Chapter 30

Nikolai

Hannah was fucking wasted.
There were only about twenty people left at Cassidy’s party, so we all moved to the living room and were sitting on couches, chairs, and other assorted furniture. I was sitting at one end of a couch with Hannah sitting in my lap, her back leaning against the arm of the couch. She was having an animated conversation with an equally wasted Ava, who was sitting on the floor facing Hannah, leaning against the couch.
“No way, Jennifer Keeler does not have fake boobs,” Ava slurred out.
“She does! She was flat as a pancake in ninth grade, then all of a sudden, she has double Ds? No way. They’re fake,” Hannah replied with drunken certainty, using over-the-top hand gestures to make her point.
Little did they know that Jack could have probably resolved this whole debate, as I was sure he’d fucked Jennifer at some point. I looked over at him on the other side of the couch and wondered what he was still doing down here.
Usually, he would have been long gone, either having moved upstairs or to some other location in order to hook up with someone. He’d certainly had plenty of offers tonight. I noted his intense green gaze fixed on Ava, who would periodically fall back against the side of his legs when she would drunkenly gesture at something Hannah had said and figured she was the source of his uncharacteristic behavior.
Jack, a couple of other guys I trusted from my dad’s outfit, and I had gotten rid of Connors. We found the car he had driven here, his father’s because his had gotten torched. The plan was to have the guys crash it into a tree and put Connors back in the car, so his injuries looked related to the accident. I’m pretty sure we poured enough alcohol down his throat, in addition to what he drank before the fight, for him to register as drunk. When we had finished setting the scene, we called the cops to make sure he was caught.
Afterwards, Jack joined us in the kitchen and stayed virtually glued to Ava’s side. I didn’t know if Ava noticed, but his stoic presence definitely discouraged any guys who may have been interested in talking to her. As for him, Shelby came and found him, acting as though their previous conversation hadn’t taken place. Jack not only ignored her, but he aggressively shot her down. Fortunately, Ava had been dancing, so this confrontation happened without Ava being aware of the history between Jack and Shelby, and Shelby didn’t seem to be aware of Jack’s interest in Ava. Shelby did not take rejection well, so I can only imagine how she what a scene she would have made if she had known about Ava.
I tuned back into the girls’ conversation, but it was getting so incoherent I barely knew what they were talking about anymore. I needed to get Hannah out of here—she’d had enough alcohol for the night. Bringing home a drunk, incoherent Hannah on her first night of socializing would hardly be making a great impression on her mother. If her mother even cared about shit like that. Not all mothers did.
“Okay, Hannah, no more booze for you. I need to get you home,” I said as I plucked the red cup that had gradually been filled with more rum and less coke as the night wore on out of her hand and put it on the coffee table.
Hannah shot me an adorably exaggerated pout after I took her drink and looped her arms around my neck. Her full breasts pressed against my chest, which, when combined with her drunkenly wiggling her ass on my dick all night, was about all I could take. “I don’t want to go. I’m having fun for the first time ever.” Hannah’s eyes got really huge as she emphasized the last word. I chuckled at her, but I actually understood where she was coming from. This was all part of what Connors had taken away from her. Parties, friends, harmless drinking because you’re safe and didn’t have to worry about a crazy stalker following you around.
I reached up and put my hand through her hair, looking at her flushed, happy face. Again, emotion surged through me at being able to provide this for her. Making her feel safe and protected. Letting her enjoy herself. I gave in and gave her a quick kiss, then lifted her off my lap and onto the couch so I could get up. For a second, I thought Ava was going to fall over, but then she heard Sia’s “Cheap Thrills” playing and quickly popped up.
Hannah looked down at Ava and squealed, “I love this song! You have to dance with me!”
Ava took a good minute trying to pry herself off the floor, and even tilted dangerously at one point only to be righted by Jack’s firm grip.
Hannah and Ava’s version of dancing was basically jumping up and down like a couple of pogo sticks. They were holding hands and jumping, occasionally bumping into each other and nearly falling to the floor. I was sure they would have found this thoroughly embarrassing if they were sober, but they were having a good time, and bonding or whatever.
When the song ended, Hannah and Ava did that drunken hugging I usually see girls doing when they became friends over the course of a party. I stepped behind Hannah and put my arm around her waist.
“Alright, Hannah, we have to take off.” Hannah nodded her head, her practical side peeking through the fog of alcohol.
“Can we drive Ava home? She drove here, but….” Hannah gestured to Ava’s intoxicated condition. 

Jack suddenly jumped in. “Hey, I got her. I’ll take her home.” When I raised an eyebrow at his unexpected insistence, he added, “She doesn’t live far from me. It would just make more sense.” Yeah, right. How the hell does he know where she lives? I was going to have to follow up on this with him. Of course, then he might start asking me questions about Hannah, so maybe I should just drop the whole thing. I nodded my head and allowed him to loop his arm around Ava and gently guide her out the door to his car.
Hannah and I followed after saying bye to the stragglers at the party. Other than Jordan’s shitty attitude in the beginning of the night, most of the people had been very welcoming towards Hannah. Of course, I had been standing beside her the whole night, so it’s possible my presence and well-documented history of violent behavior might have played a role in that.
I led Hannah to my car, opened the door, and fastened her seat belt for her as she flopped back against the seat, her eyes closed, and cheeks flushed, and soft smile was on her lips. She looked sweet and adorable, and I fucking hated that I thought that.