14. Ava
CHAPTER 14
AVA
When Monday morning rolls around, I’m eager to settle into the mundane routine of attending my classes. I studied all day on Sunday to bring myself up to speed, and I’m looking forward to focusing on my coursework this week and forgetting about the Kings and their threats and the constant anxious speculation of when they’ll come to collect.
My roommate has been conspicuously absent since Saturday night. Wherever she is, I hope her guilt is eating her alive after leaving me to the wolves. I’d thought Richelle and I could be friends, but if that’s the kind of friend she is, then I don’t need her. In fact, she can stay gone for all I care. Maybe I don’t mind being alone after all. There’s safety in solitude.
Donning my signature plaid skirt look, I gather up my textbooks and laptop and start shoving them into my backpack, getting ready to head off to my first class of the day. Just as I zip my bag and swing it up over my shoulder, a knock sounds at my door.
Figuring it’s probably someone looking for Richelle, I stride across the room to answer it, pulling the door open to find the redhead that took me up to the Registrar’s office on my first day standing on the other side.
“Hi Ava!” she greets brightly, pressing a finger to her chest. “Hailey, remember? I was told to come bring you this.”
She thrusts a piece of paper in my direction, and I take it from her curiously, bringing it down in front of me to read what’s printed upon it.
My brows furrow as my eyes scan the text. “This is…”
“Your new schedule,” Hailey finishes for me. “I guess they got your requests to switch just in time since Friday was the end of the add/drop period.”
I look back up at her, thoroughly confused. “But I didn’t ask to switch?”
Hailey retreats a step and raises her hands, showing me her palms. “Hey, I’m just the messenger. If there’s a problem with your schedule, you’ll have to head on over to the Registrar’s office and deal with it yourself.”
My gaze drops to the paper in my hands again. “Yeah, okay,” I mutter, shaking my head in disbelief as I skim the schedule. Only one of my classes is the same– the rest have changed, and I have no idea why.
Thanking Hailey and closing the door, I spin around and walk over to my desk to peruse my campus map that’s now taped to the wall above it. This is probably just some sort of mix-up, so I’ll do what she suggested and stop by the Registrar’s office to clear it up. Scanning the map, I trace the route to the main building from the dorms, committing it to memory, then turn around and head out.
When I exit through the back door of Sutton Hall, it’s impossible not to notice Ford loitering beside the building, leaning against the stone facade with a foot kicked up on the wall behind him and a smoldering cigarette pinched between his fingers. Seeing him in the light of day like this is disarming, causing me to stumble a step in surprise as the door swings closed behind me.
Ford is the embodiment of a stereotypical bad boy with his unkempt dark hair, tattooed skin, and devilish smirk. He’s dressed in form-fitting ripped jeans, a leather jacket, and motorcycle boots– the same look he was rocking the night of the party at the boathouse. His tight white t-shirt beneath his jacket is stretched tautly across his muscular chest, betraying just how ripped his lean body really is. Ford isn’t bulky like Wes and Raf, but somehow, he still appears just as strong; just as lethal. Like he could snap my neck with the simple flick of a tattooed wrist.
Upon seeing me, he tosses his cigarette away and pushes off from the wall, a lock of dark hair flopping down over his forehead. My pulse kicks up as I skitter away down the path, but he easily catches up in a few long strides, falling into step beside me.
“Morning, Ava baby,” he drawls, flashing me a roguish grin.
My heart skips a beat.
“Morning,” I mumble.
“Did you get your new schedule?”
I grind to a halt, pivoting around and holding up the paper Hailey gave me. “You guys were the ones behind this?”
He shrugs a shoulder nonchalantly. “Well yeah, who else?”
I should’ve known.
“Why do I have to change classes?” I demand, outrage and indignation rising within me. “I spent all weekend trying to catch up on the classes I was already enrolled in!”
Ford just shrugs again, completely unaffected by my outburst. “We decided we want to keep a closer eye on you.”
He takes a step toward me, his sudden proximity catching me off guard as he leans down to put his face level with mine.
“Since you threatened to report us to the cops and all,” he adds with a wag of his brows, like this is all part of some game.
But games require willing participants, and I never signed up to play.
