Saving Everest Page 24

  Yikes.

  Everest and I hadn’t talked about exactly what our relationship was, or better yet, if we were going to go public with it. So, finally being in this situation made us both unsure of how to act.

  “Hey,” he said after clearing his throat, his stance totally awkward. He ended up giving me a cautious one-armed hug. He was rarely nervous, so seeing him act like that made me nervous.

  “Hi,” I squeaked and took my seat, my tray slamming unnecessarily loudly on the table.

  “Hey, Nami,” I said after I winced.

  “Nuh-uh, what the hell was that?” She furrowed her thick brows, one hand holding an applesauce cup and the other a tiny spoon.

  “What?” Everest asked with a bored tone, hugging Tiffany.

  “Since when do you guys greet each other like that?” Nami snorted.

  “Like what?” I asked, trying to ignore my heartbeat thumping in my chest.

  Did she know?

  “Like some weirdos,” Tiffany added.

  Just then the library doors swung open and Mikey walked through. “The gang’s back together again.”

  His grin almost lightened up my tenseness. “Switch seats with me, Bev. I like the other side better.”

  He gestured to the empty chair next to Everest.

  Everest suddenly became interested in his phone, most likely so that he wouldn’t have to look at me or anyone else. I wasn’t sure why, though, he was pretty good at hiding his emotions.

  “Thanks, but I’m fine here.” I forced a smile.

  Mikey looked confused and then at Nami. “What’s up with them?”

  “Nothing,” Everest and I said at the same time. Our eyes met and we both knew it made things look worse.

  “What happened with you two?” Tiffany narrowed her eyes.

  “We’re fine-e-e.” I laughed. “Stop being silly. How was break for you guys?”

  My attempt to switch the conversation actually turned out to be successful. At some point while listening to how everyone spent their break, I zoned out completely. Everest became my only line of focus. It happened several times, not lasting more than probably five measly seconds. His energy was just so contagious and I was defenseless against getting pulled into his essence.

  It was like he was unaware of the power he possessed—the power to draw me right in. His errant mess of faded black waves that turned an earthy brown when the light hit them just right. Unruly thick eyebrows that jutted in every which direction. That little scar he’d got when he was eight after falling off his bike, which was practically unnoticeable to the untrained eye, but that I’d traced enough times to find on his face from afar. His thick bed of lashes that I would probably only have in my dreams. Summer afternoon grass-green eyes that made me feel like I was burning up in the middle of January. My eyes scanned down to his pink lips, much smaller than mine, but softer than the kiss of a butterfly. Just thinking about his kiss made me uncomfortable in my skin. A wave of scorching-hot passion slithered beneath my skin and bones.

  “Bev?” It was then I realized that Everest was talking to me.

  The slither vanished in a rush, and I took a deep breath from the intensity. I cleared my throat. “Yes?”

  Too high pitched.

  I cleared my throat again. “Yes?”

  Better.

  “I have to leave early for my gig. Walk me to my car?” His eyes danced with amusement.

  Too embarrassed to say anything, I nodded and gathered my things. Saying my see ya laters, I rushed to the door. Everest followed me, his aura swirling around me.

  When we left the library doors and were in the desolate halls, he grabbed my hand, a slither of warmth wrapping up my arm like a sensual serpent. We didn’t speak a word until we entered the parking lot.

  “I thought you were out of town for another week?” It took me a second to get that out. The unforgiving winter aided in frosting down the heat brewing in me. I expected to be colder, but I wasn’t.

  “Had free time. I thought I’d come and surprise you.” His hand played with my fingers.

  “When do you go back on the road?” I shivered not from the cold, but from when his lips grazed my knuckles. It was insane how quickly the guys’ popularity had been growing. From local festivals to weddings, they were booked and busy. They were constantly playing in the city, and had made a name for themselves. Life had such a funny way of working out.

  “Tomorrow,” he said. “But Felix and Lily are coming back from their honeymoon, so we’re having a little party at 21 Daisies.”

  “We?” I raised a brow.

  A passing grin flashed on his lips. “I’m picking you up at six. The whole gang is going to be there.”

  “Lucky and Lincoln too? I haven’t seen them in a while.”

  “Unfortunately, I see way too much of them. Do you know how bad a tour van can smell? You never want to. You just don’t.”

  I swiped at his chest, and he grabbed my other wrist. My heart manifested into a hummingbird when he gently pulled my arms to lace around his neck, bringing my face closer to his. His arms found their home around my waist. “I miss you.”

  Not past tense. Actively in the moment. I understood because I felt the same way. My missing him didn’t flee or pass. I missed him when I was with him. That was how deep my roots were.

  “I miss you,” I responded, avoiding his gaze because I felt guilty for staring at him so much in the library. He was never at school anymore. Over the weekend he told me that he was going to sign up for online school for this last semester due to his now-busy schedule. It made me sad, but I didn’t show it. I needed to be supportive of his dreams, even if it meant seeing him less.

  From outside the building I heard the bell ring. “I have to go.”

  I made no attempts to leave, though, and neither did he. Instead, he pretty much did the opposite when he pulled me into a hug.

