Make My Move (Hannaford Prep #5) - J. Bree Page 0,5

running on autopilot while I call him out on his shit. “So you’re still trying to pretend you’re only interested in what’s going on with Avery? Right. Totally logical, Arbour, I definitely believe you.”

His jaw clenches so hard I think he’s going to break his teeth, but at least he doesn’t hit me for once.

He’s getting fucking jacked.

“In or out, decide now because I’m going,” he says, and I shrug at him as I follow him over to where the Mounty is sitting.

No other students are sitting anywhere close to her, wary of both her reputation and her poverty because half of these airheaded rich kids think it’s contagious. She looks so different in her uniform, still thinner than last year but she already looks less… wary. Like Avery’s friendship has eased something in her and softened her up a bit from the sharp and jumpy Mounty she was last year.

The second she looks up at us both that calmness disappears and she’s back to being the same old sharp-tongued Mounty, constantly tearing us down without any fear of what we’ll do about it.

No wonder Harley is obsessed.

I ignore the part of me that is also, maybe, just a little bit interested in watching her.

This shit is too messy for me to get involved.

“Seriously. I’m not dealing with either of you this fucking early in the morning unless it’s a life or death situation. Is someone bleeding?”

Harley snorts at her and offers her a glass of juice, which she stares at like it’s poison and shakes her head. “I’d rather not start my week off with the runs, thanks, asshole.”

I glance between them both while Harley roars with laughter, the type he doesn’t do around anyone but his family, and if I wasn’t so caught up on her words I’d be fucking worried about it, but there’s something going on between the two of them. There has to be, what the fuck else would her words mean?

Dammit. Am I jealous of Arbour right now because that’s just fucking stupid, getting involved with the Mounty is the worst possible option.

Doesn’t stop me from wanting to kill him for the smug grin on his face when he drawls at me, “Don’t ask, man. We had a great winter break last year. I like to think that was when we became friends.”

She doesn’t take that well, pointing a knife at him and snapping, “We are not friends. I’m Avery’s friend and you two are firmly Team Ash.”

Team Ash?

Since when were there teams? This shit is getting out of hand. The moment I start looking at her, curiously trying to figure out what her deal is, she blushes and starts mumbling at her plate. I shove some food into my mouth but barely taste a thing.

I’m sure Harley sees the blush just as well as I do, the only hint that she was once a fan of my music and can’t quite let that shit go, and I refuse to look at the seething jealousy I know is happening in Harley’s direction.

He might see just how fucking smug I am about it.

I think Harley is about to start a fucking war with me, here and now, over that blush when the doors to the dining hall open and Joey saunters in with his little crowd of simpering assholes to distract us all.

Thank fuck.

“Look, it’s only a matter of time before Aves wears Ash down and then we’ll all be one big happy fucking family. So stop fighting it. We’re friends by association,” says Harley.

“Fuck off,” the Mounty mumbles with a mouthful of food and though that should be disgusting, it’s kind of cute how much she stuffs in. She’s not looking at either of us while she does it though, her focus entirely on her plate and it makes me want to poke at her, piss her off a little and see how far I can push her.

“God, are you going to be a grumpy ass like Harley all the time? There’s only so much of that shit I can take.”

She stiffens at the sound of my voice, like she’s startled I’m talking to her, and Harley elbows me with a chuckle, as if he’s not pissed at me for daring to speak to her. I laugh back, only because it’s that or call him out on it and there’s enough drama in our lives with Ash being pissed off.

Harley clears his throat and the moment the Mounty looks up at him he catches