Savage Love (Ash and Innocence 2)

Damn. Charli was hot as hell when she was mad, and I enjoyed seeing her fiery temper directed at someone else for a change. But how did she know Sophie was blackmailing me?

“You don’t understand what’s going on,” Sophie managed, though her words sounded clumsy from her quickly swelling lip.

“No? Enlighten me.”

“Cassian deserves better. He deserves me.”

“And Cassian agrees with this sentiment so much that you’re having to resort to blackmail and tricks to get him?”

I covered my mouth. Charli probably knew I could jump in and happily explain everything, but I was enjoying watching her dismantle Sophie too much to interrupt. The best part was the Ninja Turtle pajama bottoms she had on and the mismatched pink top. She looked like she had just laid down to go to sleep, but decided to wake up and slap Sophie around a little first.

She was my little badass, and I was loving every second of this.

Sophie was getting flustered, but when she tried to stand up—probably to stop Charli’s midget ass from towering over her in the booth—Charli pushed her back down. “Cassian and I had something special before you came along, okay? I’m just trying to help him remember that.”

Charli folded her arms. “I can’t speak for him, but I know how much he means to me. He means so much that I couldn’t stop caring about him even when he was trying desperately to make me hate him. And I care about him enough that I’m not afraid to tell him I’m starting to fall in love with him, even though I know he might not feel the same way.” She finally shifted her eyes toward me, and I thought I saw tears threatening to fall from them.

That was my Charli. She was quick to cry, but strong as a goddamn rock. Delicate and sharp at the same time, just like a rose.

“You’re only starting to fall for me? Shit. Catch up, Rhodes.”

Charli laughed and the tears fell. She seemed to forget all about Sophie when she jumped in my lap, straddling me and hugging my neck so tight I could barely breathe. “Really?” she asked.

“No shit. You think I’d put up with you if I wasn’t in love with you?”

She laughed again, then gave me a sloppy kiss that tasted like salty tears but felt so right it hurt. “There’s something I need to admit to you. I did something bad.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’d help you get away with murder.”

Sophie cleared her throat. “I think you’re forgetting I still have the video.”

Charli shot me a look. So she had been bluffing when she called Sophie out for blackmailing me. She connected the dots but didn’t know what ammunition Sophie had. “She was hiding in the bleachers when we… Touched down in the endzone.”

Charli swallowed. I saw emotions crossing her face as fast as lightning. Doubt. Fear. Anguish. But it all melted away and turned to determination. “Okay,” she said. “That’s all you have? Share it, then. I don’t care.”

“Charli,” I warned quietly. “It’s not some blurry, pixelated thing. It’s clear as day. And your…”

“It’s okay. It’s just skin. Maybe all that matters is I’m yours. And who would be dumb enough to try anything once they all realize that, right?”

I brushed her hair from her forehead and touched her scar. She still flinched back when I touched it, and I suddenly wanted nothing more than to teach her to be proud of it. To own it. But at the moment, we had more pressing issues to deal with.

“I’m still not feeling great about the entire school seeing your pussy. That’s for me, and me alone.”

Sophie was watching us like a cornered animal. “You know the price if you want the video to stay buried.”

“What happens if you never make it home?” I asked darkly.

Charli slid off my lap, elbowing me in the stomach. “Cassian…”

Sophie’s throat clicked. “You expect me to believe you’d hurt me?”

I shrugged. “Why should I believe this would be the end? Say I play along. Go on your dates. Appease you for months, maybe. Maybe you even delete the video. How do I know it ends there? From where I’m sitting, all I feel like you’re doing is showing me why I might need to do something drastic.”

She tried to play it off like she didn’t believe my threat, but I could see the shadow of doubt on her face. For good reason, probably.

The scary truth was I didn’t know what I would or wouldn’t do for Charli. Maybe she was thawing my heart out from whatever cold prison had held it. But it only beat for her. Anything or anyone else who was dumb enough to get between us was going to have hell to pay.

“Let me see it,” Charli said. “The video.”

Sophie considered her, then tapped on her phone a few times and handed it to Charli. “I’ve got it backed up in the cloud and on my home computer. So if you think you can delete it yourself and solve this, it won’t be that easy.”