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I felt tears prick my eyes at his concern. I nodded my head. “Yeah, it’s fine. It’s just been…a lot.”
“I know, baby, I know,” he whispered and pulled me into his embrace. God, it felt so good to lean on him, to sink into his warm body, inhale his scent, and have him take care of my problems for a minute.
We were still hugging when I opened my eyes and was greeted to the sight of Mike Crenshaw and Casey Woods making out about five feet away against a bank of lockers. What the hell? When had that happened?
I pulled away from Jack to stare for a moment and he followed my gaze.
“Well, I guess Crenshaw has rebounded,” Jack commented, going back to his phone.
“God, I feel bad for Casey. What if he’s just using her?”
Jack made a dismissive sound. “Nah, Casey and Mike dated last year, I think.”
“Still, what if she’s really into him and he’s just messing around?”
Jack looked up and pinned me with a stare. “Ava, you don’t have to worry about Casey. I think we already have enough on our plate dealing with this stuff,” he chided, gesturing to my locker. I couldn’t exactly disagree. I shot one more concerned look at the spectacle of Casey and Mike making out and turned my attention back to Jack.
“Who are you texting?”
“Nik. He doesn’t have first period, so I’m asking him to stop by a hardware store and get me something to deal with this paint.”
The bell rang, but I just stood there with Jack next to my vandalized locker. Some kids walked by and made snide comments until Jack glared at them, causing them to skitter away.
Jack pulled me to him and planted a hard kiss on my mouth. “Go to class, Ava. This will be gone by the time first period is over.”
With nothing else to do, I went to class.
****
Chapter 32
Jack
A couple of days later, I was sitting with Hannah and Nikolai at the lunch table waiting for Ava to show up. I hadn’t been in chemistry due to a meeting with my academic advisor, so I texted Ava to meet me here for lunch.
“So, who do you think is behind all these incidents?” Hannah asked as she and Nikolai shared a plate of food because they were so that couple. If they started feeding each other, I was out of here.
I shook my head. “Could be a couple people. Nothing has happened since Ava’s locker got messed with the other day, but I doubt it’s going to stop any time soon.”
“Well, not unless you break up with Ava,” Nikolai chimed in as he swiped a French fry and popped it in his mouth.
“Fuck you, Ivanov,” I grumbled. There was no fucking way that was happening. I could barely stand to be away from her as it was. In my mind, I was chalking it up to all this bullshit going on and my concern for her safety, but I knew I was going to eventually have to face some facts. Just not today.
Hannah was eating a bite of a grilled cheese sandwich when she looked over my shoulder, her dark blue eyes widening in surprise. I glanced back and found Ava trudging up to us in a t-shirt and shorts. While I appreciated the view of her long, smooth legs, it was forty-five degrees out today. What the hell?
“Ava, what the hell are you wearing?”
She slammed her books down on the table, her face, shoulders, and posture drooping in sequence, like falling dominoes. “Someone stole my clothes during gym this morning, so I’ve had to wear my gym clothes all day.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you text me?” My question came out distinctly more accusatory than I intended. I was just pissed she was being subjected to this bullshit.
Her head whipped around. “My phone is dead!” she retorted holding up her phone and waving it.
I took a deep breath. “Okay, sorry, I’m just getting frustrated about what’s going on.”
“How do you think I feel?” Ava replied hotly. While I didn’t like making her mad, I certainly preferred her anger to the look of dejection she had on her face when she walked in.
“I know, I know,” I said softly and pulled her toward me and kissed her head. She lost her ire and stole a couple of fries off Hannah’s plate.
