𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄
26:26 - 30:10
𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜: 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 »𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙡

∞

I trudge all the way back to the Chateau, trying not to let that conversation with Rafe plague my mind while tapping my index finger against my thigh anxiously.

I really wish Rafe had changed and wasn't as controlling and forcing. But, like usual, my wishes never come true, but yet again, it was stupidly impossible.

Sighing, I shove the door open and peer through the hallway, seeing everyone talking on the couch with bottles of beer around them and clouds of smoke in the air above. I slink over slowly, causing their heads to snap in my direction.

"Ava, you're back quick." Kie smiles awkwardly.

"Yeah, uh, yeah." I mutter.

"So how was your first day at work?" JJ asks, removing his hat for a moment to ruffle his hair.

Thank the lord Kie is able to great believable lies. I hum, nodding as I grab a fresh beer out of the fridge, "It was bad."

Dropping her chin to her chest, Kie squeezes her eyes shut, knowing exactly what I'm hinting at. She raises her head again, eyebrows furrowed, "Why?" She questions.

"I've learned my expectations are far too high," I chuckle, biting my lip as I lean a giant the counter, my finger circling the rim of the beer.

John B slides his body next to me, nudging me playfully, "So, how much did you get paid?"

I roll my eyes, "Nothing."

Pope, who's clearly more than drunk, raises his bottle into the air, "Five million pounds is about to be ours!"

"Ooooohh, baby!" JJ whistles, taking a large gulp of his beer before raising it into the air and smashing it against Pope's bottle.

"Ava," Kie hisses, grabbing my arm and dragging me into my room, "What happened?"

I shut the door behind me with my foot before placing my beer on my cabinets and raising my hands to cover my face with a groan, "He's a dick."

She rolls her eyes, "We already knew that but, like, what did he do?"

"Tried to kiss me, told me he needed and missed me." I scoff, my heart dropping at the memory of the conversation, "Then he said he loved me."

"Loved you?" Her eyebrows raise.

I nod, dropping myself down onto my bed, "Rafe Cameron said he loved me. And no, I didn't want anything back. I left."

Her eyebrows furrow, "Did you kiss him back?"

I glare at her, "I can't believe you just suggested that, Kiara Carrera. Of course I didn't fucking miss him back.

"We gonna be rich rich!" JJ shouts from the other room, making me smile at his excited tone.

She notices, a smiling breaking out on her own face, "It's because of him, isn't it? You're in love with him."

"No," I shake my head defiantly.

The door opens and John B leans on the door frame, "You guys coming with us or not?"

"Where?" Kie questions, crossing her arms over her chest.

"The Wreck."

The both of us nod and follow him back into the kitchen area. He watches me closely, "You okay?" He asks, sliding the Twinkie keys off the counter.

I force a smile, looking back at him as I make my way towards the front door with him following, "Yeah, I'm fine. Perfectly fine."

"Good because we don't want you to be in a bad mood when we find the Merchant!" He claps his hands, smirking brightly.

"Do you really believe that we'll find it?" I tilt my head, watching as he shuts the front door.

"Well, Dad did. So why can't we?" He shrugs, rushing in front of her to argue with JJ about who's driving.

❦

I follow Kiara through The Wreck with the boys following eagerly behind, their mouths drooling at the smell of all the surrounding food. desperately wanting food.

"Hey, Dad." She smiles at the man behind the counter.

"Hi, Mr Carrera," I salute with my free arm, he nods at me in response. I honestly can't wait until this arm cast can come off. It's been getting on my nerves for, what feels,  like, forever.

"How'd we do?" Kie asks, tapping the surface while walking.

"Didn't turn over once." He sighs sadly.

She turns to hug him while the rest of us search for a table, finding one at the back near the door. I slink down into my chair, blowing my hair out of my eyes while the boys stay stood. JJ leans down, one hand on the table and the other on the back of my chair.

"You good?" He asks, his face directly in front of mine.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good." I nod, smiling.

"You would tell me if you weren't, right?"

I roll my eyes, pushing his face away from mine while a laugh vibrate my body.
Snorting, he straightens up again and we all look over at Mike, who's judgementally checking us over while Kie tries to convince him to let us have free food.

"He hates us." I mutter while we each waving at him awkwardly.

"Yep," Pope agrees, doing a small forced smile.

"She better of got us the food," JJ hisses, hearing his own stomach rumble.

Kiara walks over, sitting down opposite me, crossing her legs and shifting to get comfortable, "Sit down then." She rolls her eyes at the boys, who quickly follow her instructions.

We got the food, and it didn't take long for the boys to get extremely excited. In no time, Mike brought us all the left over food, laying all out in front of us like it was a banquet while the whole restaurant slowly cleared out, leaving just us in the building. Now, we're all spread out across the diner, shoving fries into our mouths and throwing them at others.

"Hey, Ava," JJ calls, holding a fry in the air while a smirk plays on his lips "Catch,"

He throws it and it carries throw the air.  I watch it carefully as it gets nearer and starts to slowly fall, directly into my mouth. I throw my arms up when it lands and JJ cheers, shorting up out of his seat to give me a high five. Not bothering to go back to his previous seat, he sits beside me with his fist resting the feet on the table.

Kiara walks over, placing a jug of lemonade on the table before roughly shoving JJ's feet off, "No feet on the table, JJ. I would prefer it if this place stays basically clean." She scowls, earning a groan of annoyance form the blonde boy.

Kiara points at John B once another song starts and he jumps up, rushing over to dance with her.

"Bro, he really wants that. . ." JJ trails off, and rests his arms behind his head with a chuckle.

I smack his chest, trying to hide my laugh, "Gross."

He holds his hands up in a surrender, "Was I wrong?" Suddenly, JJ shoots up out of his seat, grabbing my hand while doing so. I shake my head frantically, knowing what he wants us to do.

"I am not dancing." I snarl but he continues to pull me into space.

"Yes you are." He smirks.

No I'm not.

"But my arm," I shrug, looking down at it in the boring cast, "I'm bound from doing basically any physical activity."

"And when have you cared about the rules?" He raises an eyebrow, not earning a response, "Exactly. So dance."

I roll my eyes at him and he laughs lowly as I start to sway my hips to the beats of the music, throwing my head back.  His hands move down my sides to my waist, letting me move to the song with him. He smirks as his eyes move down my fully exposed neck, onto my chest and down to my waist. He caresses my hips while moving his shoulders, trying to seem interested in the song. I lower my head again and his hand grabs mine, bringing it into the air and twirling me around. I laugh and he smiles when I start to move one way and he goes the other, creating a small little dance routine.

JJ starts to slow, and I do the same, "Ava—"

There's a cough, cutting him off. We immediately stop what we're doing and look at John B, who's stood staring at us.

"Don't look at us like that." I grumble, walking back to my seat and eating a cold fry, "You were just doing it with Kie. Let us have our fun and we've let you have yours."

"I never said anything." He runs his hand through his hair, turning away.

"You wanted to," I mutter.