by J Bree
“Move,” says Blaise.
Harley spits fire back at him. “Fuck off. You've just decided to do something about it because she passed your little singing test?”
“Don't be a jealous dick and move. I need to tell her—”
“You'd have to climb over my dead fucking body, and we both know I could take you. Now shut up before you get us in the shit.”
Avery is grinning like this is the most amusing shit in her life, but I’m not sure she knows how bad this really is because if Blaise has finally decided to do something… we’re not going to survive this and all still stay together. This isn’t about sex or reputations or any of the other bullshit it usually is. I’m not desperate to fuck the Mounty for a notch on my bedpost or just to say I’ve had her.
I want to keep her.
I was ready to break all of the rules and fucking obliterate Joey when he came at her the other day. I’ve hospitalized students all year for talking shit about her, and the thought of her going home to the Bay in a few weeks and finding some guy to hook up with there has me ready to spill blood.
I want to drive down to the Bay right now and gut the Jackal for being a threat to her.
There’s no way I’d be feeling all of this shit if I didn’t want to call her mine and covet her; keep her the fuck away from the Bay and all of the dangers that place holds for her.
I feel the Mounty’s eyes on me, but if I look over at her right now I’ll do something stupid and ruin everything, something like hauling her ass out of here and finding the closest flat surface to spread her out on.
I spend the rest of the performances trying to get a hold of myself.
The second Trevelen dismisses us, Avery sighs at Lips like she’s a problem child and says, “I’m making dinner, are you coming up to eat with us or are you hitting the dining hall?”
It’s a bad idea, but none of us seem to be able to pry ourselves away from Lips right now, so we all agree to go eat with Avery. Harley is glaring around at everyone and everything surrounding us and Blaise watches him like he’s about to start a fight.
I focus on the girls and when Lips’ leg gives way and she almost takes a dive, I’m glad I’ve been watching.
What the fuck has happened to her?
Avery immediately gets a hold of her elbow to support her, tucking her phone away and focusing entirely on Lips with a frown.
“You know how I tell you not to buy me shit? If a new leg is on the table, I'll take it,” Lips grunts through clenched teeth, and Avery rubs her back with a little smile as they hobble out of the auditorium.
I last exactly ten steps before I step in.
It’s a miracle it takes me that long because the wincing and grimaces make the killing rage fill my veins and if I find out someone did this to her, they’ll be dead before dawn. I will fucking destroy them for doing this to her.
I wrap an arm around her waist, moving slow enough that she can stop me if it jars her leg in any way, and pull her into my side firmly. She tenses for a second, her own version of flailing about, but then she takes a deep breath and clutches at my waist to lean on me more fully. That tastes like victory, and Harley immediately starts to bitch me out from where he’s watching us like a fucking hawk.
I don’t want to deal with him, so instead I murmur, “What happened?”
“My leg just likes to remind me that violence is never the answer,” she says with her usual brand of dry wit, and it strikes me again how much I like her. This isn’t just an attraction thing, this is deeper and has taken root in me in ways that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to claw out.
I chuckle under my breath at her as we start walking again, and her legs still aren’t steady enough. I look down at her and go through the pros and cons of just carrying her the rest of the way. Harley and Blaise will be pissed, and Lips might kick up a fuss, but the wobbling is killing me.
She blinks back at me, clearly confused. “I’ll be fine, I just need to get off my feet for a few days.”
Of course she’d say it’s fine; there’s no way I can carry her without her stabbing me or something, so I nod right as Harley pries Avery away so he can take up on the other side of the Mounty. Between the two of us we take all of the weight off of her legs until we’re carrying her. Neither of us say a word and Avery stares us down one by one, like she’s about to make this entire thing everyone’s problem. When she opens her mouth, Blaise hauls her under his arm and pulls her to lead the way, not at all distracting her but getting her moving so the blowup that’s about to happen can at the very least be away from the gossips of Hannaford.
There’s already too many eyes on us all as we walk through the girls’ dorm. None of them are brave enough to whisper or call attention to themselves, but there’s no denying that they’re all a little too interested in Lips being carried up here by the two of us.
From the corner of my eye I see Annabelle take two steps out of her room toward us, but there’s no fucking way I’m dealing with her brand of bullshit today. She might be a dumb, manipulative slut but she seems to read the situation well enough that I can stop her in her tracks with a single look. It doesn’t stop her from standing there and watching Harley pass with devastated eyes, eyes brimming with tears that make me feel nothing. He doesn’t even glance her way, all of his focus and energy on Lips and, as much as I want her for myself, that’s exactly where it should be.
When we arrive at the girls’ room, Avery unlocks the door and we direct Lips in and set her gently down onto her bed.
It only takes a minute for everything to implode because with one sentence, Avery lights a match and flicks it onto the fire.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
One look at Lips confirms she’s completely oblivious to us all, her focus entirely on the pain she’s in, and I’m fuming at Avery for bringing this shit up now when there’s more pressing shit to deal with.
Like killing whoever hurt the Mounty.
