Chapter 41 Everett
FORTY-ONE
EVERETT
“Charlotte?” I tap her shoulder.
“Hmm?” She opens her heavy eyelids and looks up at me.
“The movie is over.”
She pushes out her bottom lip. “I slept through the entire thing?”
I chuckle. “Yeah. You obviously needed it.” The pregnancy is draining her in more ways than one.
We get back to the living room of the suite, and I notice Ashtyn has a little more pep in her step than usual.
I’m exhausted and Charlotte can barely keep her eyes open. “Good night, girls,” Charlotte says through a yawn before disappearing into her room.
I enter our room and plop down on the bed. I pull up Kashton’s contact on my cell and press Call. He answers immediately.
“Hey, angel.” I ignore the way my heart flutters at the nickname. “We’re about to head back to Kingdom—”
“Does Titanic mean anything to you?” I interrupt him.
He’s silent, and I wonder if he’s stepping away from the guys. “Titanic?” he finally asks, but this time he’s lowered his voice, only proving my suspicions.
“Yeah. The movie. Does it mean anything to you?” For three hours, I sat there trying to figure out what the fuck she meant by her favorite part. She wanted Charlotte and me to know that for a reason. Even though Charlotte had already passed out.
“No.”
“Think the first thing that comes to mind when I say it. Titanic. Movie. Jack and Rose. Cherry sucker,” I rattle off, rolling onto my back and staring up at the ceiling.
He’s silent long enough that my pulse begins to race. I sit up and clench the cell in my head. “What does it mean to you, Kash?”
“The movie means nothing to me,” he whispers. “It’s nothing.”
It’s the same thing he said when I asked if I should be jealous that he’s slept with Ashtyn. He’s lying to me. “What does it mean to Ashtyn?” I reword the question.
“Everett.” He sighs, and I know I’m not wrong.
I’ve never had a boyfriend—or even been in a relationship, for that matter—but I imagine if I ever did, I’d be the girl who would need to know everything he did with the girl before me.
And although Ashtyn wasn’t his girlfriend, she was in his life.
Probably more than a typical girlfriend would be.
Her twin brother was their best friend. They were all inseparable, and I need to know what significance this fucking movie holds for her.
And why was she shoving it in my face? I’m no threat to her.
I don’t want her husband, and neither does Charlotte.
His refusal to answer tells me all I need to know. “Good night, Kash.”
“Eve—”
I hang up on him and get off the bed. Storming out of our suite, I go to her door and knock on it. I’ll go to the source.
“Hey. Need something?” Ashtyn asks.
Stepping inside the room, I slam the door shut behind me. “Charlotte is a better person than I am.”
She’s got a fake smile plastered on her face and flutters her lashes at me. “What do you mean?”
I step into her, and it starts to waver. “You may be pregnant, but your face isn’t, and I will knock your teeth out of your fucking mouth.”
The smile disappears, and her face goes white. “What…?” She gasps, her hand on her chest. “Why do you hate me so much? Is it because I’ve slept with Kashton?”
This bitch! She wanted me to know that information. As if I didn’t already know she was their whore. Made it sound innocent but wanted to make sure I was aware that she was part of his past.
I want to laugh in her face, but she wouldn’t understand why I find that funny.
I’m not the least bit jealous of Ashtyn.
I believe Kashton when he said it was nothing.
What pisses me off is how she blatantly disrespects Charlotte.
“Honey, Kash took what Saint offered him. I let him take whatever he wants. We’re not the same. ”
Her eyes narrow on me, and I can’t fight back the smile. There it is. The jealousy that I know is there. The very thing Charlotte says doesn’t exist. She feels sorry for Ashtyn. I fucking don’t.
Ashtyn wants to belong to all of them. She wants to be theirs, but it’s just not happening. They’re each moving on, and it’s killing her. She’s not the center of their world anymore. Pity.
She doesn’t need sympathy. The bitch needs to be humbled.
“I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make, but I assure you, Charlotte couldn’t care less.” Ashtyn squares her shoulders at my words. “You have a husband. So if you need a dick to suck, beg him for it.” I give her my back and slam her door shut, done with this conversation.
I’m not sure what it will accomplish. Maybe it was the fact that I wanted her to know I see what she’s doing. How she’s throwing herself at men who aren’t hers. Or how she wants Charlotte to doubt Haidyn. Either way, I feel better.
“Everything okay?” A sleepy-looking Charlotte opens her door before I enter mine, hearing the commotion.
“Yeah.” I give her a reassuring smile.