“So, what then, I’m just on your schedule now?” I scoff, frowning as I fold my arms tightly over my chest.
“For some of your classes,” he replies smoothly. “Wes and Raf are in others. This way, you’ll always have one of us there to watch over you and keep you in line.”
“Of course,” I grumble under my breath.
“We’ve got our first class together this morning, so, shall we?” he asks, offering me the crook of his elbow as if he’s some sort of gentleman.
I ignore the gesture, turning around and stomping away down the path.
I cringe at the sound of Ford’s low chuckle as he jogs to catch up to me, slinging an arm over my shoulders. I try to shrug it off, but he just draws me in closer to his side, a flush rising to my cheeks as the other students milling around campus pause to look over at us and gawk.
This is exactly the kind of attention I didn’t want. With every step, I feel my plans of flying through college under the radar slip further away as I silently stew over the amount of control these guys now have over my life.
Who the hell do they think they are? They may be ‘Kings’ here at Corvus, but there’s a great big world out there where they wouldn’t be able to get away with this kind of shit. I’m not a confrontational person by nature, but there has to come a point where enough is enough.
My warring thoughts circulate until my frustration finally bubbles over and I ask Ford the question that has been at the forefront of my brain since he played that video for me Saturday night.
“So, if I play by your rules… does that mean you’ll delete the video?” My voice comes out a lot meeker than I intend it to, but I can’t help that these guys intimidate me. I’d be foolish to not be scared of them at this point.
“Maybe,” he drawls, glancing over at me with a smug grin. “Though it’d be a shame to delete it.”
He suddenly stops walking, the weight of his arm around my shoulders halting me in my tracks. Before I can ask why, he leans in close, the scent of cigarette smoke and motor oil tickling my nose. “I fucked my hand so hard to that video all weekend that I chafed my dick,” he murmurs.
I recoil with a grimace. “That’s disgusting!”
“Why?” he laughs. “You’re a hot piece of ass, Ava baby. I could watch you come over and over again and never get bored.”
I try to ignore the way those words send a flood of unwanted heat rushing through my veins, shrugging his arm off my shoulders and starting down the path again. I pick up my pace with the hope that he’ll fall behind, but no dice. He’s at my side again in an instant, keeping in perfect stride with me all the way to the science building.
“Have I told you that anatomy’s my favorite class?” Ford asks as he slaps a tattooed hand against the door to push it open, holding it wide and gesturing for me to go in ahead of him. “I have a feeling that having you as a study partner will make it even better .”
I cringe at his insinuation. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” I grit out, ducking under his arm to enter the building. I try to hurry away from him again, but he follows me inside and catches up quick, stepping in front of me to block my path.
His lips turn down in a frown, all traces of playfulness gone from his expression. “Are you saying no to me, Ava baby?”
His sudden shift in demeanor catches me so off guard that all I can do is stare back at him, jaw going slack.
“I think we’ve already established what’ll happen if you don’t do exactly as we say,” Ford warns, crowding into my space. He’s so close that I can smell the mint on his breath from his toothpaste, mingled with the tinge of cigarette smoke. “One click of a button is all it’ll take to send that video to every major porn site and the entire Corvus College alumni database. Good luck finding a job after you graduate once everyone who’s anyone has seen you spread open and begging for dick.”
I flinch back, both appalled by and fearful of his threat. Ford acted so jovial and carefree on the walk over here, but now he’s suddenly ice cold, something shuttering in his hazel eyes like he’s flipped the switch on his humanity.
“Are we on the same page?” he asks, cocking a brow.
I nod numbly.
“Good.”
He rocks back on a heel and his lips spread into that goofy grin again, as if he’s suddenly flipped the switch back the other way. It’s seriously creepy how he can do that, and now I’m questioning this guy’s sanity even more than I already was. Ford may just be the most dangerous of the three.
He turns around and strides away while I just stand there staring after him, still in a state of shock.
After a few steps, he pauses, turning to glance back at me over his shoulder. “Well c’mon, we’re gonna be late to class,” he urges, waving for me to hustle up.
Gripping my backpack straps, I drag in a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other, left with no choice other than to begrudgingly follow his command.