Rejected At First Sight (Spinoff Series)

46

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Jay

Ronnie wisely avoided me, placing himself across the kitchen island as I stared him down over my cup of water. Sage snorted as he walked into the kitchen, quickly assessing the tension.

"Get over it, Jay." Sage said, grabbing a piece of bacon from the heaping pile I had set on the island.

I turned my head and glared at him. "You're one to talk. Your first question was 'what did he do?' What the fuck?"

Sage looked at me with a slightly confused expression. "I said that?"

I paused, and tried to keep the laughter in, but I just couldn't stop it. I smile at Sage. "You were so tired you don't even remember that you had a full-blown conversation last night."

Sage rubbed his face. "Honestly, I don't even remember Ash coming into my room. I woke up this morning, and she was in my bed." He let his hand drop. "'What did he do' seems like a good question to ask."

I growled at him.

Ronnie chuckled from across the island. "You were talking straight-up nonsense anyway."

"Yeah." Sage groaned. "I'm just surprised I slept through the night."

My eyes flicked to my friend's face, and I quickly took in the details. Sage hasn't been doing good for the past couple of weeks, struggling to eat and sleep mostly. But as I looked at him now, I noticed that his eyebags weren't as intense as they had been.

I looked at Ronnie, who was nodding along with Sage. He looked better too.

"Good morning!" Vi said as she walked through the door. "How is everyone?"

"You are in a suspiciously chipper mood today, Vi." Ronnie said with a cocked eyebrow.

Vi smiled at us, her wolfish fangs poking through. "Forecast is good again today. Trails should be decently clear too."

Saff perked up, something else apparently more important that being afraid of my wrath. "We taking out the bikes?"

Vi nodded devilishly. "Hell yeah."

"About time!" Clementine said as she walked into the kitchen. "I've been waiting for the first ride of the season."

My nose twitched as I picked up Ash's scent, turning my head as she walked in behind Clementine.

Ash's hair had been braided along the back of her head, her hair falling all the way down to her tailbone in a neat braid. She was wearing one of my sweatshirts and black leggings from one of the girls closets.

I inhaled deeply, liking that she was wearing my scent. The light blue sweatshirt reminded me of the crystal blue shade of her underwear, that one windy night when her shirt had blown up just a bit, allowing me to see her bruises.

I quickly look away from Ash, and set my water glass down. Suddenly feeling like I was going to puke, I faced the sink and braced my hands on the counter.

I had done that.

A soft arm brushed against my side and I instantly knew who it was. I don't look at Ash as she leaned her back against the counter, still engaged in conversation with our friends.

She had left my room last night because of the bruises. Because I had been so stupid and drawn attention to them. I had almost let myself forget what I had done to her.

Ash laughed, the vibrations flowing through me. I looked at her face out of the corner of my eye.

The end of her braid rested on the counter beside my hand, which my knuckles had turned white by the sheer force I gripped the side of the sink, the white matched the very tips of Ash's hair.