Page 97 of Wild About You
Jack tightens his grip on the front of his T-shirt. “Do you understand?”
“Yeah.” He shrugs, and Jack lets go of him. He brings a hand to his split lip. I wonder if that’s from Everly or from Jack before we got here. “What the fuck ever. She isn’t worth it.”
“You’re just going to let him go?” Tyler asks as River gets in his car.
Jack glances at Everly, then back to Tyler. “You don’t want the cops in the middle of this.”
“He’s right,” Everly says, voice sounding stronger now that River is gone. “I’m fine.”
“Hehityou.”
“I hit him first. Not that he didn’t deserve it.” She grits out the last part. “But he won’t come back.”
Tyler runs a hand through his hair and his shoulders sag with relief as he puts an arm around Everly. “I need a drink and then I want to know what the hell happened. Exactly what happened.”
We all start to go in, except for Jack. He heads to his car which I just now realize is parked at the curb.
“Where are you going?” I ask him.
Tyler and Everly stop and wait for his answer.
His jaw flexes. “She should get some ice on that face.”
* * *
Ash and Declan hang in the kitchen while Tyler takes Everly into the living room. With no ice pack in sight, I grab a beer from the fridge. I hand it to Everly.
“Have anything stronger?” she asks.
“It’s for your face.”
She rests it against the side of her cheek with a small wince. “Thank you.”
Her gaze scans me still in my dress. “I’m sorry I ruined your guys’ night out. You look so pretty.”
Tyler cuts in as I’m reassuring her.
“What was he doing here? Ash said they didn’t even know he was coming over.” Tyler stripped out of his jacket and the top two buttons of his shirt are undone. Ash pours him a glass of whiskey, but Tyler just holds it in one hand on the top of his thigh.
I don’t know if I should stay or let these two talk in private, but before I can decide, Tyler reaches for me, his gaze never leaving Everly. I drop to the cushion next to him, and he presses his leg against mine as if he wants the smallest bit of reassurance and support for this conversation.
“He called and wanted to come over. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”
Ty’s brows raise.
“Okay, fine. I knew sneaking him in was wrong, but if I’d asked Ash or Declan, they’d have called you and then wanted to chaperone the whole thing.”
His jaw flexes, but he nods. “Do I want to know why you hit him?”
“Probably not.”
He takes a drink and then says, “What happened?”
She’s quiet for a moment, then blows out a breath. “It was an accident.”
“You busted his lip onaccident?”
She rolls her eyes. “We were messing around. He kept pushing my head down.” She motions toward her crotch.
