“She’ll be back because we’ll give her no choice.” I looked at my brother and cousin. “The plan doesn’t change. Quinn learned she’s on probation. I own her fucking ass, and she will do exactlywhat I tell her until she either tells the truth or we find the fucker who set me up.”
Chapter 24: Ava
My recollection of the walk home was fuzzy. My hands shook the whole way, and twice I needed to stop myself from turning around and going back to punch Gray and his stupid brother again. I knew they were Devils, I knew it. I’d heard the stories, I’d witnessed their douchebaggery when I was in high school — but, oh my God, the nerve.
The actual goddamn nerve of them. Squeezing me in between them like that, what was their intent? Did they think I was one of their bed-hoppers that would bounce from one dick to the next as long as it was a Santo?
And drugged him?Drugged him? Was he for real? By the time I was back at the apartment, angry tears had spilled, and I wasn’t sure if I was furious or hyperventilating. I was so thrown by the afternoon that I completely forgot my best friend would be home, and as I burst through the door, I startled Mia so much she gave a yelp of alarm.
“Ava?” Her hazel eyes were full of concern as she took in my appearance, and then I was wrapped in the comfort of her arms. “Oh, my gracious, what happened?”
The adrenaline fromthem, the confusion of kissing Jett — and liking it — the mere bizarreness of it all combined with my temper, and I burst into tears. Mia held me as I sobbed on her shoulder, and her soothing voice and serene stroking of my hair calmed me enough to know I was going to be okay.
“Shh, tell me what’s happening,” Mia spoke evenly as my crying eased and I started to get a hold of myself again. My sniffles subsided, and hearing that I was semi in control again, my best friend stepped back and looked at me. “Want to talk?”
The dry humor and the quirked eyebrow were enough to make me smile, and, grabbing my hand, she led me to our sofa.
“I’ve not been completely honest with you,” I started, and when she frowned, I jumped back off the sofa. “I need a drink for this.”
“Water or hard stuff?” Mia asked me curiously.
“Hard, definitely hard,” I grumbled as I grabbed two bottles, one of José and one of Jack, and held them up to her.
Her legs were folded underneath her, and with her daisy print skirt and soft white T-shirt, she looked as if she should be ordering tea rather than deliberating the choices of tequila or whisky. Mia pointed at the whisky, and I poured us two healthy shots with ice.
As I handed her the glass, I sat back down beside her, and we clinked our glasses. “You okay?” she asked me.
“No.” Taking a sip of the liquor, I grimaced. “I think I should have put Coke in this.”
“Nah, this way we’ll get hairs on our chest,” Mia teased.
I grinned as I settled my head on her shoulder. “I had sex with Jett Santo.”
I felt her body stiffen in surprise, and I heard the faint choking and knew she was probably stopping herself from spitting out her drink. “Excuse me?”
“That Friday when I left you and walked home. I don’t know how I met him or when I met him, but we hooked up and I spent the night with him.”
Mia inched slowly away from me, and she turned slightly as I raised my head to meet her incredulous stare. “Ava, I . . . girl! You’re gonna have to tell me from the beginning. Okay? I . . .” She took another drink before she stood and went to the kitchen, grabbing the bottle of whisky and two cans of Coke from the fridge. Topping up both glasses, she added a splash of Coke to each. “Okay, spill.”
“Wade said I played beer pong, and I vaguely remembered the game once he told me. I definitely tasted the tequila the nextmorning,” I started dryly. “I don’t remember the boy you said I spoke to. I can’t even picture his face. I was drunk. Like I don’t even know how bad, but it was bad.”
“I didn’t think you were that drunk.” Mia frowned as she sipped her drink. “I feel so bad that I didn’t know.”
“It’s fine, it would have been fine. I should know better than to do shots, especially ol’ José.”
“Why can’t you be a fall-down drunk like normal people?” Mia demanded as she swatted me with her hand.
“I want to say that my way is less embarrassing, but you know, the whole ‘I slept with the Devil’ kinda puts a new slant on things.”
“This was over a week ago,” Mia scolded me. “Why are you only telling me now? Because of the horrible things guys are saying?” I knew when she realized, because her hand flew to her mouth and she stared at me in horror. “You’re his thief?”
“I’m the thief.”
“Ava!” Mia’s look was searching. It was like she didn’t know me. “I . . . my goodness, I just . . . okay, no more interruptions, tell me what you remember.”
“I don’t,” I snorted. “That’s my problem. I don’t remember much of the party after agreeing to play beer pong, and I only remember that because Wade mentioned it last week, and that’s when I knew I’d played. I don’t remember leaving, I don’t remember trying to get home or how I met Sir Fuckalot.” Mia snorted at my terminology but said nothing to interrupt me. “I do remember waking up the next morning half-dead, naked, and hungover.”
“Ava . . .” Her look spoke volumes, and I shook my head quickly to assure her.
