Mel nods, but I can see it on her face—she doesn’t approve. She’s thinking, trying to help me figure things out. After a second she asks, “How much do you owe? Maybe I can lend you the money. It’s better owing me than Black.” She knows something that I don’t.

I look at her for a moment and shake my head. “It was enough to buy a couple of cars, Mel. Thanks for offering, but I doubt you have it. Plus, you need to pay your bills. This was my mistake. I have to clean it up.”

“What’s she going to have you do? You know Black’s guys do some nasty stuff, right?”

I shrug. “I don’t care anymore. I really don’t. I okayed the entire sheet, you know.” Mel looks shocked. “I said I’d do anything.”

“How could you say that?” she squeaks with her jaw hanging open.

I pull my knees into my chest and wrap my arms around my legs. I don’t look at her. “How could I not? It doesn’t matter. None of this matters.”

“Are you listening to yourself? You can’t let some dumbass guy ruin your life. He wanted a fuck and you gave him your heart. He doesn’t deserve you, Avery.

“I’m so sorry. I wish I could fix this for you, but telling Black that you’ll do anything and everything is a bad plan. There are some sick bastards on her client list. They’re too twisted for me, so I know you aren’t going to be into it.

“Plus, checking the anything box gets you anything. You’re not ready for that—and no, you don’t want to know what crazy shit they do.”

I rub my eyes with the heel of my hands. “What choice do I have?” Mel doesn’t answer. I stop rubbing and look up at her.

“Go get the money back from dickwad. Say, ‘gimme my money back so I don’t have to be a hoe for free.’” I tilt my head to the side and give her an expression that says I’d rather die first. She puffs up. “Well, you realize what it means then, right? That you gave it him for free. If you let Sean keep that money, it’s like you fucked him for nothing, and in return he gave you the biggest mind-fuck of your life. Go get your damn money back.” Mel is on her feet. She goes to her closet and pulls out a jacket, and stuff hers arms in the sleeves.

“You are not going, so sit down.” When she bends over to find her sneakers, I repeat myself, “No. Mel, leave it. Please.” I walk up behind her. When Mel turns around, I feel the plea etched into my face. “Leave it alone.”

She’s mad. I can see the tremor of anger course through her arms. Mel flexes her fingers and lets out a rush of air. Her finger is in my face. She tries to hold it still, but she’s so angry. Even though I know she isn’t mad at me, it feels like it. She growls at me, “I swear to God, if I see that motherfucker on the street, I’m going to rip his goddamn face off.”

The corner of my mouth lifts. “That’d be okay, probably.”

Mel snorts. The tension flows out of her back and her hand returns to her side. Mel shakes it off as fast as she can, but I can tell that she still wants to defend me. “I’ll give him a tattoo with that pretty carving knife I stole from naked dude.” She laughs. It sounds a little crazy, but I laugh, too.

I glance at the door. Her words from before finally sink in. “Did you say someone was in my room with Amber?”

“You know I did, and you don’t want to know who. I can’t believe it myself.” Mel peels off her jacket and throws it into the closet. It lands on the floor. Mel slips off her sneakers and slides the closet doors shut.

“Well, now I have to know.”

“No, you don’t. It’ll make you all sorts of crazy.” Mel doesn’t meet my gaze. Her eyebrows inch up her forehead and disappear, like she can’t believe it. I have a sinking feeling. She knows who it is and doesn’t like it. That’s why she doesn’t want to tell me.

There’s only one person we both like and we both thought he was gay. “No,” I gasp, with my eyes wide. My hand flies to my mouth as it sinks in. “She’s with Marty?”

CHAPTER 3

“Yeah,” Mel answers with a strange look on her face. One of her lower eyelids flutters, like she’s disgusted. “He’s been in there all night. Marty came up the stairs looking for you and stumbled on her.”

“How do you know?” I ask, and glance at the door and then back at Mel. “I thought you were going to be out all night.”

Mel shrugs. “Black reassigned me at the last second. I thought I was going to be out all night, too. When I got in, I texted M-boy to hang out. He said he was busy. So, after that I got nothing to do, right, so I figure that rattling the skank-hoe would be fun, so I go down and bang on her door.” Mel pauses and folds her arms over her chest. “Guess who answered?”

Shaking my head, I say, “I can’t believe it.”

“Well, believe it—turns out that Marty-boy is straight, although doing Amber is kind of twisted.” Mel is obviously disgusted. Her opinion of Marty just fell about six feet.

