Page 19 of Ever's Last
“Look, I know this isn’t ideal.”
“No, it’s not. I feel like you’re setting me up for something. These girls aren’t anything that anyone would want to settle down with, well, except Natalie. She has a decent job.” Okay, I’m grasping at straws because I don’t know the other girls, but I am right about the stripper. No one wants to settle down with that. Well, maybe someone does. I am a dick.
“Have you ever asked yourself what you want in life, Memphis? I don’t think fighting is life. And soon you’ll be too old for it. So, what do you want? You want to be a manwhore for the rest of your life?” Wow, Sal. Really? Just went for it.
“But these girls, Sal? I mean, this is not for me. I have to pick one of them in the end. It certainly won’t be Skye. Why are you doing this to me?”
He just grins and walks away. What the fuck?
Now I need a drink and a nap. Mostly the drink.
But when my head hits the pillow, I’m out. I wake up to knocking. Brick and Linc are waiting to help me get ready. I want to be myself. Just one day.
“You’ll love tomorrow,” Linc says. I need something to get me through the day, one day closer to the end.
“Yeah?”
“Tomorrow, they have to collect eggs from the chickens.” Linc laughs.
“Can’t wait.” I want to sound happier about someone else’s misery, but I just don’t have it in me.
“What’s gotten into you?” Brick asks.
“Nothing.” Except that kiss with Ever. I want more.
“Alright. Get changed. Elimination and dinner,” Brick says.
Great. I have no idea who I want to pick. No, I know that Lexie is gone and Skye. But I still feel like Sal is doing this for another reason and not just to boost my image. If anything, this is making me look worse. I’m sure when I’m not around, the cameras have caught the girls talking about me, all of me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m hung, but not that America needs to know that. Sal is up to something, he has to be.
Yep, this is a setup. For what, I don’t know yet.
Chapter Fifteen
Ever
My dad is getting dinner ready as we all cram at the sink to watch out the window. Elimination. I’m pretty sure Lexie is going home. I am also hoping Skye goes. Since the lake, she’s left me alone, but anything can happen. No one has brought up the kiss and for that I’m grateful. I touch my lips, remembering how it felt when he kissed me.
I need a breather. I grab my bucket and head to the barn to feed the chickens. I enjoy it out here, the peace and quiet. I can think out here. I’m spreading the feed when a noise startles me, causing me to turn around and almost collide with someone.
Memphis.
“Are you okay?”
He’s holding his arm.
“Just bumped it when I opened the barn door.” He looks good in Wranglers. But he looks good in anything. He looks so good that I want to touch him, feel him. I need to stop.
“Can I try?” He points at the chickens. I hand him the cup with the feed in it and he does what I was doing, scattering it.
“You always liked coming out here.” He remembers.
“You hated coming out here.” I chuckle.
“Those chickens are mean bastards.” That makes me laugh. He always got pecked at and he hated it.
“You’ve done well for yourself, Memphis.” He deserves all the credit for achieving the success he has. He turns and hands me the cup, studying me as if it’s the first time he’s ever seen me.
“Sometimes it’s lonely at the top.” He brushes the hair off my shoulder.
