Page 33 of Never Will I Ever

I can feel Colton studying me from my left, while Dayton remains blissfully ignorant to my right. It’s an uncomfortable feeling—like I’m beneath a microscope—and the heat scalding the back of my head where I know Avery has his gaze locked on me isn’t helping matters.

But rather than giving in—turning to find those baby blue eyes—I hold strong and shove another forkful of food in my mouth.

Colton, on the other hand, doesn’t give a damn and twists his upper body to not-so-discreetly look behind us.

“Colton, turn around and eat,” I force out between gritted teeth.

My brother lets out a huff of annoyance before doing as I say. His hazel gaze lifts to mine, and he gives me another one of his devilish smirks. “Something’s definitely up, ’cause he’s staring at you.”

“Maybe he wants to kill him,” Day chimes in.

“Would the two of you just give it a rest already?” I snap, my temper flaring far quicker than it normally would. Probably due to lack of sleep and the plethora of emotions still congealing inside my chest and stomach from that kiss.

It’s evident in the way Colton’s brows shoot up in surprise, and how Dayton all but drops his fork to his plate, that neither of them expected me to snap at them over some playful ribbing.

“Sorry, K.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Dayton murmurs, picking up his fork again.

Setting my fork on the wooden table, I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out a groan. The twins have always been nosy, as most kids their age can be, and under normal circumstances, I’d dish shit right back at them. But despite these being far from normal circumstances, and I’m more than deserving of setting boundaries with them, the last thing I want is to ruin their moodgoing into the day.

“Look, I’m sorry too, okay? Like I said, I’m tired, and it’s made me cranky, but it’s not fair for me to take it out on you.” I pause, hedging back toward the topic of Avery. “But there is something Avery and I talked about yesterday, and it involves the two of you.”

Glancing between the two of them, I see equal parts curiosity and anxiousness written on their faces.

Dayton is the first to speak, asking the same question I’m sure he’d ask if he were being called to the principal’s office. “Are we in trouble?”

I keep my smile under lock and key and shake my head. “No, you’re not. But I need the two of you to start being more inclusive with Elijah.”

Dayton lets out a low groan before starting back in on his breakfast, but it’s Colton who looks downright pissed I even suggested it. He looks ready to argue, but I aim a glare his way, stopping him in his tracks.

“Don’t start that crap with me. You, Dayton, and Elijah were close your first summer here. There’s no reason you can’t be like that again.”

“Again, you get to swear but we don’t?” Dayton pipes up between his mouthfuls of food, entirely uninterested in the conversation.

“We werekindafriends when we wereeight,” Colton cuts in, his tone still slightly dejected. “But that was, like, three years ago. We’re friends with Liam and Tyler now.”

I arch a brow. “You do know you can be friends withallof them, right? There’s no rule against it.”

The way both their noses scrunch up, almost in disgust, tells me the idea is not at all appealing.

“Yeah, but Elijah’s too quiet,” Dayton says with a shrug. “He doesn’t really try to make other friends, and it makes him seemkinda…weird.”

He stops and looks at Colton, and my brothers share one of their infamous twin looks—the kind where anyone in the same room as them can tell they’re having their own little silent conversation—before Cole speaks up.

“Tell you what. You find a way to make up with Avery and be friends, then we’ll consider it.”

Dayton nods, a little smirk on his lips before he glances behind us toward Avery. “Oh, and he’s still watching us. Hell yeah, that’s got my vote.”

I gape at them, both awed and offended by their audacity. “This isn’t a democracy, and we aren’t bartering with blackmail about this. You’ll start acting the way Mom and Dad raised you—which is to be nice and to include people—or I’ll call them to come get you.”

Colton rolls his eyes, entirely unfazed by the threat. In addition to being more vigilant, he’s always been the ballsier one too. “Maybe you need to take your own advice.”

“Good thing it’s not up for discussion.”

The two of them slump forward against the table, pouting at the same time a large form stops in front of us.

“Kal. Got a minute?”

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