Page 90 of A Little Tempting

I shake my head, caught between disgust, resentment, and resignation, as I lick my bottom lip. “Don’t start this again. Don’t youdarestart this again and treat me like a victim.”

“You’re right, okay?” He lifts his hands in defense. “You’re right. Reeves did nothing wrong, and I deserved what I had coming to me. Happy now?”

“No, I’m not happy,” I retort. “I don’t want either of you hurt or carted away in handcuffs. It isn’t you against him, and I’m not picking his side by acknowledging he was treated unfairly by the police tonight, so stop being such a selfish dick and only looking at this from your perspective.” A bit of fight seeps out of me, and I rest my head against the leather headrest.

“You’re right,” Ev admits. “I treated him unreasonably.” He pinches the bridge of his nose and draws in a breath. “And I’ve done it for a long time.”

It’s true, he has. But even though Everett’s always been stubborn, he’s also always had a big heart, and I know this is killing him.

Reaching over, I squeeze his knee, hoping he knows he isn’t alone and isn’t a bad person for making a mistake, even if it was kind of a doozy.

“What’s going to happen to him?” I whisper.

“He’s been arrested before.”

“I know. For a DUI.”

“And assault charges.”

My lungs cease. “W-what?”

“A few of them.”

Panic blooms in my chest. “Everett?—”

“He hit his dad, and his dad pressed charges,” Everett explains. He sounds so cold. So detached. “He’s also been in fights with his clients’ exes, which didn’t turn out so great, either.”

Chewing on the edge of my thumb, I play out a million scenarios, but none of them fit. None of them make sense. And neither does tonight’s fallout.

“So, what does this mean?” I whisper. “Even with his priors, we gave our statements, and you admitted you started it. There’s no way…there’s no way he’ll be in serious trouble, right?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Ev rubs at the five o’clock shadow along his jaw and stares blankly out the windshield. “As you saw firsthand, Reeves’ dad is a dick and has always had it out for him. Always.”

“But it was only a fight. If you were on the ice, no one would’ve batted an eye.”

Okay, it’s a lie, and we both know it. Sure, hockey fights can be brutal, but whatever the hell that was tonight? It was more.

As if he heard my thoughts, Everett points out, “It was in the middle of a school dance, Dylan. Don’t get me wrong. I get it. But when you add in his priors, it doesn’t look good.”

He’s right. It doesn’t. At all. None of this does. But it isn’t his fault. Itisn’t.

Scrambling through my clutch, I say, “I need to call my parents. Maybe they can help.”

He reaches for me, sets his hand on mine, and halts my search. “You sure you wanna do this?”

“Do what, exactly?”

“Get…mixed up in this?”

My expression twists with hurt, and I pull away from him. “The boy I grew up with wouldn’t have had any issue standing up for Reeves tonight.”

“I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“We already discussed how you owe me nothing, Everett. And guess what? I’m starting to think I don’t owe you anything, either. Now, get out of the car so I can call my parents.”

It doesn’t take long for my mom to answer. I word-vomit everything that happened, and Dad promises to call his lawyer.

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