Page 21 of Jack

While she wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know, it irritated me that she would mention it in the first place. I gave her a fake smile and a thumbs up. “Thanks for the tip!” I said with false cheeriness.

She responded with a sneer of annoyance.

Ava: I’ve got a real fan of yours sitting to my right.

Jack: Addison is one of Shelby’s crew. Ignore everything she says.

Ava: Who’s Shelby??

Jack: Long Story. Tell you later.

Well, that was a buzz kill. I needed to talk to Hannah.

****

Chapter 14

Jack

Fuck. I forgot that Ava was new and didn’t know about my history with Shelby. What a romantic conversation to have right before the first time we have sex. I sat through the rest of chemistry trying to think of the most diplomatic, and least sleazy, way to describe my relationship with Shelby to Ava. I mean, she knew I’d fucked around, so maybe she’d be cool.

The bell rang, and Ava got up and scurried out of the room.

That wasn’t a good sign.

“Hey, Jack,” Addison said, as I stared at Ava’s retreating back as she passed through the doorway.

I turned to her, wanting to interrogate her about what she’d said to Ava but not wanting to let on how pissed I was about their conversation.

“Hey.”

“So, you hooking up with Ava, now?” Addison asked, her voice holding a combination of curiosity and belligerence.

I scowled at her. “Is that what you asked Ava?”

Addison looked guilty, then thrust her chin out. “So, what if I did?”

“How about it’s none of your fucking business who I date?”

She gasped. “Date?”

I was shocked at my slip of the tongue but had no intention of backtracking now and letting Addison know I’d fucked up. “Who I spend my time with is no one’s business.” I tried to restate the situation in a way that didn’t give me heart palpitations.

“You’re dating Ava?” she asked, as if she hadn’t heard any words out of my mouth after “date.”

“Jesus Christ, Addison, just fucking drop it okay?”

She looked shell-shocked, but she nodded her head in agreement. I couldn’t tell if she was shocked due to my reputation for not dating anyone, or that the person I was dating wasn’t her. When I left her standing in the chemistry room, I had no doubt my unfortunate word choice was going to follow me around for the rest of the day, if not longer.

****

Chapter 15

Ava

I rushed out of the chemistry room, not wanting Jack to see how shook I was by my conversation with Addison. Addison—she was a real piece of work. I couldn’t wait to find Hannah and have her explain Jack’s history with Shelby. I knew vaguely who Shelby was, and may have even seen them together, but being new, I understood I was missing a lot of backstory.

I saw Hannah walking hand in hand with Nikolai—no surprise there. They seemed to be glued together by some body part or another these days, hands, lips, etc.

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