Savage Love (Ash and Innocence 2)

I raised my eyebrows. “I’m flattered. I don’t know if I’ve ever made someone vomit before.”

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “That you know about.” Charli looked like she wanted to say more, but then she staggered backwards and fell on her ass. Her eyes were unfocused.

“Fuck,” I grumbled to myself. I went and scooped her up under her arms, helping her to stand.

Zoe tried to peel my arm away. “Get off her!”

“She’s dehydrated and her blood sugar is probably tanked.” I considered dropping her to the grass to prove I didn’t give a shit if Zoe wanted this to be her problem. But I didn’t feel like arguing. “You can help me carry her, if you want.”

“I hope I puke again.” Charli’s words were slightly slurred. “I’m going to get as much in your ear as I can.”

“That’s wonderful.” I tried not to notice the way she felt under my arm. Small and fragile. Like something I could break if I wasn’t careful. Except that’s exactly what I wanted, wasn’t it? I wanted her to shatter into a million pieces, and death by dehydration wouldn’t be as dramatic a finale as I wanted. That was all.

Zoe came on the other side of Charli and took her other arm. We ended up with Charli’s arms around our shoulders so we could walk her upright back toward the school. The height difference between Zoe and I meant I had to clutch onto Charli’s side to keep her from sliding off me. I’d caught little whiffs of her smell around the house—like a velvety phantom that haunted me. It would drift in my nose when I stepped out of my room, or I’d catch it as I headed down the stairs.

I could say what I wanted about Charli, but she smelled delicious. My nose was practically getting assaulted with it as we headed toward the cafeteria, and I had to mentally block it out.

The cafeteria wasn’t open for students to get food this late, so I had to jump one of the counters and raid the fridges in the back to find something to feed Charli. I handed a sugary juice, a banana, and a pre-packaged peanut butter and jelly sandwich to Zoe. “Make sure she gets all this in her system. Then try to get her to drink something once she’s done.”

Zoe glared. “I know what to do for someone who is dehydrated.”

“Spectacular. Then do it. And if she dies, I’m holding you accountable.”

Charli was laying her head down on the table in her arms, groaning. She probably had a bitch of a headache, too.

I was about to leave when I saw Clint come jogging toward the cafeteria from outside. Pathetically, he had his shirt off, as if he’d literally rushed out of the pool to come dote over Charli at practice. Except I saw right through his BS. He just wanted to show off for her.

With an annoying little tug of awareness, I scratched at my bare chest, then cleared my throat. Without taking my eyes from Clint, I bent down toward Charli. “Remember what I said. If you don’t handle your little puppy dog soon, I’ll do it for you.”

She might’ve been out of it, but that got her attention. It also earned me the glare I’d been waiting for.

Part of me hoped she’d defy me. If she didn’t break things off with Clint, I was going to finish what I started. I didn’t give a shit if it dug me in a hole so deep even Walter and his money couldn’t dig me out. All I knew was she’d either learn to accept I’d won, or she’d learn to accept it the hard way.22CharliWe arrived at the game a little after it started. We could hear the voice from the broadcast booth echoing across the parking lot as the four of us headed toward the stands. Clint slid his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in to his side. He shot me a carefree smirk, not letting me go as we walked, even though I kept awkwardly losing my footing because of the way his arm pulled me sideways.

Zoe snuck me an expectant look. She didn’t need to say a word for me to know exactly what she was thinking. How long are you going to drag this out?

Inwardly, I sighed. It was never going to be a good time, was it? The problem was I really believed Cassian. I believed he’d hurt Clint if I gave him any reason to.

“Hey, Clint?” I said quietly. He slowed, letting Zoe and Clint’s friend, Matt, walk ahead some so we could talk privately.

He laid his forearms on my shoulders, threading his fingers playfully behind my neck. “What is it, babe?”

Babe? Part of me wanted to scream. How did it go from me not knowing if we were even boyfriend and girlfriend to pet names? “I think we need to stop hanging out.”