“What were you expecting, loyalty and devotion? She's a Roqueford. They're widely known to be double-dealing sluts. Her father has more bastards than legitimate children, and he has six of those.”
“I wasn't expecting her to be so open about it. Floss woke me up this morning with the picture, so forgive me if I’m not in the greatest mood.”
So Avery was sharing around more than just my photo? Great.What a kind girl, I think with no small amount of sarcasm. Ash glances over at me like he's forgotten I was here. His face is flushed, and he looks less like the perfect Grecian statue than I've ever seen him. He looks approachable and hot. Why did I hate him so much?
“Are you enjoying your infamy?” There it is. He always knows just what to say to make me feel like an insignificant fleck of dirt. I clench my teeth.
“Fuck you, Beaumont.” There's no heat behind my words, but I still mean them. I snatch his worksheet up and start marking it. He's gotten most of the equations right, but I enjoy the small amount of red ink I get to use. When I shove the page back at him, he's still watching me, his eyes unreadable.
“I told you not to trust Joey.” He shrugs at me like this is all justified.
I snort at him. Blaise watches us both with captive interest, twirling his pen between his long fingers. I wonder how they became friends?
“Your sister did this to me. Now the entire fucking school has photos of me naked, and I get to enjoy theprivilegeof being looked at by you lot like I'm a piece of meat. Like I actually want your rich dicks, when really I'd rather fucking die.”
Ash rolls his eyes at me. “Avery doesn't use naked photos against people. She does have a line, you know.”
“Sure. Piss on all of my belongings, but she draws the line at naked photos. I definitely believe you.”
Blaise’s nose wrinkles, and it's goddamn adorable. I turn away from him so I don't humiliate myself by blushing at him or drooling.
I am in real danger of drooling.
“You don't mean actual piss, do you? I cannot image Floss ever handling piss.”
“Yeah, actual urine. It took me hours to fucking clean, all because I'm a scholarship student and I pissed Harley off by accident.”
Ash groans and runs his hands through his hair. He shares a look with Blaise, and then turns to me again. “Avery is very protective, and you managed to get on the bad side of one of the three humans she gives a shit about. She won't let that go, and sometimes she goes to great lengths to keep us safe.”
“Right. Which is why I don't believe you about the photos. Doesn't matter anyway, a few pictures of my tits aren't going to break me.”
Ash’s eyes dip down to my chest and then back to my face. It doesn’t feel lecherous at all, nothing like Joey’s looks. More curious. “There isn't a whole lot to see though, right? I've been sent the photos eight times and deleted them without looking.”
I raise my eyebrow at him. Blaise knocks my elbow gently with his, and I flinch away from him hard. “Whoa, sorry! I was just going to say that we are pretty anti-revenge porn in our group. There was… an incident. No one has looked at it. I'm not saying we're friends, and Avery still wants you taken out, but you have at least four people who haven't seen your nudes.”
“Three. Avery was there when the photos were taken,” I grumble, and start to pack my bag. I'm so done with this for the night. I don't want to think about the weird, twisted triangle that is the Beaumont siblings and their friends.
Blaise scratches the back of his neck and grabs his papers.
“So, tomorrow we can meet up, right? I really do need help with my math.”
I sigh and sling my bag over my shoulder. I brace myself, and then look right at his gorgeous and alluring face. Damn, his eyes are such a beautiful, clear green that I could just lose myself in them.
“Sure. I meet with Ash during the study period. If you're here, I'll help you too.”
Chapter 7
The one free study hall I have for the week without tutoring the boys is my haven.
Seeing Joey sitting at my desk is enough to piss me off. Seeing him sitting there with his boots on the table makes my blood boil. Of all the pompous, dickhead things to do, this guy just takes the cake.
His uniform is hanging on his frame a little loosely, like he's lost some weight in the last few months. His eyes are as manic and calculating as ever.
He smirks and waves an arm at me, like a king entertaining the petty whims of a peasant. I want to punch him. In the dick.
I manage to contain myself, but it's a close call.
“Mounty! I thought I'd find you here. I'm starting to think you're a bit of a nerd.” His smile would be called flirty by lesser folk. I saw it for what it was: a baring of teeth, like a lion would do to its prey.
