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“I’ll be fine,” she told us, returning to the bathroom to change.
I met Declan’s dark stare. “She can’t go to a party,” he said.
“You can’t make her stay here,” I said.
“You’re right,” he relented, sighing. His eyes moved to his injury, to the stitches, and he ran his other hand on the skin near it. Suddenly his expression lit up. “You should go with her.”
I gave him a look. “What? Why would I…what about you? You’re the one who almost died.” Not her. But, I hated thinking it, what if someone did go after her next for being his roommate? What if she was on their list?
“I’ll be fine. I can barricade the door or something,” Declan spoke, turning his body toward me. “I’m more worried about her than me, anyway.” He wasn’t lying. He cared a lot about her, even if he tried not to show it.
Ash came out of the bathroom, wearing her new clothes. A jean skirt, and a white tank top that was only a little see-through. And by a little, I meant a lot, because her bra was black. “No one is coming with me,” she said, waving her splinted hand through the air. “I’m going to be fine, really. If someone comes after me, I’ll just throw this hand around like a sack of bricks and hope I hit something important.” When neither I nor Declan said anything, she added, “I’m kidding, but not really. I can take care of myself.”
I got off Declan’s bed, saying, “I’m going with you.” I wasn’t going to primp and change like her; I’d just go, follow her, make sure she was all right, just as I did with Declan this past week. As long as Declan barricaded the door, made sure to call me again if something didn’t feel right, everyone would come out of this night alive.
Hopefully.
It wasn’t like I wanted to leave Declan here alone, but I knew if I didn’t go with Ash and something happened to her, he’d never forgive himself, or me. He’d spiral, and I didn’t want to see him revert back to how he was right after Sabrina died.
“Bullshit,” Ash said, whining out the word, which made me smile. “No. You’ll cramp my style. Not that I have much style to begin with, but…you know what I mean.”
“No,” I said, “I don’t think either of us knows what you mean.” Declan nodded along with me.
Her grey eyes turned into glares, though I could tell the glares were half-hearted. Her good hand moved to her hip, which she cocked, making the already short skirt even shorter on the leg that was stretched out. “I’d put both hands on my hips, but it’s hard to do like this.”
“Why not try? I mean, you seem to be skating pretty well,” I remarked, causing Declan to chuckle.
“Skating is all about balance, which I bet neither of you jerks have.” Ash pouted, and then she rolled her eyes. “Fine, you can come. We leave after it gets dark.” She said nothing else as she returned to the bathroom, turning on the blow-dryer.
A party.
A party was not something I wanted to go to. College parties were normally something I steered clear of, mostly because of everything that tended to happen at them. Drinking, drugs, hooking up; none of which were my thing. I might’ve been twenty-one, almost twenty-two, but I felt old, like none of that stuff was for me.
Declan got up from his desk, walking over to me. His voice was low, so Ash wouldn’t hear, “She went to a party before, one of Sawyer’s. Sawyer wants to use her, I know it. Don’t let him near her.” A warning, telling me exactly what to look out for and who to watch. “He stole her skateboard last week and made her go on a date with him to get it back. He’ll try anything to have her.”
Sawyer. I should’ve known he was wrapped up in Ash, too.
I nodded. “I’ll keep an eye out for him.” I’d do more than that if he tried anything with Ash. I firmly believed Ash didn’t belong with Travis, and she sure as hell didn’t belong with a guy like Sawyer. Both of them would use her how they wanted, and then they’d throw her aside as if she never mattered.
Hence the issue: Ash mattered. She mattered to me, a lot more than she should, which was why I was willing to leave Declan alone and go with her. And if Sawyer was involved? She would need backup.
“And you,” I said, “you’ll call me if something’s wrong? If anyone tries to get in or you start to feel weird like you did that night?”
Declan nodded. “Of course, but I’m more worried about Ash.”
“I know you are,” I said, glancing to the bathroom. The blow-dryer was still going, meaning she couldn’t hear us. “Why don’t you tell her how you feel?” I was more curious than anything. Yes, they were roommates, so things theoretically could get messy, but my brother was never one to flit from one girl to the next. When he loved, he loved hard, and it nearly destroyed him when everything happened with Sabrina.
He shook his head, muttering, “It’s not right.”
I had no idea what he meant by that, so I asked, “What do you mean?”
“If I like her, someone might try to hurt her to get back at me. If something happens to her, it’s my fault, Will.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks flushing. “And just because I like her doesn’t mean I should make a move.” He’d only been with Sabrina; his confidence when it came to girls was nonexistent.
“If it means anything, I think she likes you, too.”
Declan closed his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to mess up what we have. Plus, I…I told her she reminded me of Sabrina. She probably thinks I like her only because of that.”
Shit. I should never have brought that up to her. She probably did think that, especially after hearing both Declan and I say it. Maybe I could use our time alone tonight to convince her otherwise.
