15. Everest

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Everest

Humiliated doesn’t even cover it.

I stare at my phone, trying to type out a reply to an offer to hang out with Knox tonight, but I’m stuck thinking about Rhys and the way he talked about my slutty hole, almost like he wanted to be in it, jealous and pissed off that he didn’t get the chance.

Where I thought I had managed to one up Rhys, I failed miserably. He’s a genius, of course, so I should have known he’d see past my tricks. What I hadn’t expected was the type of retaliation he doled out. To think, for a split second, I believed he actually wanted me. His dirty words had spurred me on and, straight or not, I was convinced he meant everything he said.

I’m so stupid.

Not even stupid. Pathetic . That one word he used lingers with me and makes ridiculous tears pool in my eyes. I wipe them away angrily because I won’t allow myself to cry over Rhys. The more traitorous tears that fall, the more that word echoes in my head, the more frustrated I get.

Who the fuck does he think he is? Me ? I’m the pathetic one?

I’ll show him who’s pathetic.

I shoot out of bed, ignoring Knox’s last text, and head straight to my closet. In a matter of seconds, I’m dressed and ready to go. I’m thinking about Rhys and his stupid handsome face. I’m thinking of the way he made me feel like I was nothing. I’m thinking of how I want to make him feel like that too.

So, a plan develops, one that I’m sure will lead to nothing but my victory.

Get ready, Rhys.

XO is crowded, even for a Friday night. I have to squeeze my way through the throng of people, using my size to my advantage, and shouldering my way through until I reach the bar.

It takes Rhys a moment to notice me since he’s so busy, but when he does, it’s absolutely worth it. Shock colors his face, almost nervousness as his eyes dart around the bar to see if any of his coworkers have noticed me yet. When he’s satisfied I haven’t been seen, irritation replaces his surprise.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he hisses, leaning over the bar so only I can hear him.

I shrug casually with a smirk, walking my fingers up the bar top. “Ordering a drink.”

“Be serious, you little shit,” he growls and yanks his wrist away before I can reach it. “This is my place of work. If you’re trying to fuck around?—”

“Seriously.” I raise my hands in the air. “I’m just here for a drink.”

But that’s an utter lie. I know for a fact that just being around him is going to get him all wound up, sticky with irritation, and frayed by nerves. Just my presence is going to be enough to fuck with him, and I’m going to relish that. So, I’ll sit here for a few hours, have a couple of drinks, and leave him wondering what my grand plan was all along.

I think it’s a perfect way to spend a Friday night.

“I don’t believe you,” he says, eyes narrowed. “You’re acting like a child.”

“And who started that?” I cock my head. “If you can’t handle being around me because it’s distracting, just admit it.”

He bites down hard on his bottom lip, indecision in his eyes. Finally, and reluctantly, he nods. “Fine, but don’t screw around. Remember, I work here.”

“Duly noted,” I say with a shit-eating grin.

He walks away without asking me what I want. And he said I was acting childish. I wait a few minutes until Skylar notices me. His hair is green this week and sticking out at all angles as if he’s been messing with it all night. He bounces toward me with a giddy smile on his lips.

“Ah, the younger Hill,” he greets with a little bow. “So wonderful to have you here. Want it Bareback again?”

“Please and thank you,” I say, handing him my card. While he starts the drinks, I decide to be nosy and poke around a bit. “So, Skylar, how’s it like working with Rhys?”

He chuckles as he starts mixing my drink. “Oh, so you want to play that game?”

“What game?”

“Look, I’m cute but not dumb,” he deadpans, rolling his eyes. “I suspected there was something going on between you and Rhys, but that last encounter just proved it. There’s some serious tension you two have to fuck out of your systems, and while I’d love to contribute to you two getting it on, Cass made me promise to stay out of it.”

I blink at him repeatedly because, damn, I didn’t expect that. No point in playing it coy now. “Okay, you got me. Sure you can’t tell me anything?”

Nibbling on his bottom lip, he pours my cocktail. He glances behind him at the stage, almost as if he’s afraid his friend will hear us, before turning back to me with a mischievous smile. “Okay, okay. So, you know, Rhys isn’t usually super grumpy.”

“But?”

“But he’s been in a mood for, like, two weeks now, and I can’t help but think that a certain blond himbo dreamboat has something to do with it.”

I smile triumphantly at that. So I really am getting under his skin. The confirmation is good to know. “Awesome. Thank you.”

He hands me my drink. That monstrosity that I had last time actually isn’t that bad. When I go to take it, he wraps his hand around my wrist and drags me forward. “What?—”

“I like Rhys,” he states plainly, his dual-colored eyes narrowed dangerously. “Like, a lot. He’s pretty amazing once you get to know him, even though he’s shit at letting people in. If whatever you two are doing doesn’t end in mutually incredible orgasms and a bi-awakening, I’m going to go postal.”

Incredible orgasms and a bi what?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say innocently, even though the warning does make my skin heat up a bit and my cock take interest. “Rhys and I are just getting to know each other again.”

“Sure,” he says with another roll of his eyes. He lets me go and blows me a kiss. “I gotta go now, but just think about what I said.”

He bounces away with the same ethereal quality he arrived with, and I’m left trying my hardest to actively not think about what he said. I sigh, sipping on my Bareback as I lean against the bar top. I don’t care about the consequences of fucking with Rhys. At first, I just wanted things to be okay with us. I thought he was the guy I knew when I was younger, but it turns out, he’s such an asshole. What I did to him was terrible, but it’s been years. I thought he’d at least give me a chance to earn his forgiveness, but he’s stuck living in his bitterness.

