Page 16 of Beneath the Surface

She ended the call and let out a relieved sigh, but her posture was still strung out. I had ideas of how to take care of it, but I bet she wouldn’t be down for that. Only once she saw the campus lights did she finally let herself relax.

Without thinking too much, I made my way over to the hockey building. Figured that was where her boys would be killing time waiting for her—that’s if they didn’t get caught.

“All safe and sound, princess,” I told her as I put the car in park.

She turned to look at me. Ava had a hoity-toity look on her face, and normally stuck-up bitches got on my nerves, but there was something about this one that I didn’t mind.

I took off my seat belt and her eyes went wide with caution.

“It’s just my cell phone. Don’t worry, I don’t whip my dick out on the first date.”

She let out a cute snort.

“Aren’t you the picture of purity?”

“Want to test my restraint?” I winked at her and she glared at me.

“I’d rather be dead.”

“Be careful what you wish for,chiquita, ‘cause I’m sure that’s where we are headed.” My words were stern, but my voice was gentle.

I threw her my phone, open already to the text I wanted her to look at.

“I’m assuming that’s what you and your little boyfriends were referring to?”

Fear now gleamed in those doe eyes. She looked down at the screen and I could see how her hands shook as she brought it up to see better.

She didn’t read it aloud. There was no need. I had already memorized what that stupid message said.

1…2…3…4

Do you know whose body is decaying on the lake floor?

10

GRAYSON

Irubbed at my ribs as I stared in the direction Ava and Cruz had disappeared, swallowed up by the panicking crowd. Next to me, Micah cleared his throat.

“Did he hurt you?”

“No,” I bit out. It was a lie. The fucker had gone at me hard, getting a couple of good punches in before I’d managed to defend myself.

“Gray.” Micah spoke softly as he moved into my line of vision. His hand came up, his thumb dragging across my jaw. “You’re going to have a bruise here. Where else does it hurt?”

Goosebumps sparked where he touched me, spreading over my body. I reeled backward, slapping his hand away. “I’m fucking fine. Don’t touch me.”

“Yeah, of course you are,” he muttered as he held his hands up, stepping away from me with an exaggerated eye roll. There was a flush to his cheeks that hadn’t been there earlier. Thankfully for us both, he immediately changed the subject to our girl—fuck, no, notourgirl, as much as I wished she was ours—no,mine. Just mine.

“Should we go after Ava?”

After a second’s hesitation while I thought about it, I shook my head. Going after her could only end up in disaster. If there was one thing I knew about Ava Hayes, it was that she was independent, with a spine of fucking steel. I’d seen her face as she’d gone running off with Cruz. There was no fear there. Nothing that sent alarm bells ringing. Other than the fact that fucking Cruz Martinez was the person she’d gone with willingly.

Even so, I wasn’t going to leave her to her own devices. If my finger happened to slip and I called to check in on her and she didn’t reply…let’s just say I’d be a lot better prepared for Cruz the next time around.

“We’ll head back to campus. She’ll know we’re going that way, and if she needs us, we’ll be ready.”

“Okay…” Micah said quietly, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the dirt and sending a cloud of dust around our feet.

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