Her eyes go to Saint and Ashtyn’s door, then back to mine just as Muffin darts out of her room between her feet. She brought her cat with her. The thing is spoiled rotten, and I love it.
“Hey, pretty kitty.” I pick her up and scratch her neck, making her purr.
“What kind of cat is she?” I ask, already knowing.
I just want to distract her from the conversation I had with Ashtyn.
I know Charlotte has doubts in her mind, but she tries to convince herself there’s nothing there. And I believe there isn’t…for Haidyn.
“She’s a Persian.”
“She’s beautiful.” I set the cat down, and she runs back into the room.
Just then a doorbell rings throughout the suite. Charlotte frowns at me, and I shrug. The door to Ashtyn’s bedroom opens, and she tosses her hair over her shoulder, making her way to the front double doors. Opening one, a woman with red hair enters, holding two bottles of tequila.
I know exactly who she is and why she’s here. Thankfully, she has no clue who I am.
“Who wants to drink ourselves into a coma?” she asks with a bright smile.
Ashtyn laughs, closing the door behind her. Then she looks from me to Charlotte. “Well, we’re all pregnant, so you’ll be drinking alone.”
I feel a pain in my chest at Ashtyn’s words, but I plaster a smile on my face. “I’m not. I’ll have a few with you.” If Ashtyn is trying to force me to hide in my room, it’s not going to happen.
“Perfect.” The redhead sets the bottles on the bar top and grabs two glasses.
I feel Ashtyn’s eyes on me, but I ignore her. I know this is another way of her throwing something in my face. It just proves that I can’t trust her and my gut instinct to hate her is correct.
“I’m going to call it a night.” Charlotte yawns. Honestly, I don’t know how she’s still standing.
“Good night,” Ashtyn sings to her, and I want to deliver the threat of knocking her teeth out. She’s got an audience, so she’s going to be even more insufferable than usual.
I’ll have a few drinks. Then I’m going to shower and pass out.
The redhead sits at the bar, pouring me a drink. Her cell sits by her glass when it starts to ring. She quickly ignores the call and turns it over. Giving me a big smile, she taps her glass to mine. “Cheers.”
“Cheers,” I agree and take a big drink.
KASHTON
I enter the suite and come to a stop when I see Ashtyn, Jasmine, and Everett sitting at the bar. Haidyn, Hooke, and Saint enter behind me, and Haidyn doesn’t even offer a good night when he realizes his wife must be in bed. He heads straight to their bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Well, this can’t end well. Is this why Eve is so mad at me? Why she called me asking about Titanic? Jasmine doesn’t have anything to do with that, though.
“Kashton.” Ash throws her arms out. “Look who came to visit.” She gestures to Jasmine, as if I could miss the redhead I used to pay to fuck.
Eve tosses a shot back and slams the glass down, then gets up from her seat at the bar, heading to our bedroom.
“They’re—”
“I better get going.” Jasmine stands, interrupting Ashtyn before she can say anything stupid.
If Eve wants to know about everyone I’ve fucked in my past, I’ll tell her.
Jasmine knows we never had anything other than sex.
Hell, I paid her for it. Every. Single. Time.
Even after she stopped being a Queen. It was a transaction and that was it.
She may be a part of our world, but we never had a future. Not one that I wanted anyway.
“What?” Ashtyn pouts. “We just got started.”
Jasmine stumbles to throw away one of the empty bottles of tequila.
“You should crash here,” Ashtyn tells her.
Jasmine shakes her head. “Absolutely not. I arrived in an Uber; I’ll leave in one.”
“I’ll take you home.”
We all turn around to see Hooke checking his Rolex as if to see how far past his bedtime it is. He is still on East Coast time. He looks tired, but his tone says he feels obligated to be a gentleman.
Jasmine snorts. “No thanks. I’ll take my chances walking the Strip. Alone.” Her cell rings and she sighs before answering. “Hello? Yeah, I’m about to head home. I’ll stop by on the way.” Hanging up, she walks toward the door.
Hooke moves to block her exit. “Booty call?” he asks, arching a brow.
“Who I fuck is none of your business, but no. It was Kink. There’s an issue—”
“I’ll take you,” he interrupts her. Opening the door, he ushers her out while ignoring her protests.
I don’t even bother to tell anyone good night and storm off to our room. I see Eve’s phone on the bed. She turned it off after she hung up on me. I know because I called her several times, and each one went straight to voicemail.
The shower is running, and I rip open the glass door to see her standing under the spray. “What the fuck was that phone call about?” I demand.
She ignores me, and I reach in, grabbing her arm and yanking her around to face me. “Eve?”
“It sucks being ignored, doesn’t it?”