Make Your Move (A High School Bully Romance): Hannaford Prep Year Two

by J Bree

  Avery squints at me a little and I try not to squirm. Whatever she’s looking for, she doesn’t find it in my face and with a sigh, she stands up.

  “Don’t be dense, Mounty. Kiss whoever the hell you want to but you need to tell them all about the Jackal.”

  I notice the tension in the air the second we walk into our room. Ash is sitting on Avery’s bed death glaring at his phone like it’s mortally offended him and Harley…well, Harley is standing in the kitchen, braced against the kitchen counter, with murder in his eyes. Avery frowns at them and then gives me a sidelong look but I shrug. Blaise walks in behind us, carrying bags of Thai takeout, and he’s stomping around as well.

  “What’s Joey done now?” Avery snaps.

  Blaise won’t look at me as he brushes past us to get into the kitchen. Avery waits another second before snapping, “Well?!”

  “It’s not Joey. Harley’s got some emotions he would like to express but he has to work through them first.” says Ash, so condescendingly I cringe for Harley but he doesn’t flinch. In fact, he acts like he hasn’t heard a word Ash has said. He’s the only guy in the room who is looking at me, while the other two are pointedly looking elsewhere. I know for a fact I’m PMS-ing and my nerves are fucking wearing thin so I keep my mouth shut. If I open it I may verbally eviscerate the lot of them and I’m sure Avery doesn’t want to spend her evening scrubbing their innards off the walls.

  Blaise sets out everyone's food and continues to ignore me, even after I thank him. Avery glares at him, then Ash, before finally settling her ire on her cousin who is still staring at me like I stabbed a baby.

  He makes it through the worlds most awkward and silent dinner before drawling at me, “I didn’t peg you for a liar.”

  Ash laughs and throws a napkin at him. “Of course she’s a liar. If you chose to believe anything she’s said that’s your own fucking insanity.”

  I set my knife and fork down onto the table carefully and fold my hands. I pull myself into Avery’s signature power pose, ankle fucking crossed and everything, before I sweetly say, “What is up your ass now, Arbour?”

  “You. You lied about being in danger, you lied about hating the other Mounty, and now you’ve gone and fucked him. I hope the money was worth it.”

  Avery meets my eye from across the table. What the actual hell is he talking about and how widespread is this pile of lies? Her eyebrows ask the same questions and we both slide into damage control. “Uh no, I didn’t. He threw himself at me and I said no.” I state, calmly, though my knees start to grow restless.

  Harley snorts at me, pushes out of his chair, and stalks over to the fridge to grab a beer. Avery stands to start cleaning up our dishes and snaps, “What does it matter to you if she did fuck him?”

  He shrugs casually but the sneer stays fixed to his face. “You said you didn’t want to fuck any guy at Hannaford but you made an exception for him.”

  Ash is watching Avery with narrowed eyes. He knows something is up, something more than what we’re saying. If Harley wasn’t so pissy he’d notice the cleaning too.

  “I didn’t fuck him. I kind of thought you’d believed me over the gossiping bitches but clearly I was wrong.” I grit out, the muscles in my jaw twitching.

  Harley slams the beer bottle on the bench and moves to stand over me. I don’t back away like everyone else does because I’m not afraid of him. His mobster roots and overbearing size don’t mean shit to me, I know what type of guy he really is. I do hate that I have to tip my head back to look at him right now and the fury in his eyes cuts me worse than his words.

  “He handed in proof. He’s been declared the winner and he gets the sweep. All two million dollars of it.”

  My stomach drops. My vision blurs, my ears ring, and I think my heart has exploded in my chest cavity.

  Fuck.

  I’m dead.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Right. This is bad.” Avery’s voice is thready and I know mine would sound the same if I could choke some words out.

  “So some asshole Mounty guy ends up with the money, what does it matter? With the bet over with Lips won’t be followed around anymore. We should have a word with him about the money. He should really split it with you.” says Blaise, sounding completely at ease even though he’s still refusing to look at me.

  “She didn’t fuck him! Get your heads out of your fucking asses and believe us both. We’re fucked because of that assholes lie.” Avery screeches.

