Page 91 of Play The Game

“So is looking up Lips’ medical history and telling the whole class. So is stealing the recordings of two of your students going for a midnight swim. Fuck, I’d say nothing is as invasive as showing up to your study sessions with no panties and cum leaking down your legs, but you didn’t mind then.”

My eyes flick back to Harley, and he’s watching Ms. Vivienne with a satisfaction that can only come from being pushed too fucking far. No panties. I could rip her fucking face off.

She dares to call my breeding poor?!

Her life is saved by a knock at the door and a red-faced Mr. Trevelen escorting a substitute teacher for the class.

My in-school suspension is lifted, and we don’t see Ms. Vivienne in our history class again.

After family dinner that night, I sit with Blaise while he strums our song out on his guitar. I hum softly under my breath, just enough that he can hear the tune, and the smile on his face is only a little sad. I hate the miserable cloud that’s hanging over him again but no playlist, make out session, or gallons of ice cream have managed to fix it yet.

“Ash told me my agent said something to you,” he mumbles, and I shrug. I’ve been waiting for this conversation. I knew it would happen at some point.

“He’s a pervert. I can’t promise you I won’t skin him if I see him again.”

Blaise just nods and finishes off the song with a little flourish. “I made up my mind; I’m breaking my contract. Well, Vanth is but it’s my project and Finn is the only musician I work with regularly. I spoke to him about it while I was in New York and he’s sick of Fyre trying to clean up the songs, too.”

Finn Benson, the drummer. I try to keep my face blank like I haven’t stalked the utter crap out of Blaise’s career and know everything about the only other person in Blaise’s life he trusts, but he smirks at me and it’s clear I fail.

“You’re not going to fangirl all over Finn, are you? I’ll be hurt you’ve replaced me.”

Avery scoffs at him. “No, you’ll be jealous as hell because you enjoy being her idol. Besides, you can’t go solo. Do you have any idea how much it would cost you to break your contract? Without your inheritance, you’ll be bankrupt and begging on the streets. I think you’re forgetting that you’re a millionaire now, not a billionaire.”

“I’ll be fine,” he says, nonchalantly shrugging, and Avery’s eyes narrow as she looks at him over her phone. She’s been messaging Atticus at all hours of the day and night, and I’m waiting for the engagement announcement. I’m sure it’ll come any day and Ash will start flipping tables and stabbing people. I make a mental note to hide his weapons.

“You can’t even wash dishes without guidance, Morrison, how the hell are you going to survive poverty?”

The bathroom door swings open and Ash strolls out, tucked neatly into his pajamas, and I look the fuck away before I get caught drooling over him. I try to fix my eyes on my literature assignment, still spread out in front of me from where I was studying before Blaise distracted me, but Catcher in the Rye just can’t compete with Ash Beaumont’s nipples.

Blaise smirks at Avery and calls out to her twin, “I’m breaking my record contract and paying the company out. I’ll be destitute.”

Ash doesn’t break his stride as he walks over to his drinks tray and pours himself a bourbon. “Do it; I’ll cover you until you’re back on your feet. It’s for the Mounty, right? Let Harley know, he’ll be pissed if you don’t let him cover shit as well. What do your monthly expenses look like these days?”

Harley is down at the pool, putting in extra training sessions for his upcoming competition. Without Ms. Vivienne’s bullshit study group he’s thrown himself back into a rigorous training schedule, but he’s so much fucking happier now.

Avery’s scowl darkens, and when I open my mouth she shoots me a look. “You bled for your money, Lips, let the fucker starve. And, in fact, Harley isn’t paying shit after everything the Mounty did to get it back for him.”

I join her on the couch and tuck my arm into hers before I help to stop this fight from really getting out of hand. “His agent told me he’d enjoy his turn with me on tour. He was only disappointed it wasn’t you getting passed around.”

Blaise stiffens and looks up. Apparently knowing something happened and hearing the specifics are two very different things.

Avery gags dramatically. “Fine. Ash and I will pay an allowance, but you better make your solo record the best damn thing anyone has ever heard.”

Blaise is still looking pissed, and he only turns away from me when Ash hands him a beer. “It is. Star is going to sing on it too.”

Ash sits next to me and slips a hand onto my thigh to trace little patterns while he drinks his bourbon. “And when do we get to hear this song?”

I clear my throat. “When I can sing it without puking.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

We fall into a new routine now that Harley’s days aren’t full of cougar flirting and bullshit study groups. Sundays become my favorite day of the week, waking up tangled up in boys and nothing on my schedule now that I’ve finished all of my assignments.

With Mr. Embley on the Jackal’s payroll and things getting worse in the Bay, Ash finally relents and quits the track team. He still goes for a run each morning, but we quickly discover the real benefit of the training sessions wasn’t the exercise, or even the gym credits, it was the lax attitude of Mr. Embley when it came to Ash unleashing his vitriol on other students. The man didn’t give a fuck about what came out of Ash’s mouth, as long as he was winning. Without the constant outlet for his rage, it built up and he was fouled out of the season opening game of basketball in the first minute, a feat I didn’t know was possible. When the coach gave him shit, he and Blaise both walked out.

Now all three of them beat the shit out of each other in the boxing ring while running their mouths to their heart’s content. When I try to apologize for my baggage ruining the sport for him, he gives me a shitty look and snaps, “I don’t give a fuck about team sports, Mounty. I was just doing it for the gym credit.”

After a late breakfast, I walk Avery to her dance class and then head to the gym to meet the guys. I thank God, the universe, fate, and a million other things I don’t believe in when I arrive to find all three of them stripped down to work out. Hoo boy, I need to talk my vagina down because I might just pass the fuck out at the sight of them.