“Don’t you look at me like that, Ash, you don’t get to decide to suddenly switch teams and be protective of her without giving me some answers. Now, I’m not going to ask you all again, tell me what the hell is going on?” Avery says, and her tone grates on me.
Harley looks her over and then shrugs. “Nothing. Nothing is going on—”
“What’s going on is Harley needs to get his shit together and do something already because he’s wasting everyone’s goddamn time.”
“What the hell does that even mean!”
But none of us take any notice of her because Blaise is staring Harley down like he’s about to take a swing, and once again we’re all teetering on the edge of destruction.
Harley cuts me off with a snarl, “This isn’t a fucking game—”
“No one thinks it’s a game, asshole—”
Harley loses his head and he yells, “Fuck you, Morrison! You and Ash are as bad as each other.”
From the corner of my eye I see Lips’ head snap in our direction, and Avery’s eyes narrow as she stares each of us down. My fists are clenched at my sides, from where I’m stopping myself from taking a swing at Harley, because if he would just do something maybe we wouldn’t be in this limbo space of hell right now.
If she was his then I’d have to just… get the hell over her.
Avery finally decides Harley is the best chance of getting what she wants, so with a glare she pokes him in the chest with a finger and snaps, “Calm the hell down. I'm not having you break my room because you're in a mood.”
That only makes shit worse and when Blaise smirks at him he widens his stance, and there’s no way in hell I’m letting him take a swing at him with Avery standing right the fuck there.
Before I can shove her behind me Avery snarls, “One of you idiots had better start explaining what the fuck is going on. Now. I've never seen you fight like this before!”
No one moves or says a word.
None of us want to admit what the problem is when Lips is sitting right there o
n the bed watching us and, like lovesick idiots, we all turn as one to look at her.
Her face immediately shuts down.
It’s a bad thing too, a self-conscious tic like she thinks we’re all making fun of her, but there’s absolutely nothing I can say or do that won’t make all of this worse, so I have to stand there and watch as she slides off of her bed and mumbles some excuse about having a shower to give us all some privacy.
When Blaise attempts to help Lips as she hobbles past us all, Harley snarls at him like a fucking asshole, because he can’t handle any of us touching her now apparently, and Avery has to once again step in to stop a full-blown brawl.
I hear her murmur to Lips as they hobble past, “I need a fucking drink after this,” and doesn’t that sound like a fucking plan.
The second the bathroom door shuts, I stalk over to the kitchen cupboards and start searching for the bourbon, because what this situation needs is some fucking alcohol.
“Don’t you dare start drinking before we get to the bottom of this, Ash!” Avery hisses lowly, and I roll my eyes at her without stopping my search.
“It’s pretty simple; Harley has called dibs on the Mounty, but then he’s been too chicken shit to do a thing about it. Blaise and I have respected the dibs for months, but that’s not going to happen anymore.”
There’s silence for a second and then Avery sputters, “Dibs? You freaking idiots put ‘dibs’ on Lips and that’s why you’ve been bickering like children? Did any of you assholes think about what she wanted? That maybe she isn’t a toy you can covet like that?”
I finally find the bourbon and grab a glass, only because Avery will lose what little patience she has left for me if I drink it straight from the bottle. When I turn around, Blaise is already chugging back a beer and Harley is standing tall against Avery’s vicious glare.
“It wasn’t fucking dibs; Ash is just being a confrontational asshole because he’s pissed about this whole… thing. I told them I was interested in her and they both backed off.”
Avery squints at him like he’s dense. “Oh, of course, that definitely sounds nothing like dibs to me! But never mind, let’s circle back to that. Why haven’t you done anything yet? You and Lips spend all day together in class, I’m sure you could’ve found time to say something to her… though she’s not really one for dirty hookups.”
He eyes her off but it’s not in a defensive way, it’s more like he’s judging how much she knows and that piques my interest. “You did fucking hook up with her. I knew it.”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” Harley snarls, and there’s nothing more tempting to me than his hackles rising like that.
I smirk at him. “Why don’t we just end this now and go ask her?”
I get one step toward the bathroom door before Harley is in my face. “Open that fucking door while she’s in the shower and I’ll gut you.”
There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s serious, and I’m also not at all surprised at his reaction.
Blaise’s lack of defense on my behalf is a shock though.
He’s never hesitated to throw himself into any fight, but this mess has him drawing back in on himself and if nothing comes from this fight tonight then he’ll be back on suicide watch, because he’s looking moodier than ever.
Harley throws me a glare, but Avery is far more focused on where Blaise is throwing back his second beer, a third clutched tightly in his fist. Her eyes then flick over to the glass I’m refilling like this is all so telling.
It is telling, but I hate her perceptiveness for a second.
“Oh my freaking God. You’re all in love with her. This isn’t just some disgusting sex thing… you want to date her. All three of you. Well, I’ll be damned.”
While I don’t think any of us would call this love, none of us argue with her because there’s no arguing that we’re all obsessed with her.
Without another word Avery starts to throw together food for us all. By the time she’s plating up, the shower is still going, so Lips has either drowned or she’s truly terrified of coming out and facing whatever happened out here, but honestly… nothing has happened. Nothing except Avery forcing us all to admit how fucked we are and how bad this situation is that we’ve found ourselves in.
