“No, man.”
When I came in, I grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen then settled in at the table after giving Violet a subtle nod in greeting. It was enough to let her know that I see her. That I’m here if she wants the company. Only, she has yet to make it over. Probably because Everleigh and Sylvia are entertaining her enough and she doesn’t know what to say to me after what happened. My eyes flick over in her direction, and once again, I contemplate eating up the space between us to be closer.
I don’t see how she likes being around those girls. Well, I take that back. I can see how she likes spending time with Everleigh. It’s hard to look away from the girl next door vibe she gives off. How the hell Tristan is chatting with me rather than barking up that tree doesn’t make sense. And then there’s Sylvia, who’s most of the reason why I’m keeping my distance.
The girl is a walking, talking crisis. She’s guzzled down three beers to Violet’s one and can’t stop herself from pushing her way into conversation with the gamer guy. When he dismisses her, she reverts to her phone for attention instead.
“Dude?” Tristan tries to pull my attention back to him, but he must follow my line of sight. “Ah, I see what it is now. You have a thing for Violet.” He shakes his head and takes the seat next to me. “You should know that she and Webber were a thing for a while.”
I clear my throat and sip down another mouthful of water before resting my glass on the table. I don’t tell him that as into her as I am, I can’t turn it into anything remarkable. “So I hear.”
“One day they’re together. The next they’re not. Then they’re fucking again. Those two are a mess if you ask me.”
I’m tempted to ask him about his relationship with Everleigh, because if anyone’s relationship is a disaster, it seems like it’s his. The girl was ready to break it off with him not that long ago.
“In the case that you’re trying to scare me away from her, it’s not going to work. We’re just friends.”
Friends don’t grip other friend’s asses like they’re a lifeline, though, do they?
He chuckles. “I don’t give a fuck what you do with her. I’m just saying that Webber might get his panties in a twist.”
I don’t know where this conversation is going or what the point of it is, so rather than feeding into it, I ask, “Is there a point to what you’re sharing?”
I’m still mildly irritated at him for bailing the night of Lucy’s. The more I’m around these people, the more I realize that everyone is knee deep in their own shit and couldn’t care less about the people around them.
“You should go talk to her.”
“And shouldn’t you be with your girl?”
His gaze settles on Everleigh. I don’t miss the smirk on his face that comes next. “Just between you and me, I have no fucking clue how I did it.”
I arch a brow at him. “Did what?”
“Convince her to stay with me. I went out to this party with the football team after I already made plans with her. The place was fucking dope, and it was a crazy night, but she was pissed the next morning when I told her why I bailed.”
“Sounds like a dick move.”
He shrugs. “Honestly, part of me forgot that we were supposed to hang out. We had a Netflix and chill kind of night planned, but I wasn’t really in the mood. You know?”
No, I want to tell him. I don’t fucking know. I don’t know why he’d rather skip out on his girl and spend his night with a bunch of meatheads. If I ever had a chance with Violet, she’d be my first choice every damn night.
Everleigh starts in our direction, and I want to sigh in relief when she steals Tristan’s attention from me. I don’t know how to feel about the guy. We haven’t had much interaction since I moved in, but when we do, it’s like he doesn’t think before he speaks. I give major props to Everleigh for putting up with him.
“Hey, Colson,” she greets, grinning down at me after tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She presses her palms flat on the table, and her skirt swishes around her thighs. Every time I’ve seen her, she’s been in these swishy short skirts that make her legs go on for days. She gives Tristan a look, and he gets up and out of his seat in a snap. “Mind if I steal my boyfriend?”
“Not at all,” I tell her. “All yours.”
Tristan grasps my shoulder and gives it a bro-like squeeze before dipping out of the room with his girl, and thank fuck, I’ve never been more grateful. My attention turns back to the huge flat screen in the center of the room, and it makes me wonder why there’s no space in the kitchen for a dining set. Instead, it sits on the other side of the kitchen wall and shares space with the open living area.
The guy Sebastian is playing against starts cheering, hooting and hollering like he’s going to win, but at the last possible second, Sebastian finds and mutilates him.
“What’s that I hear?” my cousin questions, grinning as big as the fucking sun. “That you thought you were going to win?”
“Get the fuck out of here,” his friend complains. “That was a major fucking cheat move.”
Sebastian looks around at the other gamers. “Guys, back me up.”
One of them mumbles something I can’t hear, most likely that Sebastian won fair and square. It causes his opponent’s shoulder to droop before he drops to the couch and slouches into it.
