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“What’s up, Leigh?” Dave asks and I frown. Pat crosses his arms in front of his chest as he sizes me up. What is this good cop, bad cop routine?
“Not much, is Everett here?”
Dave and Pat exchange a look before Pat speaks up. “Why?”
“Why what?” I ask.
“Why are you here? Because quite frankly Everett can’t take much more, so if you’re here to yell at him or tell him he ain’t shit, then as much as I like you, you’re going to have to go.”
I blink my eyes several times like I wasn’t just asked to leave. “Excuse me?”
“Dave’s right. He’s…not doing well, and you coming over here looking like…that,” he waves his hand up and down my body, “will probably kill him when you tear his heart out again.”
“Why are you talking to me like I did something wrong?”
Dave puts his hands up in defense. “We’re not, but he already feels bad enough. Why are you beating a dead horse? You don’t want anything to do with him, so why are you here?”
I’m just about to tell them both off for their fucking attitudes even if I do admire them for sticking up for Everett, when the door opens behind them.
“What the hell is going on?” He looks from Dave to Pat to me and I take a second to look him over. Skyler was right, he does look like he’s been going through it. His facial hair had grown in a little more, which only successfully turns me into a horny mess. His hair is sticking up in a bunch of different directions and his eyes are a dull lifeless blue with bags underneath them. Now that he isn’t in his usual hoodie, hiding his physique from the world, I can see that he’s lost some weight but he’s bulked up in his arms. Fuck, he still looks good.
“Nothing…” Dave shrugs as he slides past him and back into the house, leaving us alone with Pat.
“Get lost,” he growls at Pat who rolls his eyes. He shoots me a look from behind Everett’s back before he closes the door.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
“You look nice…” he tells me.
“Thank you. Can…can I come in? It’s kind of cold out here.” I pull my jacket tighter around me. Why am I so nervous? I’m never nervous around Everett.
His eyes widen, assumedly at my expression of discomfort. “Of course, come on in.” He opens the door for me, and I walk through to see Dave and Pat watching television on the couch. They narrow their gazes at me, and Everett must catch them because he snaps, “You got a problem?”
They both give him their middle fingers and he ushers me into the kitchen. “Are you hungry or thirsty?” he asks me as he leans against the counter.
“No. Do we have to be here? I mean…maybe we should go to your room?” His eyebrows go up to his hairline. “I just mean…for privacy?”
“Yeah, come on,” he tells me, and I follow him up the stairs.
The second he closes the door behind us it feels like time stands still. I don’t miss the way his eyes roam over my body, and I can’t stop my body’s reaction to it. “Are you going somewhere?”
I look down and shake my head. “No…well, I was thinking about going to the library later.”
He clears his throat and looks out the window of his bedroom. A tree sits outside his window blocking the view of the last few moments of sun. “By yourself? Or is Sky going with you? Or are you, you know, just…walking around by yourself at night?” He’s nervous, and holy fuck is it cute. Under normal circumstances, the Everett Cartwright I know would be telling me that there is no fucking way I’m going to the library at night alone.
“Or…or maybe you could come with me?” I fiddle with my purse as my eyes search his face for any signs that maybe he’d lost interest in us.
But his eyes are light, and I see the smile in them before the one tugging at his lips. “I have a paper due Monday.”
“Have you started?”
He looks off to the side and blanches slightly. “I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
“Me too,” I tell him honestly. He doesn’t say anything, so I continue. “Listen, Everett…I miss you.” I shake my head as the tears well in my eyes. “All the time. There’s been no less than a hundred things just today I’ve wanted to text you about.” I take a step towards him and he closes the gap, putting us toe to toe. “I’m scared,” I tell him. “I’m scared that we won’t be us after this and…losing us would change me, Everett. It would be one of those instances that I’d look back on at the end of my life and think, that’s where my life changed. That’s where I changed.” I take a deep breath. “We wouldn’t survive breaking up…” I chuckle. “If girls were meant to date their best friend, I would be dating Skyler.”
His eyes light up and he raises an eyebrow. “Can I watch?” I shoot him a mocking glare and push his shoulder. He catches my arm with one and wraps his other arm around me. He leans down, running his nose down my face and I hear him inhale my skin. “God, I’ve missed you. I’m so fucking sorry, baby. For everything. Just know, that I’m never giving you up.” He pulls back and his blue eyes are burning with fire and my sex immediately reacts to it. A tingle ignites between my legs and I instantly press them together in an attempt to quell the sensation.
