Page 38 of Ly to Me (Devils of Alliston Springs #1)

“Happy?” I balled Lyra’s panties back up and shoved them into my pocket, reminding myself to burn them before she could ever know what else I’d taken from her that night.

She was so caught up in the moment when I’d shredded them from her body she didn’t even ask about it.

Not in the moment, not when we spent time together after and not when I dropped her off later that night.

Noah leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know if that’s good enough. She could have been on her period or something and you could have just taken that from her house.”

My teeth clenched together so hard, I was sure one would chip. “You’re fucking joking.”

“Nah.”

I slid a hand down my face. “I fucked her in the truck right after the party. The bet was pretty clear—I get her to have sex with me before prom, you pay. I don’t, I pay.

” His brow arched before I added, “Do you want to see the condom I fucked her with? The packet? The truck?” Bile rose in my throat at the suggestion.

I’d already crossed a fucking line just to end this with him.

Screw that. He didn’t need more proof. He needed to pay up.

He shrugged. “I dunno, maybe I need her to tell me all about it.”

Two inches. That’s how far a heavy ashtray was from my fingers as they pulsed along the wooden top. I could throw that right at his smirk and knock out a few teeth, giving me a head start on beating him to a pulp on the floor.

I think he saw my contemplation because he finally chuckled. “Fine. Okay. But I have one question before I pay.”

“Ask.”

“How tight was she? No one expected her to be a virgin, but man, looks like you hit the lotto with that one. Guess the dick-sucking stories could still—”

Noah wasn’t able to finish. I hopped over the bar and pummeled him from the stool, taking him down to the ground with a heavy thud.

My fist met his face over and over as he struggled to get me away from him.

With each crunch of his bones, each twinge of his muscles, each violent jerk of his body between me and the floor, some of the anger dissipated.

No , actually—

Fuck that.

Nothing would calm me down.

Someone would have to rip me from him.

“Carver Roland!” A woman’s voice cut in, but I was too far gone as Noah’s body became limp beneath me. Pressure dug into my arms, forcing them to stop as they pried me from the unconscious asshole on the ground. “What on earth are you doing to your friend?!”

Red faded from view long enough to register the voice—

My mother.

Fuck.

“Do I need to ask what happened today, son?” my dad asked, staring down at the bag of peas I had pressed to my knuckles, then the one held up to my cheek. Somehow, Noah had gotten a few hits on me, but I hadn't registered the hits, just the ones I was dealing.

Safe to say I was the winner on that account.

I exhaled, long and sharp. “Not if you don’t want to.”

His blue eyes, almost the same as mine only slightly lighter, hovered around my injuries and the set of stairs behind me as we sat in the front living space.

Most families never actually used this kind of room, but we did.

Typically on game nights, or when more relatives came over, or during Christmas time, when my mother would put one of our three trees up in this very room.

The memories made me wish Lyra was here, spending time with my family, because I knew she’d experienced nothing like that.

“Son?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if you think you could try to not give your mother such a start next time. Maybe save the fighting for the Corps?”

“Oh. Yeah. Right. Of course, dad.”

The Corps, AKA the Marines, AKA the thing I wasn’t sure I was actually going to go through with anymore.

“You’re lucky your mom and Noah’s mom have been friends for years since you two played sports together growing up.”

I nodded, remembering every sport I subsequently left because I was so set on joining the Marines that I didn’t want some scout trying to convince me otherwise when I got older.

Call it conceited, but when the coaches tell you your future is bright and beam at you while they tell you to win every game for them, no matter the sport, you start to take it to heart.

And once I had my mind set on something, I was all in.

“Is this about that girl you keep sneaking into our house?” The smile on my dad’s face was a shock, but one I couldn’t help not to reciprocate.

“You know?”

He laughed and leaned back on the couch. “Your mother and I were young once, too. We know what it’s like to be eighteen and full of hormones. Do we also need to have the safe sex talk with you again or is it just the fights we need to discuss?”

“Dad.”

He held both hands up, still grinning. “Right, right. Fine. But we’d love to meet her, even if she does turn you into…well, a heathen.”

“Noah did that on his own.”

His brows furrowed, then relaxed again. “I’m not sure I actually want to know what happened, but I am still interested in this girl, even if you were fighting over her.”

“Even so, huh?”

“Even so.” My dad tapped my knee, then rose from the couch.

“Dad?”

“Son?”

His shoulders hunched, concern etched on every sloping line of his face as he looked down at me, covered in bags of frozen vegetables. “I’m not sure about the Marines anymore,” I finally said.

Here it comes.

Three, two, one—

His lips rolled in as he nodded. “That’s alright, son. Maybe sit and think it through a little longer, but you’re fine to change your mind as you grow. You’re a bright young man. I have no doubts when it comes to your future.”

He walked away like his response hadn’t lifted the heaviest burden from my shoulders. Telling Jared was a huge step on its own, and telling my parents was right there with it. But, how would Lyra feel if she knew I was changing my plans, all because I fell in love with her?