Page 15 of Destroying Everleigh

It didn’t take long to reach the ice cream shop. I parked the car up front and twisted around in my seat to look at my youngest siblings. “You can both get a single scoop of ice cream,” I explained. “Any flavor you want, but no peanuts.” I shot Emma a sharp look. She was deathly allergic to peanuts, but the girl still chased after them like she had nine lives. She pouted, folding her arms across her chest. “I expect both of you to be on your best behavior. Can you do that for me?”

“Don’t look at me,” Tate murmured. “Em’s the problem child.”

She swiveled around to look at him. “I am not!”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, the pent-up emotions that I’ve had building inside of me all day threatened to explode, but I reeled them back in, knowing they didn’t deserve that. It wasn’t their fault. We were all dealt a shit hand.

“Let’s just go.”

I opened the car door, stepping out onto the pavement. The building was average in size, but since it was the best ice cream shop in town, it was often packed. Today was no exception as I took in the parking lot filled with cars. The windows adorning the front of the building were tinted, making it impossible to peer inside unless you pressed your face up against it, and thatwas just awkward since someone could be sitting right on the other side.

I rounded the car, opening my youngest sister’s door before taking her small hand in mine. She allowed me to pull her onto the pavement, her braids still intact to my surprise. Closing the door behind her, I ran my hands down her dress to smooth it out before we all made our way to the entrance.

The cool breeze of the air conditioning skated down my skin, eliciting a chill in the process. I glanced around, noticing all of the families occupying a lot of the booths along the wall. Just as I was about to look away and head to the front counter, familiar faces caught my attention, making my heart stutter in my chest.

Kash Rivera and Jameson Decker.

They were at one of the booths along the far wall, seated side by side. Their gazes pinned on me. I’d thought they’d moved, or skipped college altogether, but they were here. I haven’t seen them since I was seventeen years old—the year everything went to shit.

Did they know what happened? Did they know what I did?

When Jameson’s eyes narrowed into slits, those answers were confirmed. They knew, and they hated me.

A tug on my arm had me forcing my attention away from them and back to my baby sister. She peered up at me with big, brown eyes. I shot her a small smile, doing my best to hide my discomfort for her sake.

They weren’t going to ruin this for me, or for them. I strolled up to the counter and chose birthday cake ice cream in a cup before stepping aside to let them choose, making sure no one got nuts.

Once they were finished ordering, we moved back to the side so we weren’t in the way, and waited.

“Is that Kash and Jamie?” Briley whispered, glancing at the two boys. “They look…different.”

I didn’t stare long enough to pick apart their appearances, but I’d known it was them immediately. Kash still had the same blonde hair, but it had grown out a bit more and Jameson had dark hair that was shorter than I remembered. Their faces looked more mature, but aside from those obvious differences, I didn’t notice anything else, and I wasn’t about to look again.

“They’ve gotten even hotter,” Briley continued, obviously not noticing my discomfort, but why would she, though? She didn’t know what went down with me and Ashton—just that we broke up.

“They’re okay.” I shrugged.

She bristled as if my not falling at their feet to worship the ground they walked on was completely absurd. “Okay?” she repeated. “Are you fucking blind? They’re way hotter than your boyfriend.”

My gaze snapped to hers, rage licking through my veins at the mere mention of Lucas. “I like him just fine. Looks aren’t everything, Bry. You’re being shallow as fuck. There will always be someone hotter.”

She rolled her eyes, dismissing my comment completely like it didn’t offend her in the slightest. When we got our ice cream, we made our way to the only opened booth left, which just so happened to be in the back corner, only a booth away from theirs.

I took a seat on the outside with Emma near the window. Tate and Briley took the opposite side, and I hated that I now had a decent view of the two boys that were still staring at me like I was the worst person in the world.

And maybe I was.

Taking my spoon, I dipped it into the cup of ice cream before inserting it into my mouth. The flavors danced along my tongue, making me fight a groan of appreciation. I didn’t get to havesugar often. We could rarely afford to splurge like this, but it was worth it to see the smiles on their faces.

“This is so good,” Tate praised, flashing me a grin. Chocolate ice cream coated his lower lip as he worked to suck it off.

I let out a laugh, reaching for the napkin dispenser and offered him one which he accepted gratefully.

“Well, who do we have here?” a familiar voice called out. I jerked my gaze to the two boys now standing at our table, resentment etched into two pairs of eyes.

My heart hammered against my chest at the callous look in their gazes. Steeling my spine, I worked to school my features, though it wasn’t without some effort. “What do you want?” I demanded just as coldly.

Kash’s lips curled into a malicious smirk, but it was Jameson who spoke. “Don’t be like that, Evie. We just want to talk.” He flashed me a mock innocent look that I wasn’t buying.

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