by J Bree
Lance blinks at me.
“Are you here to study or to try to get into the Mounty girl’s panties because you should be warned, she only fucks crime lords,” Blaise laughs and I shove his math workbook into his chest to shut him up. Lance recovers from his shock to look down his nose at him.
“You think you’re cool because your daddy bought your shitty punk band a record deal? Write another pathetic song about your feelings, dickhead, and stay out of my business.”
My jaw drops and Blaise turns to stone beside me. Ash bursts out laughing, so loud that the students around us stop and stare.
“They’re not going to find enough of your corpse left to get an ID by the time we’re done with you.”
I scrub my face with my hands and then peg Lance with a look. “You didn’t want to take my advice at all then?”
“Mounties stick together. I don’t like the way they talk to you.”
I scoff at him and shove my textbooks and supplies back into my bag. Ash looks between us both with a cold eyes but I ignore him as I walk out. I do not need the complication of another Mounty at this school.
“I’m going to get a background check on him. I can’t believe he said that to Blaise.”
I groan, slumping onto my back, and Avery swats my leg from where she’s painting my toenails. I swear I’ve had eight different colors since school started back. Avery only ever wears nude polish but her collection of colors is insane. I’m a kind enough friend to let her paint my nails whenever she feels the need. Such a sacrifice.
“I don’t recognize him. He’s probably from a middle class area and he has no clue of what he’s dealing with here.”
She hums under her breath and studies her handiwork. We’re lying on her bed and trying to figure out what to do about Lance. Blaise followed me up to the girls’ dorms to rant passionately at Avery while I showered. She managed to calm him down enough to leave before I got out and then we decided to cook dinner ourselves and just hang out. The dining hall is always crazy on Friday taco night and I’m still adverse after vomiting them over myself last year. I still give Avery shit for that every chance I get.
“Do you always avenge the guys when people insult them? It puts a lot of work on your plate.” I ask. I’m genuinely curious.
She screws the bottle of polish shut and puts it back into the shelving unit she has hung on the wall. I find it funny that I was so worried about pissing her off by being messy when we first moved in. Her belongings are slowly migrating onto my half of the room purely by need because she has so damn much. I think she has a shopping compulsion, last week she misplaced some of her dance gear and the next day I woke up to find dozens of boxes being delivered to replace it all.
“People stay in power by being proactive. If I let the Mounty boy insult Blaise without consequence then what’s to stop one of the privileged kids from doing it? It keeps me busy and the sheep where they belong.”
My head tilts as I consider her words. It sounds like something the Jackal would say and it’s exactly why I’m terrible at this type of politics. I just don’t care about the social hierarchy. But Avery does so I’ll have to help out. I’m not saying I’m going to actively terrorize the guy but I’m interested in seeing Avery work.
I shrug. “So what do we do?”
She gives me a look and sighs. “I’ll look into his background and find his weak spots. Blaise will beat the crap out of him and I’ll turn him into a pariah. He’s not a priority at the moment so I’ll just make it known that we don’t like him and the lower students will start it off for us.”
I hum under my breath for a minute while I think. I’m lost in my head when Avery pokes me. “What’s your truth today, Mounty?” she continues with a smirk.
I groan and scrub a hand over my face. “I don’t know how to flirt.”
She laughs at me and says, “That’s not a truth. That’s a sad revelation. We need to get out of this school and find some hot, random guys to play with.”
That doesn’t appeal to me at all. I don’t want random hot guys. I want a mobster’s son with the face of an angel and the rap sheet of a street kid. I want the singer with a soft heart wrapped in barbs and trip wires of devastating wit to keep it safe. I want the billionaire’s unwanted son with eyes of ice and an endless love for his sister.
I can’t tell Avery that truth.
She gives me a little smile but her eyes are sad. She doesn’t look like a Beaumont right now. She looks like a teenage girl who needs a hug. It’s weird. “I think I’m going to start dating again. I think it’s time to wash away Rory and what he did to me.”
