Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
I refuse to let the house arrest stop me from doing whatever the hell I want, trusting in Ash and what he said to me.
Avery starts working her way through the teachers and students that have helped Annabelle and by the end of the week, two teachers quit and eight students transfer out of Hannaford.
There’s nothing quite like Avery freaking Beaumont when she’s on the social warpath.
There’s no motivator quite like desperation though, and Annabelle somehow clings to her scholarship by her fingertips.
I don’t know what enrages Avery more; the fact that she won’t drop out, or the fact that she’s still gossiping away about me, damn near begging for my attention despite me refusing to give her a fucking thing.
Even when I see her in the dining hall or between classes, I look through her and it’s driving the bitch insane. Too bad, so sad, wish the bitch would just choke on a dick already.
On Sunday, after a long day of studying and trying to catch up on sleep, Ash texts me a demand to meet him in the boys’ room and when I try to get him to come to my room instead, he calls me a coward.
The manipulative asshole, except it’s effective and I stomp over to rant at him in person.
When I unlock the door and fling it open, the words die in my throat at the arrogant fucking smirk on his face and the fact that he’s lounging on his bed in his fucking boxers. Dammit. His nipples are like my kryptonite and I think somehow he’s figured it out!
“Do you want to argue, Mounty? I’d rather we go for round two, but I’ll fight if you need the foreplay.”
I cut him a look, but I lose the higher ground by drooling all over myself as I climb up onto his bed to get to him. “Shut up and kiss me, asshole.”
Ash chuckles and nips at my lip. “Why, Mounty, I didn’t think you’d be up for ass play just yet, but if you ask nicely I could be persuaded.”
Aaaaaaand now I kinda wanna die.
He doesn’t let me pull away, his hand firm on the back of my neck as he strokes his tongue over mine until I forget why it was I was so embarrassed in the first place.
I feel like a fumbling idiot as I clutch at his shoulders because his hands are steady and sure as he strips my shirt from me and with a quick flick of his fingers my bra is off and across the room.
I’m panting the second his hands cup my tits, kneading and toying with my nipples, and for a second I’m so distracted I don’t feel the buzzing of my phone. It’s only when Ash curses into the skin of my neck that I realize what’s pissed him off.
911. Our room. Now.
I glance at the text from over Ash’s shoulder as he works his way down my chest. I’m only checking it because I know it’s Avery and my stomach fucking drops. I shove at his chest to move him and dial her number frantically.
“Atticus asked me on a date! A real one. He’s going to come pick me up after my recital tomorrow night.
We need to plan out everything, Lips. My outfit, my hair, my opening line, how I’m going to turn him down if he tries to kiss me because I want to string him along a bit.
Stop sucking face with your man-meat and get over here. ”
I groan at her. “911 means ‘life threatening’, Aves, not ‘help-I’m-freaking-out-over-a-guy’! Fuck, I nearly shanked Ash to get to the phone.”
Ash grunts, flopping over onto his back dramatically while I drool at the sight of him, and snaps, “I’m not giving Lips up just for your pathetic boy troubles. Which idiot did you snare this time? If you say Sebastien, I will walk to his room right now and rip his fucking throat out.”
I cringe, and he eyes me for a second before it clicks.
He snatches the phone away from me and hisses, “You are not going on a date with that spineless fuck Atticus! Over my dead fucking body, Avery.”
She screeches at him so ear-piercingly that I hear every word. “Well I guess you’re dead then, asshole!”
I refuse to get involved in their little spats, but I do leave Ash to go help Avery. He’s fucking livid about it, but I know it’s about Atticus and not me leaving him. He even tries to talk me into helping turn Avery against him but I stand firm.
Avery deserves to be fucking happy and if Atticus Crawford is it, then he’s it. I’m not questioning her.
She is standing in the living room in her skimpiest lingerie when I arrive and I decide that Atticus is a fucking lucky guy. She’s a hot piece of ass and any guy would be fucking begging to have her.
“Would you go with the red or the black? Atticus always likes me in black,” she says without looking back at me.
I kick my shoes off and join her. The dresses are both stunning and sexy without showing much skin. There’s nothing Ash could possibly complain about when he sees her in them.
