It was tempting, fuck it still is, but there’s no point in lying about my grades. I’m not going to college, I’m not taking over Kora, and I’m never going to be the prodigal son that he so desperately wants me to be.
I just need to do well enough that he leaves me alone.
I tell myself that it’s desperation that leads me to the Mounty’s door, that I’m so fucking behind in all of my classwork because she’s the only one who can actually make me understand the inane bullshit we’re forced to learn. I think I’ll keep telling myself that it’s not my fault that she draws me into her, that she keeps showing up in my lyric book, that little pieces of her circle around in my head until I want to write them out.
I keep lying to myself to keep the fragile peace between the only people who have ever loved me for who I really am and not the expectations of what they were hoping I’d become.
I knock before I can chicken out, texting Avery to get to the Mounty would be the coward’s way of operating and I’m not that guy.
When Lips opens the door, I smirk at the state of her because it’s so goddamn rare for me to see her out of uniform. She grimaces at me like I’m a problem.
I guess that’s fair.
Ash has been nothing but a dick to her and I usually only ever show up here with him so it’s a safe bet that I’d be here to cause her trouble.
“Avery is in the shower. You're welcome to hang out on the couch until she's out.”
I should be nicer to her but instead I go with teasing, maybe even flirty because there’s no one here to stop me. “I'm here for you, Mounty.”
Her eyes narrow at me for a second and then she drags her eyes over me, slowly taking in every detail of my appearance from head to toe. It’s a fucking weird feeling and it takes me a second to realize that it’s because she never looks at me. Not really, she glances at me or maintains eye contact when she has to, but even when she’s tutoring me she keeps her eyes on the work in front of us.
I can tell she likes what she sees and fuck if that doesn’t make me reconsider my plan to just try to forget about this attraction to her.
The grin on my face is so fucking wide and I’m about to do something fucking stupid when she bursts that little bubble.
“No thanks.”
What the fuck?
I manage to jam my foot in the doorway right as she tries to slam the fucking thing in my face. “Mounty, for fuck’s sake. Hear me out. Please.”
She hesitates.
She fucking hesitates, but with a sigh she finally steps away and I push the door open again. I straighten myself up and try not to get fucking fidgety now she’s looking at me even more like I’m a fucking problem.
Why did I think this would be easy?
“Right,” I clear my throat, and just fucking lay it out there, “I’ve made another deal with my dad. If I graduate senior year with a 3.0 GPA or higher, he’s going to let me take a gap year without pitching a fit. I want to fit in a world tour and a new album. I also want to use that time to convince my parents that college isn’t for me.”
With another sigh, she motions me into the room.
The place is immaculate like always, the shower running so I know where Avery is. Thank fuck she didn’t see Lips shut me down, the hell she would give me for it would be a fucking nightmare to endure and if Harley caught wind of it? No fucking thanks. The coffee machine starts beeping and I swear Lips’ eyes damn near roll back into her head at the sound.
“You didn’t need to come here; I already tutor you. We can go through all of your syllabi and get a plan together on how we’re going to make it work,” she mumbles as she stalks toward the kitchen.
She fixes us both a coffee, sliding a cup and the fixings over to me, all without looking at me. Now that I’ve noticed it, I can’t stop myself from eyeballing her and wanting to figure her out. Does she ever look at me? It’s not like she’s fucking shy—did I really put her off of me that badly last year and now we’re not ever really going to be friends?
Why does that bother me so much?
I shove that thought away. “Lance is taking up too much of your time. Ash would back off and let you work with me in peace but the little Mounty fuck wouldn’t.”
The glare she levels at me is fucking savage.
Fuck.
I choose my words carefully, gritting them out because I fucking hate feeling this exposed. “I don’t want Lance to know how much trouble I have with my classes. He’s an arrogant asshole and I’d rather not have to beat the shit out of him if he runs his mouth. If Avery finds out, it’ll be the next Mounty hunt.”
She startles a little and glances at me before looking away quickly like I’ve shocked her but, I mean, she knows how fucking useless I am at my classwork.
None of this is news to her.
My skin starts to prickle with hot irritation and I start chewing on my lip to distract myself from it. I fucking hate talking about this shit but before I lash out and say something stupid, she scrubs a hand over her face like she’s clearing her head.
She holds up three fingers and, fuck yes, I’ve won. “Three rules.”
I nod.
“One: you’ll come to every study session on time and with the agreed work done before. If I’m going to put in the time and effort you will too. I don’t care if it’s wrong and we have to redo it, you have to give everything a go.”
Easy. “Agreed. Next?”
“Rule two: you’ll show me respect while we study. We can do it here, Avery has ballet and dance most nights so we can pick a few nights a week and we’ll be left to it but I’m not having you get pissy and tearing into me for no reason. Save that for the dining hall or parties or some shit.”
Jesus fucking Christ, I can’t even argue with her for adding that one in. “Yep. Next?”
“Rule three is simple: don’t tell Ash.”
What the fuck? “Why? He wouldn’t give a shit.”
She scoffs at me and heads to the sink to wash out her cup. “He lost his mind over you sleeping here after the party. He cornered me and told me to stay the fuck away from you and Harley. He’s practically pissed on your leg to assert his ownership of you.”
Fuck me.
I know he’s been an ass about her and Avery being friends but I didn’t know he’d been that bad about it all. I wonder if Harley knows about this? He’d be fucking pissed if he found out his little Mounty is avoiding us both for Ash’s sake. “Alright. But I’m going to have a chat with him about you.”
She shakes her head at me. “I don’t need your help. He’ll figure it out on his own.”
I tell myself that I’m not going to try to impress Lips because this isn’t about getting to know her or forming a friendship; this is about getting to tour during the summer break without my parents being up my ass about it, and getting the fuck away from my father’s special brand of disappointment at my inability to do all of the shit he finds easier than breathing.
The problem is that Ash turns up after his tutoring with a shitty attitude over me not showing up and there’s fucking nothing I can say about it without breaking one of the rules right off the bat.
I could.
I could probably even convince him not to tell her about it, we’ve been friends for long enough that he’d leave that detail out of his campaign to get her away from Avery, but something about the way that Lips asked me not to tell him has me shutting my mouth.