Make My Move (Hannaford Prep #5) - J. Bree Page 0,85
Lips steps out of the room without a single mark on her. Not a speck of dust or crease to show what the actual fuck went down in there.
I’m instantly pissed off at myself for not snooping.
I cover it with a smirk, drawling out to her, “If I asked you what you did, would you tell me?”
“Who says I even did anything? We had a chat,” she says with a smile.
What a load of shit.
I snort and shove my phone at her, hitting play on the video. There’s no arguing with the sheer terror etched into every line of the creep. Her eyes light up as she sinks her teeth into that perfect lip of hers. Fuck, I wish it was my teeth. I miss the taste of her, the feel of her body on mine, her hips moving like they have a mind of their own.
Fuck.
Focus, Arbour.
“A chat did that?”
She nods and then tucks her arm into mine like she does with Avery. I force my body not to freeze or show any reaction but this has to fucking mean something, right? If she’s comfortable enough to casually touch me, I have to be making some progress. When I’m silent for a little too long, running all of the variables through my head and sending myself just a little fucking crazy, she blushes and tries to move.
Nope.
No fucking chance of that happening, so I grab her hand and thread our fingers together. Of course she doesn’t just let it go, but there’s no way I’m giving in now.
“Uhm—”
“Get over it, Mounty, we’re friends now, remember?”
She sighs and drags me down the hall like this is so fucking inconvenient for her, but her fingers are holding on just as tight as mine are. Even with my phone blowing up in my pocket with texts from the others, I just enjoy this little fucking moment in time where she’s letting me in.
Even if it’s only for a minute.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ash
Whatever the Mounty did to get Avery and I clear from Senior, it’s fucking life changing.
I know it had to be her doing, that maybe she wasn’t ordering a hit back in Haven but instead buying us a reprieve, because I haven’t set eyes on the man since then. Not a single demand to come home and that can’t be a coincidence.
The phone call I received from one of my father’s men to say that we’ll be staying at Hannaford for the entire break was short and cutting, but I feel like a weight has shifted off of my chest. Sure, it also means Joey is staying here and I’ll have to watch out for him the entire time, but that’s nothing new.
I pack a bag to take over to Avery’s room and when I get there I find the Mounty giggling like a schoolgirl on her bed with earphones in.
Clearly a present from Blaise and I refuse to let myself get jealous that he can make her that happy… or that she’s listening to music I might not have heard yet.
She spots me staring down at her and glares back at me, her cheeks flushed and rosy. “What time are you leaving?”
I smirk back, playing along for now. “Avery didn’t tell you? Our father has been called away on business and he told us to stay here. You’re stuck with all three Beaumonts this week, Mounty.”
She shrugs like it’s nothing, like she has had nothing to do with this and instead shoves the earphone back into her ear to shut me out.
I don’t take dismissals well and certainly not from her.
I tug it back out, ignoring the glare she throws at me. “I haven’t seen my father since you had your mysterious little midnight meeting in Haven. How long should I be expecting this separation to continue?”
Her face falls into that carefully blank slate she’s the expert at wearing as she sits up on the bed, her eyes flicking behind me as she answers, “If I had anything to do with your father’s busy schedule, I would think that after graduation you and Avery would both be free of him anyway and the… interference would no longer be necessary.”
And what the fuck can I say back to that? She’s told me everything and absolutely fucking nothing.
I want nothing more than to spend the rest of the break stalking her until I know every last one of her secrets, all of the things that she won’t tell us in the shared looks with