Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
I decide that all guys are the devil and I need to stay the fuck away from them.
I can’t hide from Harley, thanks to class, and Blaise’s tutoring is just as unavoidable, but I can stay the hell away from Ash if I’m careful.
I figure out pretty quickly that Ash is trying to avoid me as much as I am him.
It stings more than it should and I might be a hypocrite for feeling that way, but when Avery starts getting suspicious of his behavior, I pretend I have no clue what she's talking about. I don’t fool her for a second and, if anything, I think I make her even more skeptical.
I can’t tell her about the kiss.
Fuck, nothing would be worse than that. She was accepting of Harley kissing me and pissed about Blaise. I can’t imagine her reaction to hearing I’ve gone three-for-three and made out with her beloved twin brother. Sweet Lord, for someone so inexperienced, I am managing to get around.
Avery obviously decides she’s done with our shit because she sends out a group text the Friday after the kiss with Ash.
Dinner in our room. Attendance is compulsory, this means you Ash.
I frown down at my phone and Harley smirks at me. “We used to have dinner together once a week. Clearly Avery is sick of her brother’s sulking too.”
I text her back privately.
You shouldn’t cook, we have too much class work to waste time on that.
Her reply is instant because she knows I’m avoiding them all like the fucking plague.
I ordered takeout. Blaise is going to grab it on the way up from his boxing session. No excuses, we’re getting back to normal programming.
I groan and slump down in my chair.
I try to hide in the library, switching my phone off so I can pretend it died and I get sidetracked.
Unfortunately, Avery has fucking superpowers and finds me before I’m even technically late.
She sits across the table from me and places a coffee on my math book, forcing me to stop working on the equations.
“Before the cup is empty, you’ll tell me why you keep staring at me like you’re waiting for the ground to open up and swallow you whole.”
Straight for the throat, there’s the dictator I call my best friend.
I sigh and take some deep, deep gulps of the coffee. She raises an eyebrow at me and I fucking cave like a bitch. “I kissed Ash. Well, I think he kissed me but I didn’t stop him.”
Avery’s face stays completely void of any emotion as she cocks her head.
My nerves spike, and it has the whole confession pouring out of me.
“I did eventually tell him I couldn’t continue.
I’m so fucking weak and stupid. Why do I keep ending up in these situations?
I can’t do anything about it with the Jackal’s eyes on me and I’m not a casual type of person.
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you and I’m sorry I’ve now made out with… all three of your… people.”
Avery nods and drums her fingers on the table. “Do you want a non-casual… relationship with my brother? Or one of the other two?”
I blush and clear my throat. “It’s not an option. I won’t even think about it because it’s not what they’re interested in. Any of them.”
Avery squints at me a little and I try not to squirm. Whatever she’s looking for, she doesn’t find it on my face and with a sigh, she stands up.
“Don’t be dense, Mounty. Kiss whoever the hell you want to, but you need to tell them all about the Jackal.”
I notice the tension in the air the second we walk into our room.
Ash is sitting on Avery’s bed, death glaring at his phone like it has mortally offended him, and Harley…
well, Harley is standing in the kitchen, braced against the counter, with murder in his eyes.
Avery frowns at them and then gives me a sidelong look, but I shrug.
Blaise walks in behind us, carrying bags of Thai takeout, and he’s stomping around as well.
“What did Joey do now?” Avery snaps.
Blaise won’t look at me as he brushes past us to get into the kitchen, and Avery waits another second before snapping, “Well?!”
“It’s not Joey. Harley’s got some emotions he would like to express but he has to work through them first,” says Ash, so condescendingly I cringe for Harley, but he doesn’t flinch.
In fact, he acts like he hasn’t heard a word Ash has said.
He’s the only guy in the room who is looking at me, while the other two are pointedly looking elsewhere.
I know for a fact I’m PMS-ing and my nerves are fucking wearing thin, so I keep my mouth shut.
If I open it, I may verbally eviscerate them all, and I’m sure Avery doesn’t want to spend her evening scrubbing their innards off the walls.
Blaise sets out everyone's food and continues to ignore me, even after I thank him. Avery glares at him, then Ash, before finally settling her ire on her cousin, who is still staring at me like I stabbed a baby or something.
