Page 22 of Destroying Everleigh

He casted a glance over in my direction, his eyes resting on me for a moment too long. “You good?” he asked.

“Never better,” I retorted dryly.

A soft smile played along the edges of his mouth, one so unlike him that I knew it was because he had something up his sleeve. “Well, I was just talking to Ash,” he began, putting the truck in reverse before backing out of the lot. “Apparently, there’s a party coming up. Everleigh will be there with her little boyfriend, and supposedly hot best friend.”

“If Ashton says she’s hot, then chances are, she is.” I smirked.

We all had similar tastes when it came to girls. But once one of us staked a claim on her or dated her, the others backed off. It made things interesting in high school, especially between me and Kash. But then he started dating Crystal, and I wanted nothing to do with that bitch. He could have that one.

He nodded thoughtfully, flicking his tongue over the silver hoop that was wrapped around the right side of his lower lip. I’d given him that piercing, just like I’d given him those tattoos, just like I’d given Everleigh and Ash their tats. My infatuationwith drawing had sprouted when I was around ten. I realized I could escape into a world that was purely of my making. Nothing else mattered when my hand moved across a slab of paper. Once I mastered that, I grew interested in body art and piercings. Ash was the one who gifted me my tattoo gun. I remembered spending hours trying to master how to use it. After practically begging him, he allowed me to do the stick-and-poke tat that he and Everleigh both had now. Well…he covered his up after they split. But it was buried beneath his new art.

When we made it to the dorms, Kash followed me to my room. He glanced around at all of the boxes decorating the floor and walls as they leaned against them. The only thing that was put together was my bed, and I was half tempted to leave it that way and fuck with it tomorrow, but all my clothes were still packed away and I had to be in classes tomorrow.

“You going to be good sleeping here alone?” Kash questioned. “I can stay if you want.”

I hesitated, my father’s words echoing in my skull. The sound of his fist connecting with my flesh sounded moments later, causing my breathing to become uncoordinated. It was embarrassing. I was an adult and still couldn’t stomach the thought of being left completely alone. At our last college, Kash just moved his things into my room because I was always asking him to stay. I didn’t want to be a burden anymore than I’ve been.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, silently calling me on my bullshit. “It’s a new place,” he continued. “Your nightmares will be worse, and you’ll be restless.”

“I’m an adult.”

Sighing, he strolled across my room and sat on the edge of my bed. “Let me at least stay for the week,” he offered. “If you want me to leave after that, I will.”

I grumbled an incoherent response, knowing he wouldn’t back down on this. For some reason, he felt responsible for me. If it made him feel better, he could stay. I wouldn’t thank him out loud for it, though. Regardless of how much relief swarmed my insides at his insistence.

Instead, I got to work ripping open boxes and began sorting through them before putting them in their rightful places. After a few moments, Kash got up and started helping me. After a few moments of grunting and putting clothes away, Kash stilled, lifting a picture that he’d found in one of the boxes.

“You still have this,” he said, a hint of pain in his tone as he held it up.

It took me a moment to realize what it was, but when my eyes focused on the photo, my chest constricted. It was a picture I’d taken at the beginning of our junior year in high school before things all went to shit. Everleigh was standing between me and Ash, his hand in hers while my arm was snaked around her waist. Kash stood behind her with his arms wrapped around her chest, resting his chin on the top of her head. Ash’s mom had taken the photo right before we went off to the homecoming dance. Everleigh had never looked more stunning. Her dark hair was left down, curled to perfection, and she was dressed in a dark blue dress that reached her thighs. She was beaming at the camera, her perfectly straight teeth on display, and her eyes so full of happiness that it hurt.

I knew I’d brought the photo. I remembered staring at it as I threw it in a box, debating on burning the damn thing or trashing it. But the guys were in it, too. It was one of the last times we were all that happy together. She’d somehow become the glue that held us together, even though we’d been fine without her before.

“What about it?” I grumbled, snatching the picture from his grip and shoving it in the top dresser drawer.

Pain flashed through Kash’s icy blue gaze, and he swallowed, glancing away from me. “Did you love her?”

I scoffed. “She was my best friend. Of course I did.”

“No. Did youloveher?”

I stumbled back a step at the question, my head spinning, even though I already knew the answer. It used to keep me up at night. I’d been so fucking guilty over it, and never uttered a word about it to either of the guys. She was Ashton’s girl, and I was just the problematic best friend with daddy issues. I suppose that things were different now and there was no reason to lie anymore. “Yes,” I choked out, the weight leaving my shoulders after keeping a secret like that for so many years. “Never would have done anything about it though.”

He nodded. He’d gotten close to Everleigh, too. Just not like I had. He’d purposely kept his distance, like he knew she’d pull him under her spell if he did and he didn’t want the complications that came with it. He was smarter than me.

“And you were still willing to fuck her after Ashton mentioned it?” He wasn’t judging me. His words were laced with genuine curiosity.

I shrugged. “I know it was stupid. It felt impossible to pass up, but she didn’t want to.” Now I was glad she didn’t. The only way I’d touch that bitch now was to make her cry.

He shot me a sympathetic smile. “I would have been down too had I not been with Crystal.”

I let his words sink in, mulling them over a few times in my head. I knew he would have. I’d seen the way he looked at her from time to time. She had us all wrapped around her little finger, and the funny part is, I wasn’t sure she ever realized that. Everleigh brought light to our group. She was funny, non-judgmental, and caring. She helped us all in ways we never would have been able to thank her for. But then she ruined it, like none of it had mattered to her. Likewedidn’t matter.

I remembered Ashton stumbling through my door while my dad was gone. A heart-wrenching look on his face like he’d just seen something horrendous. His eyes were glassy and red like he’d been bawling, and I knew in that moment that something was very wrong. He never cried. Not over anything. He couldn’t even speak when I asked him what was wrong. He just slumped onto my worn-out couch, bent over with his elbows on his knees. His breathing was ragged, and he was tugging at his hair harshly, rocking back and forth. The memory was imprinted into my mind, and I knew it always would be.

“She betrayed me,” he’d choked out after a few moments of silence.

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