Ruthless Love (Ash and Innocence 1)

But Gage wasn’t what I was worried about. No. I was worried about the text I’d got from Cassian saying he couldn’t wait to play with my girlfriend at his party tonight. After the shit he pulled with the last text, I figured there was a damn good chance he was full of shit, but I’d managed to sit at home for a solid two minutes before I was tearing down the road in my car, breaking every speed limit I passed.

So when I eventually spotted Wheels sitting inside with a drink in her hand beside Logan and Cassian, I was surprised, to say the least. What the hell was she thinking, coming here?

But then I remembered the look in her eye when I’d invited her to the jailhouse a few weeks back. I’d seen the hunger there. She was stuck in that fucking chair all the time, and my guess was it made her more desperate than usual to have a chance to get out and let loose once in a while.

I couldn’t blame her on a logical level, but that didn’t stop me from being furious with her for being so stupid.

I walked up to where they were sitting and sat myself down next to her. She was on the couch, with her wheelchair sitting at the ready a short distance away. Logan was to her right, and Cassian was on the recliner adjacent to us.

I put my arm around Wheels, ignoring the way Logan and Cassian were glaring at me.

I half expected her to bite me or try to squirm free from my arm, but she froze like a deer in the headlights.

“What’s up, Tristan?” Logan asked in a measured tone. He seemed irritated, but I didn’t give a shit. They both should have known by now. They should’ve known to stay the fuck away from her.

I looked to Cassian, then to Logan. “Heard there was a party. Decided to come.”

Cassian was grinning wickedly. “I wonder why.”

“What was it you texted me?” I asked Cassian. “That you were going to invent some new wheelchair friendly positions with Kennedy tonight? Oh, no. That’s not right. You called her the pussy on wheels, right?”

Kennedy reached for her chair, kicked the breaks into position, and muscled herself off the couch and into it. “I should really get going.”

“We’re miles from your house. How do you plan to do that?” I asked. “Wait.” I looked to Logan. “I can take a wild guess about who gave you a ride here.”

She spread her hands. “Yeah. Logan gave me a ride.” She said it like it wasn’t a big deal, which only made me feel more pissed.

None of them seemed to fucking get it. “Great. I’m sure he’d love to give you a ride back. Just don’t forget to use protection.”

I left the room, feeling way, way more angry than I should have. I realized I was fucking fuming. I leaned my back against the wall, trying to stop breathing in heaping gasps that felt like they made my lungs burn.

A brunette wearing a crop top came up to me with a tilt of her head and a smile. She was double fisting red cups, and stuck one out to me like a peace offering. “You look like you could use this.”

I took it from her, tipping my head back and draining it in a few long chugs.

She pursed her lips, then handed me the other cup.

I drained it, too. I felt like I was losing my mind. When the hell had I gone from simply wanting to make Wheels miserable to wanting to murder every last guy who so much as thought about touching her? Yeah, I’d told her it wasn’t jealousy—that I just wanted to be the one to torment her. But fuck. I didn’t even know if I believed that anymore.

The girl leaned in, raising her voice so I could hear her over the roar of conversation and music outside. “You’re like, really hot. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen you before. Tristan Blackwood, right? Aren’t you the quarterback for Parker? Everybody says you’re going to wind up in the NFL or something.”

“Thanks for the drinks,” I said, walking back inside. Whether I understood it or not, I couldn’t storm out and leave Wheels here with both Cassian and Logan probably hoping to score with her.

Logan was sitting on the couch talking to some of the defensive players from our team. I frowned at him. “Where is she?”

Logan shrugged. “Said she was going to use the bathroom before we left.”

“Where’s Cassian?”

“He left after she did.”

I headed down the hallway, pushing past people who were mulling around the house, talking and drinking. There were a shit load of bathrooms in Cassian’s place, but I started with the closest ones. Eventually, I saw an empty wheelchair outside one of the bathrooms. When I got closer, I heard muffled voices coming from inside.