Page 139 of Leave Me Broken

She reaches the end of the h, then her hands drift to my arm, she angles it her way too. A deeper frown than what was there tugs at her perfect face. “You’re still cutting.”

I hope Janelle is still sleeping. When she doesn’t barge into the room seconds later, I know she must be, but I drop my voice just in case. “It’s different now.”

“What does that mean?”

That it’s not me cutting. “I don’t know, but I’m getting better. The last one was from a few weeks ago. They just broke open yesterday from the Russian Hitter.”

She does not believe me, but she drops my arm and sighs. “I’m in no position to judge you but I can’t help but look at you like a little sister, Pay. I want what’s best for you.” She pushes down her sleep shorts, pulls her tank over her head and steps into the shower with me. “If you think Ash Pearson is the best for you . . .” She twists her lips, obviously not thinking the same as what she is saying. “Then I’ll do my best to support that.”

“Did you move because your manager thought I was a bad influence?”

Ronni pauses under the shower stream, her eyes are closed not to get soap in them but her eyebrows furrow with disbelief. “What?”

“Alyssa said—”

“That’s absurd, Pay. No, she was just trying to hurt you. I moved because there was an opening in the agency he had been trying to get me in for a while. I meant to tell you the night of the sleepover but…”

“Right.” I should have known Alyssa is full of shit. I doubt Ronni has even texted her once since she moved.

I finish my shower and leave Ronni to finish alone. I’m glad I at least got closure on why she moved.

I dress and am braiding my hair when Janelle walks into the room, yawning.

She eyes us and scoffs. “I missed the community shower?” I chuckle at her honest disappointment. “Your braids look like shit.”

“Rude.”

The curtain opens and Ronni eyes my handiwork. “She’s right. Sit down and I will fix them.”

Fine, but only because my arms are cramping. It doesn’t actually matter how my hair looks. Janelle showers while Ronni fixes my hair. We are reliving old memories when Ronni blurts another confession out.

“I think I’m bi.”

Janelle rips the shower curtain open, then turns it off. She meets my eyes in the mirror and I meet hers. Then we laugh.

“Yeah, no shit.” She snorts.

Ronni scowls at us and shoves me off the toilet now that my hair is done.

“I didn’t even know until this year, there’s no way you knew.”

“Ron—” I giggle. “We’ve known.”

“How?” she demands, crossing her arms.

“Maybe we didn’t know but that’s the least surprising thing that’s been said the last three days.”

I nod, agreeing with Janelle. “Not to mention you were staring at my tits the entire time we were in the shower.”

“Hey, now. That’s not fair. You have fantastic tits,” Janelle chimes. “I’m straight and still admire them when I can.”

Ronni grins. “You should totally look into nipple piercings.”

They go on a rampage about how it’s not a want but a need and I leave the room. The last thing I need right now are nipple piercings. Maybe when I’m done playing volleyball, as I don’t want to worry about them while I’m playing. Plus, I’m seventeen and would need a parent to come with me, and since my mom is dead and I’d rather die than ask my grandpa, it’s a hard pass.

Ash

I knock on Payson’s door, hoping the girls are awake. She hasn’t texted me since last night when she got back from dinner with Janelle’s dad, and I’m itching to get my hands on her. I know Ronni isn’t cool with our relationship, Payson’s words, but I need my girl. I was up most of the night double checking Luca was still in his bed and not in hers finishing the job from yesterday morning. That’s got to be one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made, letting Luca lick Payson’s pussy, and it will never happen again.

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