  For the rest of the day, I endured the people in my remaining classes asking me a million and one questions. Someone had spotted Everest, and that fed the frenzy even more so than before. They asked if he was dropping out of school, if he was my prom date, if I had met any celebrities. It was honestly getting out of hand. Leaving school was harder because all of my friends were busy. Mikey had already left to do some business, Nami was doing some fundraiser work, and Tiffany had choir practice.

  I was two steps in the door at 21 Daisies when Lincoln and Lucky wrapped me in a surprise constricting group hug.

  “Awwww—I can’t bre—” They released me so that I could get a gasping breath.

  “Where have you guys been?” Poppy’s hand was on her hip.

  “Sorry, I lost track of time.” I truly had. I had been studying for the longest while. Everest had told me six o’clock, but we ended up being an hour late.

  “It’s okay, I’m just glad you made it.” Felix grinned.

  I looked around the café. Blue and white banners hung from the ceiling. Treats that were once in the display cases were now on a table laid out for the guests. I saw my group of friends sitting on the red couch—a favorite of ours. Some recognizable and unrecognizable faces. Gold balloons spilled onto the floor. Everest had already stepped on two.

  “You know there’s balloons that come with helium, right?” he said amusedly,

  “Lincoln was on balloon duty,” Lucky explained, “so you know how that went.”

  “What’s wrong with it?” Lincoln looked genuinely confused, which made the situation all that much more funny.

  When we arrived at the red couch, it looked like all the fun and games had already began. They were playing some card game and from the look of Nami and Mikey, it looked to be very intense. Turns out the game was Spades, and I had no clue how to play. Everest taught me, sharing the same set of cards because I was in training. To be frank, I still didn’t understand, but any chance
to sit close to Everest and have the occasional touch of his hands made it worth it. Every contact we made surged that warmth that had occurred earlier today. It affected Everest too. His chest rose and fell a bit more than it had the minutes before. His eyes would flick to mine and would linger a bit too long. But he was always good at concealing his true feelings. I couldn’t imagine how much concentration it took to experience this and play a card game.

  “We need more drinks. Would you mind getting some more from the back?” Rose asked me, well into the third game.

  I glanced at Everest before looking back at her. “Yeah, sure.”

  Inside the back room, my back was to the door. It was no bigger than a walk-in closet. Boxes sat on shelves of miscellaneous things. I ran a hand over my hair and took a deep breath. I had never experienced anything like this before. This warmth. It only came when I was physically around Everest. My face felt flushed before I began to look for the drinks. To my surprise, the door opened and Everest walked in.

  “Need help?” He walked right up behind me. I could feel him without there even being touch. It was just that energy of his that clung to mine like a fly to a web, engulfing me whole, and the more I tried to fight or ignore it, the stronger it became.

  “Sorry for taking so long. I was just—” His hand touched

  my waist, sending pulses down my side. When I turned around, my

  breath caught in my throat at our closeness.

  “Oh, hi,” I stupidly said—it was just the first thing that came to mind.

  He grinned mischievously at my words, though. Taking my hands, he grazed my knuckles against his lips, and then laced

  my fingers around his neck, like he had done earlier.

  “Hello.” His voice was husky, practically a whisper. The grip on my waist tightened as he pulled me flush against him. My heart could be heard a mile away, warmth increasing and covering every square inch of my body. His head ducked low, and when his breath hit my neck, I shivered.

  He paused before saying, “Remember when we were staring at each other in the library?”

  His lips met my neck again, and I thought my body would catch on fire right then and there.

  “Yeah.”

  “I wanted you too.” I didn’t even see it coming. It was as if I had no control over my body. I didn’t know what was happening, but I also knew I didn’t want it to stop. The intensity of his lips on my neck caused my thoughts and head to go all fuzzy. I wanted his lips on mine. For him to do what he was doing to my neck to my lips. I tangled my hands in his hair.

  He pulled back and stars glittered and glimmered in his eyes. “God, you’re so beautiful.”

  Electricity shot through me as my body reacted to his words. As if reading my mind, his lips hovered over mine. “I’ve been wanting to do this all damn day.”

  His lips lightly bumped against mine as he spoke. Not being able to stand it, I made the first move, our lips passionately crashing into each other. This intensity was nothing like the kisses we’d shared before. It wasn’t laced with magic and softness. It was desperate and needy. He kissed me deeply. My lips told his how much I needed him. His lips told me the same. We kissed like it necessary for us to live.

  “Oh goodness,” I heard from behind, and I separated myself quickly.

  My friends were all standing in the doorway with shocked looks on their faces.

  “I knew it.” Nami stared at me lovingly, and held a hand over her heart.

  “What is wrong with you?” Everest snorted.

  “It worked,” she laughed. “I knew it would work.”

  My ears suddenly warmed up, and I felt myself sinking farther into the wall.

  “You knew what would work?” Everest asked sounding confused.

  “I set Beverly up on that awful date so you two would stop being stupid and get together,” Nami said nonchalantly, seeming to calm down from her outburst.

  “Wait, what? You set me up on an awful date on purpose?” I asked, shocked. I stepped from behind Everest.

  “This is too much.” Tiffany couldn’t contain her smile.

