“Oh, for fuck’s sake, she has a reputation, we all know it. You wouldn’t have fucked her if she didn’t,” Gray directed at me with exasperation. “I didn’t want her here, and you didn’t want to bethere, and she sure as hell didn’t want to be here or part of this. And she shouldn’t. Do you know she said that what was happening, the threat to Quinn, was not her problem?” Gray pushed off the fridge angrily. “I mean seriously, not her fucking problem. Well, she isn’t fucking mine.”
Quinn dipped her head at his words, and I winced at Red’s poor terminology.
“Okay, so, she could have worded it better,” I hedged, “but is she wrong?” Gray’s look of disdain was now directed at me. “If I hadn’t been at the apartment, would she even be on their radar?”
“No!” Ava wailed in despair. “It’s my fault. I wanted Mia watched, and I never thought about how scary this was for her.”
“Scary?” Gray demanded, incredulously.
“Stop being a dick,” Ava snapped. “You were totally out of order! You cannot call my best friend a slut. She isn’t. Yes, she may have a reputation for being flirty, but she isn’t easy or whatever you want to call her. Mia has fun and goes on dates, but she isn’t a whore. She doesn’t sleep with tons of guys. You judged her wrongly and harshly. And inthishouse, you’re a huge hypocrite.”
“I don’t care,” Gray said with a half-shrug.
Ava ignored him. “We threw her into a situation she wasn’t prepared for. I moved here, Ash moved there, and no one listened to her about whatshewanted. I’m as guilty as anyone in this room for strong-arming her, but you were a dick. Again.”
Gray’s face twisted into a scowl, and shaking his head, he looked away. “Personally, I think she’s done us a favor, going.”
“You’re so single-minded sometimes.” Jett spoke for the first time. “You heard her say that it wasn’t her problem, and you went into attack mode. We know, weallknow, that this is a huge thing, probably a dangerous thing, coming for us. For Quinn. But Mia isn’tus,Gray. She’s a girl who last week was hooking up with a guy after a party and then was thrown into a shitshow. She had no idea what was happening.” Jett scratched his head as he thought about it. “I admit, when she spoke earlier, I did the same, I went on the defense for Quinn, but . . . but Mia isn’t us.”
“She told me her life had been turned upside down, and all I could think about was how it didn’t matter, she needed to be here with us.” Ava’s lip trembled.
“But Jett’s right, she isn’t us,” Quinn said softly. “And she isn’t malicious. She actually told me she felt awful for what I’ve” — she glanced at Gray — “for whatwe’vebeen through. But she’sright, she’s nineteen, and my problem is not hers. Five or six weeks ago, she’d never even spoken to me.”
Gray held Quinn’s look, and it still made me uncomfortable with how open they were with each other, now that everything was out in the open and they were together. “Can we trust her to keep her mouth shut?” he asked Ava.
“Yes.” Ava looked to Jett for support. “She isn’t the bad guy here.”
“So, what? You saying I am?” Gray scoffed. “No. Nuh-uh, she dismissed Quinn’s safety like it was nothing.”
Ava jumped to argue, but Jett cut her off. “Mia may not have been on their radar before, but she is now. Andthat, we are responsible for.” He looked around the room. “All of us.”
“Ash can’t go,” Gray bit out tersely. “You know this.”
“It’s fine,” I muttered. “She hated me being there before, she’ll be delighted to see me back.”
“Ash, you can’t fucking go,” Gray snapped at me. “Use your fucking head, the one on your shoulders,” he bit out.
“Why can’t Ash go?” Ava asked as she looked around the kitchen. “What changed?”
“It’s nothing to do with you,” Gray retorted.
I saw Jett draw himself up, I heard Quinn groan, and I spoke before this morning became worse. “I’m bulimic.” My admission quietened the room. “I’ve suffered from it since I was fifteen.”
I saw her look me over, and I saw her confusion. “But . . .”
“I have a really good handle on it now. My family,” I gestured to the twins and then Quinn, “and friends support me, but sometimes, when I feel overwhelmed, even if I don’t know I feel overwhelmed, I have what they callan episode.” I saw her brow furrow, and I explained. “I binge eat and then I throw it all back up again.”
She looked stunned, and I appreciated the fact that Ava didn’t hide her honest reaction. “I didn’t know, I’m sorry.”
“No need. You didn’t do this to me, I did.” I gave her my usual smile.
“But what it means,” Gray spoke up, “is that right now, Ash can’t leave to go babysit your friend.”
“I can.” Looking at him, I held my hands up. “I know, I know I usually relapse within a day or two after an episode, but Quinn and I did good last night, didn’t we?” I asked her, hoping that she would back me up.
Quinn smiled at me and nodded. “He ate every bite, and he kept it down.”
“I did.” I hesitated. “Wait, how did you know?”
