Page 53 of Such a Good Girl

“Gosh, I’m sorry, I’m terrible at that kind of thing. Where would I know you from?”

Everleigh’s laughter bubbled up around us. “Oh, she’s cute, West. I like her already.”

I blushed. “I’m so sorry,” I said, realizing if she was West’s sister, she was probably famous, too. Why wouldn’t she be? “You do look familiar.”

“Everleigh is Hollywood’s new ‘it’ girl,” West explained. “She was in Pink Light this summer. Did you see that?”

“Oh! Now I recognize you!” I exclaimed, completely lying. “I loved that movie!”

Please don’t ask me anything about it, I silently pleaded. I didn’t want to offend her further. It was obvious she was used to being recognized, just like West, and Violet, for that matter.

“Nice to meet you, Rosie.” She laughed it off. “Is my brother being nice to you? He’s kind of a jerk sometimes.”

“Yes, actually,” I said. “He defended me from some aggressive paparazzi last night.”

“Oh, yeah, I saw it — and so did all of America.”

I groaned and West shook his head. “Fuck that guy. I had to pay him off to get him to not press charges, the fucker. My team tore me a new asshole.”

“God, West, I’m so sorry,” I said.

“Why? It wasn’t your fault. That shit happens all the time.”

“That must be a hard way to live.”

He looked over at me and smiled. “That’s why I like you, Rosie. You’re not jaded, and you see through the bullshit. Some people — like my ex — would have encouraged that kind of shit. Fuck, she’d have set up the scene herself. Probably even tip them off with our location just to make sure they saw us.”

“That’s horrible!” I was genuinely horrified. “Who would do that?”

“A fame hungry bitch, that’s who,” Everleigh laughed.

“Don’t call Danika names,” West said, impressing me even more with his reluctance to trash her. “It wasn’t right what she did, but I’m not gonna let you do that.”

“Oh, fuck her,” Everleigh said. “If I can’t stick up for my big brother, then who will?”

“We can stick up for him,” Theo said. He and Rian joined us, just as Violet walked up too.

“Is this the Danika’s a bitch party?” Rian said. “She’s a bitch. I can vouch.”

Everleigh stiffened immediately. She shot an angry glance towards Theo as she drained her wine glass, then reached for another. He looked away quickly, avoiding the daggers she was sending his way.

“Everleigh,” Rian said, giving her a formal nod.

“Hey, Rian,” she said, smiling politely, before giving another pointed look towards Theo. “Theo.”

“Hey.” He nodded, glancing at her for a hot second before turning away and pretending to look at the photos.

West cleared his throat and spoke up. “Thanks for coming, you guys. I appreciate the support.” He gestured at a passing waiter and asked him to bring us a tray of drinks. They appeared almost instantly.

Everleigh lifted her glass. “A toast to my talented brother!”

“To West!” Rian said.

“To West!” the rest of us said in unison, then sipped our wine. Well, most of us sipped. Everleigh took a large swig, which was probably why she was on her third glass already.

West looked on, looking slightly uncomfortable, but with a barely perceptible smile of pride.

After the toast, the awkwardness lifted, but I noticed Theo and Everleigh never looked at each other again. Everleigh stayed near Violet and me most of the night, with each one adorably expressing their fan girl status for the other. They seemed to be quick friends, and I was happy to see it. Everleigh was fun and I liked her right away. It was obvious that she and West loved each other a lot and I was impressed with that, but it triggered memories for me that I tried my best to keep buried deep.

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