Page 23 of Only Some Stars Fall

They have got to be fucking kidding me.

“Let it go, Hux.” Kenny stands as I come around the bar, blowing past him, my stare deadlocked on Nick.

“What can I do for you?” seethes through my teeth. I come within inches of his face, and it is taking every ounce of strength I have to not throw this whole group out of the bar.

“Sorry, man, Riley here has had a bit too much fun at the fireworks and must have forgotten his manners.” Nick smiles, which I’m sure in my right mind I would see as the genuine smile that it is, but not tonight. Everly is still perched on his knee, meaning she is literally between him and me. Her eyes are cast down at her hands in her lap.

“We were just hoping to get him a sandwich or something, see if we could sober him up a bit.”

“What you could get him is a ride home and get the fuck out of my bar.” The room quiets at my bark, but I’m too furious to care.

“Jesus, Hux, what has gotten into you?” Alex comes up behind me, and I wish she hadn’t because now she is in the path of my uncontained wrath. I spin around to look at her.

“Do you and your little friend here still want a job? Because if you do, I suggest you take these frat pack douchebags out of here. Now.” At this point, I’m not talking loudly, I’m full-on yelling. “I don’t have time for this college bullshit, hot girl summer fantasy you two are dying to create.”

At this, a few of the locals laugh, but most of the guests stare blankly, and the older clientele look appalled by our inappropriate antics. I meet Everly’s eyes only for a second before she rushes past me and out the door. It was just long enough for me to see the tears forming.

Shit.

Elle rushes over, firmly grabbing my arm. “What thehell was that? You need to go cool off.” Not much riles Elle up, but I can tell by her tone she’s pissed.

I start to make excuses, but all I can see are those tears forming in Everly’s eyes. Frustrating her is one thing; actually, it’s a wicked turn-on, but now she looks hurt and embarrassed. All because of my dumbass behavior. I hastily run my hands through my hair, and before I can stop myself, I push past Elle out into the night air.

I round the corner of the lodge toward the parking lot and just about run over Everly. She’s kneeling on the side of the building, digging through her purse. The glow bracelets on her wrists reflect the light green of her eyes. She sees me and quickly stands, briskly walking toward Alex’s car parked in the lot.

“Wait,” I say gruffly as I catch her wrist in my hand. This side of the lodge is dark, but I can still see the tracks of tears that have run along her cheeks. “Look, I’m sorry, I don’t know what got into me back there, it’s just…”

“It’s just what, Hux?” She turns fast, her chest heaving. “I got the message a week ago that you want nothing to do with me, but I didn’t realize how much the sight of me must disgust you until tonight.” She refuses to look me in the eyes. “Trust me, from now on, I won’t step foot here except for my work shifts.”

She tries to remove my hand from her wrist, but when her fingers interlace with mine, it’s too much for me to handle. I quickly tilt her chin up, staring into her sad green eyes before my lips crash into hers. I push her up against the lodge wall and press my body into hers, needing to be as close as I possibly can.

Her mouth parts with a gasp, and I take my chance to greet her tongue with mine. Everything about her stirs a hunger within me that I didn’t know I had. She wraps her arms around my neck, reassuring me she feels it too. I lift her up, and shewraps her legs around my waist, causing me to groan into her mouth. She feels so fucking good.

One hand travels up the back of her thigh, and my fingertips slide between her and the edge of her shorts. The other hand slips beneath her tank top and trails its way up her goose-bumped skin to her braless breast. My fingers circle and tug on her hard nipple, making her involuntarily whimper. Her hands are in my hair, pulling me even closer to her, our mouths never slowing down as I caress every inch of her body that I can.

That is until we hear the screen door slam above us and the faint voices of Alex and the rest of the group walking out onto the deck. I slowly lower Everly to the ground as we both pant, trying to catch our breaths. I press my forehead to the wall behind her and close my eyes.

“I should probably go,” she whispers. I still haven’t recovered enough to reply. She waits a moment, and when I give no response, she continues in the direction of Alex’s car.

“Hey!” I quietly call out as she approaches the parking lot and comes into the light of the front of the lodge. She stops and looks over her shoulder. We stare at one another for a moment, our lips swollen, our expressions unreadable, and then a small smirk spreads across my face.

She lets out a sigh and rolls her eyes at me. Shaking her head, she turns back around and continues to the car.

ELEVEN

EVERLY

“Earth to Everly, you in there?”Alex waves her hands in front of my face. I’ve been leaning against her car for the last fifteen minutes, trying to get the adrenaline that is still coursing through my body to ease up. What the hell was that? One minute, Hux seems furious with me, embarrassing me beyond measure, and the next, I’m wrapped around him, my body needing his like he’s air itself.

Fire races over my skin with every touch. Instead of feeling self-conscious when his hand slid up my shirt, all I kept thinking was that I needed more, all of him, right there up against the building. For a moment, I didn’t recognize myself and my uncontrollable hunger for him.

“Sorry, yeah, what took you so long?” I ask.

“Well, I was on my way to look for you when Nick and his buddy decided it was a good idea to do backflips off the dock. I didn’t feel like I should leave those two to break their necks and drown.” Alex rolls her eyes. “Kenny is safely driving them home as we speak.”

“Can we just go home, please? I’m exhausted,” I plead while impatiently waiting for her to dig out her keys and unlock the car.

“Hmm… why so tired, Evie Baby? Have something to share with me?” She laughs, ducks into the car, and reaches across to manually unlock my door.

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