  I can’t think clearly. If they’re still talking I don’t hear it, nothing exists to me anymore except the sheer, blinding terror. The panic clawing at my chest has become so overwhelming that it consumes everything until I’m at it’s mercy. I think I’m going to pass out. My legs give way and I collapse down on the ground. My arms shake. When I still can’t breathe I lie down and begin to count backwards from a hundred in French.

  “What are we missing here?” says Ash, carefully, and I look over to find them all staring at me. Harley looks haunted, his eyes so wide I can see the whites all the way around his irises. Nope. I can’t do this. I shut my eyes and get back to counting, out loud so I’m forced to focus. I try to block out the memories of all the things the Jackal will do to me.

  “I’m telling them, Lips. We need their help to fix this, that little fuck Lance needs a beating and we all know I can’t throw a punch to save my life.” says Avery and I jerk my head to form some sort of nod. “Ok. If word gets back to Mounts Bay that Lips has fucked Lance her life is in danger. The Jackal will kill Lance, no question, and he deserves it so fuck him. But there’s a good chance he’ll also kidnap, torture, and rape Lips.”

  “What?! Why?” snaps Ash as Harley starts cursing up a storm behind him.

  “Because he’s a sadistic, egomaniac who thinks he owns her. He threatened Joey away from her because he doesn’t like to share his toys. He’s waiting her out, playing a game that he thinks he’ll win, and if anyone messes with it he takes them out. If we don’t fix this he’s going to rape and kill her.”

  I think about throwing up but I’m paralyzed by the liquid terror coursing through my veins. I let it take me. I give over to the fear and let it consume me for a minute so it will burn off enough that I can tamp it down again. The truth is I’m not ever fearless, I’ve just learnt to live and work through it.

  When I can see again I risk another glance at the others to find Avery trembling in Ash’s arms and Harley staring down at me. I take my first deep breath when he looks at me, like the fire in his eyes thaws something in me and the spark in my soul starts up again. I have survived everything that’s been thrown at me so far. I will survive this too.

  Harley gives me a nod and turns back to his friends. “We need to fix this and we need to do it now. Ideas?”

  There’s a stunned silence and then, surprisingly, Blaise pipes up, “The bet says proof has to be either a photo or a video. We get our hands on it and prove it’s a fake. No one wants Lance to get the money so it’ll be an easy sell if we can find something.”

  Ash snorts derisively, his voice a twisted snarl, “How exactly would that be good proof if no one here has fucked the Mounty before? Who could vouch it’s her?”

  “Besides the obvious that her face would have to be in it? The photos last year.” says Harley.

  I sit up sharply. The photos from my fucked up walk of shame last year. After I’d had my clothes stolen while showering I’d been made to walk back to my room naked by Harlow, who had also taken photos and shared them around. Fucking bitch. I want to go back to her room and slit her throat.

  “We need to get the photos and pray. Lance is taking photography and advanced digital design. I’m sure he’s got the fake photos damn near perfect.” I say, my voice stronger now. I rub my face with shaking hands and consider texting Diarmuid for a hit. I wonder if Avery would spot me the fee? I glance at her and the thunder on her face tells me she would pay the son of a bitch ten times over.

  “Give me twenty minute
s. I know who’ll have them.” says Blaise and he ducks out of the room.

  I stay on the floor until Avery finally drags me up and pushes into the shower. I try to tell her I’d just had one but she starts on with her ‘hot water heals all’ philosophy and I just give in. I throw my pajamas on and when I walk back out I don’t even care that I’m wearing my Vanth shirt. Avery hands me a bowl of ice cream and I slouch on the couch to eat it. Avery sits with me and chews on her lips as she scrolls aimlessly on her phone. Ash and Harley sit at the bench and talk quietly together, their eyes on me more often than not. I’m scrubbing the bowl clean in the sink by the time the door opens again and Blaise is back.

  He startles a little at my shirt then ushers us all to sit at the bench. He hands out a pile of photos so we’re each holding a copy of the three photos Lance has produced as his proof. I can’t look down at them. Not until I’m able to do it with a clinical eye. Instead, I watch Avery as she begins to sift through them next to me.