“Black with red lipstick. The dress and your hair will make it pop and he’ll be falling over himself to kiss you. It’ll make it that much better when you decline his advances.”
Aves smirks and cuts me a little smug look. “This is why we’re friends. How would you say no to kissing him?”
I snort out a laugh at her. “Well, I’m not a refined and graceful lady like you. I usually say no by breaking people’s bones.”
Avery hums and runs a hand down the black dress. “How did you say no to the guys while you were oblivious to them last year?”
I groan at her. “I didn’t. I kissed them and then remembered I couldn’t and told them that. Well, except that one time with Harley where he was the one who stopped us because I couldn’t help myself.”
Avery pretends to gag but she laughs while she does. “Was that before or after he got you drunk and found out you were a virgin?”
I head for the freezer. If I’m going under the Spanish freaking Inquisition then I need some cherry fucking ice cream. “I am a virgin, and it was before.”
Avery hums and throws a robe on, grabbing a spoon to dig around in my tub of cherry goodness. “I would never have believed those three horn-bags would take this so slow. My screeching is working wonders.”
I cackle at her. “And how much of your screeching is real discomfort?”
She shrugs. “I’m pretty sure you could fuck Morrison on the couch in my general vicinity and the only real concern I’d have would be the cleanup required. Oh, and the fact I’d have to see his dick, ugh. But they don’t need to know that.
I wait until Ash takes Avery down to the gym for her last ballet practice before her recital, and I call Illi.
I don’t want Ash thinking I’m siding with him but there’s also no way I’m going to let Avery get involved with Atticus before I’ve done a full background check on the asshole.
Rory looked like the perfect gentleman on paper, great breeding and the poster boy for an all-American football player, and he’d tried to fucking rape her in a bathroom for dumping his cheating ass.
Blaise arrives as Illi picks up and I motion for him to stay quiet.
“What’s up, kid? Who’s dead now?” He laughs, and I snort at him.
“You shouldn’t joke like that when we’re being fucking hunted like game. I need a full-scope background check. I’m going to call the Coyote also, but I need your sources as well.”
Illi grunts and I hear him moving around. The blaring horns and shouting tell me he’s out in the Bay, probably chasing up the Jackal’s hired muscle. “Who’s it for?”
“Avery’s new man. Don’t ask, it’s a potential shit-show waiting to happen. Ash is going to gut the fucker if he so much as side-eyes her.”
Illi chuckles. “Good fucking luck to him. She might be prissy but the girl has claws and the grit to back it up.”
That warms something in my belly. I love that he can see her worth just as much as I can. “She’s fucking besotted so we need a full check. The last guy she got into… we had to deal with. Piece of shit. So, we’re doing this right, Illi.”
“Of course, kid. Gimme the dickhead’s details and I’ll rummage through his fucking sock drawer until we know he’s clean.”
“Thanks. I owe you.”
“Shut it. Hey, what happened to the other guy? He still breathing?”
I grunt. “Unfortunately. Harley had him permanently taken out, and now he’s in his own version of hell. A wheelchair and a non-functioning dick.”
Illi roars with laughter. “That’s fucking good. Send me his name too. Tell the Ice Queen it’s an early birthday present from Odie and me.”
I cackle and hang up, texting him through Atticus and Rory’s details. I should just leave the rapist asshole to his own hell but fuck it. The world will be a better place without him around wasting oxygen.
Blaise sidles up behind me, resting his hands over my hips and kissing my neck. “Why are you telling Illi about Rory? I thought we were done with that dickhead.”
I shiver and try not to melt into a puddle of goo at his feet. “I need to get Atticus checked out. What do you think of him? Besides hating him on principle for Ash’s sake?”
Blaise huffs and his breath tickles at my neck. I have to take a step away from him so I don’t embarrass myself. Well, more than usual.
“I think he’s an arrogant dickhead, but I also think he’s kind of perfect for Avery. Don’t tell Ash I said that, he’ll fucking slit my throat in my sleep. He hates him. Actually, he fucking despises him.”
I frown and move to make us both coffee. Blaise doesn’t drink coffee much, but I refuse to let him drink beer while he studies so I’m slowly converting him.
“Why? Did something happen or does he hate him on principle?”
