Page 103 of Destroying Everleigh

I forced a lazy grin after slinging my legs over the side of my bike to stand. “Yeah. Just tired.”

She narrowed her eyes like she didn’t entirely believe me, and I couldn’t even blame her. I’d never been very good at hiding my emotions. You’d think that with a piece of shit father like mine, I’d be an expert with it by now. Out of the three of us, Kash was the best at keeping his emotions on lock. It was always difficult to read him, even in less stressful situations. Ashton was constantly on a warpath, but anger was still an emotion, and unless Kash got really pissed off, he hid that well, too.

I held my hand out to her. “Come on.” Once she slipped her palm into mine, I led her toward the building, my heart racing in my chest. Ashton better not have texted me to force me to walk in on something I didn’t want to see. Like him being balls deep inside of Everleigh for starters. My jaw tightened at the thought.It was exactly something he'd do, especially if he wanted to get back at me for something.

To my relief, they were all sitting on the sofa watching something on TV, and not paying an ounce of attention to one another. It didn’t look like they fucked, so that brought mesomecomfort. I took my spot in the recliner again and pulled Amber into my lap like before, winding an arm around her waist. My gaze found Ashton’s from across the room, and I arched an expectant brow, but he didn’t seem like he was in any hurry to do anything.

Amber leaned against me, pressing her back against my chest. “I heard you guys were throwing a party this weekend,” she pointed out.

“We are.” My hands dropped to her bare thighs, causing her to tremble against me from the unexpected touch. I knew she wanted me sexually, but so far, we haven’t done anything of the sort, and she was too proud to initiate it. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if she did.

“Is it exclusive or can anyone show up?” she pried.

“It’s open to anyone,” I replied.

She was quiet for a minute, her gaze slinging to Everleigh’s. “Are you going?”

My body went rigid at that, but I clamped my mouth shut. This was one party I didn’t want her to attend for obvious reasons.

“No,” Ashton snapped, seeming to be on the exact same page.

Everleigh shot him a glare. “Well, I wasn’t going to, but now that you’re telling me I can’t come, I just might.” Her voice had a bite to it, and while usually it was sexy as hell, all I could think about was guys seeing her naked. Even at the last party and I touched her, I made sure to keep her dress down so no one could see anything.

“Not happening,” Kash chimed in.

Amber glanced around the room in confusion. “Why are you guys being so weird?” she asked. “It’s just a party. You can’t put your differences aside foronenight?”

Ashton blew out a breath of irritation, swiping his hands through his inky black hair. “It’s anudeparty,” he explained. “The last thing I want to do is see my ex-girlfriend naked.”

Amber huffed a laugh. “Didn’t you just fuck her?”

She had a point there. Ashton’s argument was weak.

“I don’t want to see my friend’s ex-girlfriend naked,” Kash added, like that was supposed to make all the difference in the world.

Amber narrowed her eyes. “You just had your hands up her shirt. What the hell is going on?” Her lips turned down into a frown as the wheels turned in her head and the realization suddenly hit her. “Oh…you don’t want other guys?—”

“Enough,” Ashton growled, cutting her off. “She’s not invited.”

Everleigh rolled her eyes. “I wonder what the dean would think if he found out that you were discriminating against me for personal reasons,” she taunted, a sneer curling her lips.

“Everleigh,” Kash warned with a sharp edge to his voice. “Stop taunting him.”

She blew out a breath, her jaw clenching with unrestrained anger. She hated being told what to do. I was glad to see that at least that hadn’t changed. Everleigh glanced over at me, her eyes drifting over to Amber a moment later. If it weren’t for the slight tick of her jaw, I would have thought she was unphased. The fact that this bothered her stroked my own ego. She still cared.

Ashton’s expression was hard, the wheels turning inside his head. It probably didn’t help that she was sitting there goading him. Slowly, his expression relaxed a fraction, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a malicious smirk.

Oh no. Here we fucking go.

“You know,” Ashton began, settling back on the couch with his arms wound behind his head. “I walked in on something interesting last week.” Everleigh tensed beside him, and it only took me a moment to realize what he was referring to.

I narrowed my eyes. “Ashton,” I growled in a warning.

Amber shifted in my lap, casting a quick glance around the room. “What was it?” she pressed, trying to get a handle on all of our reactions.

“Two unexpected people were in bed together.” He smirked, glancing over at me. Was he punishing me for fucking her? Was this atwo birds with one stonesituation?

Kash blew out a breath, threading his fingers through his blonde hair. He didn’t seem to be on board with this either.

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