Ruthless Heart

by Eve L Mitchell

  However, I felt like I needed to get Jett out of my mind, and before I knew it, I said yes. I was strictly alcohol-free though. That Friday and last night had been as much as I’d drunk the whole summer, never mind in a couple of weeks. I was happy with my soda in the corner, watching Mia talk to a group of people on the other side of the room as Alex watched her, completely mesmerised. Shane had gone to the bathroom, and he hadn’t come back. I thought he’d ditched me….or the line was so incredibly long, he was still stuck in it.

  The party was big. Students kept pouring into the house and were now spilling over to the backyard.

  I wondered if Mia would mind if I bailed and went home. She was having a good time, and I watched with a smile as she laughed at something said in the group she was talking to. I edged towards the door to the hallway, leaving the sanctuary of my corner.

  “Uptight kicked your ass?”

  I turned to look at the tall girl who was often seen with Jett and Gray. Black hair spilled over her shoulders. Her height made her stand out, but I think even had she been four feet tall, you would notice her.

  “I’m sorry?” Denial was my preferred way to do this.

  A small smile crossed her lips, but it was not friendly. “You will be.”

  I looked her over quickly. Skinny black jeans, a black loose top with a wide neck that slipped off her shoulder. The top had a thin red glittery thread running through it, it was pretty. Wearing black heeled boots, which only gave her more height, she was stunning. Wearing hardly any makeup except for a winged eyeliner made her almond-shaped eyes pop even more, and I felt like a grub beside her. My jeans and blouse I had picked out to wear tonight, which I thought were girly and pretty, now made me feel like I was dressed like a kindergarten teacher. Whereas she was sexy and classy and I could dislike her on that alone, I decided, even though it went against my whole entire nature, but for this girl, I would make an exception.

  “Did you just threaten me?”

  Dark brown eyes met mine, and there was no friendliness from this girl. Not towards me. “I’d have to care to threaten you. I don’t care.” She raised her red Solo cup to her lips. She even made drinking from a Solo cup look sophisticated. “But I do find that intense stupidity can be quite intriguing. I mean, does the creature know they are so incredibly dense that they don’t recognise the danger? Or do they simply lack the brain capacity to care?” Dark eyes met mine again, and she smirked.

  “Creature?” I asked, giving her my full attention. “Dense? I don’t know who the fuck you are, but you can go now.”

  She huffed out a laugh as she looked over the room, and then some guy walked past her, and she handed him her cup like he was a waiter. She didn’t even make eye contact with him. And he took it! I wasn’t sure which one I was going to smack first, her and her stupid attitude or him for being a sucker for the elitist bitch.

  Looking down at me, her eyes narrowed. I hated how much taller than me she was, the heels giving her inches she didn’t need. “Is it a ploy? Do you want to get his attention, or do you just want to fuck him again?”

  My mouth dropped open at her callousness. I swore all the time. I was me, Ava; swearing was part of me. This girl didn’t look like she should know swear words, never mind say them. “I don’t want to be anywhere near him again,” I spluttered. “Any of them, they’re sick, twisted shits.” I immediately felt guilty, as Ash had been nice to me. “Well, Ash is different.”

  Her peal of laughter was heard by others even with the music being so loud. Long slender fingers pushed her hair over her shoulder as she gave me a condescending smile. “I’m no longer intrigued. You’re an idiot.”

  “You’re a bitch.” Her eyebrow rose in question at my statement, and I shrugged with an indifference I wasn’t feeling. “What? I thought we were just saying what we thought with no holds barred,” I told her.

  Cold eyes held mine, and I actually felt more threatened by her than I did with either of the Santo boys, and they had trapped me in a meat sandwich for crap’s sake.

  “He will destroy you. He will literally ruin you for what you’ve done to him. He may have been lenient. I believe he may actually have been kinder, but you fucked yourself this afternoon with your desperate need to be seen by him.”

  “He isn’t a god.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but her look and her words had my insides trembling with fear. She was as psycho as the others. Was she their sister? “He can do nothing to me that he’s not already done.” I mean, he’d already spread the rumours I had stolen from him. His housemates knew I slept with him, and now my reputation was in ruin, and I’d been reprimanded in class because of him. What else could he do? Really? I said as much to the psycho bitch in front of me, and she smiled.