  “Fuck, Avery, don’t look at them.” snaps Ash as he tries to pry them out of her hands. She rolls her eyes and turns away from him.

  “I’ve seen nudes before Ash. I’m not happy about being forced to look at that little fucks dick but I’m the only person here that’s seen Lips naked besides Lips herself so I’m the best person to be looking.”

  Blaise eyes flash and he purses his lips like he’s trying to seal them shut. Harley notices and punches him in the arm but he only shrugs with a wry grin. “I’m not even sorry, I can’t help it.”

  Eh? “Can’t help what?”

  Avery answers as she holds one of the photos so close to her face that she must be searching it pixel but pixel for inaccuracy. “He’s being gross about how I’ve seen you naked. Boys always are.” Then she grins at Blaise and swipes her tongue over her bottom lip. “I’ve seen her naked, dripping wet in the shower, in every piece of skimpy lace Ash picked out for her, and all sweaty and panting after a long, hard workout. Oh, I’ve also seen her in yoga poses that would make a monk weep.”

  I swear I hear all three of them gulp. Huh.

  Ash clears his throat. “How exactly does this relate to what we’re doing?”

  Harley butts in before Avery can answer. “So about this sex ban the Jackal has you on. Is that the real reason you won’t fuck a Hannaford guy?”

  I grit my teeth and try to force myself to look down at the photos while I’m distracted by the conversation. Nope. Can’t do it. “Yes. If there’s a chance it could get back to him that I’m with someone then I can’t do it. Hannaford is a pit of snakes and no one gets laid here without the entire school hearing about it. Just not worth the risk.”

  Avery chuckles under her breath. “Besides, the majority of males at this school don’t know how to make it good for girls. Why risk torture and death if you’re not even going to come?”

  I snort with unexpected laughter at her. “Better off doing it myself, right?”

  Avery cackles and I glance up again to find three sets of smoldering eyes glaring at me with a challenge. A blush starts creeping along my cheeks and I’m struck for the first time with the realization that I’ve kissed all three of them. Sweet Lord. Not only that, each kiss had been so fucking hot I had no reason to doubt their…skills.

  I hold my hands up placatingly. “Woah, settle on. I’m sure you guys are…great or whatever. You must be if Annabelle is mourning your dicks like she’s missed out on the second coming of Christ.”

  “She’s mourning the potential for a wealthy husband not their dicks.” murmurs Avery, in no way helping me with calming them the fuck down. I shrug and finally force my eyes down onto the photos in front of me.

  I feel lightheaded.

  Avery yells, startling us all, “HA! There! Lips, we’ve got him.”

  My eyes stay glued on the first photo. It’s so fucking disturbing to see you own face on a body that clearly isn’t yours. Yeah, he photoshopped my scars on it but the knees are wrong. The fingers are longer than mine and I’ve never managed to get my nails to that length. The tits are way bigger and the nipples are much darker than mine are. I really, really don’t want to have to flash my nipples to get out of this.

  I finally look over to the one Avery is waving at me and that photo is even more obscene. Lance has the girl flipped over and is doing her from behind. He’s leaning back and the photo has been taken with a nice close up of his dick in her, the fleshy globes of her ass spread by his hand. I immediately see what Avery is talking about.

  “Snap, motherfucker.” I mutter and Avery tucks her arm into mine.

  “Let’s go end that Mounty fuck.”

  Harley texts the bet keeper, some senior named Thomas Darcy, to tell him to hold payment until the next day so I don’t have to charge into the boys dorms at midnight in my booty shorts to kill Lance. He arranges to meet after classes in the chapel. At this point, I never want to step foot in that fucking room again but I grin and bear it. I messaged the Jackal last night to cover my ass and buy time, I told him about the fake photos and my plan to deal with Lance.

  Send me the photos. I’ll deal with him.

  He wants proof they’re not real. I text him and tell him I can handle it on my own but I get the digital copy from Blaise and send it to him. He has people on his payroll that can confirm they’re a photoshop. Now Lance owes me a life-debt. The little fuck.

