by J Bree
I rest my cheek on her hair and we fall quiet again, waiting to hear the roar of the ‘Stang.
At peace with the family we’ve fought, bled, and killed for.
Chapter Sixteen
We don’t talk about the smell of blood in the car, and the guys all pretend they didn’t notice the piles of ruined clothes in the bathroom the next morning.
Blaise decides he’ll singlehandedly clear the somber mood from the air and spends the rest of the fall break teasing Harley about being the last one to know my full name. I stay the fuck out of it because I don’t need any extra drama in my life. It’s only when Avery comes tearing into the bathroom the morning we’re due back at school, screeching like a banshee about public sex acts, that I realize Harley finally snapped back.
Oh joy.
Which is how I find myself sitting in the Maserati with a whiny Blaise and a gloating Ash, while Harley is driving Avery back and listening to her tirade about discretion and subtlety and keeping the details of our relationship the hell out of general conversation.
I do not envy him.
“I can’t believe you let Harley eat you out in public and I was too fucking wasted to watch. That’s against the rules!” Blaise groans at me for the billionth time.
“What fucking rules, you insufferable dick?” Ash snarks from the backseat and I ignore them both, trying to focus on my reading for our literature class. I’m on the last book for the year and I’m determined to have it done before we arrive back at Hannaford.
Blaise fucking pouts like a brat at me, but I continue to ignore him. “I think there should be some rules and that is number one.”
Ash scoffs and crosses his arms. “I should have ridden with the other two. I thought the Mounty would need help dealing with your attitude, but she can’t even be bothered listening to you.”
I turn the page, casually. “Oh, I’m listening. I’m just choosing to ignore you both because this topic is stupid.”
Blaise snickers at me, aiming a sly look in my direction. “Wasn’t he any good at it? Do you need me to come stay with you tonight and do it properly? Aves will be pissed but, now I know you love an audience, we can just ignore her yelling. Do you think Ash will hold you up for me too?”
I blush and then I decide that the cheeky fucker won’t stop until I shut him down. I’m so fucking proud when my voice comes out strong and even. “I came so hard I creamed down his chin so no, it was better than good. Can you please shut up about it now?”
Blaise groans at me and he darts his eyes lustfully between the road and me. “Star, that was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth. Say something else! Wait, no, wait until we get back. Come whisper dirty things to me tonight. I promise I won’t be a dick about it and I’ll even make sure everyone is present. I’m a team player unlike the other two scheming assholes.”
I try not to squirm in my seat and Ash smirks at us both, his eyes catching mine in the mirror. “Are you going to start sleeping in our room now, Mounty? Or are you still too scared?”
I give him a glare over my shoulder. “I’m not fucking scared, asshole. I just don’t want to hear more gossip about myself.”
Ash leans forward in his seat to kiss me, his hand gripping the back of my neck firmly, and I try to hold back a moan when he bites my lip.
He breaks away and speaks lowly, his voice annoyingly unaffected by the searing heat of the kiss, “I’ll deal with the sheep. Prove to me that you’re not being a scared little girl and come sleep in my bed.”
He’s baiting me, it’s so fucking obvious he’s using Beaumont Bullshit to get his way, but fuck it if it’s not effective.
I lean in until my lips brush against his as I speak, “If I have to stab someone because of this, you’re paying the cleanup fee.”
Ash smirks and gives me one last peck, more teeth than sweet. “I think I can handle it.”
Avery tucks her arm in mine as we make our way back up to the girls’ dorms.
The guys head off to their room, still bickering and shoving each other like children, and I groan to Avery about Ash’s demands to sleep in their room, wanting nothing more than a little vent. She, of course, wants to talk about it.
“Well, just go sleep there. Are you scared? Should I find you a therapist of some kind? I’m pretty sure sex therapists are just sex workers who charge more.”
I blush and try to avoid her eye. “I’m not scared! I just… all three of them will be there. I’ve only been in their room once and… it’s just a lot, okay?”
