Ava rolls her eyes at me. “God, you’re such a blonde. Yes, with Cash.”
“But why?”
Ava takes a step forward, and I retreat farther back into the corner. I can’t stand breathing in the smell of her perfume.
“You have been a thorn in my side since I started dating Duncan.”
“You mean when you were cheating with him?”
She waves my words off. “Something about you keeps pulling Duncan back. And now I know why.”
“Why’s that?” I cross my arms, trying to keep my insides where they should be. My stomach has plummeted to my feet, and my heart is threatening to beat out of my chest.
“He wants what he can’t have. And based on how your relationship started with Cash, I see an opportunity.”
“Can’t you let us be?” I plead. “We have nothing to do with your relationship.”
“If you’re not dating Cash, then Duncan will want nothing to do with you and will want me.”
“God, Ava! Are you even hearing yourself? Why would you want to be with someone who doesn’t want to be with you?”
“Duncan doesn’t know what he wants.”
“So how do you know he wants you?”
Ava taps a bright blue nail against my forehead. “Because when he sees me in his room tonight, he’ll change his mind.”
“Ugh.”
That’s the last thing I want to be thinking about right now.
“And by the time we get home, you’ll have dumped Cash and all will be right in the world.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Don’t break up with Cash?”
I nod.
Ava leans in close. I can smell the gum on her breath. “Then I’ll tell everyone that what you two had was fake to win over the media.”
Bile rises in my throat. It would serve her right for me to puke all over her designer shoes.
“Why are you doing this?”
“To get what I want.”
“I don’t want Duncan, Ava!” I shout. A few people are lingering near the restrooms and turn to face us. The last thing I need is for people to find out about me and Cash from my big mouth.
“But I do!” she hisses. “And until you’re no longer the forbidden fruit he can’t have, I won’t be able to have his entire heart.”
“So I break up with Cash and that’s it? You keep my secret?”
A wicked smile takes over her face. It’s ugly. Cunning. Cutting so deep that I feel it down to my bones.
“Yes. If you want your pretty little boy toy to stay with the Black Diamonds, you’ll do as I say.”
“Ava—”
