“No,” I warned her as her fingers laced through mine. Mia was slight, but my God, she had upper-body strength when she wanted it. “Mia, you know I hate it.” My pleading landed on deaf ears, and when my best friend took great care to ensure I was at the edge of the dancing area and no immediate person was beside me, she started to dance. So ,I was either the weirdo standing at the edge of the dance floor, staring at her, or she was the weirdo at the edge of the dance floor dancing by herself, which would only invite guys over to her.
Reluctantly, I moved my feet in the semblance of a shuffle. Mia rolled her eyes and grabbed my hips, encouraging me to move them in time to the music.
Leaning into me, she shouted, “Ava! Loosen up, forget about this and just relax!”
Easy for her to say — she hadn’t just been told by Jett’s friend that he was out to get me. With a loud groan, I decided she was right. Fuck them. He was just a guy, what could he actually do to me? At the end of the day, he was only a footballer.
We danced for four songs. I kept to my spot and actually enjoyed myself, or I enjoyed seeing Mia let loose. The girl had moves, which I noticed Alex was very happy to watch. He had returned with Shane, and the two of them were talking to each other and waiting patiently for us. I liked that neither of them tried to join us on the dance floor. I liked that they stayed to the edge and were happy to let us do our thing.
“Mia, I need to pee,” I shouted to her just as the last song finished.
“Yeah? I need a drink!” Grabbing my hand, she pulled me through the throng back to the guys. Alex handed her a beer, cap still on, which she took happily, and I noticed her subtle check to make sure it was. Christ, how jaded were we that we trusted nothing at a college party? Was it sad or smart? Or both?
“Can I get you something, Ava?” Shane asked me as he pointed over his shoulder to the kitchen.
“I’m going to find the bathroom,” I told him, and he casually took my hand.
“I can show you. I found one that you don’t need to wait for an hour in.” His rueful smile told me my earlier concern that he had ditched me was unfounded.
I wasn’t completely sure how I felt about holding his hand, but I said nothing as I followed him to the back of the room. I passed Quinn again, who was now with another group of people, and I saw her contemptuous look at my hand in Shane’s. I was prepared for her scorn and happy to ignore her.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the three guys who just walked into the party and stood in the doorway. The three of them surveyed the room, effectively blocking our way out.
What I also wasn’t prepared for was Jett locking eyes with me immediately, or the sneer on his face when he, too, saw my hand in Shane’s.
Shane carried on toward them, and when he said “excuse me” to get through them, he seemed genuinely confused when Gray looked him up and down before turning his head to say something to his brother, who laughed.
Ash moved aside to let us pass, and even as I followed Shane numbly, I could feel eyes boring into my back. Unable to stop myself as Shane led me to the staircase, I looked over my shoulder and met Jett’s flat stare. Quinn walked up behind them, and when she saw me looking back at them, I saw thesmall smirk, as if to sayI told you so, before she touched Jett’s shoulder, and he turned, giving her his attention.
Maybe I would be lucky and the bathroom would have a window beside a drainpipe that I could shimmy down to escape. Because going back into that room would be a mistake, and I had made enough mistakes when it came to Jett Santo.
Chapter 27: Ava
I was quietly confident that I shouldn’t be there in the bathroom, which was actually in someone’s bedroom, but as I cooled down, I did my best to calm down. His malice when he looked at me was unnerving. Gray had been cold, and Ash, although he had been as unnerving as the twins, had at least been decent enough to move to let us pass. I knew with certainty that there was no way Jett or Gray would have moved.
The three of them were dressed similarly, but each stood out. Their family was definitely blessed in the genes department, shame they had crazy in their DNA. I wet my lips as I contemplated the window.Dramatic much, Ava? I thought he was just a guy?I was nodding to my inner self that hewasjust a guy when there was a light knock on the door.
“You okay?” Shane asked me with concern. “You’ve been in there a while.”
Great, now he thought I was pooping. As I threw the door open with gusto, the poor guy stepped back in alarm.
“Sorry, I needed to cool down.” I grinned, and I knew it was manic, so the wary look he gave me was warranted, causing me to dial it down a bit, and I watched him visibly relax.
“That’s okay.” His easy smile was calming, and he glanced over his shoulder to the main bedroom door, which was half closed. “I just don’t think we should be in here longer than we need,” he confessed, and if possible, his contrite look made him cuter.
“Noted.” I checked I’d turned the tap off in the bathroom and then headed to the door. “Let’s go.” When we were in the hallway, Shane tugged at my hand, pulling me to a stop. “You okay?” I asked him as he walked around me and stood in front of me.
“Yeah, there’s just no rush to go back down . . . is there?”
Oh. I wasn’t sure what to do now. Did he mean one of the rooms or stay here? “You want to stay up here, in the hall?”
“Yeah.” Shane looked around the empty hall. “It’s quieter and cooler, and now the football team’s turned up,” he rolled his eyes, “we’re never going to get near the drinks again.”
Go downstairs and meet the wrath of the triad with their resident bitch, or stay up here and hide with a nice, safe guy, who wasn’t pushing for me to go into a bedroom? Hmm, the decision was a tough one.
“I’m good to stay up here and talk,” I told him as I considered the wooden floor and whether I should sit on it. “You think it’s safe to sit?” I asked with a smile, and as he thought about it, he bent down to look closer. Which is how I saw Jett stride up the stairs, his eyes already locked on mine, his dark look sending a shiver down my spine. If I were honest, my reaction wasn’t solely from fear.
Shane straightened when he felt the foreboding presence behind him, and with a glance at me in confusion, he turned to see who was behind him.
