Page 73 of Under My Skin
Everett sets down the tablet and then braces his arms on the back of my chair, boxing me in. His tongue teases mine, and I sit back, letting my legs fall open so he can step in the space between them.
I jump at the sound of someone banging on the shop window, my heart pounding as my head whips in the direction of the noise.
Oh, shit.
“Shit,” Everett says, speaking my thoughts aloud.
“Seriously?” Simon says on the other side of the glass just before pounding his fist against it again. He walks over to the locked entrance and pulls on the handle. “What the hell?”
Everett is already at the door, unlocking the deadbolt.
Simon pushes past him, and I jump to my feet. “Simon, it’s okay!” I say with both hands raised in a poor attempt to calm him down. It feels like we just let a bull into a china shop, and it’s only a matter of time until he breaks something.
“No. It’s not.” His eyes jump between Everett and me beforelanding heavily on his best friend. “This shit is not okay. I asked you—I asked both of you if there was something going on, and you told me there wasn’t.”
“Because there wasn’t!” I cut in.
Everett looks back at me. He’s so calm. Nothing about his stoic appearance suggests his heart might be beating so hard and fast that he can hear it pulsing in his ears like I can.
Simon shoves Everett in the shoulder. “Look at me when I’m talking to you.”
Everett raises both hands and gives Simon his full attention. “I’m looking at you.”
Simon’s furrowed brows soften slightly, some of the anger melting into betrayal. “What the fuck, man?”
“I’m sorry,” Everett says, wiping a hand over his face.
Hugging my torso, I stay back. Simon is stuck with me. We’re family. If we don’t fix this today, we’ll fix it eventually. It’s more important that he and Everett sort this out.
Simon glances at me, and I shake my head. “It just sort of happened.”
His expression hardens as he looks back at Everett again. “Is that right?”
Everett nods.
“I’ve known you my whole life. You didn’t think it might be a good idea to tell me about this?” He shoves Everett again.
“You’re right,” Everett says, but he still makes no move to defend himself. I don’t want him to fight my brother, but he could stand up for himself. He could defend his actions. He could saysomething.
I take a step forward. “Simon, it was my?—”
“Yeah. I’m right.” Simon says, ignoring me. “And you know this shit is selfish.”
As soon as I hear the word, it clicks. Is that what Everett thinks? That what happened between us is just him being selfish? Is he not defending himself because he feels like he deservesthis?
“All right. Enough.” I step forward until I’m standing between them.
“It’s fine,” Everett says. “He has a right to be mad.”
I glare at him. “It isnotfine.” If he isn’t going to stand up for himself, I will. Turning back to Simon, I say, “I’m sorry you found out this way, but I’m not going to apologize for anything else, and neither should he.”
My brother’s lips are a thin line. “How long has this been going on?”
I roll my eyes. “Obviously not that long, Simon. I’ve been here less than a week.”
He looks past me to Everett again. “What the hell were you thinking? She’s upset about everything going on, and you took advantage of her.”
I groan. “Oh, my god. No one took advantage of me.”
