20. Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
Atticus
I quietly leave the dorm at the crack of dawn and head downstairs; I’ve never needed a smoke more than I do now. Having Jinx back should relieve me, but I don’t feel any of that. The real shit is about to hit the fan, and I don’t think any of us are ready for that. I know we should let the cops handle Prescott’s murder, but they haven’t done shit to figure that out. It makes me wonder if they are being paid off. I need to talk to Mother.
I casually grab my pack of smokes from my back pocket, take one out, and start to bring it to my lips. Just as I'm about to light up, I hear someone clear their throat from behind me.
“The entire dorm better be on fire if you are interrupting me.”
“Did you find her?”
Spencer. Fuck. I like to light up my smoke, take a breath in the smoky goodness, then casually exhale as I turn around. “Yeah, we did.”
“And no one bothered to tell me? What the fuck.” He pushes his glasses up, revealing his sad grey eyes.
My heart goes out to him. While we felt some relief after locating her, he must have been constantly checking his phone, hoping for Jinx's call.
“Sorry, man, we didn’t get back until late, and we had to patch Jinx up. She’s inside my dorm, so if you need to visit, she doesn’t have her phone.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
He doesn’t move, and when I look at him again, I can tell something else is bothering him. I can’t believe I’m feeling sorry for a dude who’s been hanging around my girlfriend all the time. I must be insane to let another guy in our circle.
I try not to sound dismissive when I ask him. “What’s wrong?”
He looks in the distance and sighs. “I should’ve been there for her, but I let her down. What kind of friend does that make me?” He turns and looks at me.
I chuckle at that. “What kind of boyfriend does that make all three of us? We weren’t there either. Trust me, we all failed her. That’s why we need to be there for her now.”
“Did you find her stalker?”
I nod, taking another drag of my smoke.
“Who is he?”
I shake my head. “I can’t tell you.”
“Why? I think I have a right to know.”
“Listen, Spencer. As much as I want to say, I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?” he scoffs.
I flick my butt on the sidewalk and head for the door. “Can’t. I’m sorry. Are you coming up or not?”
“Yeah, I’ll be up shortly.”
Once Jinx finds out who her stalker is, I’m afraid she’ll never recover. I’m having a hard time not going and beating the shit out of him again. I hope Wilde did his part and locked that asshole up good and tight because if he gets free before we can get to him again, I won’t stop until I catch him.
I push open the door to the dorm and find Jinx standing by the window. I walk over and carefully wrap my arms around her stomach.
“Watcha looking for?” She leans into me, and her entire body relaxes.
“Edgar. Have you seen him?” she whispers.
Now that she’s mentioned him, I haven’t seen him in a while. “No. But I’m sure he’s still around.”
“I hope so; maybe he’s been trying to get back to my old room.”
She hasn’t been back in her room since that bloody bird incident. But now that we have her stalker, I suppose she could move back, even though I'm not thrilled about it. I prefer having her nearby. Does that make me a clingy guy? Fuck I hope not, that’s the last thing I need.
“Are you feeling better? We can take a quick trip up there if you want.”
“Could we? I would feel better knowing he isn’t trying to get in.”
I place a kiss on her temple and move my hand to her shoulder, turning her toward the door. “Let’s go before anyone wakes up.” I look over at Maddox, who’s snoring away on the couch. I’m glad he’s getting the rest, but I’m also worried he’s gonna slip up.
Jinx doesn’t speak as we walk up the flight of stairs. I have no idea when we’re gonna tell her about Unknown , but we need to tell her soon. We have to. And I hope Edgar makes an appearance soon; she needs that little bit of comfort that we can’t give her. I hold the door open for her, and when she doesn’t move, I place my hand on the small of her back.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. It’s just the last time I was here; I thought Edgar was dead.”
“If you aren’t ready, it’s okay. Some things take time; there isn’t any pressure. We can always go outside and see if he comes to you.”
She shakes her head. “No. I need this.” She steps into her dorm and lets out a deep sigh. “It feels like years since I’ve been here, but it’s only been weeks.”
As we stroll deeper into the room, I can't help but notice how much of her presence remains here. The sweet scent of coconut still hangs in the air, a pair of fishnet stockings are casually draped over the couch, and a stack of cello books are neatly arranged on the coffee table.
I watch as she swipes a finger along her books. “I miss my cello. I’ll never get into a symphony now. I’ve blown everything that I’ve worked for.”
