Make My Move (Hannaford Prep #5) - J. Bree Page 0,74

at the sneer in his tone and shrug with a smirk as we walk toward the dining hall for lunch. “There’s spoons in there that can definitely count as a weapon, so I’ll be babysitting your morbid ass until we’re sure you can be trusted.”

Avery and Harley are already in there waiting, Lips nowhere to be seen. I notice Ash trying to look discreet about checking for her, but he’s about as subtle as I am these days.

We’re all fucking pathetic.

I grab a couple of pizza slices, and Ash ignores all of the food in favor of an iced coffee because apparently caffeine is a three-course meal for him these days. Avery eyes him with suspicion but doesn’t say a word as she slides her salmon over to him.

He sighs and then eats it, knowing better than to argue with her today.

“Why the fuck isn’t she coming down to eat with us?” Harley snaps, and Avery rolls her eyes so fucking loudly I’m surprised Lips doesn’t hear it from wherever she’s holed up.

“She’s freaking about exams and gone full Mounty scholarship girl psycho about it. I think she’s sleeping less than even you do at the moment and there’s textbooks everywhere in our room. I had to move one off of our toilet seat at three in the morning to pee last night.”

He frowns at her and stabs at his lunch dramatically. “Shouldn’t you be forcing her to eat and sleep a bit more like you do with us? Why does she get a pass?”

If looks could kill Harley would hit the fucking floor. “Do I need to remind you that Lips is my best friend and not yours? She’s not a child; I don’t need to babysit her.”

The words ‘like I do with the rest of you’ hang in the air, clear as a freaking bell for us to hear. Ash still doesn’t say a word, only now it’s really starting to look suspicious.

Harley thinks so too. “What the fuck have you done now? This is your doing, right?”

Jesus, the table is about to be fucking flipped and Ash is going to choke him the fuck out.

Except he doesn’t.

He just ignores us all, which is the biggest fucking red flag I’ve ever seen in my fucking life, but Harley is too set on Lips’ ass to follow up on it, instead harassing Avery about her until I’m sure she’s about to stab him in the throat. So I sit in silence with Ash and just eat my lunch, trying and failing to not wonder what exactly it is that Ash did to her.

I do everything I can to forget about the whole thing and I come pretty fucking close until the rumors start during the last class of the day. I’m in math with the rest of the underachievers, trying to take half decent notes for Lips to deconstruct for me later when some idiots behind me start their gossiping.

“I can’t believe the Mounty finally put out and the bet is done. Fuck, two million dollars that my parents didn’t know about… it might’ve been worth dealing with Arbour and the beating he’d have given me.”

My neck nearly fucking snaps as I try to figure out who the fuck is talking about Lips because I’m going to kill them for daring. I never really notice any of the sheep around me, but I need to know who the fuck is dying.

Then their words actually filter into my goddamn brain.

Someone has won the bet.

Fuck.

Fuck, was it Ash? Is this why she’s avoiding us all now? Harley is going to fucking murder him. There’s no coming back from this shit; Avery has no chance of keeping us all together now.

“The Mounty shouldn’t even be eligible to win; all that fucking money and it goes to some slum kid? It’s fucking bullshit.”

I turn around completely, ready to rip Sebastien’s fucking head off. “What the fuck kind of shit are you dribbling right now, dickhead?"

He blinks at me like he forgot I was even here in the same class before fumbling over his words. "The bet... the scholarship freshman kid won the bet last night; he's getting the money. I wasn't... I wasn't saying shit about any of your friends, just talking about the money, man."

There's no fucking way.

"Spreading fucking rumors is talking shit, dickhead."

He gulps. "I'm not! He handed in proof; ask anyone!"

I get up and walk the fuck out.

The teacher calls out to me but I don't give a fuck, my