Not once has she asked me for anything in return for helping me out. Not even when Ash laid out to her exactly how much she could have charged me for her services, money that wouldn’t even register to my bank account but could’ve probably fed her for months back in the slums she comes from.
“I thought you wanted to actually do well this year? Have you found a new tutor or has Harley decided to stop being an asshole to you to get you away from his little Mounty love?”
The sneering tone is fucking annoying, he never pulls that shit with me and certainly not about this. He knows better than anyone how bad my dad really is and he’s gone toe-to-toe with him for me on more than one occasion.
“I’ve sorted something else out… I didn’t want to put up with that Mounty asshole all fucking year and he’s chasing her like she’s a bitch in heat.”
Ash scoffs and pours himself a drink, just a single glass because he’s going down to the dining hall to eat with Avery and walk her to her dance class. It’s a decent gauge of his mood; one glass means he needs something to take off the edge but it’s not that bad. Two means he’s going to beat someone bloody, three is heads-will-roll, and anything more than that is a ‘call Avery’ situation because if she hears about it from the gossip mills of Hannaford she’ll be over here making us regret waking the hell up.
I triple check my bag has all of my homework in it so I’m not sticking to her rules, and then I sling it over my shoulders as my phone buzzes. Perfect, Avery finally gets back to me about what to grab for dinner and I’m definitely going to make a good impression for our first night studying together.
I’m halfway to the door when Ash drawls, “It’s probably for the best that you stay away from her anyway. Harley’s getting fucking precious about her and even if she pants after you, she still doesn’t want to fuck you.”
My spine snaps straight and I give him a look over my shoulder. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Don’t tell me you’re that fucking obsessed with her that you’ve tripped into petty fucking jealousies now.”
His lip curls and I think we’re about to fucking fight. Harley will have fucking kittens if he comes back from his classes early and catches us.
“She told me. She said that it doesn’t matter how much she’s into your music, she doesn’t want to fuck you. Apparently she really does only spread her legs for Mounty slum trash.”
I don’t know if I’m pissed at her saying that or for the way that he’s still talking down about her, but I shove the thoughts out of my head and slam the door on my way out of the room.
His words bounce around in my head the entire way to Haven and back. When I make my way up to the girls’ room, I try to look both innocent and studious when Avery opens the door for me but she’s not buying it at all, which is dumb because I really am just here for the tutoring.
She still doesn’t want to fuck you.
Why the hell is that bothering me so much and why, exactly, did Ash sound so fucking smug about it?
“If you so much as breathe wrong in her direction, I will make your life an absolute misery, Blaise Morrison. I will ruin you.”
I roll my eyes as I brush past her and into the room, lifting the pizza boxes up like they’re evidence. “Why would I feed her if I’m planning shady shit? I just need to pass my classes. You should be happy about this! I’m on your team about her joining our little circle… we’ll finally be a circle too, not an oddly misshapen square.”
She huffs at me and delicately pulls on a pair of pristinely white dancing shoes. “Yes, and when was the last time you sided against Ash? Never. Never in more than a decade of you two being attached at the hip and following each other into the depths of hell, so excuse me for not believing that you’re here to start something that I will end. Because I will end it, Morrison, and I’ll take your will to live with it.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
“Avery, she’s the only person who has ever been able to explain math or biology to me without my brain fucking frying. That’s it. That’s the whole story.”
Her eyes narrow at me as she watches me set myself up on the floor and even though I’m careful to follow all of her meticulous tidiness rules, I can feel the judgement radiating toward me.
By the time I’m finally set up, she hesitates at the door for a second before saying, “She doesn’t want to fuck you so don’t try anything because if you make her uncomfortable, I’ll tell Ash about your little crush. We both know this isn’t a notch-on-the-bedpost thing.”
Why the fuck is everyone pointing out just how badly this girl doesn’t want me?
I’m too busy fucking fuming about that to notice that she’s gone but the sound of keys in the door again snaps me out of it.
I didn’t think her rules would be so fucking hard to stick to on the very first fucking day, but here we are. I take a deep breath to try to calm the hell down.
“You’re late, Mounty.”
She rolls her eyes at me but there’s a little smirk on her face that softens it. “Just let me get changed and then we can start.”
I nod and shove a slice of the pizza into my mouth. She starts the coffee machine on her way to the bathroom and it only takes her a second to come back out in a pair of yoga pants and a sweater. They’re huge on her and when she pulls her hair back up into a high ponytail, I shove the rest of the slice into my mouth and start messing around with my papers so I don’t say something fucking stupid like ‘hey, Mounty, when you do finally look at me why does it feel as though you want to know what my cum tastes like if you don’t actually want to spread those fucking perfect legs for me?’
Jesus.
Stop thinking about her legs.
Yoga pants are the devil.
She sits down and hands me a cup of coffee, perfectly made. I push her pizza box over to her and when she opens it, her eyes narrow.
“Did you ask Avery to get us dinner?”
I feel like I’ve won something here. “Nah, I drove into Haven to get it. She told me what you’d eat though. You didn’t tell her I was studying here?”
I scratch at my chest and when her eyes drop down to the movement, I see that same hunger there. Why the fuck is she the most confusing girl I’ve ever been around, and why does that make me want her more?
I’m in deep shit here.
I need to just admit that so I can figure out what to do about it.
She takes a deep gulp of the coffee and says, “I forgot. I’m busier this year and there’s more to do now that I’m keeping Avery safe.”
Shit.
She does look tired as hell. “Is she safe?”
“As safe as I can get her. Look, I’ve had a rough day. I appreciate you grabbing us dinner, I wouldn’t have eaten otherwise. Can we get into this so I can try to get a few hours of sleep?”
I nod and we fall into a quiet studying session, the hour passing quickly as she gently walks me through everything I’ve done wrong without any judgement or teasing. I never feel like shit when she does it, even when I’ve fucked up so badly that it takes longer for her to undo the mess than it takes for her to take me through it the right way. I’m almost pissed when Avery texts to say Ash is walking her back from dance and she clucks at me to get out of here to avoid a fight.