“No, Odette, you never did. I think this school was never meant for you. You should’ve gone someplace in New York, not here.”
“I couldn’t leave Dad.” She pauses, then laughs. “Guess he left me instead.”
“He didn’t leave you, Jinx. He’s still around. He raised you to be just like him.”
She rests her hands on her hips, and just because she looks like her Mom, this is all Prescott. God, I miss that asshole. I walk over to the window and open it, needing a distraction.
“How do you call this little fucker?”
“He isn’t a fucker, you asshole. And I’ve never had to call him. He always just…came.”
We stand by the window, looking out to the trees, waiting for a blackbird to make its appearance. I’m not sure what to tell Jinx if he doesn’t show. Her heart can’t take much more that I know, but she might have to come to terms with the fact that Edgar isn’t coming back.
“I don’t think he’s coming.” She closes the window. “I’m headed back and gonna take a shower. I should’ve taken one last night but passed out instead.”
“Sleep was more important than a shower, but you do kinda stink.”
She shoves me and laughs. “Shut it. You wear the same shit for five days, and you tell me if you stink or not.”
“I am a guy, we stink on a daily.”
“Yeah, but you smell in a good way. I smell like sweat and.” She pulls her shirt away from her face and sniffs. “Dear lord, I don’t know what that is.”
“Come on, let's get your ripe ass in some water.”
“Watch it, Banks. Or I’ll drown your ass instead.”
“Your mouth is going to cause trouble for you, and if you weren’t hurt, I would put you in your place.”
Her pupils dilate, and she licks her lower lip. I run my thumb along her lip before tugging at it. “You get nothing until you’re healed.”
“I blame Wilde for cockblocking me.”
I wrap her in a hug because that prick cockblocked me too. “Don’t worry, you’ll be healed in no time, and then I’ll fuck your brains out.”
“Can Maddox and Ashton join?”
“I’m sure they would beat me if they couldn’t, but you know Ashton won’t want anything from you.”
We step into the hall, and she looks up at me. “I’ll never pressure him, you know that, right?”
“I do. Ash won’t do anything he’s not ready for. But I’m afraid he’ll never be ready.”
“He will. It’ll happen at his own pace. And no one knows when that’ll be. Only he does. All we can do is be there for him and let him know that we support him no matter what he chooses to do. I’ll be okay never having him in that way; all that matters to me is having him in my life.”
I knew she cared for Ashton, but I didn’t know how much. I should’ve known it ran deep. I shouldn’t even say care; she loves him. It’s clear how much she’ll do anything for him, and the same goes for Maddox. I’m not sure about me, though. I think she hates me some days, which I don’t blame her, I’ve been an asshole to her since I’ve known her, but it’s been fun.
I barely open my dorm door and hear Maddox and Ashton having an all-out war.
“This will be fun. You have a shower; I’ll deal with them.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, whatever caused it shouldn’t involve you. Go get cleaned up, and I’ll get you some breakfast, and then we’ll talk.” I quickly kiss her on the lips, and she rushes off to the bathroom. I turn to the guys and whistle, grabbing their attention.
“What the fuck,” I say slowly.
Ashton points at Maddox. “This asshole was drinking.”
“It wasn’t a drink, calm the fuck down.”
Ashton digs a bottle out of the trash and slams it on the counter. “Then explain this.”
I grab the bottle and read the label. “It has alcohol in it, so explain, Maddox.”
“I was dumping it down the drain. I didn’t want anything around in case I had the urge to drink. Is that okay with you?”
I want to believe him, and as his friend, I should be giving him the benefit of the doubt, but with everything going on, I wouldn’t blame him if he did have a drink.
“Is that all the alcohol?” I nod to Ash.
“Yeah, we didn’t have much here.”
“Okay, good. Maddox, you good?”
He nods and moves back to the couch. “Yeah, whatever. No matter what I do, you guys won’t believe me, so what’s the point.”
“It’s not that, man. You’ve only been sober for less than a week. Can you blame me?” Ash walks behind the couch, leaning over. “I didn’t mean to say that you’re a shitty person by touching the stuff, but I only want the best for you.”
“I get that, but just because there’s liquor around doesn’t mean I’m gonna have the urge to slam the shit back. Give me some goddamn credit.”
“We are.”
“The fuck you are, Ace. Ever since you discovered it was your asshole dad stalking Jinx, you think you can control everything. You can’t.”
“What?”
I swing around and find Jinx standing in the living room.