“Laurel,” Gabe said as she shoved her way toward our room. “Come on. This doesn’t have to be such a huge deal.”
“No, I think it’s an enormous deal,” she said, whirling furiously on Gabe. “I think that two of our best friends thought it was fine to lie to us foryears, and I’m not going to stick around to find out what else they’re hiding. I think we’re done here.”
She slammed the door to the bedroom, rattling the framed picture that hung on the wall next to it.
Davi and Gabe looked at where Everett and I still stood, both of us frozen. “She’ll get over it,” Davi said. “She always does. Just give her some time.”
I nodded, but I didn’t totally believe him. Laurel needed time when she was upset about other things: when Davi ate the last of her cheese from the fridge, when she went through a breakup, when she was stressed out. But she’d never needed time because of something I’d done. Something like this.
“We’ll pack, I guess,” Gabe said. “Are you good to leave tonight?”
“Mmm-hmm,” I mumbled softly, arms crossed protectively in front of me.
They headed upstairs, leaving me alone with Everett in the living room.
“Davi’s right,” Everett said after a minute. “We can try to talk to her again in a couple of days.”
My gaze jerked up to him then, and I didn’t care that everyone was in earshot, that we were standing in a tiny house with absolutely no privacy, where I’d thought it would be a good idea to have what needed to be a private conversation with him in the first place.
“There is nowe,” I snapped.
Everett, who had returned to his usual self, the brief fight in him from earlier gone, looked surprised. “Sutton,” he said. “Let’s not—”
“No,” I cut in, a shimmering kind of rage settling in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t care that Everett was looking at me like he used to, that there was something like hope behind his eyes that we could move past this. Something had occurred to me as Laurel stormed into her room about Everett’s position during our argument, his view of the front door. “Did you know they were coming?”
Everett’s eyebrows slanted together. “What?”
“When you said everything out loud earlier. When you summarized our whole pointless relationship, did you know they were at the door?”
“Of course not,” Everett said, disbelief flashing across his face. “Sutton, I wouldn’t do that.”
“I don’t believe you,” I said. I could hear Gabe’s and Davi’s movements still above us, our voices carrying up to them. “All I know is that the three most important relationships in my life are ruined, and it’s because of you.”
I could see my words slam into him, hitting home. Three relationships, and one person at fault. The person I never should have welcomed into my life the way I did. Maybe Laurel was right. Maybe I didn’t give anyone a second chance. But in that moment, I was fine with it. I owned every problem she and Everett said I had, decided to wear them like a badge of honor.
Everett was nodding. “Pretty sure we did the ruining together, Sutton,” he said.
I didn’t answer him. I turned on my heel and marched out the front door, slamming it shut behind me.
We never stayed at Poppy Cottage again.
thirty
This Summer
I don’t see Everett again for the rest of the party. I wait for him to come back in through the door, keep a watchful eye on the crowd for him, but he never comes back. The worst part is that no one else seems to notice.
When it’s nearly midnight, I ask Gabe if he’s heard from him. “He isn’t here?” he asks, and when I shake my head, he shrugs. “He’s got to be around here somewhere.”
Davi hasn’t seen him either, so I finally track Laurel down at a table in the corner, holding court with a group of beautiful people I don’t know and have never heard her mention.
“Hey,” I say, sliding into the spot next to her as she bids the group goodbye. They slink off into the party like they’re her personal NPCs. “Have you seen Everett?”
“I’m sure he’s somewhere around here,” she says, waving a dismissive hand. “Now, did I see you talking to Cooper earlier?”
“Laurel,” I say, something like impatience flickering through me. I tamp it down, remind myself this ishernight,herparty,herweek. “Ican’t findEverett.”
One of Laurel’s eyebrows ticks upward. “Is there areasonyou’re suddenly so concerned about him?”
