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I reached in my pocket, trying to remember who the last person I called was and hoped it was someone at this party. This had worked with Chad, so maybe lightning would strike twice. I just had to keep her crazy ass talking.
“But then I heard the guys talking when they were looking for the study, they were explaining to Nikolai that Addison wasn’t responsible, that they thought it was Mike. Then Nikolai asked if they could stop pretending that you and Jack broke up. Pretending! I couldn’t believe it, Ava! Again, I was so close, then Jack was ripped out of my hands again.”
Casey was starting to wave her arms, gesturing her frustration, but as one of her hands was holding a gun, I felt myself doing all these micro movements to avoid being shot, but not moving too much in case she’d forgotten about her decision to possibly shoot me.
“I’m sorry, Casey, I understand why that would upset you,” I murmured, not sure how to play this.
When I said that, her eyes focused on me like dark blue tractor beams and she shook her head slowly. “No, you don’t understand, Ava. I’ve been waiting and waiting for the right time. I’ve always been in love with Jack, since we were little. I became friends with Addison because I knew her family was close with his and thought I’d be able to spend time with him, make him see how perfect we’d be together, you know?” she asked, her mood once again swung from seeing me as her sworn enemy to seeing me as her girlish confidante.
I nodded, fearful of saying anything and eager for her to continue talking. I had called someone on my call list, but I didn’t dare look down to see who it was.
“But it backfired—he hates Addison. Well, he hated that their parents kept trying to shove them together. To be honest, so did I, so even though I was disappointed not to have access to him, I was happy that he wasn’t with Addison. Of course, Addison wanted him and thought he was like her birthright or something. She’s so delusional,” Casey said with no irony whatsoever.
I kept nodding, this time trying to give her a ‘can-you-believe-her?’ look.
“So, I waited. See, Jack had issues. I don’t know exactly what was going on with his family, but last year he moved into the pool house. It was great because I could see him any time I wanted. There are windows everywhere in that place,” she revealed, making it clear to me that when she was “seeing” Jack, he wasn’t aware of it.
“There were lots of other girls, but I wasn’t worried because he never took any of them seriously, and he absolutely never dated any of them. Not even Shelby. God, did that piss her off, but I knew, I knew, he was just messing around and when he was ready to date, he would choose me.”
Oh god, I knew where this was headed but I couldn’t think of anything to say to divert the direction of the conversation. Where was everyone? Had anyone gotten my call? Should I try to hang up and call someone else?
“I got a sign last spring that my time was coming. I had a party and Jack got super drunk. Addison tried to make a move on him by bringing him in my room. I followed them and saw her trying to kiss him. Ava, I almost died because he started kissing her back, but when he realized who it was he pushed her away!” she said in a thrilled voice. “He was really angry, told her to get out and laid back on my bed. My bed, Ava. That was a sign, I knew it. I climbed into bed with him and we slept together for the first time. It was so perfect,” she finished in this dreamy voice.
“You had sex with him?” I blurted out, unable to help myself, feeling sickened at the thought of her taking advantage of him the same way as when he had been an adolescent.
Casey looked deeply offended. “Are you crazy, Ava? Of course not! I wouldn’t do that to him. I’m not Addison,” she sneered.
God, I wished she wasn’t holding a gun on me, if only for the opportunity to poke some holes in her moral superiority, but obviously that conversation would have to wait.
“I just slept next to him. Of course, he didn’t know, but on some level I’m sure he did, you know what I mean?” Raising her eyebrows at me, encouraging me to see things the way she did.
Nope.
“He knew what he was signaling by sleeping in my bed. I broke up with Mike the next day. I was giving Mike a chance because Jack was just not getting it. But when he slept in my bed, I knew it was time to dump Mike.”
I went back to nodding my head, once again fearful of angering her.
“At Mark Cassidy’s party, I thought I would have my chance. He had just blown off Shelby, but he left with you!” she said venomously. “Why, Ava, why? I’ve waited so long for him, why did you take him? He wasn’t yours!” Casey screeched, nearly stomping her foot in childish anger.
Unable to think of how to defuse the situation, I decided to be direct. “Are you going to kill me, Casey?”
Casey looked offended by my question, again ignoring the fact she was holding a gun on me. “No, of course, I’m not going to kill you.”
I sighed in relief, letting out the breath I’d been holding for the last ten minutes. I started to walk toward the door to get the hell out of there.
“Stop, you can’t leave,” Casey ordered, raising the gun a little higher in my direction.
“But you just said–”
“I said I wasn’t going to kill you. Jack would never forgive me. No, I’m not going to kill you. You’re going to kill yourself.”
****
Chapter 44
Jack
“What the fuck are you talking about, Crenshaw?” I barked, still trying to understand what he was talking about.
