"Do you think it has anything to do with—" Brax starts.
I don't let him finish that statement. My eyes shoot to the backdoors. I can't see through the curtains covering the glass, but I know Avalon's on the other side. Sucking in a breath, I turn back to the guys. "Even if they're meeting, hopefully it's just for business. That's not out of the realm of possibilities," I say. "Kincaid would be a fucking idiot to come to Eastpoint. All of his power is at St. Augustine. If he transfers..."
"We'll eat him the fuck alive," Abel finishes with a nod.
"Still." Brax's head comes down as he speaks, his eyes shifting side to side as he shrinks down into himself, trying to appear smaller. I tilt my head at the movement. It's so unlike him. "Nicholas should know about the Colemans now, shouldn't he? So should Kincaid." He shakes his head. "There's something else going on and I don't like not knowing what."
"Maybe they really are in love or some shit?" Abel offers, but even I can tell by his tone that he doesn't fucking believe it.
"Doubtful," I say, "but that's something we should probably discuss at home. Not here."
"So, what then? You just came to find him and threaten him?" Abel arches a brow at me. "How are you going to fucking do that if you can't find him?"
I smile then. A slow movement as I roll my tongue into my cheek and glance up once to both of them and shake my head. "The threat's been taken care of," I say quietly. "Don't worry about that."
Brax's head jerks up and his eyes narrow. "What did you do?"
"Just left a reminder of sorts," I say. "Or a warning, depends on how you look at it."
His face remains serious for a moment before he breaks out into a smile that matches mine. Before he can say whatever fucked up shit I know he's thinking, however, a small body slams into me and nearly sends me flying to the ground.
"The fuck?" I look down, but my entire field of vision is obscured by a face full of makeup and flat tits beneath a gold swath of fabric. "Kate?"
"You came," she says, nuzzling against my chest.
"Get the fuck off me," I snap. "Now."
Her head backs up and it's then I see what she's wearing. A dress that looks more like a bathing suit except the bottom most certainly does not cover her ass. I recoil when the tequila on her breath hits my face. "Someone said you were here, but I did—did—didn't believe them," she says, stuttering her words out.
I drop my arms, unwilling to hold her any longer, then grimace when her snake-like limbs coil around me on their own. "Kate, I swear to God, if you don't fucking—" She sniffs and presses her mouth to my neck, cutting me off. I shoot a glare over my head at the two fuckheads currently watching with barely repressed amusement. "Fucking help me, assholes," I grit out.
"Oh, no, looks like you've got that one all figured out, buddy," Abel says, taking a step back. "Who am I to come between you and the she-witch."
Kate's head whips around and she levels him with a wavering glare that would have more power if she didn't teeter on her three inch fucking heels. "You're such a fucking dick, Abel," she complains. "You never liked me."
Abel arches a brow. "Still don't," he agrees.
Kate jerks her chin up before returning her face to my neck. Putting my hands on her shoulders, I don't even hesitate to shove her back. "Dean?" Wide, hurt eyes look up at me.
"What the fuck do you want, Kate?" I demand.
"I-I just wanted to see you," she whimpers. "I m-miss you. You don't know what it's like being at St. Augustine now. No one understands me like you do." Resisting my grip, she fights to plaster herself against my chest once more.
"That's your own fucking problem, Kate," I say through clenched teeth. "You made your fucking choice."
With that, I pick her up, take two steps, and fling her into the pool. Her shocked gasp reaches my ears a split second before the actual sound of the splash she makes. I can't even stay to relish the feeling of dumping her ass and likely all the expensive shit Kincaid's bought her into the pool because now I want to fucking leave.
I shoot a glare to the guys who are standing by, laughing their asses off. "Nice one," Braxton chuckles. I flip both him and Abel my happy as fuck middle finger and head for the house.
When I check the kitchen and come up empty, something prickles at the back of my mind, but I'd honestly half-expected Avalon to go snooping anyway. I check the rooms with people and then the ones without. I even go back to the second floor, but there's no fucking sign of her. The more I search, the more furious I become.
"What's wrong?" Braxton asks as I come storming down the stairs.
"I can't fucking find her." I slide a hand through my hair and clench my teeth, trying to think of where the fuck she could've gone.
A girl passes by the two of us, a glass of what looks like wine in her hand. Without thinking, I reach out and grab her. "Hey," I say, "have you seen a chick about this tall"—I pause and lift my hand to the appropriate height before continuing—"long dark hair, dressed in a t-shirt and pair of jean shorts?"
She blinks at me for a moment. Brax steps forward. "She doesn't—" he starts, only to be interrupted.
"Actually, yeah," the girl says, capturing both of our attention. "Thought it was a little weird for someone to come here looking like that," she scoffs, and I resist the urge to tell her that her fake tits probably wouldn't look half as good in the second hand shit Avalon wears. "But yeah, she left a little while ago with a friend."
She left? I drop the girl’s arm and back away. She fucking left? Dimly, I hear Braxton talking to the girl, but I don't hear whatever it is that they say. All I know is that Avalon fucking left.
"Hey, man," Braxton's voice comes back to me as he clamps a hand on my shoulder and urges me out the front door. "I asked a little bit more. Sounds like Corina was here. It's okay. She probably just took her back to the dorms."
It didn't fucking matter if she left with Pope fucking Francis. The fact is that she fucking left—after I'd told her to stay put. This, I think. This is what I fucking meant by her going off and doing stupid shit. I shake Brax off and head for my Escalade.
"Where are you going?" he calls after me.
"Havers," I yell.
39
Avalon
I slam the flat of my palm against the wood of the door, pissed that I even forgot my key in the first place. "I'm fucking coming!" I hear Rylie curse on the other side and then the door is opening.
I don't wait for her to finish; I shove it in and storm past her, yanking my t-shirt off and dropping it to the floor as I sit on the edge of my mattress and reach for my boots.
"What's your problem?" she mutters, closing the door behind her.
One boot goes flying towards the closet—barely missing her as she crosses back to her side of the room—then the other follows. I don't answer her, and though I can feel her curious gaze on my back as she settles back beneath the covers of her bed, she doesn't ask again. For which I'm grateful. Even I don't know why I'm so mad.