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His father flinched like he was slapped in the face and his lips curled into a nasty smile. “Boy, I tell you, this generation is too freaky for me.”

I was moving before I could process it. All I knew was that a hand tried to halt my progress and I flung it away. My heels clicked against the hall’s floors and I didn’t stop walking until I was right beside Noah. I didn’t give him time to say anything before I whipped my head in his father’s direction. “I don’tcare that you just called me freaky because your opinion of me doesn’t mean shit. But what I won’t let slide is you coming out of your mouth crazy to Noah ever since we got here.”

Michael scoffed and ran a hand over his collar. “You just met me, little girl. Watch your mouth.”

“And I hope I never meet your miserable ass again. I’m not watching you belittle your son because he won’t jump when you say jump. You ain’t shit but a bully and you don’t scare me. You or your weird ass wife. Noah is one of the best men I’ve ever met. Your son deserves so much better than you and I swear if you ever?—”

“True!” Noah’s voice cut through my blacked out thoughts seconds before his arm was around my waist, pulling me away from his father. I hadn’t realized how close I’d gotten when I was talking, but he had to drag me a few steps before I struggled out of his hold and shot another defiant look over my shoulder.

Michael was smirking at me, the cold glint in his eye triumphant as Mischa rushed to his side.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins and my chest heaved from trying to exhale more breaths than I was taking in.

I didn’t get a chance to ask Noah why he pulled me away before Greyson came around the corner, tucking his phone into his breast pocket. He smiled on instinct at seeing us until his gaze clashed with Noah’s. Then mine.

A million questions filled his eyes.

“We’re going home,” Noah bit out roughly, dropping my arm and leaving me and Greyson to stand there in the hall.

After we got our coats, Noah walked out of the venue ahead of us and climbed in the backseat of Greyson’s truck without aword. The way he slammed the door told me that he didn’t want company back there, so I let Greyson help me into the front passenger seat.

The ride home was a silent one.

No radio.

No small talk.

None of the banter the three of us usually shared.

Greyson kept splitting worried glances between me and the rearview mirror to check on Noah.

Between chewing the inside of my cheek and picking at my cuticles, I didn’t know what else to do with myself. The weight of the silence pressed in on me, making my chest tight and my right knee jump.

By the time we got out the car to walk in the house, I was so nervous I didn’t even feel the bite of cold clinging to the snowy air.

“I need somebody to tell me what the hell is going on,” Greyson demanded, stopping by the couch to look at us.

Still silent, Noah pulled off his coat before walking over to me with a heated scowl.

I didn’t let his irritation deter me. “Noah, are you okay?”

“I didn’t ask you to speak up for me, you should have just let him talk. That’s all he ever does.”

My brows bunched and I tried to close the space between us. “He wasn’t justtalking, he was antagonizing you for being poly and you just let him!”

“So what! What you think you did tonight? You think blowing up at him made it better? That the next time he sees me he’s finna respect me because my girlfriend called him out? You just made that shit worse. I don’t need you speaking up for me, True. I don’t need you doing anything for me.”

“Are you serious right now? You’re mad at me for defending you?” I crossed my arms over my chest and focused on the ball offur sleeping on the couch. “All this energy for me but he can talk to you however the fuck he wants?”

“I need both of y’all to calm down and stop yelling at each other.” Greyson stepped between us, his expression as confused as I was feeling.

“I’m calm,” Noah bit out, but I couldn’t see him around the wall that Greyson was. And maybe that was a good thing.

I couldn’t handle him looking at me like I’d shattered his world into a million pieces when all I did was check his father.

“Would it have been better if I didn’t say anything? If I just let him talk?—”

“Nah, it would have been better if you didn’t meet them at all.”