He makes it through the world’s most awkward and silent dinner before drawling at me, “I didn’t peg you for a liar.”
Ash laughs and throws a napkin at him. “Of course she’s a liar. If you chose to believe anything she’s said, that’s your own fucking fault.”
I set my knife and fork down onto the table carefully and intertwine my fingers I pull myself into Avery’s signature power pose, ankles fucking crossed and everything, before I sweetly say, “What’s up your ass now, Arbour?”
“You. You lied about being in danger, you lied about hating the other Mounty, and now you’ve gone and fucked him. I hope the money was worth it.”
Avery meets my gaze from across the table. What the actual hell is he talking about and how widespread is this pile of lies? Her eyebrows ask the same questions and we both slide into damage control.
“Uh no, I didn’t. The creep practically threw himself at me and I said no,” I state calmly, though my knees start to grow restless.
Harley snorts at me, pushes out of his chair, and stalks over to the fridge to grab a beer. Avery stands to start cleaning up our dishes and snaps, “What does it matter to you if she did fuck him?”
He shrugs casually but the sneer stays fixed to his face. “You said you didn’t want to fuck any guy at Hannaford but you made an exception for him.”
Ash is watching Avery with narrowed eyes. He knows something is up, something more than what we’re saying. If Harley wasn’t so pissed off, he’d notice the cleaning, too.
“I didn’t fuck him. I kind of thought you’d believe me over the gossiping bitches but clearly I was wrong,” I grit out, the muscles in my jaw twitching.
Harley slams the beer bottle on the bench and moves to stand over me.
I don’t back away like everyone else does because I’m not afraid of him.
His mobster roots and overbearing size don’t mean shit to me.
I know what type of guy he really is. Besides, if I really had to, I could hold my own.
I do hate that I have to tip my head back to look at him right now, and the fury in his eyes cuts me worse than his words.
“He handed in proof. He’s been declared the winner and he gets the sweep. All two million dollars of it.”
My stomach drops. My vision blurs, my ears ring, and I think my heart has exploded in my chest cavity.
Fuck.
I’m dead.
My head starts to space out, like there’s suddenly air in my skull where brain matter is supposed to be, and reality does this weird tilt. Like I’m looking through one of those warped mirrors at a fair or something.
I might pass out.
“Right. This is bad.” Avery’s voice is thready and mine would sound the same if I could choke some words out.
“So some asshole Mounty guy ends up with the money, what does it matter? With the bet over with, Lips won’t be followed around anymore.
We should have a word with him about the money.
He should really split it with you,” Blaise says, sounding casually dismissive even though he’s still refusing to look at me.
“She didn’t fuck him! Get your heads out of your fucking asses and believe us both. We’re fucked because of that asshole’s lie!” Avery screeches.
I can’t think clearly. If they’re still talking, I don’t hear it.
Nothing exists to me anymore except sheer, blinding terror.
The panic clawing at my chest has become so overwhelming that it consumes everything until I’m fully at its mercy.
I think I’m going to pass out. My legs give way as I try to stand and I collapse down on the ground.
My arms shake. When I still can’t breathe, I lie down and begin to count backwards from a hundred in French.
“What are we missing here?” Ash asks, carefully, and I look over to find them all staring at me.
Harley looks haunted, his eyes so wide I can see the whites all the way around his irises.
Nope. I can’t do this. I shut my eyes and get back to counting out loud so I’m forced to focus.
I try to block out the thoughts of all the things the Jackal will do to me.
“I’m telling them, Lips. We need their help to fix this because that little fuck Lance needs a beating and we all know I can’t throw a punch to save my life,” says Avery, and I jerk my head to form some sort of nod.
“Okay. If word gets back to Mounts Bay that Lips fucked Lance, her life is in danger. The Jackal will kill Lance, no question, and he deserves it so fuck him . But there’s a good chance he’ll also kidnap, torture, and rape Lips. ”
“What?! Why?” snaps Ash as Harley starts cursing up a storm behind him.
“Because he’s a sadistic egomaniac who thinks he owns her.
He threatened Joey away from her because he doesn’t like to share his toys.
He’s waiting her out, playing a game that he thinks he’ll win, and if anyone messes with it, he takes them out.
If we don’t fix this, he’s going to rape and kill her . ”