Kingdom of Ash and Blood

Avery's POV

"If you drop her one more time, Brianna, I will pull you from the lineup myself."

The whole gym froze.

The music was still playing but nobody was moving. It suddenly became just twelve girls staring at me like I had said something in a foreign language, which I guess I had, because nobody on this squad ever talked to Brianna Holloway like that. At least not to her face. Not out loud.

Brianna turned around slowly. She had that smile she always wore, the pretty one that made coaches think she was sweet. But I had been watching her for two years. I knew exactly what that smile meant.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"You heard me." I walked toward her, keeping my voice steady. "That's the second time today you came off that stunt before Priya was set. If I hadn't stepped in just now, she would have landed on her wrist."

"I called the count," Brianna said, with a small shrug. "That's not my fault."

"You called it fast on purpose and you know it."

"Avery." She tilted her head like I was being difficult. "I'm just trying to make us better. Some people need to be pushed."

"And some people need to be checked," Jade said, stepping up beside me. "You've 'accidentally' botched three catches this week. All three of them Priya. Should we talk about the odds on that?"

Brianna looked between us. I could see her deciding something behind those pretty eyes.

"I'm just a team player doing my best," she said sweetly. "But okay. Whatever you say, Captain."

She said the last word the way people say it when they want you to know it bothers them that it's true. Brianna had run for squad captain at the start of the year. She had lost to me by nine votes. She had smiled through the announcement, hugged me in front of everyone, and then spent the next eight months making my life and the lives of anyone close to me as difficult as she possibly could.

"From the top," I said, turning to face the rest of the squad. "Full routine. Sharp and clean."

Practice ran for another forty minutes after that. Brianna was perfect. Of course she was. She always performed like an angel when she wanted to prove a point, and right now her point was that I had no good reason to come at her. Every move was on time. Every smile hit its mark. She even helped Priya reset after one of the jumps and patted her on the shoulder like they were best friends.

I hated how good she was at this.

After cool-down, Coach Vega dismissed us and the girls broke into their usual groups, grabbing bags and water bottles and picking up where their conversations had left off. Brianna left without looking at me, which told me more than any look could have.

"She's going to make you pay for that," Jade said, falling into step beside me as we headed for the bleachers where our bags were.

"Let her try."

"Avery. I'm serious."

"So am I." I picked up my bag and checked my phone. One new message. I smiled before I even finished reading it.

*Can't stop thinking about tonight. Pick you up at seven. Wear something nice, birthday girl.*

"Colton?" Jade asked.

"Yes."

"Still doing dinner?"

"Seven o'clock." I dropped the phone into my bag. "But I want to see him before that. He said he's been in his room all afternoon. I'm going to stop at the bakery on Fifth and grab him those lemon cookies he likes, then head over and surprise him."

Jade stared at me. "It's your birthday."

"I know."

"He should be surprising you."

"I know that too." I laughed. "But I want to see him. Is that a crime?"

"It's deeply unfair to the rest of us who have no one to be that happy about," she said. Then she pulled me into a hug. "Go. Have fun. Call me the second you get home tonight."

"Every single detail," I promised.

The bakery line was longer than I expected, so it was almost four by the time I crossed the east side of campus toward Colton's building. I had the cookies in a small paper bag and my hair still pulled back from practice and I did not care even a little, because it was my birthday and I was going to see my boyfriend and the evening was going to be perfect.

Colton Reeves had been mine for seven months. He was the captain of the football team, and the kind of guy who remembered small things without being asked. He knew how I took my coffee. He remembered my mom's name and asked about her. He texted good morning without needing a reason. After a year of Crestwood feeling like too much noise and not enough warmth, he had been exactly what I needed.

He gave me a key to his room two months ago.

I used it now without knocking.

The afternoon sun was coming straight through his window when I pushed the door open, bright enough that I saw everything clearly, all at once, with no shadows to make it softer or give me even a second to look away.

Colton was on the bed.

He was not alone.

"Oh my God." I heard my own voice like it was coming from somewhere outside my body.

Colton scrambled back so fast he nearly fell off the mattress. "Avery — wait — this is not —"

"Not what?" I couldn't move. My feet had stopped working. "Not what it looks like? Is that what you're about to say to me right now?"

"Just let me explain —"

The girl sat up slowly and pushed her hair back from her face, and my stomach dropped straight through the floor.

Brianna Holloway looked right at me.

And smiled.