  Her hand reached out, and instinctively I jerked back. Her victorious smile at my reaction made me curse inwardly at myself for reacting to her, but it didn’t help my nerves when she rubbed a lock of my hair between her fingers before tucking it behind my ear. Her head lowered, and she spoke into my ear, ensuring she’d be heard over the music.

  “You’re a fool. Jett will eat you up and spit you out, and you won’t even know he’s done with you until you’re back home in your two-bed apartment in Knoxville with your mama, attending community college.” Stepping back, she smiled a wide bright smile. “It will be fun to watch though. Be seeing you, Ava. Be seeing you real soon.”

  She walked by me, making sure not to touch me, and with grace, she crossed the room to join a group of girls, who all welcomed her like she was the queen.

  My eyes stayed glued to her for a few minutes, watching her interact. She never looked back, and it was as if I hadn’t existed.

  “Hey.” Mia had joined me, and Alex had followed. “You were talking to Quinn Lawrence; how do you know her?” Mia was smiling and happy. It was not the time to tell Mia that I didn’t know her or to reiterate what she had said to me.

  “I just met her,” I mumbled into my cup of soda, wishing it held something harder. “I think I need a drink.” Heading to the kitchen area, I surveyed the range of alcohol. There was no way in hell I was touching the large bowl of punch, I had no idea what was in there. Opting for safety, I took a bottle of beer from one of the ice coolers.

  “She’s besties with your friend,” Mia told me as she accepted a beer from me. Alex shook his head and held up his bottle of water.

  “Designated driver,” he told me.

  “Cool.” Twisting the cap off the bottle, I looked at Mia. “I’m aware of who she’s friends with,” I told Mia dryly. And if I hadn’t been before, I surely was now.

  “Quinn’s cool,” Alex said easily as he looked over in the direction of the bitch from hell. “She’s in my sociology class. Smart too.”

  Mia gave him a sly grin as she looked at him and then over at Quinn. “Brainy and drop dead gorgeous,” she said as she turned to me. “Can we hate her on principle?” she joked with a good-natured laugh.

  Easy. “Consider it done.” I took a large swig of beer as I listened to Mia assure Alex we weren’t bitches, we were merely joking. I kept my comments to myself.

  “Where’s Shane?” Alex suddenly seemed to realise his bandmate was missing.

  “Bathroom.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Alex said, putting his empty water bottle down. He tugged Mia closer to him, placing a chaste kiss on her temple. “Don’t let me lose you,” he murmured. Her face flushed with warmth, and I saw the shy smile she gave him as he walked away from us to find the bathrooms.

  “Smitten?” I teased her. Her happiness and the fact she was having a good time soothed my own rancour at the words I had exchanged with Quinn.

  Mia bit her lip as she swayed slightly to the music. “He is kinda hot. And sweet.”

  “Hmm.” I nodded. “So...I can go?”

  The dancing stopped, and Mia grabbed my arm, her eyes wide with concern. “No! Why! Are you not having fun?”

  She looked so distraught that I was going to leave he
r I felt guilty. “I’m not feeling it, Mee,” I admitted.

  “Because of those tweets, isn’t it?” Her hands rested on her hips. “You’re not that person, Ava. You can’t be a catty kitty and not feel bad. Just apologise.”

  I blinked in shock. “No. I have nothing to be sorry for.” And if she had heard what the witch over in the corner had said to me, she wouldn’t be asking me to.

  “You need to fix this. He’s bound to be feeling as confused as you.” Her eyes were so full of sincerity that I wanted to hug her and beg her never to change. Even if she was delusional.

  “I don’t think he had a problem with his self-esteem, sweets.” I tried for lighthearted, but it came out more maliciously than I intended.

  “You know what you need?” Mia asked, reaching forward, and I was already stepping backwards. “You need to dance.”

  I didn’t. I never needed to dance. Dancing was for people who enjoyed being sweaty and free and pressed close to strangers who had no boundaries nor the understanding of personal space.

