, I’m taking you down with me so you might as well get your ass down here and help. It’ll be quicker this way.”
Shit. He has a point…a really shitty point, but nonetheless, a point.
I scramble after him. After all, two sets of eyes will get the job done so much faster. Not to mention, boys have a habit of looking for things with their eyes closed. Besides, if there’s anything we find that Tully would really prefer Noah not to see, then I’ll be there to save the day.
Now that’s a much better point that gets me on board.
I push through the doorway of her room to find Noah pulling the room apart and I roll my eyes. “Have you never snooped before? You’re supposed to be discreet so she doesn’t realize you were in here.”
“I don’t have time for that discreet bullshit. What if she comes back now or she forgot something? Shit, maybe she has a feeling we were going to snoop and is coming back to hide the evidence right now. What then? Wouldn’t you want to get to it before she does?”
Crap. There he goes making shitty points again.
I throw my hands up and groan. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be looking for.”
“Well, if you stop wasting time whining and start searching then you’d probably be able to figure it out.”
I roll my eyes and get looking. “You’re an assface.”
“You wouldn’t love me if I was a sweet as pie push over.”
Again…point.
Noah searches in all the obvious spots like on the bed, shelves, and desk while I think like a girl and go for the less obvious places. I go through the wardrobe and cringe every time I see something out of the corner of my eye flying across the room.
Tully really is going to kill us.
Noah moves away from the desk and throws himself into her bedside table. He rifles around for a moment and I suck in a terrified gasp. If she was going to have something hidden in here that she wouldn’t want him to see then her bedside table is a very likely place.
He moves on without any issues and I let out a silent breath of relief, though I’m not fooled. I don’t doubt there’s something X-rated hidden in here somewhere. This is Tully after all.
Noah checks under the bed as I double check the desk because let’s face it, he’s just throwing things around. I don’t think he’s even looking, just enjoying making a mess of her room.
“HEY! This is where she hides all the fucking popcorn.”
A laugh comes tearing out of me. “I know. She used to hide it in the top of her closet.”
Noah’s head pokes out from under the bed and I can’t help but remember Tully crawling under there just a few weeks ago when she was looking for her acceptance letter. “How long exactly have you known about this?”
“Umm, well…let’s see. You remember that very first day that I came over here?”
“Yeah,” he says slowly.
I grin. That day changed it all. “That’s when. I saw the box up in her closet and asked about it. She said she hides her popcorn because you and Rivers would steal it.”
“Are you kidding? Whose side are you on here?”
“In this particular case, definitely hers. Do you have any idea how often Tully and I get to crash in her bed, watching Netflix and dig into a bowl of popcorn without having to share it with a hog like you? It’s great. You know, sometimes we even have a bag each.”