“I’m okay, Brute.” She reached out to take my hand, and I linked fingers with hers as I turned back to the table. Gray was wrapped possessively around Quinn, and Jett had Ava tucked in beside him.
“Coincidence?” I asked the table. “That’s the second time he’s shown up.”
“Third,” Gray grunted. “He was at the bar too.”
“But was that planned?” Jett asked as he watched me carefully. “Or was that what set him off on being a dick? Queeny pissed him off in the bar, he fucked with her in the theater, it blew up for him, he got fired, and then he comes for his last pay and sees one of his antagonists—”
“Antagonists?” I cut him off.
“You know what I mean.” Jett looked at Mia. “It’s either a stalker or an unfortunate series of events that just happens to be coinciding with our other issues.”
Her fingers tightened on mine slightly. “It’s not a stalker. It wasn’t me he made the move on in the bar, it was Quinn.”
“And he bruised Quinn,” Gray said, his voice tight with anger. “Did he bruise you?”
She looked at us all and then her arm, which was covered by the long sleeve of her sweater. “I didn’t look.” She looked up at Gray. “I don’t think he was holding on tight enough,” she told him quietly before she smiled suddenly. “He let go pretty quickly when I screamed.”
“It’s good he let go,” Jett spoke. “But he shouldn’t have been holding on to you in the first place.” He stood up quickly when his phone rang. “Big brother is calling,” he told Gray as he walked outside to take the call. Gray followed him to no doubt hear what Onyx had to say.
“You don’t need to go?” Mia asked me curiously.
“The twins will tell me.” My attention was back to her, and I knew I had to take her mind off of what had happened, if only for a moment. “You owe Alden twenty bucks.”
It took a moment, and then she drew back from me in surprise. “No way.”
“What’s this?” Ava asked inquisitively, looking between the two of us.
“Someone made a bet with one of the freshmen that they could make me late for practice,” I explained, and Quinn snorted in amusement.
“He’s never late for practice,” she scoffed good-naturedly.
“How did you even get there in time?” Red demanded, slightly outraged.
“Long legs,” I answered easily. I didn’t tell her that her text prompted me to run, so I did get there on time. I pulled my phone out and showed her the locker room clock. I’d made it with literally one minute to spare. Red pushed the phone away from her with a disgruntled huff.
“You want coffee, Ash?” Quinn asked as she stood.
“Yeah, thanks.” I looked at Ava as Quinn made her way to the counter. “She may need help to carry everything.”
Ava met my look with one of her own, then she huffed out a laugh. “Subtle,” she mocked me as she stood. “Don’t give her any grief.”
“As if.” I gave my best wide innocent look that still fooled my mom. When she turned to go stand with Quinn, I turned to face Red full-on. “So, what the fuck were you thinking?”
Red’s mouth flattened as she tugged her hand out of mine. “No grief, remember?”
“It’s a question. Not grief.”
“You’re swearing.”
“I swear a lot, you said it yourself.”
“I wanted coffee and a muffin.”
“You couldn’t wait?”
“I was hungry, I skipped dinner.”
“Why?”