I exhale sharply. “If you think the guys are protective of you, you have another thing coming. I’m vetting anyone that comes near you and they’re going to answer to me. I’m also going to teach you how to castrate a guy properly. I mean it, I’m going to teach you how to cut a dick off.”
Avery laughs all over again and the haunted look fades from her eyes.
Chapter Four
“There’s a party tonight, out in the old groundskeeper’s cottage. I think we should go.”
What the hell is with rich kids and partying on school nights? Avery manages to shovel pancakes into her mouth and still look like a delicate, refined lady. I’m sure I look something like Cookie Monster as I tear into my muesli. I’m trying to get more variety in my breakfast because I’ve gorged on French toast for weeks. Not great nutritionally but it’s done wonders for my boobs. Namely, I have some now.
Avery decided to take the higher math class this year but she’s relaxed some of her other subjects so we have less overlap. When I asked her why she shrugged and said she likes to piss her father off in low-risk situations. I decide not to push the subject.
“Is there a specific reason why or are we enjoying our youth?” I say and she scoffs at me.
She pokes her knife at me as she replies. “We don’t ever do things for fun, Lips. We’re just not wired that way.”
I shrug but she has a point. I can’t remember the last time I did anything for fun. Avery arches her eyebrow at me with a little smile, fusses with her phone, and then hands it to me. There’s a photo of Joey with his arm around a woman who is definitely not a student at Hannaford. She must be at least twenty-five and she’s dressed in a sharp pantsuit and heels, a sleek bob haircut and minimal makeup. She’s attractive enough in an understated way, nothing like the girls I’ve seen that flock around him.
“This charming lady is one of our guidance counselors. She’s supposed to be advising Joey on how to best achieve his career goals and instead she’s sucking his dick in her office every Tuesday and Friday during their scheduled meetings.”
I pull a face as she swipes her thumb across the screen and I see the photo evidence. “For future reference, I’ll take your word on shit like that.”
Avery hums under her breath and pulls the phone back to pocket it. She looks around the busy dining hall in a way that makes her look haughty. I used to think she was looking down at everyone but now I know this is her plotting action. She’s planning and making connections in her head, the students milling around her have no idea of the scale of manipulation going on while they eat.
“I need to get some photos of him at the party, ideally with girls and blow, so I can send her a nice little slideshow ending with the photo of her on her knees. She needs to know how far out of her league she really is with him.”
“Why not call the cops?” I’m curious for her answer as I’m sure it will show me more of her family dynamics.
“He’s eighteen so it’s not illegal. I could send the photos to the school board but then my father will get involved and he will just make her disappear.” Her voice becomes clipped towards the end and she clears her throat uncomfortably.
“Pay off or burial?”
She looks up at me and I see the hesitation. “Usually it’s a threat. Senior doesn’t part with his money for any woman. If she doesn’t take him seriously then he sends chaos
.”
Chaos.
There are many things I could send someone’s way if I wanted to send a message so I can only imagine what the billionaire Joseph Beaumont could do. I nod and wipe my hands thoughtfully, mulling over her plan. Finally, I shrug and say, “We’ll go. I can get the photos you need. Information collection is my specialty.”
Avery changes into a sleek, gorgeous navy dress and a pair of stiletto heels that make my own feet cringe in sympathy. She rages for a half hour about her favorite Louboutins being missing, one of a kind and irreplaceable, and I bitch her out for being too rich to take care of her shit. She lets her hair down and wears only a little makeup. The look doesn’t scream high school party to me, she looks like she’s twenty-one and heading out clubbing at some exclusive rooftop nightclub in New York.
I decide not to tempt fate with a skirt. After Harley’s warning about the money still up for grabs I’m wary about how tonight is going to pan out but it’s still too hot to wear jeans and a jacket. I go with a black playsuit with a halter top that just manages to cover my ass and I put on the thickest cotton underwear I own. I’m not planning on drinking because peeing in a romper is a bitch. Plus if there are no working toilets at this cottage I’m not getting naked in the woods to pee. I lace up my black Docs and wiggle my toes in sheer joy.
