Page 79 of Destroying Everleigh

“Before or after you fucked her?” Ashton countered with a bite to his tone.

I glared at him. “After. Anyways, I asked her why she did what she did.”

This had Ash sobering up, his posture snapping straight. “And?” he demanded. For someone who claimed he didn’t give a shit about the reasoning behind it, he sure was eager for the information now that I mentioned it.

“She doesn’t remember it. She basically said that there were holes in her memory. That one moment, Dakota was offering her a drink, and then the next, he was on top of her, and she didn’t understand how it escalated that quickly.”

Kash straightened up too, a stitch forming between his brows. He seemed to be thinking the same thing I was. A single drink didn’t cause a blackout like that. And if she’d consumedmore than that, she would have remembered having more than one before passing out. I’ve had enough blackouts to know that much. While everything else had been a blur and I lost count of how much I consumed, I definitely remembered drinking more than one beverage.

“And it never occurred to you that she could be lying?” Ashton demanded, more on edge than he had been during this entire ordeal. “Dakota’s a piece of shit, but he’s not a fucking rapist.”

Kash hesitated, like he wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure how to. “You know that’s not entirely true.”

There had been one incident back when we were fifteen. Dakota went out with us and joked about slipping something into one of the girl’s drinks. We thought that’s all it was—a joke. He was crude and said the most out of pocket things, but then he disappeared, and Ash had to call his parents to come pick us up. We never thought much of it, not until now. It felt like a puzzle was slowly starting to click in place. But there was no proof he had done what he joked about doing. He could have just gotten shit faced and passed out somewhere, or he could have gone home with a girl consensually. It did raise some red flags, though.

Ashton scoffed. “He joked about shit like that all of the fucking time. Everleigh knew it, too. She was playing you, Jameson. How do you assholes not see that?”

Once again, he had a point. “You’re right.” I sighed. “It doesn’t matter anyways. I doubt he would have done that to Everleigh of all people. He wasn’t into underage girls.” He’d made that comment a few times, too. He preferred them older if anything.

Kash nodded. “Yeah. Especially when he knew you were on the way to go see her.”

That would have been self-sabotage. Knowing Ashton was on the way home and drugged his girlfriend anyways just to have his way with her. Dakota was a bit of a wild card, but he wasn’t a rapist. At least, not to my knowledge. I guess I just wanted to believe so badly that she didn’t fuck him of her own volition, that I was willing to hang on to any excuse possible.

And if Dakota hadn’t done some shady shit like that, it only meant one of two things. Either Everleigh lied about how much she’d consumed, or she lied about remembering. Either way, she lied, and she wasn’t going to get away with that. All the softness I’d felt for her before disintegrated, morphing into that familiar rage I was all too familiar with.

She was a cheating whore. Even now, that hadn’t changed. It didn’t take much effort to fuck her even though she had a boyfriend. She was sneakier than the average slut. She knew exactly how to play people and get them to do what she wanted, and no one suspected a thing. Then she got to turn around and play the victim.

Fuck that. Fuckher.

I squinted at my phone, eyeing the photo Ash had sent to the group chat a few days ago. I was eager now more than ever to kick this shit into gear. The three of us decided collectively on a name for our new fraternity. It wasn’t often that colleges allowed you to pull one out of your ass but I was definitely going to be taking advantage of it.

The Serpents.

It wasn’t lost on me that the name was the same one given to a motorcycle gang around here, but it fit, and I liked it. Ashton wasn’t too sold on it, but me and Kash managed to talk him into it.

Now, we were standing in the ballroom of the college, all suited up with our own stack of flyers for an initiation party we still hadn’t pieced together. These weren’t the kinds of parties I was into. Everything had to be classy and elegant, when I’d rather do a keg stand and get my dick sucked.

Ashton didn’t seem that happy about it, either. If his persistent grumbling was anything to go by. He did look decent in a suit, though.

The one thing we had going for us was the fact that Ashton was a Banks. Everyone wanted to get on his good side for whatever reason. It wasn’t like he was going to give them their money. But apparently, being rich made you popular. But in this instance, I wasn’t complaining about it.

I internally groaned when my eyes settled on Crystal who was making her way toward us. Her blonde hair was curled around her shoulders, and she was dressed in a tight, light blue gown that trailed behind her and displayed a lot of cleavage.

“I didn’t expect to see you guys here.” She smiled, barely sparing me or Kash a glance before zeroing in on Ashton. Her gaze raked down his body and she not-so subtly bit her glossed lip.

I was about to insult her. It was on the tip of my tongue. But then, I thought of a better use for her. Gossip traveled fast, especially if you were paying attention. The former head of Kappa graduated, leaving the spot open. Unsurprisingly, it was given to Crystal. So, she was in charge of one of the girls’ sororities. We could use that to our advantage.

I leaned over the table between us, bracing my elbows against it. “Let’s make a deal.” I grinned.

Her eyes darted to me again, a look of surprise flashing across her features. The only time I ever spoke to her was to insult her, so it came as no surprise to me that she’d be skeptical. “What?” she asked in bewilderment, like she hadn’t heard me right.

“Let’s make a deal. Trust me. You’ll enjoy the end result as much as we will.”

She hesitated for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “And what kind of deal is that?” she pressed.

“It’s simple, really.” I shrugged, settling back in my seat now that I had her undivided attention. Ashton and Kash were looking at me like I’d grown a second head, but neither one of them cared to interrupt. “I want you to proposition Everleigh. I want her in your initiation.”

“What?” All three of them blurted out in unison.

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