I haven’t seen Lips this fucking enraged in months.
I keep an eye on her for the rest of the day but she’s so fucking angry that I don’t bother trying to talk to her. I need to know exactly what Ash said to her to make her this bloodthirsty, but he’s a safer bet to ask later.
When classes end I follow her out to the stairs that lead to the dorms, completely silent because I like my balls where they are and I know that she could tear them off in the mood she’s in. I want this girl so fucking bad and this fight with Ash isn’t worth me losing what little good standing I’ve managed to win with her.
Avery is waiting at the bottom with Ash and when he sees the two of us walking together, he turns on Lips with a sneer.
“What the fuck do you not understand about staying away from him?”
Ah, fuck.
Lips steps right up to him and pokes his chest with a finger like she’s literally poking the goddamn bear, snarling, “I don’t answer to you, asshole. You ever speak to me like this again and I’ll bury you.”
Avery and I move as one to split them up, and I’m not sure who I’m most worried about. Ash would never raise a hand to a girl but the aftermath if Lips took a swing at him, like I’ve admired her doing to the other assholes at the school, would be severe. Avery would have fucking kittens over it, and I don’t want to have to deal with that shit.
Avery takes Ash, thank fuck, and I grab Lips by the arm, gently tugging her away from him. She barely lets me touch her, wrenching her arm out of my grip and glaring at me even as he moves back. I ignore her glare and the way that her rejection makes me want to destroy something.
I might kill someone at fight club tonight.
“Ash, you need to calm down and think about this,” Avery murmurs, and when he looks at her, he’s gutted, betrayed.
“She just said she’d bury me and you’re taking her side? Nice, Floss. Proves my point.”
Avery flings her arms around his neck and hugs him. “She wouldn’t actually do anything to hurt you. She saved me last year. If she hadn’t helped me Rory would’ve raped and beaten me. He might’ve killed me, Ash. Please just trust me and trust that I know what I’m doing being her friend.”
Jesus.
Floss is pulling out the big guns to distract him because the second the word ‘rape’ comes out of her mouth it’s a big game over for her twin.
He can’t harass Lips if he’s too busy finding Rory and bleeding him out.
His arms slowly rise to hold her and from the corner of my eye I see Lips glance over to me like she can’t handle watching them together.
I get it.
It’s fucking hard to see two people who live and breathe for each other like that. Ash could’ve been a fucking psychopathic asshole like his brother but instead he’s been nothing but devoted to his twin, protecting her and loving her through everything.
Mounties like Lips don’t often get that kind of love.
I had it and lost it.
I don’t think she’s ever had it so it makes being this close to it even fucking harder, I’m sure.
I glance down at her and whisper, “We need a plan for Rory. I’m done sharing the halls with him.”
Her shoulders roll back like she means business. “Agreed.”
Chapter Six
Ash
It’s only a matter of time, little brother. Should we carve the Mounty up as well?
I break my phone in half.
It’s the third one since school started. Avery will bitch me out for it but the second Joey finds my number and starts up with his bullshit, I lose the ability to regulate my own rage. I fucking hate him, loathe him, and someday I’ll find a way to kill him without risking Senior’s wrath on Avery.
Until then I’ll just keep on snapping phones in a fit and changing numbers.
So I’m already in the worst possible mood when I find Avery and the Mounty sitting together in the dining hall for breakfast. They’re laughing and snarking at each other but the moment I sit down they stop, Avery eyeing me warily because even dumb, deaf, and blind she could read my moods with ease.
The Mounty keeps her eyes on her plate of waffles and something about it feels… guilty to me. That’s a fucking red flag, and the fact that Avery can’t see it fucking enrages me.
I wait until my sister is out of the way before I bring it up; I don’t want her jumping to the Mounty’s defense and derailing the entire fucking thing before I can get a read on her.
They both have math classes up first but Avery has dropped down to a slightly lower class this year to focus on her ballet. The Mounty walks her all the way to her class, their arms linked as they whisper together, and even that pisses me off. Why the fuck did Avery have to be friends with her? Why did she have to pick the worst fucking option to finally have as a friend?
I detour to stay ahead of the Mounty, and I find a storage cupboard in the hall that will work because I also don’t need Harley tripping over us and interrupting. He’s fucking smitten with her and it’s becoming a problem.
It’s easy enough to grab her and tug her into the room with me, shutting the door behind her so we’re not disturbed.
I know immediately that the Mounty is pissed off and in fight mode so the moment her fists clench I snap, “Calm down, I just want a word with you.”
She whirls around to face me, her eyes narrowed and throwing fire my way. “We just ate together, you didn’t have to hurt me to speak to me.”
Fuck.
I don’t ever hurt girls; I’m not my father. She’s rubbing at her shoulder, and I try not to lose my goddamn mind about it.
Is she being genuine or does she know that those words are the best way to derail an argument with me? She knows too much about us all for me to be sure, either way I shift away from her a little.
Fuck it.
I need to say my piece. “I didn’t think I’d pushed that hard.”
She lifts her chin and snaps, “Whatever. What did you want to speak to me about?”
The dismissive tone is like a fucking slap to the face and makes me remember my anger, my shoulders rolling back and my glare once again icy as I snap back, “Stay the fuck away from Blaise and Harley. I don’t need you poisoning them with the same shit you’ve fed Avery. You’re a Mounty slut with an agenda and I’m not falling for your little act.”
Now she looks as though I’ve taken a swing at her. “I’m not trying anything with them. I’m actually actively avoiding them both. And don’t you ever call me a slut again, I think the ongoing bet proves I’m not.”
I scoff and cross my arms. “That’s why you sit with Harley in every class? And Blaise was in your room last night? You really are working overtime to get them. Just because you’re picky about the dick you want doesn’t make you any better than any other Mounty.”
She huffs and squints up at me like I’m an idiot, which only makes me angrier. “Seating in all of our classes is assigned. He’s Arbour, I’m Anderson, we can’t change that unless he decides to go back to being an O’Cronin and I think we both know that isn’t happening. As for Blaise, I helped your sister carry him back last night. Then I helped him out while he spewed. Should I have handed him over to Annabelle instead? Are you okay with your friends being raped while they sleep by gold-digging tramps? Or is it okay for her to fuck you all, even if you’re not conscious and consenting, because her family has money?”