Page 130 of Destroying Everleigh

A sob got caught in my throat at his admission. What was I supposed to do with that information? Was this another form of torture?

“Everleigh Knight,” an authoritative voice called out from behind me. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say and do may be held against you in the court of law.”

Jameson gripped my face between his hands and kissed me fiercely, not giving a shit that his two best friends were standing a few feet away. Not caring that the cops were waiting for him to release me so that they could cuff me and haul me away. I knew I shouldn’t kiss him, but deep down, I also knew this was my last chance to do so. So against my better judgment, I parted my lips and welcomed him.

In the next breath, I was being wrenched away from him, my hands jerked behind my back and cuffed. The metal bit into my wrists. They were a lot more uncomfortable than I would have expected.

“Don’t tell them anything,” Jameson warned me.

I wasn’t stupid. But we were on school grounds, so there was probably video evidence. It would have been different had this happened near the front of the soccer fields where there were no cameras, but of course these douchebags had to park near the streetlights. Still, there was a small chance that it was also a blind spot.

The cop steered me toward his cruiser and helped me into the back seat. My stomach twisted into nervous knots of energy while I peered out the window. The other cop was talking to the guys, their posture relaxed as if they’d dealt with the police a number of times before. If they wanted me broken, I think they just succeeded.

I’d only been in the cell for an hour before a cop was unlocking the door and calling my name. Confusion wormed its way through me as I glanced around. A few of the women glared at me with pure disdain while others gave me soft smiles and the rest ignored my existence.

Hesitantly, I stepped out of the cell. I didn’t understand what was happening. Trial wasn’t for three weeks, so they weren’t sending me to prison.

“Today’s your lucky day,” the bald-headed police officer told me. “You’re being bonded out and charges are being dropped.”

We’ll get you out of this.

Those had been Jameson’s words. I hated to admit it, but I didn’t believe they’d actually succeed in talking Ashton out of the charges against me. He hated me so damn much for reasons I couldn’t even fathom anymore. I understood that I hurt him. But this was too much of a price to pay for something that happened approximately three years ago.

“Would you like to get dressed?” The cop glanced down at me.

I shrugged. I was wearing an orange jumpsuit with the name of the jail plastered across it. “I just want to get out of here,” I murmured.

He grunted in response and led me to the front to collect my things. He offered me my old clothes that were in a sack and then handed me my phone and keys that had been inserted into a sandwich baggy.

Ashton was waiting in the lobby, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his sweats. I didn’t miss how he was favoring his left leg, putting the majority of his weight on it despite being stronger on his right.

“Why?” I asked him.

He shrugged, his expression an unreadable mask. “I told Lucas I’d take you to him.”

I vaguely remembered that conversation, but a part of me thought he’d been bluffing to get him to lay off. That just proved that he truly didn’t care about me. But I could handle Lucas. Despite his little act of violence, he wasn’t typically like that. I’d like to think it was just a one-time thing and that he'd let me go at my request. But there was another part of me that thought something darker may be lurking beneath the surface—that he wasn’t truly who I thought he was.

Ashton led me to a silver Equinox, one of the older editions. Jameson was in the passenger seat and Kash was in the back. I climbed in the back, taking up the spot beside Kash. My chest was tight with tension and exhaustion was clinging to me. I was exhausted and hungry. Thirsty even. I just wanted to get this over with.

Darkness blanketed us immediately when we pulled out onto the main road with Ash up front. This was probably one of his dad’s many vehicles. For whatever reason, Ash didn’t feel the need to turn on his brights, like he had tunnel vision or some shit.

Kash shifted closer to me, his body taking up the middle row. Which was saying a lot since he was pretty thin. I wanted to sink into the warmth of his body, to have him comfort me and tell me he cared, just like Jameson had. As if sensing that’s exactly what I needed, he wrapped an arm around me and tugged me against his chest.

“It’s almost over,” he whispered, low enough so that only I could hear him.

Right. Delivering me to my crazy ex-boyfriend was the final stop. And then what? They’d leave me alone and pretend I didn’t exist? I nuzzled against Kash, craving the small amount of comfort he was willing to offer me. He sucked in a sharp breath, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. Something was off with him. I could see it in the tense way he set his jaw, in the way he kept avoiding my gaze, in the firmness of the one arm he had snaked around me.

I wanted to beg them to stop this. To let me explain everything from my perspective in the only way I knew how to. To beg them to listen and accept me again. But Ashton seemed like he was beyond reason. I’d hurt him, and he wanted to make sure I was as broken as he was, if not more.

Confusion tore through me when we pulled into Ashton’s driveway. Not the one at the frat house, but the one belonging to his parents.

“What are we doing here?” I asked, glancing around. Why wasn’t he taking me to Lucas? Was Ashton not coming? I glanced around frantically, my heart beating so hard I could feel my pulse thrumming against my neck.

Kash tightened his hold on me in an almost possessive manner, like he wanted to protect me from Ashton’s wrath. I knew the moment Ash bonded me out that there was a darkness to him, one more sinister than usual.

Ashton wrenched his door open and stepped out. Instead of heading up to the house, he stopped by my door and opened it. My body immediately became tense, his gray eyes swimming with a thousand storm clouds. His eyes dropped to where Kash had his arm wrapped around me and his jaw feather in irritation. He braced his hands on the back seat that I resided in, his fingertips brushing along the outside of my leg.

“After tonight, this is over,” he said in a calm, tense tone. “You won’t exist to me—to any of us. You’re worthless, Everleigh. They know it, I know it, and soon…you’ll know it, too.”

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