Chapter 28 #2
I blanch. How would that even work? I’m a virgin and not exactly ready for a gang bang! Holy fucking shit. Avery pulls out her phone and starts tapping out a text. I wring my hands for a minute until she notices and gives me a smirk.
“I can see you melting down over this. Don’t panic.
I’m just saying, Harley has never wanted to date someone.
Ever. Blaise burned the dating bridge years ago after something happened.
Ash… doesn’t ever let people in. That’s the real reason he pushed back about us being friends, and now he can’t stand the idea of going home at the end of the week and not seeing you for summer break.
He’s already bugging me about finding a way to escape from Joey to stay with you and Harley in the Bay.
Just trust that we can work something out that makes everyone happy. ”
“What about you? Wouldn’t it be weird to have all of us together like that?” I tuck my arm into hers as we start down the hall toward breakfast.
“Not really. It actually makes my life easier. I trust you. I trust you with my brother. I trust you with Harley and Blaise. I’m not worried about you stabbing us all in the back. This is the best idea I’ve ever had.”
We arrive at the dining hall to find it very nearly empty.
With the stress of exams at an all-time high, most students don’t care about coming down and eating a formal breakfast, so the boys are only joined by a small handful of freshmen so terrified of them that they’re sitting at the opposite end of the table. My stomach roils at the sight of them.
“Breathe, kid,” Avery says with a smile as she squeezes my arm that’s tucked in close to her own.
I don’t look over at the table because I’m barely keeping my aching leg in line as it is, I can’t afford to go weak at the knees.
Avery grabs a tray, but I doubt I’ll be able to eat while I’m thinking about my potential polyandrous relationship.
Or the ramifications of said relationship if the Jackal finds out.
Sweet Lord . I grab a glass of juice and an apple and ignore Avery’s sharp look.
“You’re skin and bones as it is. I’m getting you some French toast.”
I do love the French toast they serve here.
I give her a tiny nod and she directs me to the table.
I can feel all three of the guys watching us and I want to scream.
Avery must feel my arm tense, and she drops her tray with more force than necessary before their attention snaps away from me.
She sits and arches an eyebrow at them while she sets out our food.
“Don’t start. Lips can’t eat when she’s stressed.”
Great. Now I feel pathetic. I cringe and nudge the plate away from me.
“If Harley is bothering you?—”
Avery cuts Blaise off. “I said, don’t start ,” she hisses. I glance up just in time to see Harley elbow Blaise in the stomach while Ash watches me intently.
“I’m never going to eat again. Here I was enjoying finally having a decent set of tits,” I mutter, and Avery cackles.
“That will shut them up if nothing else will!”
Harley snorts and shoves the French toast back at me. “She’s not wrong, Mounty.”
I flush and start eating while they all laugh around me. I refuse to look up from my plate. By not meeting any of their eyes my stomach settles enough that I can begin to eat.
“So! Plans for summer break?” Avery says brightly, and she’s met with a chorus of groans.
“I’m getting dragged to New York by my father to see what’s new with the Kora branch there.
I’m looking forward to exactly none of it and I’m pissed off I won’t be touring,” says Blaise, and he pours me another glass of juice.
I manage to thank him without stuttering and I’m so damn proud of myself.
Harley scratches the back of his head and chips in, “Two weeks on the coast to see my mom. Then Mounts Bay.” He says it like a promise. The other two give him a look and I glance away from them all.
“We’ll be going to Amsterdam to celebrate Joey’s graduation.
He chose the destination and Father agreed because I imagine he’ll want to spend some time in the red-light district.
Hopefully he catches something terminal.
Or at the very least something that makes his dick rot and fall off. Lips?” says Ash.
I snort at his optimism. I push my now empty plate aside and wipe my mouth with one of the linen napkins Hannaford supplies, like this is a fancy restaurant and not a high school dining hall. Harley is watching me with his usual intensity but now I see it for what it is. He likes me. Sweet Lord .
“I have a couple of jobs lined up. Oh, and some events down at the docks I have to show my face at,” I say mildly.
