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“Did you do as I asked?” Ashton asks as he pulls out onto the street and guns the engine.
I arch a brow, before I remember our conversation from earlier. His challenge. “Yeah,” I admit. “I never would have been comfortable with him based on her reactions to him. But we already knew he was scum.”
Ash sighs, like I’m not getting it and I tighten my hands into fists in my lap. “The point is Bri knows he’s scum too.”
I don’t roll my eyes. I’m not even tempted to. The hints of what Ash thinks is happening is too serious for me to even consider blowing it off. “She did seem tense when he was at her side.” I rub my hand over my jaw. “He didn’t like her interaction with V either,” I say, thinking about the look on his face as he watched the girls embrace. There’s no reason for him to be wary or jealous of her. Brielle is as straight as they come.
“I overheard her and Momma M talking too,” he says. I saw that interaction, the hug he gave her. Whatever she said to him had him shook. “She tried to talk Brielle out of the relationship too. Said it wasn’t a path for a girl like her.”
He doesn’t have to expand, I already know exactly what he means. For as much as Mrs. M has always loved getting Bri to play the perfect part for the events, she always knew exactly who her daughter was. Despite the blonde hair, and blue eyes, Brielle was never meant to be the Barbie someone like Carson expects her to be.
“That’s what made her storm away?”
He shakes his head, his hands gripping the steering wheel as he takes a turn too fast. I place my hand on the dashboard to steady myself and marrow my eyes at him. “No, she asked about us. Then Bri stormed off.”
I hum in thought. Nothing about Brielle and Carson is adding up and I guess we aren't the only ones to see it, but for some reason she’s all the more sensitive when we get brought up. “Did you really get answers tonight?”
He gives a clipped nod, but hesitates. “Sort of, but it just led to a whole slew of more questions.”
The rest of the drive is silent, both of our minds in overdrive. His last statement leaves a feeling of foreboding over the car.
By the time we finally make it back to Hudson’s and down to his poker room for privacy, I can feel the tension of tonight weighing down on all of us. Zaiden heads straight for the bar in the corner, pouring himself a generous slosh of whiskey and throwing it back with a grit of his teeth. Hudson seems relaxed at first glance, but I can see the annoyed glint in his eye as he paces back and forth. Then there is Ash, I try not to stare, but after everything that has gone down the last couple of hours it’s hard not to.
What was he doing inside that closet with her?
What answer did he find that resulted in the taste of her on his lips?
“Well,” Z snaps. “We are here so someone better start talking.”
Our eyes all collide as we wait for someone to break the silence, but when my gaze shifts to Ashton, the other two follow. He is the one with all the questions, and apparently some answers, but I will be the judge on that.
“I talked to Brielle,” he says, noncommittally with a shrug. I mean I’m pretty sure he did a whole lot more than just talk, but who am I to rat him out? Especially when he had my back when I kept a secret of my own.
He has Zaiden and Hudson’s full attention now though. “And?’ Hudson commands. “What did she say?”
Ash hesitates, tapping his fingers against his thigh. “Nothing really, but she was acting weird, tense almost. I followed her into a closet to ask her some questions.”
Z cocks a brow at him. “You followed her into a closet?”
A dusting of red blush starts to coat Ash’s cheeks under Zaiden’s glare as he mutters, “Okay, maybe I dragged her into the closet.” A smile pulls at the corner of my mouth at his explanation and I have to suppress a laugh when both Hudson and Z scoff in unison.
“And just what did you and Brielle talk about in this closet?” Hudson asks, putting emphasis on the word talk. Clearly he isn’t buying Ash’s words, and I am interested to see how he expects to explain himself out of this one.
Zaiden rolls his eyes. “I’m sure I can fucking guess what they talked about.” He tosses back another whiskey and looks at Ash with disdain.
Ash zones in on him. “You want the details? Fine. I went down on her and fucked her with my tongue.Tasted every inch of her cunt with my tongue, licked up her come as she dripped down her thighs and it was the best damn thing I've ever tasted.” His words explode into an image so vivid that I almost groan at the thought of it. “Is that what you wanted to hear, Hollis?”
The tension in the room shifts and I know I’m not the only one thinking about what they did in more detail than necessary. I’m not sure how Z gets control of his emotions so fast but he is quick to snark back, “No, I want to know what bullshit reason we are here for.” It’s not hard to hear the jealousy in his tone, but does he realize the pain of her loss and betrayal can be heard too?
“Aw don’t be jealous, bro, she sucked your dick.” Of course Hudson is quick to joke but I can see him thinking about it too.
Him and Z start to argue back and forth but Ash’s voice cuts through them when he shouts, “She has bruises on her thighs!”
Silence descends as we take in his words.
Bruises. What the fuck does he mean bruises?
“I think Carson is hurting her.” Six words that change everything. “Think about it,” he goes on. “How she just dropped everything, changed schools, won’t talk to us, won’t talk to her family, always on edge and tense. What if something more sinister is going on?”
