Page 80 of Destroying Everleigh

“Think about it. If she’s in your initiation, you’re in control of her. You can make her do whatever you want her to do, and she can’t do shit about it.”

Crystal snorted at that, the sound annoying as fuck, but I hid my wince. “And what makes you think she’ll even want to do it?” she challenged. “I can’t force her to join, and frankly, I don’t want her there.”

Ashton furrowed his eyebrows, the wheels turning in his head as he started to catch on to what I was suggesting. “Make her a deal she can’t refuse. That could either be blackmail, a threat, even monetary gain—though, she doesn’t strike me as a desperate person. I think she’s too proud in that department.”

She was pretty desperate for my cock. But I decided to keep that to myself. My mood was soured from the chat we had the other night, and the last thing I wanted to do was bring her up regarding any of that. For a second, I’d let my guard down. Ibelievedher. But that was short-lived when Ash reminded me exactlywhywe should hate her.

Crystal pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I don’t really have anything on her for blackmail,” she admitted. “And as for threats…” She trailed off, a stitch forming between her brows.

I would say she could threaten to make Briley’s life a living hell, but with all things considered, she probably wouldn’t give a shit about that anymore.

“Threaten Amber,” I offered. They were best friends, and they were close. If there was one person Evie genuinely gave a shit about, it was her.

Crystal nodded slowly. “It might work. But my mom is good friends with Amber’s. If this gets back to our parents, then I’m in deep shit.” She blew out a breath. “I’ll see what I can do, though, and I’ll let you know.”

We had plenty of blackmail on Everleigh. But I had a feeling that Ash wanted to keep that close to his chest for his own use, so I didn’t bother mentioning it. At least it was a thought. Maybe we could pull some more information out of Briley and come up with something for Crystal so that she wasn’t going on a blind witch hunt.

A few guys approached, eyeing our display with interest. Crystal stepped to the side to let them through.

“A new frat?” the one with light blonde hair asked.

I nodded. “Yep. We’ll be throwing a nude pool party next weekend to help sway you.” A smirk tugged at my lips. “Hire a few strippers.”

The guy grinned and his two friends perked up at that. “Hell yeah.” He grabbed a flyer for each of them. “We’ll be there.”

The thought of checking out naked chicks and getting drunk off my ass was appealing. It would easily help me forget all this bullshit going on. Especially since clothes weren’t optional. They either stripped down to nothing, or they could get the hell out.

When the guys walked away, Kash turned to me with raised eyebrows. “Strippers?”

We hadn’t talked about hiring strippers prior to this, but I saw an opening, and I took it. Plus, Ash was more than willing to provide.

I shrugged. “Why not? We can get a couple poles installed. It’s not like we don’t have the space.”

Kash nodded in agreement. “Fuck it. I’m in.”

The remainder of the event was smooth. We got rid of all our flyers and had a lot of interest in the upcoming party. The one thing I loved about college was that there was no shortage when it came to willing women and parties. But even as the thoughts were flickering through my mind about finding a girl to fuck, I couldn’t help but feel a little put off by it. Everleigh had just been in my bed and had confessed to having feelings for me at one point. But I couldn’t afford to think like that. That’s what got me ensnared by her in the first place.

Plus, I’d lied to Everleigh.

Ididhave a girlfriend. I’d asked Amber to be mine the day we studied for our chemistry project. She was hot, but that wasn’t why I asked her. It was just another attempt at getting under Evie’s skin. And it would work once she found out about it. Especially after her confession and hesitance about doing anything with me because she thought me and Amber were dating.

A smirk tugged at my lips as I made my way through the parking lot toward my motorcycle. It wasn’t the same one I’d had as a teenager. This one was in much better condition, and I’d paid for it myself through a few tattoo jobs I had done at my old college.

My father might have destroyed me. But slowly, I was piecing myself back together. He said I’d never be shit. But I was in my second year of college, wasn’t under his thumb any longer, and I was surviving. He was the one who would never be shit. Evenwhen Mom was alive, he couldn’t hold down a job for long. He used her death as an excuse to be a lazy, abusive sack of shit.

And the icing on the cake? She had a will. The shit box he currently lived in belonged to me. I wasn’t sure if he was aware of that just yet, but he would be when he got tossed out on his ass with nowhere to go. He could join the other homeless fucks under the bridge for all I cared.

Revenge was fucking sweet.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Everleigh

Natalie Jane - Red Flag

For as long as I could remember, I’d been somewhat of an ambitious person. I always had dreams, fantasies, a picture of how my future looked. But the drive I once had was slowly diminishing. It almost felt…pointless now. There were so many people who wanted to see me fail, so many people who would purposely put obstacles in my way just to prevent me from reaching my goals. I might have put on a brave face, but the truth was…. they were winning. And I couldn’t even muster up the energy to push through it this time.

It was one thing after another. A series of events building and building, weighing me down until I was being crushed beneath the pressure of it all. And I knew that it was just going to keep getting worse. Until what, though? When would it ease up? Would I be a shell of myself once it was all said and done? Ashton wasn’t my only problem. There were outside forces eating away at me, depleting me.

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