Blaise slumps down onto the floor in front of the TV in his usual spot.
“Aves was fucking devastated when Atticus stopped talking to her. She holed herself up in her room and watched those stupid romance movies for weeks. It was pathetic. Nothing like she normally is. Harley ended up moving in with her to make sure she didn’t do something stupid, and Ash went on the warpath.
He nearly got kicked out for how often he was in the fight club fights.
Avery eventually came around and dealt with the fall-out, but Ash hates the idea of Atticus in her life again because he already knows the power he has over her. ”
I grimace and join him on the floor, smiling as he sips the coffee without pulling a face. I must be getting better at making his super sweet. I may like my candy, but my coffee needs to be as black as the stain on my heart to keep me going.
“I don’t think it’s worth getting into a relationship with someone if you feel anything less than that.”
Blaise leans back and watches me carefully. “Less than what?”
I shrug. “Less than all in. That’s how I feel about you. And Ash and Harley. It’s how I know you guys are worth all of the danger and risks to keep alive. Why start something with anyone who doesn’t hold that power?”
Blaise grins and when he glances down at his textbook, there’s color on his cheeks that squeezes my heart a little.
“Why the fuck are you blushing over that?” I laugh. Boys are fucking confusing.
He shrugs at me and flicks a pen in my direction. “I know you feel like that because you risk your neck for us all the time, but you don’t really say it. It’s just fucking weird to hear you say it.”
I huff at him. “I don’t mess around, Blaise.”
He shrugs again and I let it go, focusing on his assignments until I’m happy he’s going to nail every last one of them.
When Avery gets back from dance, Blaise leaves with a lingering but sweet kiss and I ignore Avery’s questioning look. I wait until she’s showered and in bed before I tell her about my conversation with Illi.
“I don’t need him to kill Rory. I’m comfortable with where he is.”
I nod and switch the light off. “It’s the principle of it. Illi doesn’t ever let rapists live. What happened with Odie taught him that lesson the hardest way possible.”
Ash and Avery leave for the recital early the next morning, but only after Avery and I repack her bag eight times to be sure she has the perfect outfit to bring Atticus to his knees.
If the man has a brain, and eyes, literally any outfit would achieve this, but Avery is determined and precise, and I’ll sit in a bathroom with her looking at dresses until my eyes bleed if I have to.
I text Illi and he promises to follow them there, though he doesn’t seem very happy about tagging along to high society functions.
I think dinner at Hannaford has ruined the illusion that the higher societies have better things for us.
They certainly don’t have better food.
I go to classes with Harley and Blaise, and we eat lunch in the dining hall.
The whispers that follow me are even fucking worse now that I’m on my stupid school arrest, but I grit my teeth and just fucking deal with it.
Harley offers to start practicing with his new knives I got him for Christmas loud enough that the little freshmen assholes near us hear and scurry away.
I smile and say, “I can show you the best places to stab without making too much of a mess. DNA can be hard to completely clean off.”
Harley smirks and shrugs at me. “Do tell, babe. I love hearing about your life skills. The Bay does teach girls valuable lessons.”
I quirk an eyebrow at him and Blaise cackles at us both. “You two flirt like fucking serial killers, it’s fucking hilarious. C’mon then, Star. Tell us where you’d stab… that guy. The one who will die if he keeps staring at your tits like that.”
The guy, who’s sitting three chairs down, shits himself and darts off, leaving behind his bag, lunch, and dignity.
“I wouldn’t stab him. I’d castrate him. Have you ever skinned someone before? If you do it right, it takes some time to work your way down to the layers of fat and muscle. You can technically peel a dick like a banana until there’s nothing fucking left.”
Blaise turns green and gags but Harley smirks, his eyes twinkling.
“Who taught you that, babe?”
I shrug. “Doc. I was thirteen and he taught me the birds and the bees. Then he rolled a corpse in and showed me all the best ways to hurt any guy who tried to touch me without consent.”
Blaise nods but still looks green. He really does love his dick that much.
I finish my lunch in peace now we’ve subdued the sheep, and Harley tucks me under his arm to walk us back to our classes. There’s something about being pressed against his body, safely tucked into him, that slows my brain down and brings me some peace.
I only wish I could have it all the time.