20. Aurora
E verest is pissed. He’s pretending he isn’t, but he is.
Ever since he found out Griffin and I kissed again, he’s been quiet and moody, yet he’s still pulling me in close any chance he gets.
He’s been sneaking into the dorms to sleep in my bed every night, but ignoring me during the day.
Still his lips have found mine so many times in my bed that I’ve lost count, and it’s always after I’ve found him staring at me in unrestrained anger and lust. It’s so hot and cold that he’s making my head spin, which isn’t anything new when it comes to him, but still I can’t help but feel guilty.
Which I know is stupid, he knows how I feel about the guys, but he asked for time and I didn’t give it to him.
It’s why he’s angrily drinking in the kitchen with some of the guys from his team instead of talking to me, because he knows he can’t claim me here, not in front of all these people.
Not without making them all talk anyway.
So, instead he sulks, glaring at me to make sure I haven’t moved from my spot beside Harden.
It’s Griffin’s birthday party, and the hockey house is heaving with people all here to celebrate with him.
As usual, Griff is the life of the party, he’s dancing on the living room table while taking shots with Bishop, and I can’t help but laugh as I watch him.
I can still feel the press of his body against mine, the way his tongue explored my mouth, so different from Everest’s, yet just as addictive.
I’m going to be stitching his wounds when he falls off that table. Harden signs, and I snort a laugh, sipping my drink and watching Griffin over the rim.
“Remember when he fell off the roof of your pool house and broke his arm?” I ask, and Harden huffs a laugh with the slight tip of his head.
The fucker is indestructible . Harden muses, his fingers moving swiftly, but it’s the look in his eyes, as he watches his best friend that interests me.
It’s a look I’ve never seen before, and one I can’t place.
“At least Ever didn’t give him another busted nose,” I muse, and his stare flicks to mine, before wandering over to Everest, who is still watching us both, and then floating back over to Griffin.
Ever will come around to the idea of the two of you, we both know he can’t deny you anything . His hands are firm as they sign, fully believing every word, and I can’t help but keep my focus fully on him.
“And what about you?” I dare to ask, and from the way his eyes snap to mine, I know he knows exactly what I mean, but still he plays dumb.
What about me? He signs, and I finish the rest of my drink, needing the courage, before turning to him fully.
“Will you come around?” We both know what I mean by my question, what I’m really asking, and his answering sigh burns through me, before he lifts his hands to respond to me.
You should focus on Ever and Griff, Aurora, wanting anything more than friendship from me would just be a waste of time.
I watch his response, pretending it doesn’t make tears burn at the back of my eyes, before I force a smile to my face and nod, turning away to focus on Griffin once more.
We don’t speak again after that, and even sitting shoulder to shoulder, the space between us has never felt wider.
It’s selfish of me to want him, to want all of them really, but the heart wants what it wants.
It may be a waste of time, but I can’t erase my need for him.
After that, it isn’t long until Everest eventually joins us, his concerned stare washing over me, and it doesn’t dawn on me until he sits down beside me, that he would have been able to see Harden’s answers to my questions from across the room.
He might not have heard what I had to say, but he knows the gist of the conversation, and he knows it upset me.
It’s the only reason he crossed the room to acknowledge me, because he knows I need comfort, and instead of making me feel better, it only makes me feel worse.
Both boys are right by my side, flanking me like soldiers to a queen, but I’ve never felt more insignificant.
A feeling that is only intensified when I spy one of his conquests from the first night I came here, walking straight toward us.
Holly, I think her name is, and she only has her eyes on Everest. I contemplate how many times they must have fucked, before wondering if Griffin or Harden have ever entertained her too.
It leaves a sour taste in my mouth, one that I have to swallow down as she reaches us.
“For fuck sake,” Everest mutters beneath his breath, taking a deep pull from his bottle of beer, as her eyes trail over him.
“Ever, there you are!” she greets him brightly, assessing me for only a second before dismissing me completely. “I’ve missed you.”
Her words have my jaw tightening, wanting to stake my claim on him, but his words from that first night come rushing back to me.
Just my sister.