  Avery marches into the Chapel like she’s a general in war and she’s thirsty for they’re blood. I trail behind her and the guys are grumbling together behind me. I had woken up with my period and am now bloated and moody as fuck. I’ve already snapped at Harley during classes so I think he’s warned the other two away from me. Lord help Lance if he is a mouthy dick to me today.

  Lance is already there, laughing and joking with Darcy, and when I walk in he bites his lip and makes a big show of leering at my body like he knows what’s hiding underneath my clothes. My hands curl into fists and I take a second to fantasize about feeling the bones in his cheek break when I punch him. Harley cracks his knuckles behind me.

  Darcy saunters over to us and smirks at the thunderous look on my face.

  “You can’t be pissy just because you finally caved, Mounty. You still have the moral high ground, you fucked one of your own.” Every word out of Darcy’s mouth makes me want to grab him by the balls and twist until they pop.

  “It’s a decent photoshop, I’ll give the kid that, but he’s picked the wrong position.”

  Darcy laughs and Lance, the little fuck, smirks at me. I manage to keep my breathing nice and even, and I hold my composure. Harley doesn’t, Blaise has to body check him to keep him from throttling the Mounty boy.

  “You’re claiming it’s a fake because you don’t fuck doggy style? That’s not good enough, babe.”

  Rage. Blackout.

  I regain control of my body to find myself kneeling on Darcy’s not-so-smug-anymore body, one leg on his chest and the other cutting off his airway. I really enjoy the terrified look in his eyes as a press in close to him so I can whisper to him. “Don’t you ever call me babe again. I’ll gut you for that alone. Now, the photo shows the chicks entire lower back. I’m willing to show you mine, here and now, and you’ll fucking know that it’s not me getting reamed. The Mounty faked them.”

  Darcy nods his head a fraction and I climb off him. Lance is staring at me in horror, seeing for himself just how much he’s underestimated me, and I look back at him like he’s a steaming pile of shit. A spade’s a spade.

  Avery slaps a blown up version of Lance’s fake-ass photo down onto the table in front of Darcy. He doesn’t look her in the eye at all, just nods along while he tries to suck deep lungfuls of air through his damaged throat. I shrug off my jacket, handing it to Avery, and then pull my crisp white shirt out from where it’s tucked neatly into my skirt. I turn on my heel to face the guys and show off my lower back to Darcy and Lance instead.

  “What the fuck happened to you?” hisses Darcy and my face heats up. I shove
the shirt back down and then spin back to him.

  “There’s your fucking proof. Are you satisfied?” I snap. Darcy stares at me for a second and then with a glance at the guys behind me he nods and shoots a glare at Lance, who’s backing away from us all like he can get away. Fat chance, dickhead.

  “No hard feelings, Mounty. I’m still up for it if you want to end this thing for real.” drawls Darcy and I stomp out of the room, livid at this whole miserable day.

  I need alcohol, a nap, a shower, a week away from my life, and a whole list of other shit I’ll never get.

  Avery skips to catch up with me and hooks her arm in mine. “I told the guys to destroy him. I’ll get a video of it if you want to enjoy it later.”

  I force a laugh and the side eye she gives me says she sees right through me.

  “Let’s eat a whole tub of ice cream and plot world domination for a few hours. That always cheers you up.”

  “I need all of the chocolate in this damn building, Avery.”

  She side eyes me again and then pets my arm in a way that should have been condescending but instead was affectionate. “I hear drinking the blood of you enemies helps with PMS. I’ll ask Ash to bring us a gallon.”

  I’m wrapped up in bed with a heat pad, Blaise’s iPod, and a half-eaten tub of ice cream when Avery opens the door to Harley. He glances over to me as he talks to her but the music in my ears drowns him out and I let my eyes close. This weeks playlist makes my heart ache in the best/worst way, all dark and sweet with longing. I’d started putting together a list of songs to give back to him and I knew my list was an answer to his. Whoever it is that Harley is hoping to date, she has done a number on Blaise. I hate her intensely. I keep trying to imagine what she looks like, she must be stunning to have caught both their eyes.

  I’m startled out of my thoughts by my bed dipping as Harley sits down. I blush and wince as I sit up, the pain in my abdomen intensifying. I pull out my earphones and glance over to where Avery is perched on her bed, watching us both intensely.