friend - or former best friend - Ryver, looking unkempt and ashamed. "Can I come in?"
"Of course," Kaylee told her, trying to sound upbeat, but seeing Ryver come from Ashton's room brought a sharp pain to her chest.
"Do you hate me?" Ryver asked bluntly.
"No," Kaylee answered. It was true but at the same time, it wasn't. The calm that she had felt earlier was shattered by seeing her disheveled friend.
"About last night..." Ryver started.
Kaylee held her hand up. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hardly breathe. "I don't want to hear it. Please."
"But..."
"No, seriously, I don't want to hear it. Help yourself to the shower, I'm going downstairs for brunch," Kaylee said, knowing her words must have sounded harsh, but she just couldn't handle hearing about Ryver's night with Ashton.
She left before another word could be said. She went downstairs to drown her sorrow in food. Her emotions were all over the place - she was upset, but then again, she wasn't. She was accepting of the way Ashton was, but at the same time, the thought of him with Ryver made her want to cry. She was certain the last thing she wanted to do was eat, but she had to get out of there somehow, and it seemed the easiest option.
Not realizing how hungry she was, Kaylee chuckled when her stomach growled in the elevator. "So much for no appetite," she murmured.
She looked around the dining room where the brunch buffet was set up, grateful to see her brother and Colton already. She filled her plate, then zigzagged through the tables to meet up with the two familiar faces.
"Wow, have you not eaten in the past week?" Noah asked, looking at the mount of food on Kaylee's plate.
"Leave me alone," she grumbled.
"Ok, what's wrong? You only eat like that when you're upset." Her brother was concerned.
"Nothing, I'm just hungry." Kaylee plastered a fake smile on her face. She dug into her food, practically inhaling it. Before long, she was so full she could barely move, even though she still had half the food on her plate. "I guess my eyes were bigger than my stomach."
"When you're ready to tell me what's wrong, let me know." Noah stood up and kissed Kaylee's head. He was such a good brother to her, she didn't know what she would have done without him.
Kaylee was just getting up from the table when she felt a hand on her back. A deep voice whispered in her ear, "Nothing happened last night."
Kaylee turned to look into Ashton's face. The relief that flooded her was extreme in its force. She immediately blinked back the tears that threatened to glaze over her eyes and reminded herself that she couldn't trust a thing he said.
"What you do is your own business," she said coldly.
"I know that," he smirked. "But I'm telling you that nothing happened. I thought you might want to know. I didn't touch her."
"Well, yay for you," she bit back. She hated that smirk. She wanted to wipe it right off his face. He was so full of himself, like she actually cared what he did the night before. She tried hard to convince herself of that, even as her heart was racing and a part of her wanted to sing with relief.
She started to walk away from the table, and nearly stumbled when she heard what he said next.
"You should be thanking me; I did it for you." He wasn't sure if she wanted her to hear that or not, but it was the truth.
"I'm not even going to ask what you mean by that," she said before stalking out of the dining room.
She felt a little more calm as she went back to her room, but wondering what Ashton had meant was nagging at her mind. He had done it for her? Done what? Turned Ryver down...for her? She didn't know if what he had said was good or not. Why did he have to be so confusing, and so damn annoying?
Chapter 8
Kaylee got back to her room to find Ryver packing her stuff. "Hi," she said softly as she walked into the room.
"Hey," Ryver answered, a little coldly.
The sadness and fury she had felt before her breakfast rose up again. Kaylee took a deep breath to calm down.
"Listen, I'm sorry about last night. I don't really know why I got so upset with you for hanging out with Ashton." Kaylee sat at the edge of the bed. She felt bad