Blaise refuses to eat so Avery gets him doing dishes, and then she hovers over Harley and I while we eat. I’d rather drink until I forget this night happened, but there’s also something about watching Harley squirm under Avery’s eye that’s too amusing to miss out on.
He manages one mouthful before he starts in on her again. “So we’re just going to forget this happened, right? We’re going back to minding our own fucking business.”
Avery huffs at him. “No, idiot. I’m going to sort this out like I sort out everything for you lot. We’re done talking about it for tonight.”
He opens his mouth to argue but snaps it shut again as the bathroom door opens, Lips stepping out hesitantly. Avery grins at her as she gestures to her to come and eat, but Lips stares back at her distrustfully.
“Why are you so happy? Did Annabelle choke on a dick or something?”
Don’t we all wish.
Avery cackles. “Better. So much better. We’ll talk tomorrow, just eat some dinner and rest your leg for now.”
“We could talk about it now,“ Harley grumbles into his plate, and Avery’s grin shifts into a glare as her eyes flick back down to him.
“Eat your damn pasta, Arbour.”
And that’s the end of that.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Harley
Avery is a meddling control freak, and she’s going to ruin everything.
The only reason I didn’t call her the hell out on throwing herself into this last night was the fear in Lips’ eyes when she’d looked over at us all fighting over her. She’s too fucking jumpy, and I seem to be the only one who gives a shit about her freaking the hell out and disappearing on us all.
Summer break is only a week away.
She could head back down to the Bay and meet some Mounty asshole who’s willing to fuck with the Jackal just to have her, and I cannot let that happen. Not just because it’s a risk for her but because I’d be charging down to the slums and killing whoever the fuck touched her.
I decide to meet with Lips before breakfast and just fucking man up, lay this shit out there, and see what she says.
The problem is that the moment I get back to my room from swim practice, Ash and Blaise are already awake, showered, and dressed to head down for food. I pause for a half second in the doorway with my bag still slung over my shoulder, and that’s long enough for Morrison to smirk at me like the asshole he is.
“You honestly thought you could just scurry over there this morning without us, huh? Idiot.”
I ignore him and stalk into the bathroom to change into my uniform because anything I say right now will start a war, and if we’re all going over to the girls’ room together then I can’t be fighting with him. It’ll just have the entire fucking day ruined, and Lips will probably do a runner to get away from us both, and then Ash can swoop in and save the day like a fucking asshole.
I hate everyone right now.
None of us speak a word the entire walk over. It’s the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been around my own family, and I fucking hate it. I hate the way my skin is crawling and my gut is churning and the threads of fear that are pulling me in every direction, because this entire fucking situation is a no-win.
Someone is going to lose their shit today.
Avery opens the door to us all with a haughty look and then immediately ducks into the bathroom where the shower is already running, the sounds of the lock turning like a gunshot through the room.
Ash moves to the kitchen like he’s going for the bourbon but then remembers it’s seven in the morning and even a Beaumont shouldn’t show up to class half cut, so instead we all just stand around, twitching and fidgeting like crackheads.
Our attention snaps back to the bat
hroom when the door cracks open an inch, Avery’s head poking out of the tiny crack with another haughty look.
“We’ll meet you guys down at the dining hall.”
I shake my head. “We’re here to walk you guys down; we’ll wait.”
Her eyes narrow at me. “No, we’re fine.”
Ash shrugs at her. “We’re already here, we might as well wait for you both just in case Joey tries something.”
Avery huffs at him and snaps, “Ash, I have cramps and I need a minute to get myself together and I’d rather not have you lot out there listening to me change out tampons.”
Blaise startles like a fucking idiot, like he’s forced himself to forget that Avery is in fact female and gets periods. “Fuck, saying you need a minute is more than enough information.”
Ash and I both roll our eyes at him and Avery smiles at him with that fake, poisonous sweetness she’s perfected. “Well, if you listened to me the first time I wouldn’t have to supply you with the details.”
Blaise and Ash both start toward the door, but I’m not leaving so fucking easily. “I need to talk to Lips.”
“No, Lips is still getting dressed.”
I roll my eyes back at her. “What, she’s just going to stand around watching you switch out tampons? For fuck’s sake, Floss, let her out of there!”
“We’re girls, she isn’t worried about my period, she has her own to deal with. Bye!” She’s a little too fucking gleeful as she snaps the door shut, and I have no choice but to follow the other two down to the dining hall.
“You have until midnight tonight. That’s it. Not a second longer.”
I roll my eyes at Morrison’s bullshit as we move along the food line, staring down a couple of the seniors glancing back at us like we’re so fucking fascinating.
“I don’t need until midnight—“
“I’m not giving him until midnight. Like Avery said, dibs is bullshit. If Avery hasn’t already, we’ll all tell her and she can decide.” Ash cuts in and fills a plate up with piles of eggs and bacon. I do the same without another word because… well, there’s nothing left to say.
