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“You live with her, J, you should be able to talk to her—I was under the impression you’d gotten past the verbal blockage though…” I glanced behind us. “Maybe not.”
“She’s my friend, Lachlan.” There was a warning layered into that sentence.
“Is she now?” I raised my brows.
“Yes. I protect my friends.”
“You think you have to protect her from me?” Fuck, that actually stung. “What the hell?”
“You don’t listen. You and your friends dumped paint on her.” He was ticking the items off on his fingers. “I heard about you throwing her in the pond. You were hunting her down and kissing her constantly.”
“That was—”
“What?” Jonas met my hostility with absolute ice. “You knew who she was, just like I did. Just like Ramsey did. More—Itoldyou I liked her.”
“You said youcouldlike her.”
“At the beginning of the year, and then I said…”
A sigh ripped out of me. “You said a lot of things.”
“I said, ‘you know…she surprises me. A lot.’”
I barely remembered that.
“Then I said, ‘I like her. For real.’” He continued to stare at me.
Fuck. He had said that. “And you asked me for advice.”
“Kissing her wasn’t the advice I thought you would offer,” Jonas continued.
“Kissing her had nothing to do with you,” I said, locking my gaze on his. “Not one damn thing.”
His expression tensed, but I didn’t flinch. Kissing Ace had never been about Jonas. He was the last thing on my mind. I couldn’t even pinpointwhyI wanted to kiss her the first time beyond just getting in her face and after that…
“You’re an asshole.”
“We established that,” I told him lightly. “Now, are you opening the door or am I?”
“You remember thisisn’tyour suite anymore, right?” But he was already pulling out his keycard.
“Yep, it’s why I offered to let you do it.” The fact the comment earned me another glare that devolved into rolled eyes just amused me. Jonas could be salty all he wanted. I’d kind of missed his comments to go with the sour looks.
He opened the door and a funky smell rolled out to greet us. No way Jonas forgot the trash. He had a sensitive nose and noticed it even when we bought the damn bags with odorizer in them.
“What the fuck—” Jonas’ question snapped off like ice cracking and I pushed in past him. Ace was on the floor, sprawled, and the copper scent in the air was blood.
“Call Ramsey,” I ordered as I crossed to where she was laying, face down. She was still in her uniform. She even had her damn shoes on. “Ace?”
I dropped to my knees to ease her over. There was a small puddle of blood on the floor; more of it spilled down her too pale face and stained the icy blue of her hair. There was too much of it.
“C’mon, Ace,” I said, putting a hand to her lips and the first wash of breath against my fingers sent relief spiraling through me. I wanted to get a look at the wounds.
“What happened?” Ramsey was there, just a touch out of breath. I didn’t doubt he’d run up the stairs.
“No fucking clue,” I told him. I wanted to check her skull, and find where the hell the blood was coming from. “We might need an ambulance.”
Wouldn’t the school shit on that? After all the negative press generated by the fire, having a student assaulted on campus…
