Chapter 7 #2
This just gets worse and worse. I’m not usually one to suffer from second-hand embarrassment, but this is just shameful. Maybe I should leave and study in my room?
“At least he isn't a frigid little bitch like you. It's your own fault you lost me to him,” she hisses back at him.
Ash throws his head back and laughs.
The chair next to me pulls back, and I look up to see Blaise fucking Morrison slinging his bag down. He drapes himself into the chair so casually and gracefully, like the god he is. Ugh, one look at him and I’m a dripping mess.
“Is this seat taken?”
Lord, help me, his voice even sounds amazing when he's just talking.
How the hell do I get out of this?
I've been preparing myself for weeks for this moment, and all that prep still amounts to nothing.
I knew at some point I'd be faced with Blaise and I'd have to speak to him.
We share a class, I'm kind of on speaking terms with two of his best friends, and from what I've observed from a safe distance, he's a pretty social guy. Too social for my liking, but that’s just because it makes it even harder to avoid him.
I gesture vaguely in his general direction and then start to move my textbooks so he has somewhere to put his stuff. He grins at me, oh God, and then opens his bag.
Ash and Harlow are still hissing insults at each other, but I can't find it in me to care now that Blaise is here. To be honest, it's taking all my energy not to pass out.
He tries to get my attention, but I try way harder to avoid meeting his eye, so he changes tactics seamlessly.
“I've signed up for your tutoring. I haven't been given a time slot yet, but I'm hoping to just tag into Ash’s. Do you think you could do us both at once?”
I nearly faint.
There’s no way he doesn’t know how that sounds, he must be doing this on purpose. Good god, the man is too much.
I swallow but my throat is bone dry. “That's fine. I can—I can do that. What do you need help with?”
He grins, and I decide that the only way to get through this is to just avoid looking at him until I'm desensitized, like I did with Harley. I barely notice he's the epitome of panty-dropping gorgeousness anymore. Okay, that’s a lie, I do notice, but I can look past it. That’s an achievement in itself.
“Great! Are you guys working on math right now? Because I may fail that class, and if I do, my dad will have a stroke.”
I try to smile reassuringly, but I'm sure it looks like I’m having a stroke.
He gets out his worksheets. I see he's in the lower math class, which is stuff I learned two years ago.
I focus on the equations and walk him through the first set.
Harlow finally stomps off, and Ash now looks like he wants to bathe in her blood.
“I need a drink,” he says as he loosens his tie with a sharp yank.
“Oh, have you two finished arguing over which brother has the biggest dick?” Blaise grins at Ash wickedly, and I keep my eyes firmly on the page in front of me.
I want to know exactly nothing about Joey’s dick.
I tell myself the same goes for Ash’s, but I’m already at capacity managing my hormones with Blaise fucking Morrison’s close proximity, so it’s a half-hearted attempt at a lie.
“We both know I win that one. She's a lousy, backstabbing whore. She sold herself to him in the hopes it'll give her a leg up in the social hierarchy.”
I move back to my own worksheet while they gossip. It's not like I can tell them to get back to work. The tutoring session has ended, and I can’t even look Blaise in the eye yet.
“What were you expecting, loyalty and devotion? She's a Roqueford. They're widely known to be double-dealing sluts. Her father has more bastards than legitimate children, and he has six of those.”
“I wasn't expecting her to kick up such a fuss about it. Floss woke me up this morning with the picture, so forgive me if I’m not in the greatest mood.”
So Avery was sharing more than just my photo?
Great. What a kind girl, I think with no small amount of sarcasm.
Ash glances over at me like he's forgotten I'm here.
His face is flushed, and he looks less like the perfect Grecian statue than I've ever seen him.
He looks approachable and hot. Why do I hate him so much?
“Are you enjoying your infamy?”
There it is. He always knows just what to say to make me feel like an insignificant speck of dirt. I clench my teeth.
“Fuck you, Beaumont.”
There's no heat behind my words, but I still mean them. I snatch his worksheet up and start marking it. He's gotten most of the equations right, but I enjoy the small amount of red ink I get to use. When I shove the page back at him, he's still watching me, his eyes unreadable.
“I told you not to trust Joey.” He shrugs at me like this is all justified.
I snort at him. Blaise watches us both with captive interest, twirling his pen between his long fingers. I wonder how they became friends.
“Your sister did this to me. Now the entire fucking school has photos of me naked, and I get the privilege of being looked at by everyone like I'm a piece of meat. Like I actually want your rich dicks, when really I'd rather fucking die.”
Ash rolls his eyes at me. “Avery doesn't use naked photos against people. She does have a line, you know.”
“Sure. Piss on all my belongings, but she draws the line at naked photos. I definitely believe you.”
Blaise’s nose wrinkles, and it's goddamn adorable. I turn away from him so I don't humiliate myself by blushing at him or drooling.
I am in real danger of drooling.
“You don't mean actual piss, do you? I cannot imagine Floss ever handling piss.”
“Yes, actual urine. It took me hours to fucking clean it up, all because I'm a scholarship student and I pissed Harley off by accident.”
Ash groans and runs his hands through his hair. He shares a look with Blaise, then turns to me again. “Avery is very protective, and you managed to get on the bad side of one of the three humans she gives a shit about. She won't let that go, and sometimes she goes to great lengths to keep us safe.”
“Right. Which is why I don't believe you about the photos. Doesn't matter anyway, a few pictures of my tits aren't going to break me.”
Ash’s eyes dip down to my chest and then back to my face. It doesn’t feel lecherous at all, nothing like Joey’s looks. More curious. “There isn't a whole lot to see though, right? I've been sent the photos eight times and deleted them without looking. It’s been hard work to avoid seeing them.”
I raise my eyebrow at him. Blaise knocks my elbow gently with his, and I flinch away from him hard.
“Whoa, sorry! I was just going to say that we’re pretty anti-revenge porn in our group.
There was… an incident. No one has looked at them.
I'm not saying we're friends, and Avery still wants you taken out, but you have at least four people who haven't seen you naked.”
“Three. Avery was there when the photos were taken,” I grumble, then start to pack my bag.
I'm so done with this for the night. I don't want to think about the weird, twisted triangle that is the Beaumont siblings and their friends.
Blaise scratches the back of his neck and grabs his papers. “So, tomorrow we can meet up, right? I really do need help with my math.”
I sigh and sling my bag over my shoulder. I brace myself, then look right at his gorgeous and alluring face. Damn, his eyes are such a beautiful, clear green that I could just lose myself in them.
“Sure. I meet with Ash during study period. If you're here, I'll help you too.”