When We're Alone

Chapter thirty-five

STONE

Onthewayback to the car park at the end of the day, Cole catches me up on what’s been happening with Ava.

“You know that works both ways, right?” he says as he falls into step with me.

“What’s that?”

“You warning me with Ava. If she’s hurt by you, you’ll regret it.” Part of me wants to tell him where he can shove his threats, but he’s one of Ava’s closest friends and sounds genuine. I know he cares for her. The more people looking out for her, the better. As we turn a corner, we come up behind Winnie and Caitlin talking to Mason.

“Shut up, Mason. You have no say. You don’t deserve to be called Elite, you’re nothing here.” Winnie sneers, but Mason looks typically unaffected.

“But I am,” I say as Cole and I stop behind them. They spin round with horrified looks on their faces, but Winnie recovers quickly, sidling up to me and stroking my chest.

“Stone, baby, we need to discuss this shit with Ava.” She says her name as if it’s a disease, and my jaw tightens. “We’re the top dogs in this school, the ultimate power couple. As much as I love to have your back, there are some things I can’t agree to.”

“Why would I give a fuck if you agree or not?” I ask disinterestedly as I brush her hand off my chest.

She gestures between herself and Caitlin. “We’ve got two of the five spaces on the Elite. Our families are worth billions. It counts for something at this school, Stone!”

“You know, Stone, I’ve been thinking of taking back my spot in the Elite,” Cole says from next to me. We all look to him, shocked. Everyone knows Cole should have a spot—he and I should be equals—but he’s never wanted to claim it before, so it was always filled with someone else. Guess that’s changed now.

“Whatever,” Winnie spits. She’s fuming but won’t back down. “Caitlin, you’re out.”

“What?!” Caitlin squeals, looking at her with hurt. She shouldn’t be surprised Winnie would throw her under the bus so easily; it’s completely on brand for both of them. I clear my throat, staring Winnie down as I wait for her to back down. She folds her arms over her chest while she kicks the ground, looking anywhere but at me.

“Fine. Ava is Oakview, then, I guess.” She smiles the fakest overly sweet, painful-looking smile, but Cole isn’t done yet.

“I’m glad that’s settled. And, now Ava is officially one of us, she’s easily next in line to Stone and I when it comes to wealth and power. She is inheriting her Dad’s company, after all. I hear they’re worth billions.”

Winnie smirks. “That’s a shame, are we saying goodbye to Reid or Mason?” It seems her hatred for Ava is only outshone by her hatred of my best friends.

“Actually, I think Ava would agree that Reid and Mason should both stay. Should we take a vote? Show of hands for who leaves the Elite? Maybe we should call it a day and save you the embarrassment.” She blinks slowly a couple of times as if unable to process what he’s saying.

“What? Stone! Say something!” she shrieks.

“Goodbye, Winnie.”

Mason leans in behind her to whisper, “you can both fuck off now,” but she stays rooted to the spot, mouth opening and closing in shock. Reid joins us and he and Mason walk alongside us to our cars.

“That was so satisfying,” Mason laughs. “Welcome to the team, Cole,” he says, patting him on the back. Reid looks around at us.

“Fuck. What did I miss?”

I get home and Ava’s car isn’t there. I was caught up with the Winnie drama, so she should have got home before me. Where the fuck has she got to? I call her but she rejects it, and my temper flares. Hours later, Ava walks into the kitchen without a care in the world, dropping her bag and heading to the fridge. I reach out to grab her before she makes it and spin her to face me.

“Did I not say see you at home?” Where the fuck has she even been?

“What do you call this?”

“I call this you disappearing for hours after school.”

“And now you’re seeing me at home,” she answers simply, tugging her wrist out of my hold and waltzing over to the fridge. She pulls some leftovers out and digs into them cold, taking a seat at the island. I try really fucking hard to rein my fury in, but only because I need her to listen to me and not storm off.

“What?” she asks when she looks up and I’m still watching her.

“We need to talk.”

“So talk.” I take a seat next to her and spin to face her while she carries on eating.

“Why are you fighting what you feel for me?” I ask.

She shrugs like it’s not a big deal. “No point making myself look like an even bigger mug when you decide you hate me again.”

“That’s not going to happen, Ava.”

“Why would I believe you now?” She’s acting unaffected, but she’s stopped eating, so I spin her stool to face me, keeping my hands on the seat either side of her so she can’t leave.

“The only reason I was pushing you away before was because I thought you were marrying Lewis for money.”

“You seem to think that’s an excuse, but it’s not. It only means that when I thought we were showing each other the real us, you thought that underneath it all I was still a gold-digging, lying whore.”

“That’s not true. That’s why it was so hard to stay away from you,” I tell her, cupping her cheek with my hand. “When we first met at the club, I knew you were special.” She pulls her face away and pushes my other hand off her seat.

“And I felt like I was safe in your arms. I guess we were both wrong.”