AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Forty-Five
Rebel
“Awww thanks, babe,” Thorn teases, breaking the shocked silence of the room as everyone titters.
Man, I know we fucked up a few times when we told Raven how we felt, but I don’t think we did anything that awkward.
“Bax…” Raven begins. She bites the corner of her lip.
“You don’t have to say anything, but unlike some, I’m not living in denial anymore. And if you can forgive me, I’m not going anywhere.”
She nods at him, trying to keep a poker face on her feelings, but I can tell she’s fucking made up by his revelation.
Awww shit. Makes me want to spill all the feels.
“What’s next on the list of shit to deal with?” I ask, keen to move this party forward.
“Ace,” Jax cuts in.
“Okay, what’s the problem there?” I shrug. Because I get it, I do, but I also understand that that’s just Ace’s way.
“He should have told us.”
“Yes, he should,” I reply. “But I also understand why he didn’t.” Jax scowls at that so I feel the need to add, “Like you wouldn’t have kept secrets from the rest of us if she asked.”
Jax remains quiet. Surprising, as I expected him to argue and lie.
“Do it again,” Ace adds unhelpfully. I catch the smile Raven tries to hide at that.
“Moron,” Thorn sniggers, slapping him on the arm. Ace just shrugs unapologetically.
“It’s done, guys. We can’t change anything so you just need to get over it,” I announce to the room in general. “Raven, you good with Ace?”
“I am. I don’t regret asking him to keep my secrets back then, but when you guys found me and discovered Phoenix, I shouldn’t have expected him to keep lying to you. It’s not his fault it all came out so horribly. I’m sorry, guys.”
Ace leans over and takes Raven’s hand, gently kissing the back of it.
“Hvala vam, lepa.” He smiles at her.
Phew, two down, how many to go? Who else am I supposed to be pissed at?
“What’s next?” I ask.
“Phoenix,” Jax says at the same time as Raven says “Lizzie.”
Jax scowls but shrugs, as if to say okay, let’s do this.
“What the hell happened with Lizzie?” I ask. I’m worried about this one; if anything is likely to flare my temper to life, it’s this.
“When Lizzie first came to West Prep, I could see straight away that you were all interested in her. I didn’t want us to fight over another girl; I couldn’t face losing any of you the way we lost Michael,” Jax begins to explain.
I pull a face because any mention of that bastard makes my blood boil.
“So I dropped hints to Tilly, that I wanted to get rid of the new girl, fast. I knew what that would mean.”
My nostrils flare as I try to keep my temper under wraps. I’m not surprised by Jax’s confession. He used to do all kinds of stupid shit in school, often using Tilly to take care of old girlfriends who had trouble letting go. They often transferred out by the time Tilly was done with them.
“When you all started to show an interest in Lizzie, I knew I was doing the right thing in trying to protect us. But as I got to know Lizzie more, I realised my methods were way off.”