  “No,” I warned her as her fingers laced through mine. Mia was slight, but my God, she had upper body strength when she wanted it. “Mia, you know I hate it.” My pleading landed on deaf ears, and when my best friend took great care to ensure I was at the edge of the dancing area and no immediate person was beside me, she started to dance. So I was either the weirdo standing at the edge of the dance floor, staring at her, or she was the weirdo at the edge of the dance floor dancing by herself, which would only invite guys over to her.

  Reluctantly, I moved my feet in the semblance of a shuffle. Mia rolled her eyes and grabbed my hips, encouraging me to move them in time to the music.

  Leaning into me, she shouted, “Ava! Loosen up, forget about this and just relax!”

  Easy for her to say, she hadn’t just been told by Jett’s friend that he was out to get me. With a loud groan, I decided she was right. Fuck them. He was just a guy, what could he actually do to me? At the end of the day, he was only a footballer.

  We danced for four songs. I kept to my spot and actually enjoyed myself, or I enjoyed seeing Mia let loose. The girl had moves. Which I noticed Alex was very happy to watch. He had returned with Shane, and the two of them were talking between themselves and waiting patiently for us. I liked that neither of them tried to join us on the dance floor. I liked that they stayed to the edge and were happy to let us do our thing.

  “Mia, I need to pee,” I shouted to her just as the last song finished.

  “Yeah? I need a drink!” Grabbing my hand, she pulled me through the throng back to the guys. Alex handed her a beer, cap still on, which she took happily, and I noticed her subtle check to make sure it was. Christ, how jaded were we that we trusted nothing at a college party? Was it sad or smart? Or both?

  “Can I get you something, Ava?” Shane asked me as he pointed over his shoulder to the kitchen.

  “I’m going to find the bathroom,” I told him, and he casually took my hand.

  “I can show you, I found one that you don’t need to wait for an hour in.” His rueful smile told me my earlier concern that he had ditched me was unfounded.

  I wasn’t completely sure how I felt about holding his hand, but I said nothing as I followed him to the back of the room. I passed Quinn again, who was now with another group of people, and I saw her contemptuous look at my hand in Shane’s. I was prepared for her scorn and happy to ignore her.

  What I wasn’t prepared for was the three guys who just walked into the party and stood in the doorway. The three of them surveyed the room, effectively blocking our way out.

  What I also wasn’t prepared for was Jett, locking eyes on me immediately, or the sneer on his face when he, too, saw my hand in Shane’s.

  Shane carried on towards them, and when he said “excuse me” to get through them, he seemed genuinely confused when Gray looked him up and down before turning his head to say something to his brother, who laughed.

  Ash moved aside to let us past, and even as I followed Shane numbly, I could feel eyes boring into my back. Unable to stop myself as Shane led me to the staircase, I looked over my shoulder and met Jett’s flat stare. Quinn walked up behind them, and when she saw me looking back at them, I saw the small smirk, as if to say I told you so, before she touched Jett’s shoulder and he turned, giving her his attention.

  Maybe I would be lucky and the bathroom would have a window beside a drainpipe that I could shimmy down to escape. Because going down back into that room would be a mistake, and I had made enough mistakes when it came to Jett Santo.

  I was quietly confident that I shouldn’t be there in the bathroom, which was actually in someone’s bedroom, but as I cooled down, I did my best to calm down. His malice when he looked at me was unnerving. Gray had been cold, and Ash, although he had been as unnerving as the twins, he had at least been decent enough to move to let us past. I knew with certainty that there was no way Jett nor Gray would have moved.

  The three of them were dressed similarly, but each stood out. Their family was definitely blessed in the genes department, shame they had crazy in their DNA. I wet my lips as I contemplated the window. Dramatic much, Ava? I thought he was just a guy? I was nodding to my inner self that he was just a guy when the door was knocked lightly.

  “You okay?” Shane asked me with concern. “You’ve been in there a while.”

  Great, now he thought I was pooping. As I threw the door open with gusto, the poor guy stepped back in alarm.

  “Sorry, I needed to cool down.” I grinned and I knew it was manic, so the wary look he gave me was warranted, causing me to dial it down a bit, and I watched him visibly relax.