Yeah, fuck him, he can deal with this mess himself.
“Come on, Harden, let’s go and get another drink,” I smile, pushing off my chair and gesturing for Harden to come with me.
He doesn’t have to be told twice, just smirks, as he slips off his own stool and joins me.
“We’ll give you lovebirds some time to chat,” I add, smirking at the dark and deadly look in Everest’s stare, before I turn on my heel and wander off.
I feel his stare burning into my back as I retreat before he snaps, “What the fuck do you want, Holly?”
I make sure to quicken my step so I don’t hear her response.
Harden follows me to the kitchen, topping off both our drinks before nodding toward the back porch. We make our way outside, and I’m glad to find that it’s much quieter than the house, as we take up residence against the railings and sip our drinks.
That was evil . He signs, and I snort a laugh.
“We both know he deserved it,” I tell him with a stern stare, and he holds his hands up in defense, before signing back.
Oh I know, I just didn’t know you were such a wicked little thing.
My body heats as he signs those last three words, and despite what he said inside, I can’t ignore how much I want him too. Not when my mind creates images of him saying those three words to me in entirely different circumstances.
“Then maybe you haven’t been paying close enough attention to me,” I tease, thinking he will just ignore me or skirt around what I said, but his green stare darkens as it bores into me.
Trust me, Aurora, I’m always paying attention.
He signs firmly, and my heart starts to ache in my chest again, but before I can open my mouth to respond, Everest is there, ripping me from the railing and slamming me into the side of the house right next to Harden, making him flinch, but he doesn’t move.
“Did you enjoy that little game?” Everest’s stare holds mine hostage, nothing but hate and lust in his eyes as he questions me, and I nod.
Neither of us seem to care about the small audience we have out here, if any of them are even paying attention, but my gaze remains on his.
“What? Didn’t have fun reuniting with your fuck buddy?” I ask, only making him angrier, but still I push. “Tell me, Ever, how many times did you fuck her to try to get me out of your system?” I question, and I swear I hear a curse beneath Harden’s breath.
Everest’s mouth is on mine in an instant, stealing the air from my lungs and not caring in the slightest that he is nearly pressing us up against his best friend.
No, he just kisses me roughly, claiming me just like he does every time, and I can’t help but melt into him.
His hand reaches up and squeezes my throat, pulling a moan from the back of it, and it’s only then I feel his arousal pressing into the bottom of my stomach.
When he pulls back, he eyes me in warning. “You’ll pay for that later, little sister ,” he promises, and his words shouldn’t excite me but they do, especially when I flick my eyes to Harden and he is watching us intensely.
He has the same look in his eyes that he had the night he caught me kissing Griffin, and it’s only now that I can decipher it.
Need.
My own stare dances down his body, finding the evidence of my discovery pressing against the seam of his zipper, and it sends a shiver down my spine. He wants me, whether he wants to admit it or not, Harden wants me, and that’s all I need to know.
Everest doesn’t linger, pushing off me reluctantly when the back door flies open and more people file out, but the look in his eyes promises wicked things later, and I half wonder what it will take for him to allow the others to join, or maybe at least watch.
A thought that I’m sure must be mirrored in my stare, because his eyes flick between me and Harden, the latter still watching me intensely, and he grunts something about needing another drink.
The rest of the party is uneventful, except for Griffin actually falling off the table, as predicted, which thankfully didn’t lead to any stitches or injuries.
We drink, we dance, we smash his face into a birthday cake, and play more drinking games than I’ve ever even heard of, until there’s only the four of us still standing.
We watched Bishop take a very willing blond sorority girl upstairs, as the rest of the house emptied out, and after Harden picked up a bunch of trash from the kitchen, he joined us in the living room, where we’ve been drinking and recalling past birthdays for the last couple of hours.
Everest is sitting in the arm chair, with me in his lap, and Griffin is spread out on the sofa, forcing Harden into the other arm chair.
I’m sipping from a half empty bottle of champagne with Everest, while Griffin and Harden pass a joint back and forth.
It’s the first time in over a year that things between us feel happy and mostly normal, back to how they used to be, and I can’t help but smile.