Page 88 of Play The Game

Illi chuckles. “Good fucking luck to him. She might be prissy but the girl has claws and the grit to back it up.”

That warms something in my belly. I love that he can see her worth just as much as I can. “She’s fucking besotted so we need a full check. The last guy she got into… we had to deal with. Piece of shit. So, we’re doing this right, Illi.”

“Of course, kid. Gimme the dickhead’s details and I’ll rummage through his fucking sock drawer until we know he’s clean.”

“Thanks. I owe you.”

“Shut it. Hey, what happened to the other guy? He still breathing?”

I grunt. “Unfortunately. Harley had him permanently taken out, and now he’s in his own version of hell. A wheelchair and a non-functioning dick.”

Illi roars with laughter. “That’s fucking good. Send me his name too. Tell the Ice Queen it’s an early birthday present from Odie and me.”

I cackle and hang up, texting him through Atticus and Rory’s details. I should just leave the rapist asshole to his own hell but fuck it. The world will be a better place without him around wasting oxygen.

Blaise sidles up behind me, resting his hands over my hips and kissing my neck. “Why are you telling Illi about Rory? I thought we were done with that dickhead.”

I shiver and try not to melt into a puddle of goo at his feet. “I need to get Atticus checked out. What do you think of him? Besides hating him on principle for Ash’s sake?”

Blaise huffs and his breath tickles at my neck. I have to take a step away from him so I don’t embarrass myself. Well, more than usual.

“I think he’s an arrogant dickhead, but I also think he’s kind of perfect for Avery. Don’t tell Ash I said that, he’ll fucking slit my throat in my sleep. He hates him. Actually, he fucking despises him.”

I frown and move to make us both coffee. Blaise doesn’t drink coffee much, but I refuse to let him drink beer while he studies so I’m slowly converting him.

“Why? Did something happen or does he hate him on principle?”

Blaise slumps down onto the floor in front of the TV in his usual spot. “Aves was fucking devastated when Atticus stopped talking to her. She holed herself up in her room and watched those stupid romance movies for weeks. It was pathetic. Nothing like she normally is. Harley ended up moving in with her to make sure she didn’t do something stupid, and Ash went on the warpath. He nearly got kicked out for how often he was in the fight club fights. Avery eventually came around and dealt with the fall-out, but Ash hates the idea of Atticus in her life again because he already knows the power he has over her.”

I grimace and join him on the floor, smiling as he sips the coffee without pulling a face. I must be getting better at making his super sweet. I may like my candy, but my coffee needs to be as black as the stain on my heart to keep me going.

“I don’t think it’s worth getting into a relationship with someone if you feel anything less than that.”

Blaise leans back and watches me carefully. “Less than what?”

I shrug. “Less than all in. That’s how I feel about you. And Ash and Harley. It’s how I know you guys are worth all of the danger and risks to keep alive. Why start something with anyone who doesn’t hold that power?”

Blaise grins and when he glances down at his textbook, there’s color on his cheeks that squeezes my heart a little.

“Why the fuck are you blushing over that?” I laugh. Boys are fucking confusing.

He shrugs at me and flicks a pen in my direction. “I know you feel like that because you risk your neck for us all the time, but you don’t really say it. It’s just fucking weird to hear you say it.”

I huff at him. “I don’t mess around, Blaise.”

He shrugs again and I let it go, focusing on his assignments until I’m happy he’s going to nail every last one of them.

When Avery gets back from dance, Blaise leaves with a lingering but sweet kiss and I ignore Avery’s questioning look. I wait until she’s showered and in bed before I tell her about my conversation with Illi.

“I don’t need him to kill Rory. I’m comfortable with where he is.”

I nod and switch the light off. “It’s the principle of it. Illi doesn’t ever let rapists live. What happened with Odie taught him that lesson the hardest way possible.”

Ash and Avery leave for the recital early the next morning, but only after Avery and I repack her bag eight times to be sure she has the perfect outfit to bring Atticus to his knees. If the man has a brain, and eyes, literally any outfit would achieve this, but Avery is determined and precise, and I’ll sit in a bathroom with her looking at dresses until my eyes bleed if I have to. I text Illi and he promises to follow them there, though he doesn’t seem very happy about tagging along to high society functions. I think dinner at Hannaford has ruined the illusion that the higher societies have better things for us.

They certainly don’t have better food.

I go to classes with Harley and Blaise, and we eat lunch in the dining hall. The whispers that follow me are even fucking worse now that I’m on my stupid school arrest, but I grit my teeth and just fucking deal with it. Harley offers to start practicing with his new knives I got him for Christmas loud enough that the little freshmen assholes near us hear and scurry away.