as Everett stared at him with an intensity that went beyond jealousy and resentment.
Then the beer bottle dropped from Everett’s hand, foam dribbling onto the red rug as he disappeared.
The crash of the front door hitting the side of the house reverberated, and we all sat still as stone to the sound of his shouted cursing until silence fell.
“What the fuck was that?” Hendrix stood, moving to pick up the fallen beer bottle.
Mom was blinking in the direction Everett had gone.
Swallowing the knot that’d formed in my throat, I got up and fetched some wet towels for the rug and patted it clean. Once done, I went to Aiden, who seemed more confused than any of us, and took his hand. I didn’t know what to say. That was an outburst none of us could explain away, so I tugged. “Come on. Let’s go to bed.”
“But…” Aiden hesitated, looking in the direction Everett had gone. “He’s okay?”
That this man had the ability to be concerned for the very same guy he felt threatened by made my heart crash and burn as it melted with tenderness. “Yeah,” I said, smiling through the tears that’d gathered. “He’ll be okay.”
“He’s been a mess more than usual lately,” Hendrix informed behind me.
I’d forgotten he was still there and turned around.
He set his guitar back on its stand, running his hand over his mop of blond hair. “Drunk all the time. And I mean all the fucking time. He’s never not got a drink in his hand. He stopped playing guitar midway through a set just three weeks ago, and the only reason we haven’t kicked him out is because we’ve built a following, however small, from his voice, and no matter how drunk he is, he never fails on that front.”
“You can’t kick him out,” I said, fear spearing through me at what Everett would do without his one remaining saving grace.
“I know.” Hendrix sighed. “I never could. I’d make him play the fucking harmonica before I did that.”
“I’ll meet you in bed,” Aiden whispered, kissing my forehead, then leaving the room.
I looked from his retreating back to Hendrix as he picked up pieces of wrapping paper and tossed them onto the coffee table. “Hen, I’m sorry. It wasn’t something I could help, even if I wanted to, but still, I’m sorry.”
Hendrix kept moving, and I wasn’t sure he’d heard me until he said, “It’s just him, Steve.” He straightened, dropping balls of paper to the coffee table. “He’s like my brother, so of course, I love him, but… he’s not for you.”
I nodded. “I know that now.”
“Do you?” Hendrix angled his head. “Because that guy”—he gestured out of the room—“Aiden, he’s the kind of guy you need. Not some drunk who can’t see past his own selfish bullshit.”
He was right. It didn’t negate that I’d love Everett anyway, no matter what he did, or that I couldn’t be with him. Love was love, no matter how undeserving the person.
I stepped forward, holding my arms out. Hendrix raised a brow, and I laughed. “Don’t leave me hanging.”
His cheeks rose with his grin, and then he scooped me up, hugging me tight as I wrapped my arms around his waist. “You smell like an ashtray,” I whispered.
He chuckled. “Don’t tell Mom and Dad.”
Aiden’s quiet snores did their best to lull me to sleep but failed.
Carefully moving his arm off my waist, I climbed out of bed and padded to the door in search of water.
A quiet voice had the glass slipping in my hand and almost crashing into the sink. “Did you fuck him in the same bed I had you in?”
I put the glass in the sink and forced the water that felt more like cement to slide down my throat before I turned around.
He was standing in the arched entryway to the dining room, his shoulder pressing heavily into it, night shadowing his features.
Resolved to dust off his question, I walked by him. “Go to bed, Everett.”
A warm hand snatched mine, pulling me back into his hard chest. “Answer me.”
His hand was tight around mine over my stomach, and he used the other to move my hair aside.
As soon as his lips hit my skin, whiskey on his breath and shudders ready to roll over me, I pulled away. “Stop it. Where’ve you been?”
“Didn’t think you’d care, Clover.”
“God.” I shook my head. “Okay, good night.”
“Wait,” he said when I’d almost reached the end of the hall. “I-I need to…”