“Okay, are you listening?” I told her as I pulled Jett closer to me. “You tell them of the run-in you had previously, tell them he assaulted you then, but you were in Cardinal and didn’t know he worked here. Tell them you were scared, tell them you heard movement,exaggerateit. Then tell him what he said and that your adrenaline and terror at being trapped caused you to overreact. You believed he was trying to harm you.”
“Not all of that is untrue,” she said softly.
“I know, babe, I know, but you need to act it up for Dean Prick, he’ll love this.” I saw Jett nod in agreement, and I looked at Ash, who was focused on me, mouthing my brother’s name. “I need to call Onyx.”
“No.”
“Quinn, I need to. Dad won’t make the drive in time. Onyx is closer than you think, he’s had run-ins with Porter before, and he knows about the guy from the bar. Trust me.”
“Gray . . .”
“Trustme.”
Ash took the phone from me. “Quinn, it’s Ash. It’s either Onyx fixes it or you get suspended, possibly charged. Is your pride really going to fuck you over?”
I didn’t hear her reply, but Ash gave me a wink, and then he was taking his phone off Jett as he handed me back to Quinn.
“You okay?”
“Ash just owned my ass,” Quinn muttered.
“Well, I’m going to ignore that,” I teased her as I gave my cousin a grateful smile. “Ash is calling Onyx, so give Ava her phone back. Don’t say much until Onyx is there. And Quinn, when you get home, charge the fucking phone.”
I smiled briefly at her grunt of laughter, and then she handed the phone back to Ava. I didn’t listen as Jett spoke to Ava or as Ash contacted my brother. I felt my legs turn to jelly, and I slumped down against the wall as I dropped my head into my hands and breathed deeply in and out while my brother and my cousin took over so I could catch my breath.
Cold hands touched mine, and I looked up at Ash, who was crouched down in front of me. “You got it together?” he asked me quietly.
“She has to stop scaring the shit out of me,” I said to him honestly. “The woman’s going to be the death of me.”
“She’s okay,” he assured me as he stayed level with me.
“Yeah.” Leaning my head against the wall, I looked up at Jett, who was watching me as he spoke to Ava. “What are the chances?” I asked them both.
“Too slim for my liking,” Ash answered immediately. “Ava will tell the dean she had the arrangement with one of the janitors, and I guess we can only surmise that douchebag thought he’d scare her when he saw her in there alone.” Ash looked at me and then over his shoulder at Jett. “Why was she alone?”
“Because she has zero patience and a stubborn streak that makes me want to strangle her,” I growled as I picked at my splint. “This fucking thing needs to come off so I can tan her hide.”
Ash burst out laughing. “You’re going to spank her?”
“She fucking needs it,” I said grimly as I stood, and he followed me up. “Hey, thanks,” I told him honestly. “I know it’s awkward, but I needed that.”
“It’s my job to rein you in,” Ash said with a grim smile. “Knew you were about to lose it, can’t let that happen. Not when they’re okay.”
“Yeah.” I moved my head from side to side as I let out a deep breath. “Onyx no trouble?”
“I think you’re going to owe him a sacrifice,” Ash said with a grin. “He had a few choice words to say, but he’s heading there now.”
Jett said goodbye to Ava and then pulled me under his arm for a brief brotherly hug. “I swear to Christ, those girls are trying to kill us,” he muttered as he let me go. “Fuck, that was intense.” He reached out and gripped Ash’s arm, touching base with us both. “You okay?” he asked our cousin, who nodded and gave him a tight smile.
“Well, we missed the pep talk, and Coach is probably going to suspend us all,” I said as I looked back at the conference room we had walked out of during the pre-game meeting.
“Maybe we should injure me too,” Ash said as he rotated his shoulder. “Before my teammates do.”
We all gave a laugh, but our thoughts were back at campus. “How long for Onyx?” I asked Jett.
“He’ll be there in about half an hour. Quinn knows how to stall. She’ll wait for him.”
“It’s going to kill her.” Ash grinned widely.
