Page 21 of Crooked Crows (Boys of Briar Hall 1)

My stomach clenched.

“If you don’t like it…” she started, trailing off. “I mean, I can always return it.”

I peered inside, finding a swath of dark fabric. My fingers brushed the satiny dress and I grimaced, drawing it out of the fancy bag.

My first instinct was to bite her head off. I didn’t need new clothes. Nothing was wrong with my clothes. I didn’t need or want to look like the girls who went here.

“You don’t like it,” she said after a beat of tense silence, and I found her uneasily chewing her bottom lip.

I bit my tongue, seeing how clearly self-conscious she was about the whole thing. Maybe Becca was just as shit at having friends as I was.

Ease up, Ava Jade.

“It’s actually amazing,” I said.

And it was.

With a tight bodice and deep cut V in the front and a keyhole cutout in the back, it was a dream. The color was incredible, too. Black at first glance, but with a tint of dark navy and galaxy aqua when the light hit it just right.

The price tag almost gave me an aneurysm, though. It would eat up a quarter of the money I had stashed away if I were to have bought it myself. Plus, I didn’t have the time or resources to case out a job in this town yet.

I hoped she didn’t want me to pay her back.

“You shouldn’t have bought me anything, though. I don’t uh…”

“Have access to Old Lady Humphrey’s bank accounts?” she finished for me.

I shook my head.

“I figured. I don’t know much about her, but her tight purse strings are legendary in Thorn Valley. It’s no biggie anyway, it went on Daddy’s AMEX like everything else does.”

Must be nice.

“Uh, well. Thanks.”

“Welcome,” she said, noticeably more chipper. “I thought you could wear it to the party tomorrow.”

My mind immediately jumped to conclusions. Wondering at her ulterior motives. She probably didn’t want to be seen with me in my regular off-brand, thrift store clothes. Or maybe she was just wrapping me up as a gift to feed to the wolves to earn herself favor. Maybe…

Guilt gnawed at my stomach, and I shut down the part of my brain that always had to be suspicious of everything. Admitting there was a very good chance Becca just wanted to do something nice for her new roommate.

That thought was a harder one to swallow, and made my throat tight with emotion I didn’t know what the fuck to do with.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Can’t wait.”

“This it?”

Grey pulled the car we borrowed from underground parking in town up to a neat white house with blue shutters, a doubtful frown turning down the edge of his mouth. “Thought that asshole lived down on Freemont, near the trailer park. That’s where we picked him up the last time.”

Rook chewed his lip ring in the backseat, already hedging to the door, his hands twitching.

“Yeah, I’m fucking sure,” I growled, cutting Grey a look. “What? Shitty people can’t live in nice houses?”

He inclined his head, knowing that all too well himself.

I inhaled deeply to calm down, knowing I was ornery as fuck. I’d have preferred to plan this little visit over at least a few days, if not a week, but we were running out of time.

Tomorrow was the monthly full moon party down at the docks and we needed to be there. The location, though it was perfect for parties, was right on the edge of our territory. Theone timewe didn’t go, a group of junior Aces crashed and almost drowned a chick. We couldn’t have that in our town.

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