Avery snorts at me and unlocks our front door. “Is it more than having Harley perform oral sex in the middle of a crowded dance floor while my brother twiddled his thumbs and waited his turn?”
I flush scarlet and mumble, “It wasn’t the middle of the dance floor, and technically Ash went first.”
Avery shudders dramatically and pulls away from me, cackling when she sees the color of my cheeks. “Go there during the day while they’re gone. Eat their food, smoke Blaise’s stash, get comfortable in one of their beds. By the time they get home you’ll be calm and less twitchy about it. I’ll get you a key. It’s only fair you have one since they all have copies of ours. If it turns into an orgy please put sheets down, because I do spend time over there. I don’t need to find myself sitting in Morrison’s DNA.”
I elbow her gently while she laughs, and hum under my breath for a second while I think but it’s a really great idea. She’s a fucking genius, I almost feel bad for the sheep of the world. I’m also so glad we can ignore the weirdness of me being in a relationship with, you know, all three of her people.
When she’s locked the door behind us, and I’m busy toeing off my shoes, Avery frowns and stoops down to pick up an envelope that’s on our floor. It’s been shoved under the door while we’ve been away. I never get mail so it barely registers with me.
I move away from her, already thinking about assignments and quiz notes, when I hear Avery’s teeth grind together. Seriously, I’m kind of afraid they’re going to crack under the pressure from her jaw.
“What now?” I sigh, rubbing a hand over my face. Avery watches me carefully, assessing me and cataloging every little sign my body is showing her. I probably look tired, grumpy, and a little hungry because when am I not up for food?
“Don’t worry about it. I will deal with this,” she finally says, eyes icy but firmly fixed on my face. I swallow because whatever the fuck it is must be bad for her to be looking at me like that.
I nod and let her. I have enough on my damn plate and she can hold her own.
I grab a tub of ice cream and spend the rest of the afternoon working on my studies while Avery deals with whatever was in the letter. By the time the sun is setting and I’m feeling a hell of a lot better about my studies, Avery is cooking enough food to feed an army and the sound of keys at the door tells me they’ve arrived.
I offer Avery help but she shoos me into the shower to clean up before dinner, snapping at Blaise when he once again offers his assistance. One day soon I think I’m going to take him up on his offer.
When I get out, rubbing my hair with a towel and my belly rumbling at the incredible smell of the food, Harley kisses me softly and directs me to sit next to him at the table. I usually sit between him and Avery so it’s not an unusual thing to do but the way he’s handling me sets off warning bells.
“What the fuck was in that letter?” I grumble, and Ash gives me a look, like he’s already plotting the deaths of whoever sent it.
Avery rolls her shoulders back and starts to fix me a plate, her mothering only making me more concerned. “It’s a notice. A warning that you’ll be put on probation if you continue to behave in a manner unbecoming of a student at Hannaford.”
I blanch and Harley grabs my hand under the table, threading him fingers through mine. He speaks softly, not to keep the others out of the conversation but to soften the blow of his words, “Someone got to the security video of us meeting Illi at t
he pool before Avery wiped it. He’s not in the footage but we are. It hasn’t been leaked but the principal and school board know it exists.”
Unbecoming behavior. Sweet lord fuck, there’s a video of Harley fingering me in the pool out there in the world. I think I want to die. I sure as fuck want someone to die.
“Mounty, Avery will deal with it. Don’t panic,” Ash says, and I snap back like a bitch for him assuming I’m breaking over this.
“I’m not fucking panicking. I’m jumpy, remember? Consider this me jumping! Avery, who the fuck am I stabbing? I’m stabbing someone!”
“Harley, for insisting on constantly putting his hands on you in public?” She snarks, but she tucks her arm into mine as she says it. “I’ve sorted it out with the school board and Trevelen. You’ll have another formal apology by the morning because they can’t punish you over a rumor of a video. I’ve put an official complaint in about Ms. Vivienne because this reeks of her.”
I see red and clamp my eyes shut, counting backwards in French until I’m not likely to stomp my ass downstairs to hunt the cougar skank down.
