The walk to Everest’s is quieter, given that it’s tucked away enough from the main campus. His red Lexus is sitting in the driveway, and when I will myself up his porch steps, I find the front door is unlocked. I slip inside, falling into a strange, detached calm. The only times I’ve been here before are when bodies are crammed in from wall to wall, music thumping and drinks being passed around.
Stepping into the entrance hall now is almost eerie, the house seeming so much more spacious than I realized. There’s a faint smell of cologne and timber from the wall paneling, my hand gliding over the railing as I climb the stairs.
“Hello?” I call out, more out of courtesy than anything else, my voice bouncing around the open space. There’s no answer. Climbing higher, I search for a hint of personality in the décor and find none. Nothing to signify who lives here, if you don’t already know the reputation the house is shrouded in. At the end of the upper hallway, Everest’s office door is ajar. I nudge it open with my shoulder, stepping inside and releasing a small sigh. It’s empty.
I don’t know what I was expecting, don’t even know what I’m doing here except asking for trouble. I suppose I figured Everest and I have found some new kind of friendship. Maybe he’d listen to my rant about Liz and Reid and how it’ll probably take days to get the paint out from beneath my nails, then tell me I’m being oversensitive. We’d have a whole argument about it and I’d stomp out, feeling both validated and liberated of my stress. That’s the general plan in my head, but it looks like I’ll have to liberate myself another way.
Abandoning plan A, I walk down the hallway until there’s a shuffle of footsteps on the porch. By the sounds of it, the front door is swung open, Everest’s voice growling a second later.
“What the hell are you doing here?!” I freeze mid-step, a tremor rolling through my spine. I’ve never heard him speak likethat before. For a second, I worry he’s shouting at me, but then someone grunts for Everest to back the fuck off. I don’t catch who before the sound of a physical scuffle comes. “Me, back the fuck off? You pulled me out of class for no good fucking reason. You know we can’t be seen together. Are you trying to ruin everything, or does it just come naturally?”
My pulse picks up, ears straining as the argument escalates below. Scuffles follow accompanied by grunts, which ends with a crash against the wall. The reverberation of it can be felt through the board beneath my feet. My entire body has gone still, alarm bells ring in my head. I should not have come here. Glancing down the hallway, then back into the office, indecision claws at me before instinct wins out.
I back into the nearest room, discovering it to be some sort of lounge area with a pool table. In my haste to hide away, my bag nudges into the pool table and slips from my shoulder. It hits the floor with a thud that cuts through the house with the same aftereffects of a bomb. The shouting cuts off abruptly, the silence that follows causing my pulse to spike.
“Get out of here,” Everest growls. No sooner has the front door slammed, do footsteps hit the stairs. My heart slams against my chest as I stagger back, dropping onto a sofa. A few doors are thrown open before Everest finds the right one, and even though I expected it, I still scream when he barges in, his face the image of rage. There’s a tic beneath his left eye, his jaw slackening before his curated control takes back over. Stepping inside, Everest folds his arms over his chest.
“Oh, Meg,” he says evenly. “What did you hear?”
Chapter Forty Eight
“I, erm, well I didn’t hear anything…except maybe a head hitting a wall. Is everything okay?” My gaze roams Everest’s body, his t-shirt and baggy shorts showing no sign of injury. Leaning his head back against the door, he takes a whole inhale, exhale before looking at me once again.
“It’s fine. Just part of the package being me. Why aren’t you in class?” His eyes narrow, whatever he was dealing with being shoved into the background.
“I had a weird morning, so I just left and came here apparently.” I lick my lips, bouncing my knee nervously. Not nervous at Everest’s probing stare, but at the whole situation. Coming here was a huge mistake, and serves to remind me thatI don’t actually know as much about Everest as I thought I did. This man who drove me across the country, who was with me for one of the biggest mistakes of my life, has secrets that he’s determined to keep buried.
Everest studies me in equal measure, from my paint-crusted fingers, to my sweater, down my wide flowing jeans and dirty sneakers currently pressed into his cream carpet. The next time he speaks, it’s a growl laced with accusation.
“How does that help with the whole acting normal thing?” A shiver rolls down my spine at his tone, as if I can directly feel the rumble in his chest deep within mine. Licking my lips, I place a hand on my thigh to stop it from bouncing.
“In my defense, you pointed out during our road trip that skipping class isn’t out of the ordinary for me. So technically, I’m playing my role perfectly.” There’s the hitch of a smug grin at the corner of my mouth that Everest doesn’t return whatsoever.
“And coming here? Is that part of the role?” His brow raises. I shrug, pushing up to stand.
“Your parents might be happy about it.” There’s a flicker of heat in Everest’s eyes, yet he makes no move to close the distance between us. That familiar regret churns in my gut and I bend to shoulder my bag. “But you’re apparently not, so I’ll leave you be.” Striding towards the open door, my shoulder has barely brushed Everest’s when his hand flies up and curls around my neck. Not painfully, but in warning that I probably shouldn’t resist, unless I want to have arealgood time.
“It seems a lesson in behaving is required,” Everest sneers and for a moment, I’m not sure if his irritation is directed at me or himself. All I do know is, my thighs clench and my mind screams, yes please daddy. However, my stubborn pride interferes. Me and that bitch need to have an intervention.
“There’s a thousand girls on campus who will behavefor you.” I bark a laugh and the fingers around my throat tighten, his lips dropping to my ear.
“There are billions of women in the world and I’m only interested in one.”
I gasp softly, my chest exploding with butterflies. The hand at my neck shifts south, curving over the denim of my jeans. He gropes my ass hard, pushing my pelvis up towards his groin. Through his shorts, he’s quickly hardening. Everest starts pushing against me, forcing my feet to backtrack towards the sofa. His chest invades my space, his cologne fills my senses.
Opening my mouth to say something stupid no doubt, Everest saves me by crashing his mouth against mine. There’s nothing tentative about the heat of his tongue chasing mine, the way he knows how to steal the air from my lungs. The back of my calves hit the sofa and I go down, dragging him with me. His hand placed on my hip tightens, as if he needs to physically tether himself to me. My fingers fist into his T-shirt, pulling him closer even though there’s nowhere left to go, every inch of space between us consumed by the firm press of our desire.
Between rolling his cock against the apex of my thighs and the urgency of his mouth moving against mine, Everest’s fingers find the button of my jeans. Without breaking contact, he strains to rip the seams for the button to pop free. I gasp, unfisting his T-shirt to slam my hands against his chest.
“Hey! These are my favorite jeans!” Leaning back just enough for his green eyes to roam my face, Everest’s bruised lips curve into something almost resembling a smirk.
“When you’re a good girl for me, I’ll get you your favorite everything.”
“You can’t change me with bribery,” I scoff, shoving at his chest again. He seriously does not understand how difficult it is for a woman with child birthing hips to find comfortable jeanswith the ideal leg length. Yet the smile Everest was struggling to form continues to grow, punching through layers of control as he retreats to kneel on the floor.
“I don’t need you to change. I need you tobehave.” Bracing his hands in my waistband, his knuckles pop with veins as he rips the denim harshly. Seams burst, the material shredding in half. My cheeks flaring hot with both lust and indignation, cool air brushing against the wetness of my thong. Everest’s brow raises, and I simultaneously regret and love myself for my life choices. It barely takes more than a gentle tug of the drenched strip of fabric and they have been snapped too, uselessly hanging from my hips. Everest lifts the back of my knees, fully exposing my ass and cunt to him.
“The…Any-anyone could come in,” I mutter weakly, looking at the open door. Everest leans forward and spits against my pussy.