  “Well, yeah, Nathan owed me a favor. If it makes you feel better, he said he wished he could have been himself.”

  “I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I’m not,” Mikey said to Nami, his grin not going anywhere.

  “I don’t know what to say.” I was equally stunned.

  “Oh, it’s okay, you’re welcome, Bevy.” Nami beamed. “So when did it happen?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Everest smirked.

  “Oh c’mon,” Tiffany groaned. “You’re no fun.”

  I’d like to say that the conversation was dropped, but not exactly. The gang managed to wiggle more snide comments to get more out of Everest and me, but we didn’t deny or confirm. I followed Everest’s lead. Maybe he wasn’t ready to take us public yet. I didn’t mind, though. The rest of the night we drank and laughed. It was a day of awakening, A day of returning to my not-so-normal life. But whose day was normal anyway?

  37

  Everest

  Confession: you showed me the beauty but I can’t seem to hold up my end of the deal.

  —EF, January 14, 2019

  “I can’t believe people actually say pop instead of soda,” I said in response to Beverly ordering a Coke. She giggled in my lap, and I pulled her a bit closer, my head snuggling into the crook of her neck. I missed her. I’d been practicing with the boys nonstop. Coming to 21 Daisies and chilling with my friends was exactly what I needed to distract me from obsessing over music.

  “Get with the culture or leave,” Tiffany said from across the table. Lincoln was almost falling asleep at her side. No wonder it was so quiet in here.

  “It just doesn’t make sense though,” I argued after sitting up, just as Lucky and I made eye contact. His expression told me that he supported my stance on the matter.

  “You can’t move to a small town and expect things to make sense.” Nami, as always, had her two cents to add.

  “Touché.”

  “Oh! Everest did you hear what Cara did?” Tiffany perked up like she’d just remembered.

  “I. Almost. Forgot.” Nami slapped her hand on the table to every syllable of her sentence.

  “What now?” I sighed. It could be anything.

  “She changed her party date to Beverly’s.”

  They looked amused but I didn’t find it funny. It was a deliberate move for sure. Cara’s birthday was a whole two weeks after Beverly’s. So why would she plan it so early? Surely because the attention wasn’t on her. I shrugged in response.

  “What’s the big deal?” Beverly responded, her innocence gleaming.

  “How do you not see that it’s disrespectful? There was word of your party around school and she couldn’t handle her party not being the topic of discussion. She made a power move, but good thing you have me on your team.” Nami grinned, proud of herself.

  “I’m scared to even know what that means.” Lucky spoke for all of us.

  “Nami what did you do?”

  “I invited everyone to Beverly’s party,” she said with no remorse.

  “You did what?” Beverly asked, looking nervous.

  “Who’s everyone?” Of course she invited everyone. I told her to invite some of the people whom Beverly approved, which wasn’t a lot of people. Now the whole school thought they could drop by.

  “When she meant everyone, she meant everyone. Don’t be too shook when Mrs. Anderson drops by looking for a plate of cake,” Tiffany confirmed.

  Mikey laughed obnoxiously at that. “Man, screw her. She failed me last year.”

  I groaned. “I’m not trying to clean up after that many people.”

  “I’ll help clean,” Nami said quickly. “I have connections that will do the job. If that’s the price to pay, it’ll
get done. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Are you okay with this?” I asked Beverly directly. It was her party.

  “Think about the gifts,” Lincoln said.

  “Yeah, we could charge people at the door and make a little bit of cash.” Mikey grinned mischievously. Money was always on his mind.

  “No, that’s not necessary. I never had a party with more than four people, myself included. I kinda want to see what that’s like,” Beverly responded.

  “You sure?” I asked. It didn’t really seem like a good idea, but if that was what she wanted, then that was what she would get.

  “I’m sure.”

  We left the café shortly after that. When we got back to my house, I let her go first, in the off chance that anyone was awake. My mom had already mentioned how much she disliked me being in Beverly’s room for long periods of time, so I decided to try a new approach, but the house was quiet. I felt safe enough to follow closely behind to her bedroom. It was not in my interests to piss off my parents if I wanted to still have Beverly around here. Sneaking into her room was the best way to play it safe.

  “What do you want for your birthday?” I asked through my exhaustion, as I plopped on her bed. I’d already got her gifts; I was just curious about what she actually wanted.

  She leaned up and softly kissed my jaw. “I don’t want you to spend your money on me, Everest.”

  “It’s entirely way too late for that.” I ran my hand down her back, landing it on her waist and marveling in the comfort of her body next to mine. “Plus, who else am I going to spend it on?”

  “Nami called you my sugar daddy last week . . . I don’t like that.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Stop it, it’s not funny,” she said sternly, but it was so sweet I couldn’t take it seriously.

  “Okay, sugar baby.” I kissed the crook of her neck.

  “Everest!” She tried to push me away from her, but our intertwined legs stopped that from happening. I covered her mouth with my hand after her outburst. I couldn’t have her blow our cover after we’d just snuck in.

  “Don’t listen to Nami, Bev. She just likes teasing.” I rubbed my thumb softly into her lower back, and watched how she closed her eyes.