you asked him to trust you. That goes both ways.”
“I know that,” I mumbled. “It’s her I don’t trust. But what if he decides I’m not worth the effort?”
“You really think that?”
I made a non-committal noise, managing to finally tear my gaze away from Caiden, becoming aware that Cassius was still talking to me.
“Sorry, what was that? I zoned out for a minute.”
He rolled his eyes but squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. “We’re gonna sort out this shit with Granville. I’ve been thinking, and”—his voice dropped, so Kinslee and I both had to lean in to hear him—“things aren’t adding up. Have you got time to talk?”
I picked up my phone to check the time. “I’ve got a lecture in twenty minutes. I’ll be free after that, though.”
“Good. Meet me out the front of the Brunswick building at four o’clock. We need to go somewhere we won’t be overheard.”
“You’re not leaving me behind.” Kinslee’s tone was firm, non-negotiable.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, babe. I’ll see if West is free, too. Z’s…busy, and I don’t wanna involve him or Cade yet, anyway. It might be speculation, but my instincts are never wrong.”
“Never? You seem very sure of yourself.” I laughed.
“Never.”
“It’s dark already.” I shivered, pulling my beanie hat lower so it covered my ears, sinking down onto the large flat stone that Cassius had covered with a thick blanket from his car.
“Do we have to sit on this? Have you used it for, you know?” Kinslee shone her phone torch onto the wool hesitantly, then glanced over to Cassius, who was crouched over what the boys had told me was a fire pit.
“Have I fucked anyone on it, you mean?”
“Yeah.”
“Yep.” He grinned, looking far too pleased with himself.
“Ugh!” I jumped up, brushing off my jeans, as Kinslee pretended to vomit.
He rolled his eyes at us both. “You two have no sense of humour. Of course I haven’t. West’s sitting on that one.”
“Cheers, Cass.” Weston pulled a face.
“It’s been washed, calm down.”
“It better have.”
Cassius shook his head and went back to building a fire. It was basically a small circular area in the courtyard of Alstone Castle, ringed with stones. Once he was finished, and he had a little fire going at the base of the pile, he leapt to his feet. “Chuck me the lighter fluid, will ya?” He pointed to a black plastic bottle near my feet, and I threw it to him. He sloshed a load of it over the logs.
“Burn, baby, burn!” he shouted, standing back and striking a match, throwing it into the midst of the pile.
There was a loud whoosh and a huge flame shot into the air, the sudden rush of heat making us all scramble backwards as quickly as we could.
“Fucking hell, Cass, how much lighter fluid did you put on that?” Weston stared at him in disbelief.
“Dunno.” He shrugged, unconcerned, collapsing next to Weston on the large stone next to the one me and Kinslee were sitting on. We watched in silence as the flames licked greedily at the logs, burning through the lighter fluid and dying down to what I would call a “normal” fire. I basked in the warm glow, my numb face gradually regaining some feeling.
“Let’s talk.” Weston spoke softly. “Cass? You wanna tell us what you’re thinking?”
Cassius nodded, then turned to look at me, his eyes glimmering in the firelight. “First, though. I need you to tell me what happened with Granville. And don’t leave anything out.”
I hadn’t actually spoken to the Four about what had happened in any detail. I’d wanted to speak to Caiden, but when I’d realised he didn’t trust me, there was no point. Kinslee was the only one who knew all the details.
Reliving the moment only served to make me angry all over again. I spoke through gritted teeth as I recalled James forcing his lips onto mine, then his vaguely threatening words to me: “You and Cavendish deserve each other. I think I’m going to enjoy this, after all.” As I described how he’d left, bumping fists with Joseph, Joseph grasping a phone in his hand, a strange expression stole across Cassius’ face.
“Fuck. No. No. No.” He shook his head. “Why now?”
“Surely he wouldn’t be that stupid, would he?” The worry was clear in Weston’s voice, as he and Cassius exchanged glances.
“As if we didn’t have enough shit to deal with. This is the fucking icing on the cake,” Cassius growled.
“We’re gonna have to tell Z.”
“What if it sends him over the edge?”
“Fuck.” Weston buried