Chapter 38

Nikolai

I walked up to where Hannah’s last class was getting out and pondered the incredibly strange day I’d had. I had a girlfriend. What the fuck? I’d walked into school this morning, determined to regain my old mindset, my pre-Hannah mindset, and it backfired magnificently.
Now that I had completely embraced this relationship thing, it actually wasn’t half bad. Hannah was funny, sweet, smart, cute, and sexy as fuck. I liked Hannah. I had a difficult time keeping my hands off of her and not dragging her into a closet somewhere and tearing her clothes off. I also realized how possessive I had become of her, unable to tolerate the idea of one of these assholes at school treating her like shit, or worse, hitting on her. I almost couldn’t believe I had conned myself into thinking I could ignore her.
Jack came up to me again, looking more serious than he had when I’d been with Hannah earlier.
“You talked to Hannah about Ava?” he asked, crossing his arms as if preparing for some kind of hostile response.
I frowned. “No, why would Hannah talk to me about Ava?” We were definitely not at the point where Hannah carried on and on about her girlfriend’s problems.
Jack sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I hooked up with Ava on Friday.”
This was unusual. Jack never talked about his conquests. Not like this. I didn’t think he usually cared enough to even bother talking about them.
“What, did the condom break? Why are you so fucked up?” I asked, half kidding.
Jack punched me in the arm with a little more force than usual, frowning ferociously. “Watch it, Ivanov.”
My eyebrows shot up. Okay, what the fuck as going on? “What the fuck is your problem, Jack? Since when do you care if I talk shit to you about a girl you’ve slept with?”
Jack looked around the deserted hallway. “I didn’t sleep with her. In fact, I turned her down.”
“Why?” Jack had seemed very interested in Ava at the party, so this didn’t compute.
“She…” Once again, he looked around the hallway like a fugitive criminal. “She just got out of a relationship. I think she was looking at me as a rebound.”
My eyebrows rose again. “So? Why does that matter?”
He blew out a deep breath. “I didn’t like it. And I don’t like that I didn’t like it.”
I nodded in understanding. I knew all about inconvenient feelings.
“Shit, you know I’m fucked up, Nik.”
“I think that quality is the source of our friendship,” I responded jokingly.
He laughed, but I could tell it was a little forced.
“I think I’m just going to tell her I don’t want to hang out with her anymore. I definitely don’t want a girlfriend, but obviously I can’t treat her like another conquest either,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief at that realization. “This has never happened before.”
“Yeah, well, join the motherfucking club, asshole.”
Jack smirked and opened his mouth to respond, but the dismissal bell rang. Soon, the students from Hannah’s class were spilling out, and I quickly understood why Jack was here, as Hannah walked out chatting animatedly with Ava. God, Hannah was so cute. I saw the top edge of the hickey I’d given her peeking above her scarf again and it gave me a jolt to the groin. I didn’t know how I was going to stop myself from marking her again and again when I got her under me next.
Hannah reached up and gave me quick kiss, but I was distracted, trying to see what was going on with Jack and Ava. Ava stood next to Hannah but refused to make eye contact with Jack. Jack stood there and stared at Ava for a minute, his expression growing more and more irritated.
“Ava?”
Ava looked at Jack as if she just noticed he was standing there, and I saw his jaw clench.
“Yes?” she responded politely.
Jack rolled his eyes. “Can I talk to you?”
Ava looked unsettled and nervous. She darted a quick look at Hannah. “Well, um, Hannah and I made plans for after school, so—”
“Nope. I’m taking Hannah with me,” I jumped in and contradicted. Hannah and I had made plans for today, and I’d be damned if they were going to be disrupted because Ava wanted an excuse to avoid Jack.
“Okay, Ava, would you prefer I talk to you out here? In the hallway? In front of everyone?” Jack asked, his brow raised as he used his arm to gesture to the hallway full of people.
Ava’s jaw dropped in surprise but remained unmoved.
Jack smiled and said in a loud voice, “Ava, I’m sorry you think I rejected you for se—”
Ava’s embarrassed squeak cut off the rest of his words, along with both of the hands she slapped over his mouth. She quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard what he was starting to say. “Jesus, Jack, are you crazy?” she whispered.
Jack raised his eyebrows as if to say, Of course I’m crazy.
Ava rolled her eyes, and while still keeping her hands firmly over Jack’s mouth, turned to Hannah. “I’ll call you later. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to talk about.” Ava dropped her hands from Jack’s face, grabbed his arm and dragged him off to talk more privately.
Hannah laughed. “I’d like to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.”
As I slung my arm around Hannah’s shoulders, I had a feeling I knew exactly how their conversation would turn out.