I blink a few times. The thought of Amber and Marty is too much. I don’t want them together. I don’t really think about it, but I find myself on my feet and before I know it, I’m walking down the hall to my room. Mel is on my heels, telling me to think it through, but I don’t want to.

They can’t!

Stopping in front of my door, I try the knob. It’s locked. Odds are the door is blocked, too. I bang on the old wood so hard that the glittery sign Amber has placed above the door falls on my head and then tumbles to the carpet. I can’t believe how fast my anger is stoked. Maybe I’m too out of it to do this now, but I can’t stop.

Before I know it, I’m pounding the door like a lunatic and screaming, “Open the damn door, Marty! I know you’re in there!” I’m practically punching the door when Amber yanks it open.

Amber’s eyes dart to my fist and then to Mel. She shrieks and jumps back, like I’m going to slug her in the face. “You said she wasn’t coming home! You said you weren’t coming home!”

I was nice to her and this is how she repays me. “So, you decided to sleep with my best friend? Just kill me while you’re at it! Where is he?” I push past Amber and into the room. Fury is building in my fists. If I don’t punch something soon, I’m going to snap. I can’t believe Marty. I can’t possibly fathom why he’d want Amber.

But when I shove into the room, the sight makes me stop in my tracks. The emotions boiling inside of me don’t know where to go, so they come out of my mouth is a strangled sobbing laugh. My mouth gaps open and my fingers try to cover it. I’m stunned into silence.

My side of the room has been barren since I moved in. I couldn’t afford to decorate it. After I shove past Amber, I see Marty sitting on my bed—fully clothed—and waving the tips of his fingers at me. The bed he’s sitting on isn’t mine. I mean, it is, but the bedspread and pillows… OMG. And it doesn’t stop there—the walls, the bed, the windows, the nightstand—everything is beautiful.

It’s decorated in purples and browns. It’s exactly what I would have wanted, but better. Everything is perfect. The bedspread is two-tone raw silk in my favorite shade of lilac. The little lamp on the night stand has a vintage shade with tassels hung from the base. There’s a dark chocolate colored frieze rug on the floor, so when I step out of bed in the morning my feet won’t get cold.

There’s art—a real painting—above my headboard. I have a tufted headboard! My side of the room doesn’t look like a prison cell anymore. It’s a real bedroom, soft and pretty like Mel’s room. The entire time I look around, Mel is muttering obscenities and craning her neck the same way that I am, trying to take it all in.

I can’t speak. I can’t breathe. My fingers are jammed to my lips as I stare.

“Do you like it?” Marty sounds uncertain, like maybe he shouldn’t have done it. “You always said it was lacking, that you would have done something with it.” Marty looks at his hands and twists his fingers. “I wanted to give you a present. You’ve been through hell this week. I thought you were going to be out tonight. I was going to decorate, just slip in and out, but then Amber came in and… well, you came back early.” Marty gives me a lopsided smile and stands. Extending his arms, Marty says sheepishly, “Surprise.”

I slam my hand against my chest to free the words caught in my throat. My lip trembles when I pull my fingers away. Every bit of my brain is in emotional overload. I can’t process what he’s done. Pressing my lips together, I try to speak. At first nothing comes out. I clear my throat and try again. “It’s beautiful. I love it! I can’t believe you did all this!” I run over to Marty and throw my arms around him. He towers over me so that my head is barely at his shoulders. He hugs me and pats my back.

When Marty pulls away, he says, “It’s kind of shabby chic meets modern. I didn’t know what style you’d like, so I guessed.”

I can’t stop smiling at him. I run my palm over the bedspread, feeling the soft fabric beneath my hand. “It’s perfect. Everything is perfect. I love it! I can’t believe you did this for me!”

“You deserve it, kiddo.” Marty smiles at me. I can tell that he wants to say more, but Amber is there. His eyes flick over to Mel. “Someone said that work was getting harder and harder. Having something nice to come home to, well, it makes things a little better. And since you’ve got a good job, I thought you might want to stay for the summer and graduate early. We’d have so much fun.”

“You’re staying this summer?” I ask, and he nods.

Mel finally speaks up. “You almost made her brain blow up. And holy shit—you need to decorate my room. I would have never put this stuff together and it looks freakin’ awesome.” Mel’s still looking at things with her mouth hanging open—the curtains, the table, the linens. I have linens!