“Yeah, I had practical this morning, and they let me loose on the volleyball team. Jada the captain is really nice. She’s putting out feelers.”
“Jada . . .” I racked my brain.
“End of freshman year, you hooked up with her at a party the basketball team had in their dorm house.” Quinn looked bored as she reminded me.
“Oh yeah.” I nodded. “Sheisnice.”
“Well, I’m glad you approve.” Quinn’s tone was dry and bored.
“He’s starting to remember having sex with his blonde,” Ash said to Quinn without making eye contact. Still, it was better than a few moments before. “That good?”
Quinn nodded enthusiastically. “This is great news!AndI have it on semi-good authority from three different people, that you were not with anyone at Cedar and you definitely left alone.”
“Why semi?” Ash asked.
“Well, they were all drunk, but they remember more than he does.” Quinn shrugged. “I also have a confirmed sighting of you on Oakwood where there was another party. Do you remember that?” When I shook my head, she chewed her inner cheek. “Well, something is better than nothing, even if it is sex. Okay, I need maybe . . . two more days?”
I leaned over and planted a kiss on the side of her head. “You’re a queen.”
With a grin, she pecked me on the cheek. “I know. Later, losers.”
I watched her walk away before I turned to Ash. “You need to stop the shit. It’s tiring as fuck.”
“It’smyshit.”
“No, it’s not. It involves us all, she isn’t going anywhere.” As we headed to the stadium, I could feel my cousin struggle with his anger. “Just spit it out.”
“She fucking cheated.”
“I know.”
“And that’s okay?” Ash demanded as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “We’d have cut anyone else loose.”
“This is Quinn,” I reminded him.
“So, she’s exempt because we’ve known her for longer?” he asked me scathingly.
Stopping, I grabbed his arm and forced him to stop walking. “No, asshole, not because we’ve known her since we were ten. She’s exempt because we made a pact not to fucking hook up with her, andyoubroke it.”
“We made that pact when we were twelve,” Ash said as he threw his arms in the air in frustration. “We didn’t have any idea what the fuck we were agreeing to.”
My hand shot out, thumping into his chest. “That’syourexcuse. Quinn stays.”
Ash’s eyes widened in disbelief. “So I go? Is that what you mean?” he asked as he knocked my hand away. “Bullshit.”
“Where the fuck would you go?” I asked him as I started walking again. “Don’t be a pussy, she stays.You?You’ll get over it.”
“And Gray? What does he think?”
“Gray thinks like I do.” My brother was completely neutral andsilentin this fight; I knew it, and so did Ash. “Now, concentrate on more important things like taking this fucker down in practice.”
Ash suddenly laughed as he slung his arm over my shoulder. “I do suddenly feel the need to hit something,hard.”
“See, and you say I give you nothing.”
Chapter 13: Ava
As the week passed, I got more and more nervous. The rumors were becoming more ridiculous, but the fact remained that Jett was on the hunt, and thegirl with the blonde hairwas the topic of almost every conversation. I’d even heard that some girls had approached him and claimed tobethe girl. Seriously, they needed their heads looked at. It was like a modern-day version of Cinderella, these girls offering themselves as the wearer of the infamous slipper. Only there was no slipper, and it was all just a bit more desperate and sadder.
