“Walking Quinn and Ava to class.” Jett shrugged. “I’m only here because he’s there.” Nodding to show I understood, I went back to my phone. “Ash?”
“Huh?”
“Are you okay with Gray . . . and Quinn?” Jett asked me again.
He was like a Rottweiler: once he had his jaws around you, he wasn’t letting go. “No?” Putting my phone in my pocket, I met his unwavering stare. “Maybe.”
“You and Quinn seem to be better,” he hedged.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Then why not Gray?”
Stopping on the path, I looked at him. “Because I’ve had two years to get over the fact that my girlfriend cheated on me. Or wanted to cheat on me. I’ve had one week where I knew that it was with my cousin. Who’s not only family, butmybest friend.” Running my hand over my hair, I shrugged. “And with everything that’s happening, I need time to process.”
Jett rocked back on his heels and looked at me in consideration. “You’re right, sorry. I’m just eager to move on.”
Snorting, I looked away from him as I shook my head. “Yeah, well, I’m not a machine.”
“I never thought you were,” Jett said quietly beside me. “And I know everything’s completely fucked up. We just need to see this through, then we can all process. Separately, if we need to.” He looked over his shoulder back to where Gray and the girls had walked. “Time to heal.”
I resumed walking, and he did too, both of us in our own thoughts as we headed to start the morning. We had separate classes as we took different majors, with only some courses overlapping. With a wave, I left him to go to Economics, and I headed into my first computing class for the day.
As I sat down at my usual spot, I realized I was looking for Red before I remembered that I didn’t share this class with her. The pang of disappointment was unnerving, and pulling out my phone, I began to scroll through my options again. Just because my cousins were loved up did not mean I had to follow them.
I was far too young for serious. That was one lesson that Quinn had taught me well.
Chapter 4: Mia
“Mia, are you okay?”
Nodding while trying to fight the sigh from escaping made me look like I was swallowing something distasteful; I was sure of it. “Yes, I’m good,” I assured my music professor.
“Your breath support is weak today. Are you coming down with something?” she commented as she came to stand beside me and immediately started to press her fingers under my chin, testing my glands.
“I didn’t sleep well, sorry,” I told her as I pulled out of her grasp.
“But sleep is important for your voice. You need to rest.” Her thick tortoiseshell glasses made her eyes appear wider than they were.
“I know, I’ll do better.” I smiled with what I hoped was an earnest smile before she nodded and went to talk to one of my classmates.
“Who did you stay up late with?” Mindy asked me with a sly look. She was petite and had a mouth like a sailor. The thought of her together with Ava made my ears burn — their combined propensity for swearing would be horrific to hear.
“I was at home, alone.” I gave her a grin as I readied myself to practice my scales.
“Thought you had hooked up with the singer of Atticus Dawn?” Mindy asked as she moved closer to me.
“Alex? No, we’re just friends.” A small white lie.
“What about any of the Saints? Heard your bestie was a Devil’s girl now?”
I liked Mindy, I did. She was usually fun to be around and kept to herself. Why she thought today was the day to get into my business was beyond me. “Why? What’s that got to do with anything?” I asked her curiously.
Mindy huffed out a laugh and looked around before lowering her voice. “Seriously? If my best friend dumped me for a football player, I would either be pissed as hell or be lapping up the singletons of the team, know what I mean?”
Turning to face her, I knew my look was not friendly. “Seriously? You’re that shallow?”
Mindy jerked back as if I’d slapped her, and I wished I had, but the verbal slap was good enough. “Whoa, no need to be a bitch.”
