28. JJ Woodford #2
“Just being assholes. As usual.”
“Did they mention Ben?”
Ivy drags her eyes to Finn, and she pauses for a moment before nodding again.
“I hate them,” he grumbles, his jaw tensing so hard that I can see a vein pulsing in his face. “I knew they’d do something like this, backing Ben for his disgusting behaviour. They will never change.”
“Do you want to leave?” I ask Ivy, sensing her severe discomfort.
After a few moments, she shakes her head. “No,” she rasps. “I don’t want them to win.”
Finn leans over and presses a hand to her shoulder. “It’s fine, we’re here. Nothing is going to happen, Iv. I promise.”
Ivy blows out a shuddering breath. God knows I’ll deck anyone who dares to belittle her. I don’t care who they are.
“I know.” She flashes him a wary smile and then covers her mouth with her glass again.
Finn changes the subject, but it’s obvious Ivy isn’t in the conversation; her eyes keep moving between our heads and glancing at the group behind us. They get louder and louder by the minute, intoxicated by alcohol and slurring their words.
“You need to get your grades up this year,” I tell Finn. “You barely scraped a 2:2.”
He waves him off and takes a big swig of his beer. “I’ll make up for it this year, I was too busy partying and?—”
“Fucking,” I cut in.
Ivy pulls a face of disgust. “Please, let’s not go there.”
I chuckle, and Finn sighs. “Trust me, there won’t be any of that. I don’t want anyone else but h—” He cuts himself off before finishing the sentence, then he clears his throat. “I’m going to be different next year, promise.”
“Anyone else but who?” Ivy asks curiously.
No surprise he hasn’t told Ivy about Maya.
As I open my mouth to speak, a chip lands directly on our table and splashes into Ivy’s wine. We all jump back startled and I glance over my shoulder at the same time Finn does, of course it’s the jackasses Ivy was worried about.
“Hey, Finn.” One of them flashes him a cocky grin.
“Do you mind, Tom?”
He pushes himself off the bench and walks towards us. I don’t take my eyes off him, but I’m ready to go if he pulls any stunts. “Funny how you distanced yourself from us after Ben went to prison.” Tom sighs heavily.
Finn pushes himself up from the chair, and I watch Ivy’s eyes fill with dread as he squares up to Tom. “Funny how you guys backed a guy who tried to kill my sister.”
Tom scoffs. “Because girls make guys fucking nuts, you trying to say that your precious sister over there was the perfect girlfriend? We all know she wasn’t. You know what she did, Finn.”
This time, I stand up and tower over him by a good four inches. He stares at me and then scowls.
“Shut the fuck up, Tom,” Finn grits. “What Ben did was fucking disgusting and you know it.”
“Do I?”
“Yes,” Finn snaps.
Tom shrugs. “A good guy went to prison over one little mistake; a lot goes on behind closed doors. We all know Ivy was… getting around, shall we say.”
Finn steps right into Tom’s chest and pushes him backwards. “Say one more word, I dare you.”
“What’s the problem? It was you who?—”
“Shut the fuck up, Tom,” Finn growls.
I feel a grip on my wrist, and my head turns to find Ivy standing there. “Let’s just go, please.” She latches onto Finn’s hand and tugs him too. Finn glares at Tom before he steps back. “ Please.”
My blood boils because Tom deserves to have his teeth knocked out, but Ivy doesn’t want us to cause a scene, and right now, she’s the priority. Finn wraps his arm over Ivy’s shoulder, and we step away. Tom smirks in our direction.
“That’s right,” he calls out. “Walk away like a bunch of cowards. It doesn’t take away from the fact that Ivy was probably a little bitch to Ben, she deserved it. Whores always get what they deserve. You sleep around, you find ou?—”
Before I think about what I’m doing, I turn around and swing my fist directly into Tom’s face. He staggers backwards, blood dripping from his nose. I take him by his shirt and shove him into an empty table.
“What the fuck did you say?” I bellow at him.
A groan falls from the back of his throat as he stares at me through hazy eyes. I pull my fist back again and hit him in the jaw, blood splatters against his T-shirt and across my knuckles.
I grip his shirt between my throbbing fists again and drag his face to mine. “I said, what the fuck did you say?”
Finn is beside me, pushing off a group of boys who are storming towards me.
Then the next thing I know, chaos erupts in the beer garden.
I’m not proud to say the police were called, but they deserved it, and I don’t regret what I did.
None of us were arrested, but never have I seen two police officers so angry in my entire life. Luckily the pub didn’t want to press charges; they barred us instead, which doesn’t bother me.
I glance down at my bruised knuckles and smirk. Worth it. Totally worth it.
As we get back to the house, we’re all silent.
I can still hear Ivy’s voice cry out for us to stop. Thank god the staff managed to separate us seconds before the police came, we definitely would have been arrested then.
Finn grumbles something about needing to take a shower to cool off. I don’t blame him. Ivy sighs as I walk over to the kitchen, and she follows me. I pause by the sink, and she grabs the first aid kit.
She stops for a moment and glances over her shoulder, those fearful green eyes roam my face. I don’t want to know the damage; adrenaline is still pumping through my body, so I’m not feeling the pain yet.
“Why did you do that?” she whispers under her breath.
I fold my arms over my chest and lean into the counter. “I wasn’t going to sit there and let them talk shit about you, Ivy.”
She chews on her lip before dampening a clean cloth and walking towards me. “Let me,” she says gently. “Please.”
I don’t fight her as she raises the cloth and brushes it against my bleeding lip and cut cheek. She takes in a quick breath and shakes her head. “You didn’t need to do that,” she says again. “You got hurt because of me and I?—”
Her eyes remain low, and I dip my finger under her chin and tilt her gaze to mine. “I don’t care about that. All I care about is you. They don’t get to talk about you like that. I don’t care who it is, no one talks to you like that.”
Ivy’s gentle caress of the cloth against my face has my heart rate slowing and my rage calming. After a moment, she pulls away, and I glance at the blue cloth that is now stained with red splodges.
“They’ve always hated me,” she says after a few moments, her eyes falling again. “A rumour went around, and they all used it against me, anything to make me the punching bag.”
My brows crease. “What rumour?”
Ivy cups her hands over her elbows, stepping away from me. “That I cheated on him.” Her throat bobs. “That’s why they hate me so much.”
“They’re assholes.” I attempt to calm my tone. “And I swear to god, if they ever come near you again, I’ll do more damage than I did today. I mean it. Do not listen to them when they say you deserved it; nothing you could have ever done would have made you deserve it.”
Ivy swallows harshly and looks into my eyes.
“Thank you,” I whisper as I dip my head towards her. “For cleaning up my face.”
“It’s the least I could do for what you did.”
Our mouths are merely inches from touching. She stares back at me with those big green eyes, and I almost lose myself again. Fuck . I can’t help myself.
This time, I press my lips to hers, only a simple peck. It’s sweet and light, and I feel everything . My shoulders droop with relief and contentment, emotions I didn’t know I needed at this moment in time.
Ivy whimpers ever so quietly, and the sound has me clutching her tighter. The kiss lasts no more than a couple of seconds, and I pull away. Her eyes dilate, and I will never get over the way they expand when she’s around me.
Her lips taste like summery wine, and when I look at them, I tell myself not to kiss her again. Not after last time. I should take things slow, not scare her away. If I want to make her mine, then I have to be patient.
I know she wants me, even if she hasn’t convinced herself of it yet.