I hear them all start to eat around me, ignoring my bloodthirsty rage in favor of the hot meal in front of them, and that cools the fire more than they could ever know.
By the time I start in on my food, Avery has finished hers and is teasing her brother about her admiration of Illi.
“He’s the perfect man for me, Ash. I’m a little disappointed he’s already married. All those muscles and the way he just stabbed that disgusting guy without Lips even telling him, too. He even wore gloves to handle the box!”
I cut in. “Do you have any idea how long it takes to get the smell of rotting human flesh off of your skin if you touch it bare-handed? No thanks! Odie would have shanked him if he went home stinking of corpses.”
Avery gags and I rub her shoulder a little because I’ve got this best friend business down like a pro. Blaise swallows and turns a little green. When he notices the other two nod along he turns on Ash.
“What, you’ve handled rotting human flesh before?”
Ash stares at him for a second and Avery’s shoulder tenses beneath my hand. Fuck. Finally he shrugs and nods. Blaise gapes and then mumbles under his breath, “What the fuck have I gotten myself into?”
“Second thoughts, Morrison?” Harley sneers, still pissy at him over the conversation in the car. Ash had, so kindly, told him the details.
Blaise glares at him. “No. It’s just that every time I think I know just how fucked up we all are the bottom falls out and I find a whole new level of depravity. Ash; when, where, and why?”
Avery pulls a face and wriggles in her seat, looking down at her phone and effectively putting a barrier between herself and the conversation. I’m sure now that the death isn’t what’s bothering her; it’s the rotting that turns her gut.
Ash stares at his glass and says, monotone and dry, “I had to help Joey dig up one of my father’s toys. I think we washed more of her down the drain when we washed our hands afterwards than what was left of her on the bones when Senior finally fired up the incinerator.”
Blaise swallows.
Harley nods, then grunts and pipes in, “One of my grandfather’s lackeys was sunk in the bay, out past the docks. He’d been skimming, caught red-handed, and they chained him up and dropped him off a boat. He floated up a week later. I’ll never forget the smell, Domnall made me help him scoop the gross fuck into a net and he paid some biker guy to dissolve what was left of him in acid.”
I nod at him. “The Boar. You would have seen one of his guys. Pricey, but you’re never going to get caught if he’s the one getting rid of your problems.”
Harley’s eyes flash and he leans over to drape his arm around my shoulders. “He was the one that vouched for you and Illi, right?”
Avery’s head jerks up. “That reminds me. We need to make a list of the members of the Twelve we like.”
I groan and rub a hand over my face. “I’m not sure we like any of them. It’s more like the ones who want us dead and the ones who could be persuaded to spare us.”
Harley snorts. “There’s also the ones who want to fuck you, babe.”
Ash cuts me a glare. “Is that list longer than the Jackal?”
Harley’s eyes only get more intense now he has backup in this brewing argument. “One of them asked if her pussy was gold plated.”
Fucking rich, entitled, bratty boys.
Blaise snorts, enjoying this conversation a little too much at my expense, and I smile at Harley like I’m baring my teeth at the asshole. “Aves, we also need to add the Lynx to the list of cougars chasing Harley’s dick.”
Blaise’s raucous laughter almost drowns out the frustrated groan Harley lets out.
I watch the cougar skank with rage in my blood and fire in my eyes. I watch her every move in my presence, cataloging her quirks and ticks, all the little mannerisms until I have a full picture of who Ms. Vivienne is.
She’s a slut.
I know, I know, I’ve banned the word, but fuck if it isn’t the right one for her. She doesn’t just fawn over Harley. She touches every guy in our class and when I see her out in the dining hall she touches every being with a dick that crosses her path. I’m sure she must be hosting orgies in her room every night with the amount of winks and knowing looks she’s getting.
Okay, glass houses and all that shit.
I’m not technically having any orgies, despite Avery’s snarky comments. Also, how many people does there need to be involved before it’s classed as an orgy? Fuck it, off topic.
I manage to keep my cool until classes finish for the day and then I drag Avery down to the gym for a training session, intent on sweating my rage out.
