Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 111038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
Whatever Blaise had done, it had worked to warn them off.
But still, this was my fight. He couldn’t take this on for me. As I saw Mara head over to a camper by herself, I slid off Blaise’s lap.
He held me in place. “Where you going?”
I rested my hands on his chest. “I’ve got something I need to do.” I pushed off of him.
He started to stand, and I shook my head. “No. You stay. I need to do this alone.”
He growled. “I don’t like this, Aspen.”
I snorted. “I don’t care.” I gave him a smile and leaned down, brushing my lips over his. “I have to do this. Let me.”
He scowled, but stayed where he was.
“Keep him back,” I told Zeke.
He laughed. “Yeah, right. Good luck on that one.”
Blaise’s scowl shifted to his best friend.
Zeke shook his head.
I headed around to Mara’s camper, but when I looked back, I wasn’t alone. Her girlfriends were right behind me.
Penny raised her eyebrows. “You think we’re not going to rally around our girl? Blaise warned us off, but it’s different when you’re the one seeking her out. All bets are off.”
Well then. Lovely.
I eyed them. All four gave me varying hostile looks.
Then I heard a scrape behind me, and saw Bren and Taz walking to join us.
Penny raised her head. “This doesn’t concern you, Monroe.”
Bren snorted. “It’s a chick fight. Of course we’re coming to have Aspen’s back.”
Penny’s gaze turned wary. “We don’t fight like you do.”
“I hope not, but if you do…” Bren’s grin was a slight bit evil. I liked it. She added, “I got no problem wading in.”
Penny looked past her. “And if you do? What then? Your crew will come? We’re girls.”
“So let’s keep this just girls.” Bren shrugged.
The camper door opened, and Mara stepped down, taking everyone in before her eyes fell to me. Her demeanor was frosty, and she didn’t waste time. “Get the fuck out of my way.”
I readied myself, rolling my shoulders back. Chin up. That’s what you do when you’re about to fight, right?
“I’m giving you your shot,” I told her, already bracing myself because I didn’t really know how this worked.
She frowned. “Say what?”
“I’m right here. Blaise gets tense every time you walk by us or get near us, and I don’t know... I figure this is coming, so go for it. I’m here. Take your shot. If you want to hit me, do it. If you want to say something to me, do that instead. I can take it. I’m ready.”
Her eyes narrowed.
A brief image of a snake winding up, raising its head for an attack flashed in my mind… Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
But I still added, “I’m kinda tired of waiting, to be honest. Time keeps moving. Feelings will fade, and you might not get your shot later, so strike while the iron is hot. Right? That’s the saying?”
Someone snorted behind me. I wasn’t sure which side it came from.
“You’re an idiot,” someone else muttered.
Again, I wasn’t sure, but I was betting that wasn’t Taz or Bren.
Mara rolled her eyes. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”
What? I frowned. “Why not?”
She shook her head. “Are you always this stupid? I’m leaving you alone. Take this and shoo, bitch.”
But… That’s not how this was supposed to happen. “I don’t get it. Aren’t you supposed to lay into me or something? Make me bleed? Cry, at least?”
“Why?” Her eyes flashed, but they looked hollow, empty. It was gone in the next breath. “My problems aren’t yours. Blaise never lied to me, and it ain’t your fault he fell for you and not me. It’s my fault I didn’t keep him.”
I had no clue how to process this. This was really not going how I’d prepared myself for. I had psyched myself up for a fight fight. “But—”
“Dear God.” A hand took my arm and pulled me back. Bren frowned at me. “She’s trying to be a good person. Leave it alone.”
I swung my head back to Mara. “I don’t get this.”
“What the fuck do you want from me?!” she screeched. That was more like it. Her hands formed fists and she came at me, but only took a few steps before stopping. “You are rubbing salt in the wound by doing this. Back off! I have shit to deal with, and it has nothing to do with you. This ain’t a television show where I’m the mean girl and I’m going to write whore and your phone number in the bathroom or something. Bitch. Whore. Slut. Is that what you want from me? For the last fucking time, I got my own shit to deal with, but I’m not a bully. I never actually planned on doing anything to you.”
“You told Blaise you were going to do something to me.”