“You have some fucked-up illusion that you have to prove you’re better than me,” Jett said harshly, ignoring my startled look. “Don’t let all the doubters who believe you’re second best be right by quitting like a little bitch.”
“You saying if this was Ava, you wouldn’t be crawling in your skin to be with her?”
“I would probably be halfway back to campus,” he said honestly. “But I would be an idiot, and my twin would have kicked my ass before I made it out of the hotel. What can you do?” he asked with a hard stare. “She took care of herself, and our brother is there; he won’t let anyone fuck her over, despite his own problems with her. All you would be is a hug and someone to sleep with. Ava and Mia will spend the night with her; she won’t be alone.”
“Someone to sleep with?”
“You know what I mean. What you would be racing back for is being given to her now. She knows you’re committed here. She understands.”
“But—”
“There is no but,” he cut me off. “This is our dream. Her dream. For us. She will lose it if you rush back to her. She needs to remember she has strength inside her.”
“She does,” I murmured.
“And she’s been hiding, and we’re forcing her to face the things she’s chosen to ignore. The guy tonight? I think it’s a really unlucky coincidence, but Quinn needs to remember she’s a Devil, not a coward. And you need to remember she came through what happened herself. She needs to remember she’s fucking awesome.”
I grinned at him and his passion. “She is.”
“Do not lose focus on your dream. Quinn is part of it; it’s not a ‘one or the other.’ Not anymore.”
Drinking my water, I thought about what he had said to me. He was right, but that didn’t make the urge to see her, hold her, any less.
“I just need to speak to her,” I told him.
“I know.”
“Onyx is going to make us pay for this favor,” I said with a heavy groan.
“For years,” Jett agreed.
“Ugh, this sucks.” Getting up, I lay on my bed. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
“I don’t think you’re better than me by the way.”
“Okay. Neither do I.” His look was assessing. “Then who are you trying to prove that to?”
“Everyone else,” I said quietly as I closed my eyes, even though I could feel his stare.
“Fuck everyone else,” Jett snorted as he flopped down on the bed beside me.
“Thought that was Ash’s job?” I grinned and we both laughed as we waited for an update from my brother.
Chapter 30: Quinn
Sitting in the theater seats while Onyx directed the dean and the maintenance manager like a well-conducted orchestra was truly something to see. He had insisted that Ava identify the janitor she had made the arrangement with, and he had been hauled in too, to confirm her story and validate that he had told the greasy sleazeball that we were using the theater.
Dean Porter wasn’t happy to have Ava’s story collaborated, and I remembered she was on probation, and from the fear in Ava’s eyes, she was very much aware how thin the ice below her feet was too.
Onyx caught my worried look at Ava as the dean turned to the maintenance manager and stepped closer to me. “What is it?”
“She’s on probation,” I told him quietly and winced when his hard stare cut into mine.
“You really are a piece of work,” he muttered before he moved over to the dean. “Why are we still here?” he asked in the tone that made me want to punch him most of the time, and from Dean Porter’s expression, so did he.
“Because a student committed assault.”