And we all know anger doesn’t taste as sweet on your own tongue.

I could just raise the white flag. Do exactly what I should and let him live his life without my interference, but fucking with him makes me feel…something other than the typical overwhelming panic and dissatisfaction that I normally do. When he watched me fuck myself, I felt so seen. When he kept his eyes on me while I was in the pool, I felt powerful. When he looked so completely terrified just a few moments ago, I felt in control.

And I’m not stopping for anything.

I hang around the bar as planned, happy when Rhys messes up not one but two drink orders. Skylar keeps bugging him about me, asking if he’s going to check up on me, or hinting that the storage closet in the back room is up for grabs. Finally, when he can’t take it anymore, Rhys barks out that he’s going for a smoke and disappears into the crowd.

I figure this is my perfect chance to strike.

Skylar gives me a thumbs up as I move away from the bar and toward the back door of the club where I know Rhys went. I exit the club, hit with a cloud of humidity that’s cool in comparison to how hot it was inside. I find Rhys leaning against the brick wall, head hung low, cigarette perched on his lips, angrily texting away on his phone.

I stroll toward him, hands in my pockets. “You good, Rhys?”

His head snaps up in my direction, nothing but pure, unadulterated hate in his brown eyes. Not just that, but frustration too. Like he’s ready to snap. “What do you want?”

“Like I said. Just checking up on you.”

“Bullshit. What do you want, Everest?”

“You seem tense,” I tease, inching closer, internally cheering when he stiffens. “Is everything okay?”

He grits his teeth as he looks at me. I may or may not have worn my favorite shirt today, something tight that hugs all my muscles, wondering if he would react to it the way Knox and other guys usually do. Apparently, it’s having the same effect on him because he averts his gaze a second later.

“You know it’s not.” He takes another angry drag. “Fuck off before I do something you’ll regret.”

“Say it,” I urge, stepping right in front of him, close enough that I can smell the nicotine on his breath and his mint aftershave. “Unless you’re too scared?—”

I’m cut off when I’m violently pushed against the wall. His cigarette drops to the ground as one of his hands wraps around my throat while the other puts a bruising grip on my hip. As he presses his forehead against mine, his nostrils flare, a snarl on his lips. He bends his head low, low enough that our lips are just a hairsbreadth apart. The air is charged with the kind of electric tension before an explosion as he simply rolls his forehead against mine, cursing under his breath.

“Fuck you, Everest,” he whispers, and it sounds almost broken, like a man on the verge.

I decide to press just a bit more. Just for fun. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and tug him down even farther, hitching one leg around his hip. “Don’t you want to?”

Because admitting that he wants me like that would be the ultimate downfall. To want someone he hates. To be unable to resist. It would crush his pride and his ego, wouldn’t it? That’s all this is meant for. Payback. Payback for every despicable thing he’s said to me, for every time he didn’t give me a second chance at redemption, for every moment he’s spent resenting my presence.

And I can’t wait for how sweet revenge will taste.

“Turn around,” he demands, already moving his hands to my hip to spin me.

He forces my face against the brick wall, and I wince at the dig against my skin. My breaths come out short and choppy, choking back a moan as he drapes the entire length of his body behind mine. I’m taller and bigger than him, but he consumes all the space. It’s like he’s towering over me, making me feel so deliciously vulnerable, yet so powerful.

I gasp when one hand roughly shoves its way down my pants and into my underwear. “Is this what you’re offering? You going to let me have at this ass, Everest?”

My eyes roll to the back of my head as one finger finds its way up and down my crease, pressing insistently against my rim. Even without any lube or spit, the feeling is intoxicating, my hole clenching and unclenching as it greedily tries to suck him in.

I let my head fall back. This might be going a touch too far. I was never going to let him actually fuck me, but he doesn’t need to know that. “Depends. Do you think you know what you’re doing?”

“You’re a real piece of shit,” he says, laughing humorlessly as he continues to play with my rim. “You really think that a tight little shirt is going to make me cave? You think this ass is enough to make me break? Are you that self-absorbed to think that everyone wants you?”

My breath hitches, but I try not to let it show how that stings because that’s not true. I don’t think that, not at all. My mind is getting mixed signals now as one blunt tip slides into me, the burn so perfect, but I can’t enjoy it before Rhys continues.

“You disgust me, Everest,” he spits, moving one hand from my hip to wrap around my throat. “Everything about you is the absolute worst. I said it before, and I’ll say it again. Self-centered, arrogant, and narcissistic. Just a little boy trying to get everyone’s attention because he’s too unsatisfied with himself to not need some sort of validation. Because that’s what you are, right? You’re the one who’s scared.”

Once again, I’m struck. This isn’t how this was supposed to go. I was just supposed to fuck with him a little, get him back for all the shit he’s said to me, but he’s gone too far. He’s… No, he can’t be right. I’m not any of those things. But when he says it with such conviction, it’s hard not to believe.

“Shit, are you crying now?” Giving my cheek a light slap, he laughs, so cruel it’s unbearable as he snakes his hand out of my pants. “You’re so pretty when you cry. Is it because you know I’m right?”

I don’t say anything but instead turn my head away from him, shrinking into myself as all my insecurities come out into the light of the dim alley. The fact that I’m not good enough, smart enough, loyal enough.

He laughs one more time. This one deep and serious. Ominous. Leaning in close so I can feel his breath against my cheek, his nose drags up the side of my face. “I told you. I always win.”

And as he walks away, leaving me utterly broken and terrified of myself, I realize he might be right.