Avery watches me with interest but she doesn’t question me.
I know she’s waiting to see just how much I’m willing to say in front of the boys.
“I have some… plans in the pipeline that I’m working on.
For all of us, to get us out of some of the shit we’re in.
It’s going to be a summer full of groundwork and carefully thought-out moves. ”
Avery hums and pulls out her phone like I’ve reminded her of her own plans. I’m hit in the chest with how much I’m going to miss seeing her over the break. Texting just isn’t the same and I’ve gotten used to bouncing ideas off of her. It sucks.
Ash clears his throat and he asks, tentatively, “You’re going back to the Jackal, then?”
All or nothing. If I’m not honest with them about this then I can’t date… any of them. They have to know the real risks. I glance around but we’re still alone. “No, I’m not going back to him. Do you guys know about the institution of the Twelve? Who they are, what they do?”
Only Blaise looks unsure, the other two know exactly what I’m talking about. “They’re like gang leaders, right?”
I wince. Not a good start. “Not quite. Some are, the Jackal included. He deals drugs, runs firearms, dabbles in extortion when the payoff is high enough. But really, each member of the Twelve has their own set of skills and they build on that.” They all nod along and I give myself one last inhale before I blurt it out.
“I was thirteen when the Hawk died and a spot opened up in the Twelve. They ran the Game, which should really have its name changed to ‘brutal torture sessions’. The Jackal sponsored me. I went up against thirty men and I won.”
Avery’s hand slips into mine and she squeezes, lending her support even though she doesn’t look up from her phone. I try not to hold my breath as I wait. It takes a second and then they all speak at once.
“You won?”
“Thirty men?”
“What the fuck?!”
Avery scoffs at them and looks up from her screen. “All hail the Wolf of Mounts Bay.”
“The Wolf?!” sputters Harley.
Oh, shit . He’s heard about me. His eyes roam all over my face and my arms then he ducks down and looks under the table at my legs. Avery kicks him in the shin sharply. “We’re wearing skirts, idiot!”
He doesn’t look fazed as he faces me again. My cheeks are on fire as he says, “You took out one of my distant cousins in the Game. His dad was fucking livid and went after you with a blowtorch.”
Avery’s hand does a sort of spasm in mine. She’s seen that particular scar a few times, though I’ve never told her how I got it. It’s the one I had to show Darcy to prove Lance was lying about fucking me.
“Yeah. Sorry about that.”
Harley stares at me for another second and then tips his head back to roar with laughter. “I can’t believe we were all worried about Joey killing you. If only he knew everything you’ve done. Why didn’t you just sneak into his room and slit his throat while he slept?”
I want the ground to open up and swallow me. He knows. He knows exactly what skill set I have that is so highly sought after. I feel dizzy. Maybe I’m not ready for my two separate lives I live to merge. Fuck.
“Shut up, asshole, you’re freaking her out,” growls Blaise. He growls it, just like he growls into his microphone on stage, but I’m too anxious to enjoy the sound of it. I fix my gaze on my cutlery, still sticky with syrup from my breakfast, until the pounding in my ears stops.
I take a deep breath before I look back up at them.
I know I’m going to see disgust and fear and even hatred on their faces.
How could anyone hear about what I’ve done without thinking about just how dirty my hands are?
All this time the guys have been talking about how much of a sociopath Joey is, but the truth is…
The truth is my hands are bloodier than his.
Harley looks gutted, all the amusement wiped clean from his face. Blaise looks pissed. Ash is, well, he’s got his cold, detached mask fixed carefully over his features.
“I’m at Hannaford to get as far away from that life as I can. I wasn’t a willing participant. I had two choices: play the Game or die at the Jackal’s hands. Everything I’ve done has been to keep myself alive.”
“I didn’t mean—” Harley starts, but Avery cuts him off.
“Lips, you should head to class. I’ll meet you there, I need to have a chat with the guys.”
I nod and stoop down to grab my bag. I can hear them start to bicker and pointedly don’t look back as I hobble out of the dining hall.
I was so close to having something I really want and, once again, my past has ruined it for me.