She’s gotten pretty good at kicking my ass. I’m still going easy on her because I know she’s a little hesitant about the knife, but I’ve found the best way to get her over that is to talk about what I’ve done in the past. She loves it when I walk her through scenarios, like she’s learning a skill and piecing together more of my past. I think she wants to know everything that has ever happened to me, but there will always be things I’d rather never speak of again.
When my body hits the mat for the fifth time my fury has burned out enough to talk it out.
“Why Harley? Like, of all the dicks on this school she could climb, why him?” I’m totally fucking pouting. Thank fuck he isn’t around to see it. His head would probably get so big it would explode.
Avery helps me off the floor and then hands me a bottle of water. “I’ve looked everywhere for a link to the Jackal and I can’t find one. They’ve never crossed paths as far as I can see. I think she’s just a desperate whore. A dirty, desperate whore who enjoys a challenge.”
I nod and wipe my face with my shirt, ignoring the face Avery pulls over it. “He is fucking gorgeous, the bastard.”
Avery shrugs. “There’s plenty of gorgeous guys at Hannaford that she can have, you just don’t notice them because you’re too busy drooling over the three you’re obsessed with.”
“Rude,” I grumble and Avery cocks an eyebrow at me, smirking at my attitude.
“It’s an observation, not a judgment.”
“Fine but you don’t need to be so smug about it.” God, I sound whiny. I need to harden the fuck up.
She scoffs at me and gets back into position. She changes the subject because she’s a saint. “I spoke to Atticus again. He’s pretty adamant I go to the Charity Gala this year, and he said he’s going to dance with me there.”
Fuck. I need to look this guy up, make sure he’s not some rapist asshole. I make a note to talk to Ash and see why he hates him so much. I wonder if Harley likes him?
“Ash and I both have invitations with plus ones. I’ll take Blaise and Ash will take you. Harley has a swim meet and now that he’s taking his swimming more seriously he’s going to go. He’ll be pissy, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Well, I could have the Gala date moved I guess. How badly do
you want to see Harley in a three-piece suit?”
I try not to drool at the thought. She doesn’t need any encouragement in her assessment of me. “It’s fine. I’m sure being around you lot there will be other Galas to attend.”
Avery laughs at my fake-ass airy tone and waves a hand at me. “Okay, no more distractions. Walk me through another. I think I’m almost ready to start stabbing my enemies myself.”
I raise an eyebrow at her. “Any requests, Miss Bloodthirsty?”
She nods and hesitates for a second. I roll my eyes at her. “Just ask. I’m not going to lose my mind over it and if I don’t want to do it I’ll say no.”
The door to the gym opens and I don’t have to turn to see it’s the guys. They’re bickering and talking shit loud enough for Illi to hear it down in the Bay.
Avery lowers her voice. “I want to know how you won the Game. How you beat the last two men.”
I stare at her for a second and then shrug. It’s an old memory, not something I think too much about. Why not use it?
Blaise slips his arms around me and tugs me until I’m leaning back against his chest. I smirk at Avery and say, “Sure. We even have volunteers to be our victims.”
Blaise cackles, squeezing me a little, and Harley swoops down to kiss my cheek, murmuring quietly, “I’ll be your victim any day, babe.”
I smirk at them all and pull away from Blaise, directing them all until they’re where I need them to be. Ash stands with Avery, intent on learning everything I’m teaching her as well. It’s a well calculated move from him; they all need to know how to read a situation and no one is better at it than Avery or me. If they’re going up against the Jackal with me, they need to learn when to fight and when to manipulate.
I point at Blaise. “Do you want to be a loud idiotic beefcake or a silent, calculating sociopath?”
Harley cuts in before I finish the sentence. “He’s the idiot. Where are we standing?”
Blaise scoff but nods along, “If anyone is the beefcake it’s you, dickhead, you’re going to fucking sink next time you get in the pool. Lay off the weights when you’re frustrated at being stuck with the cougar, man, maybe have a wank instead.”