Chapter 5

AVERIE.

Time stilled as Cassian glanced between Jace and I. He stormed forward almost immediately, lines of frown etched on his temples.

“You piece of shit, are you nuts?” Cassian asked, grabbing Jace by the shirt, tossing him backwards in the fit of rage.

“Your brother broke her heart. And now you are in a hurry to get in line?” he asked again. I yanked at Cassian’s arms, urging him to stop.

“It’s not like that. I... I asked him to meet me here.” I lied. For a moment he stilled, cocking his eyebrows in a questioning manner.

“I was jealous, okay? I just... I wanted to know if I could hear a bit of a story from Jace. You can’t blame me, I’m hurt, Cassian. I need to know how long Julian and Mira had been together, how long they’ve been frolicking around and making a fool of me.” Mist of tears formed in my eyes as I buried my face into my palms. He looked disturbed and worried. Reluctantly, he loosened his grip on Jace’s neck before walking closer to me.

“You should move on, Averie. You deserve better, and no one in this school is worthy of you,” he cooed. Of course, I hated lying to my brother like this. I should have known better than to get caught in whatever web of lies it was that lovely Jace seemed to be spinning.

“It’s fine. I have to head on to class now. Lena’s waiting,” I mumbled, storming away from the closet. I avoided Jace’s eye contact at all cost, but even then, I’d caught a slight of him grinning devilishly.

“I’m so sorry. He... he was storming in, as if I’d tried to stop him, it would have looked suspicious,” Lena pleaded as soon as I walked into the corridor. I shrugged, an air of nonchalance attached to it.

“It’s nothing important, but that can never happen again.” I could feel the superiority radiating off Lena. She was curious to know, dying to be certain of whatever plans it was that was going on in my head.

“You were right, it’s Jace. And he... I don’t know what he’s up to, Lena, but I intend to stay away from him.”

Lena halted in her steps, a ghastly frown etched on her face, her nose scrunched up in annoyance. She was about to throw a bloody fit, I knew that by now.

“Stay away? From Jace?! The hottest guy? I mean Cassian’s hot, no shades or anything, but Jace? He’s swooning after you and you simply want to... stay away from him?” Lena asked, her voice raised high-pitched in sarcasm, ringing off in her tone.

“Yes. I’d been a fool once and see how that ended,” I spoke, trying as hard as I could to keep the hurt and pain away from my voice. Lena swung her arms around, pulling me sideways to the wall.

“Maybe that’s exactly what you need.”

I tilted my head, rolled my eyes, knowing this was one of her speeches of calling me crazy and wishing the best for me.

“You need him! Jaded, Jesus, how slow are you, Averie.” Lena retorted, seeming frustrated by my lack of enthusiasm.

“I still don’t get what you mean, love.” I lied, feigning ignorance.

“This thing with Jace... it might not work out, it might. But I think fucking him is the best thing. You need to fuck Jace into your system and fuck Julian out of it. Come on, what’s better than screwing two hot guys...”

“Christ! Are you a fucking slut! They are brothers, Lena. I can’t. Besides, Cassian would rip his heart out and feed it to him if he so much as finds out Jace and I have... anything together.” I explained. But if anything was an indication that Lena cared less, it was the shrugged shoulders and the stale frown.

“No one needs to know. Besides, anyone? No one cares. He came on to you first, didn’t he? You need him. And now Julian... What's the worst that could happen? I mean, he looks like a good fuck, he knows how to set you on thrill and you are into him too...”

“No, I’m not!” I retorted curtly, cutting into her words. She grinned, her lips curling up into a smile.

“You are. I saw how your face lit up when you got that text. We both knew it was from Jace but you played pretense. You wanted that thrill, you wanted him. Tell me, Averie love, if Cassian hadn’t walked in, what would have happened?”

I swallowed thickly, trying the best I can to keep my dirty thoughts contained. It wasn’t like we’d make out of anything. I mean, he had the chance to last night but didn’t. But what if we had? Then what? I shouldn’t give a flying fuck about Julian’s feelings. He’d ridiculed me in the worst way possible.

Yes, fun. That was what I needed.

“You are right, Lena. What’s the worst that could happen?” A loud giggle coursed free from Lena’s lips as she pulled me into a firmer hug, seemingly genuinely excited for me.

“That’s more like it. We don’t need to rub it all over Julian’s face. He’ll find out himself, and then he can regret ever not fighting for you. I mean, to be fair, Jace’s hotter than his stuck-up, egotistic brother who had a bigger dick than brains.”

“Lena!” I wheezed, bursting out into a loud bark of laughter.

“What? I’d been trying to say it about him all along anyways. I’m happy it’s done, and now for Jace. You, my love, need a lot of work done. But first off, we start by seduction. You have to make him come to you, Averie. Only that way can you have him to yourself,” she sneered, her smirk growing wider as she spoke.

“Seduce who? Jace? Me? Maybe this is a bad idea. Maybe...”

“Enough with the maybes. I won’t let you talk yourself out of it. We start tonight.”