Avery grimaces at the sight of my shoes and I give her a playful nudge. We’ll see who’s laughing when we stumble home at the end of this stupid party.
I follow Avery’s lead out of the girls’ dorms and through the school grounds. We purposefully decided to arrive two hours after the party got underway so Joey would be drunk and high before he has a chance to see us. My hand keeps slipping into my pocket and gripping my knife like a security blanket. I gave Avery a can of mace back in our room and she had tucked it into her bra like a pro.
“Does Ash come to these parties?” I ask as we trudge through the wooded boundaries in the school campus.
“Yeah, and the other two. They all get wasted and pick fights over girls.” Avery rolls her eyes and manages to look superior even as she’s wobbling in her heels in the dirt.
“I bumped into Harley last year at Joey’s party.” I blush at the memory. God, I really don’t want to find him like that again.
Avery snorts when she sees my face and links her arm in mine. “Let me guess, Annabelle was bent over a table.”
“On her knees actually.” Avery’s nose wrinkles and she shakes her head. I want to ask her what part she’s grossed out about but then I see the lights and I realize that low throbbing sound means we’re coming up on the party.
I can feel the music in my chest as we walk into the groundskeeper’s cottage.
Cottage is a terrible word for the building. It’s huge but old and dilapidated. I find myself cringing the further we get in, like that will somehow save me when the ceiling caves in. It’s definitely going to collapse and the pulsing beat coming from the speakers seems to be teasing the cracked plaster, coaxing it into giving up.
Avery doesn’t seem concerned about being crushed to death as she struts into the party and heads straight for the drinks table. There’s a couple of guys playing bartenders and the drunk girls ordering drinks are paying them in kisses, which are getting more and more explicit as we stand there waiting. When Avery reaches for a bottle of snobby bubbly the guy raises his eyebrows at her and she gives him a ball-shriveling smirk. He looks away pretty quickly and focuses on me instead.
“Mounty! What’s your poison? It’ll only cost you a quick fuck. Just lay back and think of the Queen.”
He’s pretty cocky with a table between us but I’m limber when I need to be and I could jump it to smack him out. Avery watches the plans form in my brain and laughs as she grabs a bottle of whiskey. “Such a glowing review of your skills, Rafe, but rest assured, you couldn’t handle Mounty pussy.”
I cannot believe the word pussy just came out of Avery Beaumont’s silver-spooned mouth. I snatch the whiskey from her and take a few big gulps straight from the bottle, just enough to take the edge off and make this clusterfuck bearable.
“Let’s dance for a while. We should be able to find Joey while we do.” Avery shouts over the music and I give her a sharp nod.
The dance floor takes up the entire bottom floor of the cottage and the only people who aren’t dancing in someway are those waiting to grab drinks. The DJ is at the bottom of the staircase and he has a joint dangling from his lips precariously. Avery throws her head back to sip at the bubbly as she sways and grinds to the music. I’m too distracted by the pressing crowd and my own surveillance to really get into it but it’s still fun to dance with her.
It takes three songs to spot Joey and he’s practically skipping up the stairs with two barely dressed girls under his arms. I’m sure they’re holding him up more than anything.
I signal to Avery and we move towards the staircase.
The music is so loud there that I’m sure my eardrums are going to start bleeding and I hurry to flee upstairs. I manage two steps before Avery’s hand clamps around my wrist and I look back to see Blaise standing over her with a frown. He’s fucking gorgeous in tight jeans, biker boots, and a band tee. His eyes are glazed and he’s all sweaty from dancing. I force myself to look away from him before I embarrass myself.
Avery taps a message on her phone and then turns it to me.
He’s wasted. He said he’ll call Ash if I go upstairs because it’s practically an orgy up there.
I take the phone and reply.
Stay here and dance. I’ll get what we came for.
