Page 61 of Destroying Everleigh

Iwas sitting in class with my legs stretched out in front of me when my phone started to ring, the tone echoing throughout the quiet classroom. We were supposed to be reading a chapter in our textbook and then doing a quiz afterwards. But only a few people had my phone number. My parents, who would never call me during school hours unless it was an emergency, Jamie and Ash who were both in classes right now, and then a few other people who were in class. So, I grabbed my phone, ignoring the pointed look my professor was giving me and glanced down at the screen.

Why the hell was Ashton calling me?

Hitting the green icon, I placed it to my ear, not giving a shit that phones were prohibited. “What?” I hissed, trying to keep my voice low.

His breathing was heavy, like he just ran a marathon, or just got done fucking someone. The latter was probably more probable. A few people glanced over at me with interest, like theywanted in on my phone conversation. They were like leeches, begging for the first piece of drama they could sink their teeth into.

“Meet me in the parking lot. Now.” He hung up without another word, leaving me confused as hell.

This better be fucking good. I was already behind from having to miss the first day. Sighing, I pocketed my phone and shoved everything into my bag before rising. “Family emergency,” I called out before heading for the door. I didn’t wait for a response, slipping out into the hallway and making a beeline toward the double doors at the end of the hallway.

Deep down, I knew Ashton wouldn’t drag me out of class for the hell of it. If it was over something small, he’d simply ask me if I wanted to skip. We already spent so much time together as is, though. We’d finally successfully moved our things into the fraternity house and were slowly making it our own. There was still a lot of dust that needed to be taken care of. On the bright side, all of the bedrooms had their own bathroom attached. There was also a huge ass dining room, a pool in the backyard, and a home theatre with a massive TV in it. The place reminded me a lot of Ashton’s house, but there were more rooms and even balconies.

Jameson’s voice cut through my thoughts, making me pause as soon as the fresh air hit my skin. “Wait up.”

I turned, holding the door open with my elbow. “He called you, too?”

“Yeah.” He readjusted his bag on his shoulder, his eyes darting past me. “What the hell?” he muttered.

I turned back around, scouring the parking lot until my gaze halted on Ashton. A girl was passed out in his arms, her long dark hair tumbling toward the ground as he cradled her bridal style. Her arms were limp, and her neck was bent in a weird angle from the lack of support.

“Is that Everleigh?” he asked in disbelief.

My throat tightened at the question. It sure as hell looked like her, but it was difficult to see from here. I knew he hated her, but he wouldn’t physically harm her, right? He’d never been that type of guy.

Jameson stepped through the threshold, and I let the door fall closed behind us. It didn’t take long for us to reach the parking lot. My eyes instantly zeroed in on the girl between his arms and if he kept holding her like that, she was going to have a sore neck by the time she woke up.

“What’s wrong with her?” I asked.

Ashton didn’t answer right away. He turned and handed Everleigh to Jameson who immediately held her close to his chest. Her dark lashes fell over her sharp cheekbones, casting a shadow beneath them. She didn’t look like she’d been harmed, and her breathing appeared to be steady.

“She had a panic attack and passed out,” Ashton explained. “Professor Whitlock was bitching her out for being late. She already looked pale as shit when she entered the classroom. Apparently, her mom died yesterday.”

Jameson and I exchanged looks, my chest tightening at that new knowledge. We’d known Everleigh’s mom pretty well back in the day. She always let us come over and was always making snacks and ordering food for us.

“Are we taking her to the hospital?” Jameson asked, obvious concern dripping from his words.

“No,” Ash said curtly. “There’s no reason to. She’s fine. We’ll take her to the house.” He fished his keys from his pocket and slipped behind the wheel.

I didn’t know a lot about panic attacks, or anxiety in general, but Jameson has had a lot of those growing up and it was never life threatening. He was usually fine after lying in one spot anddrinking caffeine. Sometimes, caffeine made it worse, though. It really just depended.

I opened the back door for Jamie and slid in up front. When Jameson made it into the back successfully, he reached over and tugged the door closed. His hands instantly moved to her face where he proceeded to brush her dark hair from her face. Her eyes fluttered with the movement, but she didn’t wake.

A pang of jealousy sliced through me at the fact that he got to sit back there with her, touching her, but I quickly dismissed it. She was off the table. We only had one purpose for her, and that was revenge. I wasn’t a horrible enough person to do anything to her while she was as vulnerable as this. We’d let her rest and get her strength back up, but that was it.

It took less than five minutes to reach the house and when we did, we took her upstairs and placed her in Jameson’s bed. Ash tugged her shoes off, discarding them on the floor and then tugged the comforter up over her. Her eyes lazily fluttered open, but they were distant and unfocused—kind of how you’d imagine someone who had been drunk or drugged would react.

“Ashton,” she whispered.

He glared down at her, despite his obvious concern. He obviously still gave a shit. Otherwise, he would have dropped her off at the hospital and left her there. “Go back to sleep,” he bit out. “We’ll take you home later.”

“I’ll stay with her,” Jameson decided.

We both looked at him like he grew a second head, but it was Ashton who spoke. “Why? You touched her pussy once and now you feel responsible for her?”

There has been a lot of tension within our group the last few days. From Ash letting Crystal suck his dick, to me kissing Everleigh just to spite him, to Jameson fingering her during that stupid game and having her blow him.

Jamie narrowed his eyes. “It was tight, too,” he taunted. “She squirted all over my fucking hand.”

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