Savage Love (Ash and Innocence 2)

Charli crossed her arms, clearly not wanting to indulge me by asking questions. But she also wasn’t walking away or changing the subject.

“Little by little,” I said. “You’ll realize coming back to Silver Falls was a mistake. You’re scorched earth. Untouchable. And every moment you think things are starting to go your way, I’ll be there to fuck it up. Understand?”

“What the hell is your problem?” Zoe actually gave me a little shove. She was surprisingly strong, but I held my ground.

“My problem? Why don’t you ask your new friend the full story behind her scar?” I took a few steps backward before turning to head back to grab my stuff. “I’ll be seeing you around, Charli.”

She flipped me the middle finger, but she wore a satisfyingly unsettled look on her face all the same.9CharliI was sitting with Zoe and Marne—a girl from my physics class—at a table in the courtyard. The school was shaped like a big doughnut, with the buildings making up the outer ring and the inside being the courtyard. There were a few tables and benches spread outside that students could use if they wanted.

Cassian and the rest of the stupid “Greeks” all preferred to sit in the back corner of the cafeteria, and everyone else seemed too scared to even sit within a few tables of them.

From where we sat outside, I could see them through the windows that led to the lunchroom. Cassian’s broad back was to me, and he sat across from Logan and Gage. Today, Kennedy and Tristan had pulled up chairs and were sitting at the end of the table, too. Tristan seemed like the only one of the group who sometimes split off to be alone with Kennedy. The rest talked to girls at times, but it was always as a group. Like they were some kind of wolf pack.

“Only Tristan has a girlfriend?” My question came out of nowhere, and it drew curious looks from both Zoe and Marne.

Marne was wearing a thick camouflage jacket. She always looked like she was allergic to a hairbrush and couldn’t be bothered with makeup, but there was a kind of charm to it, all the same. Her mouth curved up in a smile. “Before Kennedy, no girl ever lasted more than a week or two with them. And even when they did date, they wouldn’t let them come to the table.”

Zoe nodded wisely. She was eating something that looked depressingly healthy and drinking a protein shake.

I popped a French fry in my mouth. I liked how grease tasted… Sue me. “So, what’s different about Kennedy?”

Marne waved a dismissive hand. “Long story short? Tristan has a wheelchair fetish.”

I squinted. “What? But Kennedy doesn’t even—”

“The real question,” Marne said, cutting me off. “Is why are you so interested? You know, I pretty much personally set up Kennedy with Tristan not so long ago. If you want an in, I’m basically the school’s most talented matchmaker.”

I looked to Zoe. “I can’t tell if she’s being serious.”

“She’s exaggerating. Heavily.”

“Look.” Marne leaned in. “Just tell me which one you’ve got eyes for. Logan, right? You want some of that easy charm? Or maybe you’re into Gage and his wits?”

“None of the above. I don’t—”

Marne sat back, eyes widening. “Cassian? Oh, my. You’re the kind of girl who would try to survive a bear attack by punching it instead of running, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t be attacked by a bear because I wouldn’t go into the woods in the first place.”

Marne laughed like I’d just said something ridiculous. “Nope. You know how many people die every year in their own driveways from bear attacks?”

“No?”

“I’m not sure, either,” Marne admitted. “I couldn’t figure out how to Google the question. But I’m betting it’s more than you’d think.”

I tried to hold back a smile. “Are we still talking about Cassian?”

“Cassian is the bear. And you can’t climb a tree to get away from a bear, because they’re faster climbers than you. You can’t run, because they can run close to thirty miles an hour. You can’t hide, because they can follow your scent. And fighting back? At least you get to die with dignity, but make no mistake, you’re going to die all the same.”

Zoe snorted. “Somehow, I don’t think Cassian Stone is going to go sniffing around the school until he finds Charli. She’s sitting right here, anyway. It wouldn’t be much of a hunt.”

“Just saying,” Marne said. “You poke the bear, and the bear’s going to get you. If you’re lucky, it’ll be a mama bear and she’ll think you’re some kind of deformed, diseased cub. Maybe she’ll take you back to her den and you could survive if you put on the acting performance of the century, but that’s like best case scenario.”

“I’m going to go tell him he’s an asshole.” My voice was quiet, and my eyes were locked on Cassian’s back.