  “That’s okay.” His easy smile was calming, and he glanced over his shoulder to the main bedroom door, which was half closed. “I just don’t think we should be in here longer than we need,” he confessed, and if possible, his contrite look made him cuter.

  “Noted.” I checked I’d turned the tap off in the bathroom and then headed to the door. “Let’s go.” When we were in the hallway, Shane tugged at my hand, pulling me to a stop. “You okay?” I asked him as he walked around me and stood in front of me.

  “Yeah, there’s just no rush to go back down...is there?”

  Oh. I wasn’t sure what to do now, did he mean one of the rooms or stay here? “You want to stay up here, in the hall?”

  “Yeah.” Shane looked around the empty hall. “It’s quieter and cooler, and now the football team’s turned up”—he rolled his eyes—“we’re never going to get near the drinks again.”

  Go downstairs and meet the wrath of the triad with their resident bitch, or stay up here and hide with a nice safe guy, who wasn’t pushing for me to go into a bedroom? Hmm, the decision was a tough one.

  “I’m good to stay up here and talk,” I told him as I considered the wooden floor and whether I should sit on it. “You think it’s safe to sit?” I asked Shane with a smile, and as he thought about it, he bent down to look closer. Which is how I saw Jett stride up the stairs, his eyes already locked on mine, his dark look sending a shiver down my spine. If I was honest, my reaction wasn’t from fear.

  Shane straightened when he felt the foreboding presence behind him, and with a glance at me in confusion, he turned to see who was behind him.

  “Oh hey, was I in the way?” Shane asked as he looked around the wide hallway in which Jett could easily have moved around him.

  Jett’s eyes flicked to mine, and then his attention was back to Shane. “Need a minute with her,” he told him.

  Her? Asshole.

  “Oh.” Shane was looking at me curiously, and I knew I was scarlet. “I didn’t know you were friends.”

  My strangled laugh caught both their attention, and Shane took a step towards me. “You okay?” he asked me with concern.

  Jett raised an eyebrow, daring me to say otherwise.

  “Yeah, absolutely.” I nodded, not making eye contact with either of them. One could see right through me and the oth
er, well...I didn’t want to lie to his face. “I’m really thirsty, would you mind getting me some water?”

  “Of course.” Shane smiled, and his hand ran down my arm in a familiar way, which caused Jett to narrow his eyes and my cheeks to burn brighter. “You sure you’ll be okay?” When I nodded, he stepped back. “Meet you back downstairs?”

  “Absolutely, I’ll be right behind you.”

  Jett didn’t have to speak. His face told me I may have been hasty with my assumption on the speed of this next conversation.

  Shane lingered for a moment more before the Saints number eight turned his head and stared right at him. The message to move along was loud and clear. With a gulp, Shane dashed down the stairs.

  “Nice,” I snarked as I watched Shane’s retreating back.

  “How’s your Twitter?”

  Embarrassment flushed my face this time. “Haven’t checked.”

  “Hiding?” The smirk was back, and he looked far too pleased with himself.

  “Never.” Liar.

  “I told you not to do it,” Jett said casually. Almost too casually, as if he thought being friendly towards me was going to ease my nerves. Well, he didn’t know me that well.

  “Well, thank Christ I don’t have to listen to you.”

  The friendliness vanished as quickly as it had come. Hard blue eyes travelled over me before he made eye contact again. “Don’t you?”

  “No.” Defiantly I met his stare, Quinn’s words from earlier in my head.

  “We’ll see.” Jett leaned into me, and I pressed myself up against the wall, my breath leaving my body in a rush in my haste to get out of his space. With that smirk in place and humour dancing in his eyes at my reaction, he pushed past me as he entered the room I had used the bathroom in.

  My hand grabbing his arm surprised him, and well it should, because it shocked the hell out of me. “Wait.” My voice cracked, and I couldn’t take my eyes off my hand curled around his forearm. “You don’t need to be a dick, you don’t need to try to intimidate me or send your psycho girlfriend to give me veiled threats.” With confidence I wasn’t feeling, I looked up at him. “I didn’t do this to you, but I told you, I’m willing to tell whoever you need about what I remember if it helps you. I’m willing to help you.”