Avery purses her lips at me and gives a curt nod. I try to smile reassuringly but she’s glaring at Blaise and misses it. I wait until she tugs him back into the crowd and then I start back up the stairs.
Upstairs is definitely not one big orgy.
It’s six different orgies, spread throughout the rooms.
I get some raised brows at the landing and one guy tries to coax me into the bathroom once he recognizes me. I raise a fist with a warning look and he backs off pretty quickly. He is completely naked so he probably thought I was going to punch him directly in his dick.
It was definitely my intended target.
I move slowly and quietly from room to room while I look for Joey. No one involved in the group sex notices me, thank God, because it’s much easier to be impartial when you’re not making eye contact with the girl who sits in front of you in Health Ed while she’s being eaten out by her blonde, cutesy best friend.
I make it to the ensuite bathroom at the very end of the hall before I find Joey.
He’s sprawled out on the floor making out with a girl and twisting her bare nipples while the second girl rides his dick. The girl he’s kissing keeps flinching away from his hands and I know she is not enjoying the pain he’s causing her but she’s kissing him all the same.
I take a few photos and a little video before I leave them to it.
Avery has finished the bubbly and is letting off some serious steam on the dance floor. As I make it over to her Blaise throws his head back and roars with laughter at something she says to him, though the music is too loud for me to hear it. He’s drunk. He’s fucking plastered and when I spot the bottle of whiskey Avery had snatched for me I see he’s finished it off. Fuck. He’ll be lucky to survive the night without choking on his own vomit.
Avery grins when she sees me and then I join them both for a few songs, dancing and twirling and sweating my heart out. I could stay there all night with them both but then Blaise turns green and lurches away, stumbling outside to puke on the steps.
Charming. But my infatuation with him doesn’t falter. I need therapy.
Avery tucks herself under one of his arms and starts to lead him back to the school but she struggles underneath his weight when he stumbles. His eyes are closed and he’s mumbling incoherently under his breath, a shiver running through him as the night air hits the sweat on his skin. I watch her take two steps before I sigh and duck u
nder the other arm to help out. I breathe through my mouth, absolutely determined to not drown in his scent, and Avery shoots me a grateful look. She can guess at how much I do not want to touch him.
It’s fine. I can feel his muscular arm across my shoulder and his chest is half draped over my back and I feel like I’m dying but it’s fine. Totally fine. I’m fine.
We make it to the tree line uninterrupted. My leg is starting to protest the extra weight and I make a note to take something to stop the inevitable swelling before I pass out. I’m busy keeping my brain preoccupied so I don’t notice Annabelle until Avery abruptly stops.
I glance up at her and curse viciously under my breath.
“Move, Summers,” Avery snaps.
Annabelle’s face is flushed and her eyes are hazy. She’s wearing a red bandage dress and absolutely ridiculous heels. Honestly, I’m surprised her ankles haven’t snapped yet.
“Give him here. We came together and we’ll leave together.”
Avery huffs and adjusts her hold around Blaise’s waist so he doesn’t fall. He’s gently rocking on his feet and making us both rock with him. I’m glad I didn’t drink much because it’s already making my stomach protest. I can tell Avery is about to lose her cool and go full Beaumont on the bitch’s ass.
“He’s done for the night. We’ll see him back safely,” I say and Blaise chooses that moment to tuck his face into my neck and mumble nonsense into skin. The greatest achievement of my life so far is suppressing the shiver that threatens to take me over.
Annabelle looks at me like she didn’t even notice I was there to begin with. “You? Fuck no, if he goes home with you he’ll be tied to a fucking bed and forced to play out all of your stalker fantasies.”
“If he goes home with you, he’ll wake up naked and an expectant father. Now fuck off.” Avery hisses at her and starts to walk again. Blaise’s legs stumble, like he’s startled that we’re on the move again, and when Annabelle starts screaming at us he lifts his head and yells out to her, “I told you to leave me the fuck alone, Summers.” Then he tucks his face back into my neck and sighs.