I press the button on the door, rolling the window back up. “We’re not here to take fucking notes for him. We’ll surveil and get out. This isn’t a school assignment.”
Ashton grumbles under his breath.
“What’s that?” I glance in his direction.
He folds his arms across his chest. “You’ve been a dick since you found out I’m dating Nova.”
A dark laugh bubbles and seeps out past my lips. “You think that’s why I’m angry with you?”
Ashton shifts in the front seat. “Isn’t it?”
“You broke the one cardinal rule that I had regarding Nova and then you proceeded to lie to me for months!” I keep my gaze trained on the road, but I want to pull over, throw Ashton out, let him fend for himself.
“Nova is old enough to make her own decisions. She’s not a child anymore, and you need to stop treating her like one.”
“I’m not treating her like a child. She just turned eighteen. Did you even wait until she was legal or were you?—”
He interrupts me. “I didn’t touch your sister until she consented.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” My jaw clenches.
“She was eighteen. I swear I never laid a finger on her until she was of age.”
“Still doesn’t make it any better,” I grumble and glare at him. “You were warned to stay away from her!”
“I can’t help my feelings for Nova. Yes, you told everyone on the team she wasn’t some girl to fuck around with. My feelings for her are genuine. We hang out all the time; you’ve seen that, the flirting, the other stuff, it just developed on its own.” Ashton’s voice is calm, but I don’t feel the least bit calm, listening to him tell me about Nova.
“You only think those feelings are genuine because you’ve never experienced them before. What happens when you meet another girl who knocks your socks off? You’ll break Nova’s heart, and I’ll be left picking up the pieces.” I don’t want to see my little sister getting hurt by my best friend.
“Okay, I know I may have made a few mistakes in the past with girls?—”
“A few?” I laugh at his exaggeration of a few. He’s slept with tons of girls, more than I can keep track, and I doubt that Ashton even knows how many girls in total he’s bedded.
“I’ve fucked up, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to keep screwing up.”
“Seems like it to me. That’s all you’ve ever done, Ashton. You’re Captain of the Fuck a Girl Squad.”
He doesn’t so much as flinch. “That’s not even a thing. And no one calls me that.”
“The team calls you that.”
“Liar.” Ashton glances at me. “Admit it. You’re just jealous of what Nova and I have.”
Has he lost his mind? “You’re kidding me. I can attest I’m not the least bit jealous of your relationship with my sister.”
I glance at him, and he shrugs. “Semantics. You know what I mean. What we share, the fact we’re close and can tell each other everything. There are no secrets between us. We both actually like each other and can stand to be in the same room together.”
I flinch at his mention of secrets. That’s what’s been tearing Harper and me apart at every turn. When things finally get back on track, there are new secrets, new surprises that seem to want to find their way to destroy our relationship.
Not this time.
Not anymore.
I won’t let anything or anyone come between Harper and me.
Exhaling a heavy sigh, I make the turn-off for the road for our mission. It’s nearly two hours to midnight, which should give us plenty of time to scope out the area without being seen.
The clouds are thick, the sky black as night.
