Page 54 of End Game

I pound my fist on the edge of the table, making everything shake, including the candles. The liquid wax even sloshes over one of the wicks and snuffs it out, thanks to me. “Ever is right. You’re both idiots.”

“She called us jerks,” Gav corrects.

“And I was referring to you too,” Everleigh says to me in the haughtiest voice I’ve ever heard. “Like I told you earlier, you’re always grumpy around me.”

“I am not.” Am I?

She rolls her eyes. “And you definitely don’t need to start a fight with Gavin. He was just being nice.”

With that, she takes the stack of plates into her arms and stomps over to the sink, setting them inside noisily. She turns on the water and starts rinsing them off, and I almost want to correct her and say she should scrape off the plates into the trash first, like we always do, but I realize it’s not smart to mess with an angry woman.

Instead I say nothing at all. Neither do the rest of the guys, with the exception of Gav, who is now standing, stretching his arms above his head.

“Hate to eat and run, but I’ve gotta go. Thank you again, Everleigh. That was delicious. One of the best meals I’ve had in forever.”

“Anytime, Gavin,” she calls, her back still to us as the dishes clank against each other extra loud.

He sends us a faintly amused, slightly sympathetic look before he hightails his ass out of our house.

“Want some help?” Frank calls to Ever.

“No thank you,” she sing-songs.

“I need to study for a test. And by the way, you guys are mean as snakes.” Frank leaves, slamming his bedroom door a few seconds later.

Coop is watching me, rubbing his jaw. Doesn’t look so amused anymore, I’ll say that. Now he appears confused. “Are you serious about my sister? She’s crushing on Gavin?”

My exhale is ragged. “Yes. And you’re just as blind to it as Gav is if you’re trying to tell me you had no clue. She’s liked him since her freshman year.”

“How do you know this?”

“She might’ve hinted around to me once or twice,” I hedge, feeling like a shit that I never told him this.

But he’s Sienna’s brother, and I didn’t want to break her trust. Besides, she confessed her undying devotion for Gavin to me one drunken night, never to bring it up again. Once someone tells you that, though, you can’t help but see it in their every little interaction with theperson they’re crushing on. It became really obvious to me that Sienna has a total thing for Gav.

“Damn.” Coop sounds truly mystified. “I mean, I know she likes the guy, but I didn’t think it was like that.”

“Oh, it’s definitely like that,” Ever calls from her post at the sink. She’s now started loading the dishwasher.

“You want some help?” Coop asks her, but she’s shaking her head, that ponytail whipping around.

“No thank you.”

Coop sends me a look. One that saysI wouldn’t want to be you right now.

“I’ll leave you two alone then.” He pushes his chair back, rises to his feet, and mouths to me,Be nice.

Then he’s out.

What, like I’m not nice to Ever? Please.

With only Ever and me in the room, the tension grows. Thicker than it was between Gavin and me only moments ago. I’m going to have to reach out to him and apologize later. I was a complete dick to him for no reason.

Everleigh still isn’t speaking. She’s too busy slamming plates and glasses into the dishwasher like she’s intent on breaking everything, and after a few minutes of this, she makes an irritated noise and shuts off the water. “Why did you start that fight?”

“What fight?” I am playing dumb on purpose.

“With Gavin. About me.” She won’t look in my direction, and it irritates the shit out of me.

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