He didn’t move away, and I dared not turn my head any further. “Nothing. Go to sleep, Red.” Ash moved his head away,and almost reluctantly, I turned around, once again facing away from him.
Within moments, I heard his breath even out, and closing my eyes, I willed the blanket of sleep to cover me.
* * *
I woke up pressed against his body. Our legs were entangled, his arm was around my shoulders, and my head seemed to have chosen his chest as its pillow of choice. Moving my head slightly, I saw that Ash was still sound asleep. His long lashes were resting on his cheeks, and I had the insane urge to stroke them to see if they felt as soft as they looked. His hair fell over his forehead, and I lay staring at him like a stalker before my bladder made it known it needed attention.
With some skillful maneuvering, I disentangled myself and got out of bed. When I was finished in the bathroom, I saw he was still dead to the world. Knowing he needed to sleep some more, I crept across the floor and exited his bedroom.
In the living room, I found a handful of players along with Ava, who was curled up into Jett’s side as they discussed yesterday’s game. When she saw me, she excused herself and followed me into the kitchen, where I was searching for the coffee cups.
“He still sleeping?” Ava asked as she went to another cupboard and retrieved a cup for me.
“Yeah, he must have been exhausted,” I replied as I gratefully accepted the coffee cup.
“How are you?” Ava asked me as she looked over to where Quinn and Gray were coming in through the front door, both wearing running gear and both looking flushed from their morning run.
“Why did they target our apartment?” I asked quietly as I watched Quinn and Gray speak to Jett and then both go upstairs.
“I think it’s because Ash is there,” Ava said reluctantly.
“So, if I had stayed alone, like I asked, I would still have an apartment that hadn’t been vandalized?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can’t you see how crazy this is?” I asked, placing my cup down with more force than I should have.
Reaching out, Ava caught my hand. “Please, just wait until Ash is awake so we can all discuss it.”
Looking over at the guys in the living area, I met Jett’s cool appraisal, and with a sniff, I turned my back on him. “Like I have any choice.”
“Mee.” Ava’s voice was soft, and I could hear the sadness in it, but I didn’t care if she was sad at the fact that I thought her boyfriend was a controlling jerk.
“You know, all week, I’ve had my life messed with. On Sunday, I have the worst afternoon to date in college. Not only do I get barged in on in a compromising position, but I gain a new roommate. Then my apartment,myapartment, gets overhauled because my new roommate doesn’t like my fridge. Or his bed. Or the shower. Or anything in my apartment that isn’t bigger or better than it was.” I knew my voice was rising, but I didn’t care. “Then not content with rearranging my week, my weekend gets dictated too, because I have to be chaperoned everywhere because of something that does not involveme.” I saw Ava’s widening eyes, but I was in full flow. “Then, just when I thought, you know, I’ll do something to makemefeel better, to get control ofmyweek back again, my apartment gets broken into and vandalized. So, tell me, Ava, how does mybest friend, who’s known me since I wasfour years old, stand there, right there in front of me, and reprimand me for me rightly saying we’re on a crazy train and I wantoff!”
“Are you done?” The glacial tone behind me didn’t even stem my anger.
Turning, I looked at Gray, who stood there with his arms folded across his chest, the splint now a simple strapping, hard, cold eyes fixed on me. “I don’t know, am I?” It was a taunt, and he knew it.
“My understanding was that you were here to do music, not amateur dramatics.”
Jerkface. “Your understanding was correct.Myunderstanding is that my home would be fine right now if I didn’t have your cousin living in it.”
“He’s there at the request of your best friend.” Gray leaned forward slightly as if he were telling me a secret. “I never wanted him around your type anyway.”
“Mytype?” I asked him incredulously.
Gray ran his eyes over me critically. “You know.” His hand waved dismissively. “Desperate.”
“Des . . . desperate?” I spluttered in outrage. “Desperate?”
“You hard of hearing? What’s the matter? Hit your head one too many times off the headboard?”
“Who the heck do you think you are?” I took a furious step toward him as my temper soared.
“I don’tthinkI’m anyone; Iknowexactly who I am, and I know exactly whoyouare.”
“Enough!” Ash came barreling into the kitchen and actually stood between us. “What the fuck is going on?”
