Chapter 9 #3
Steady and sure, I wait him out. His eyes stay cold and hard on mine but I refuse to falter for even a second.
Eventually, he turns away from me and kicks out of his sweatpants, sliding between my sheets in his boxer briefs.
It’s a good reminder that I’ll bake if I don’t do the same, so I wriggle out of my yoga pants before I climb in next to him, flicking my lamp off so only the kitchen overhead lights are on.
It kind of feels like mood lighting and I grimace at thinking such a thing while Ash is lying beside me with all of his internal damage on display.
I’m surprised he hasn’t hit anything yet.
If someone challenges him to a fight tomorrow, I’ll be calling a cleanup crew.
The details of his blood-soaked and fucked-up home life play on repeat in my brain, the monotone sound of his voice making my chest ache, and I start to think maybe alcohol isn’t the worst idea.
It’s all just so fucking sick and twisted, and there’s no obvious solution to stop the Devil from appearing on our doorstep.
We’re facing the most evil and well-connected men in high society and the slums of Mounts Bay.
I really don’t do easy, do I?
Ash moves to pull me into his arms, shifting me until my back is pressed to his chest and our legs are tangled together the way he likes, and when his fingers brush my thighs, I shiver. His lips press into the soft skin of my shoulder.
“Fuck, I hate being back at school. Who would’ve thought I’d miss that poky little place in the Bay so much? But I’ve barely seen you since we got back here and I fucking hate it.”
I could bitch him out for being so spoiled, but after he’s given me so much honesty, I owe him a little of my own. “I’ve missed you, too. More than anything, I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve been very patient while Avery adjusts, but you really need to start sleeping in my bed. What do I have to do to tempt you into our room, Mounty?” he mumbles into my skin, and I wheeze a little as my chest tightens.
The very thought of spending time in their room, choosing a bed for the night, being in their space—I need to get my head around it first. I need to figure out how to do that without dying of both lust and awkwardness.
There’s a part of me that also thinks that maybe I need my feet to be a little more steady underneath me first, like the foundations of us need to settle a bit more so it all doesn’t come crumbling down the second I fuck up somehow.
How the hell I’ll do that, or be sure of it, is beyond me, and also not the most pressing issue at hand.
There’s something else I need to address first.
“You know I’ve killed people, right?” I whisper, brave now I’m not looking at him. It’ll make it easier if he rejects me and walks out.
“So have I. I told you before, Mounty, you’re not going to scare me off.”
I meet Harley and Blaise for breakfast in the dining hall the next morning after sleeping like the dead.
Avery was still awake when my alarm went off, sitting in what was left of the kitchen with her laptop and a giant mug of coffee.
When I hesitantly checked in with her, she informed me that she wasn’t going to class today.
She hadn’t finished her room demolition until dawn, and with nothing left in the kitchen or bathroom that wasn’t already nailed down, she’s spending the day on a refit.
The amount of money she must be spending broke my brain so I nodded and left her to it.
When I tried to wake Ash up, he groaned and rolled over, mumbling something about keeping an eye on her.
No idea how he plans on doing that considering his eyes are, in fact, shut, but hopefully he manages to talk her into taking a nap before the spending spree turns manic.
The moment I sit down in the dining hall, I brace myself for the questions the other two will inevitably have and, sure enough, they barely wait for me to start on my food before they’re side-eyeing the fuck out of me.
“She didn’t take the news well then? She never does when Ash is involved,” Harley says, stabbing at his eggs with the type of vehemence that has students giving our seats a wide berth.
“Well, he’s always the one being fucking beaten and targeted so I don’t blame her. Well, almost always,” Blaise mutters, frowning down at his juice like he can magically spike it with a look.
I glance between them both and ask, “Harley told you, then? Thank god, I didn’t realize how draining it is to talk about our impending deaths on repeat.”
Harley huffs at me and then motions his hand at me to continue. “Stop stalling, Mounty. Are they in hiding or did you walk out in the middle of a screaming match because you didn’t want to be late for class?”
Ignoring them both having a good chuckle on my behalf, I sigh.
“Ash is asleep still and Avery is… pretending reality doesn’t exist through credit card abuse.
It wasn’t pretty but I did get the full, unedited Beaumont family horror story.
Hopefully it’s enough to help us figure out what we can do to stop the hit but, either way, Junior and Senior are on my list. After hearing it all, I’m not surprised that Avery needed to scrub some demons out.
Be extra nice to her for a while because she’ll probably come back swinging. ”
They both stop and gape at me.
“He told you? He spoke to you about his father and Joey? Ash did? Alexander Asher William Beaumont, my best friend and total asshole extraordinaire, told you about what happens behind closed doors at the Beaumont Manor?” Blaise rambles, and I frown at him.
“Yes. It was… horrible. Like, really fucking bad, but now I have everything I need to know to navigate this mess we’re in.” I force confidence into my voice but, fuck, I’m not sure we’re going to be navigating shit. It might be closer to blowing everything the fuck up and praying for the best.
They share a look, but I ignore it, pushing my empty plate away as I gulp down the last of my iced coffee. There isn’t long before we have to start moving off to our classes and I need all the caffeine I can get. When neither of them move, I scowl at them both.
“Star, he hasn’t even told us that stuff. Fuck, he really is serious about you,” Blaise mumbles, and my scowl deepens.
“You thought he wasn’t? Wow.”
He cringes, cheeks flushing slightly, and Harley snorts at him before cutting in to save both their asses.
“Blaise and I both spend all of our spare time figuring out how to get you alone. Ash doesn’t.
This dick has been… concerned that Ash is having second thoughts because he’s never really been the type to embrace celibacy. ”
Fucking idiot boys! I blush and clear my throat.
“He told me last night he’s waiting for Avery to stop being so defensive.
I kind of think that means he’s taking it very seriously, because if something happened and she wasn’t so supportive of us all, I think we all know we’d be in for a world of misery.
Ash also told me I should start coming to your room. ”
At the predatory gleam in both their eyes, I hold up a hand. “I’m thinking about it. I’m not interested in hearing more gossip about how much of a raging whore I am. I’m pretty fucking close to snapping and stabbing some rich dickheads as it is. I don’t need to test my patience farther.”
Harley glares around the room in that fierce challenging way of his and students start averting their eyes, turning their bodies away from his wrath.
I’ll say it again; I must be so unbelievably broken because that look is such a turn on.
He turns back to me and smirks at my flushed cheeks.
Cupping my cheek gently, he kisses me dirty, deep, and with entirely too much tongue for the audience we have.
Blaise cackles at the glances we get from those brave enough to look as we break apart.
“I’ll take care of them for you, babe,” Harley murmurs, and my blush deepens.
“Now who’s flirting?”
All eyes follow us out of the room, especially when Blaise slings his arm over my shoulders.
Even when my eyes land on the scathing sneer Annabelle is sending my way, not an inch of subtlety in the jealous gold-digging bitch as she whispers to the girls around her, I hold my head high.
Who the fuck cares what the rich assholes think? Not me.
Okay, I care a little.
Just enough to want them all to fuck off.