17. Everest

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Everest

“You wanna fuck?”

I snort, shaking my head as Knox walks out of the bathroom naked as the day he was born. While the offer is certainly tempting, and the last time we had sex was weeks ago, before I moved into the penthouse, I’m not really in the mood. I haven’t been into him lately, not for his lack of trying. It’s not that he’s been pushy—he’s just been normal sexually frustrated Knox—and he’s always been chill when I’ve said no.

These days, there’s just something holding me back from fucking him or letting him fuck me. It’s not that I don’t find him attractive, but it’s like the thought of having sex with him feels wrong for some reason. Either way, our friendship is built on more than sex, so I have no worries about how it’ll affect us.

“Not really in the mood,” I tell him honestly. And just like I thought he would react, he simply shrugs and snags a pair of boxers from his drawer. “You might have to find yourself a new fuck buddy with the way I’m going.”

It’s meant to be a joke—well, not really, I guess—but Knox doesn’t take it that way. His eyes widen and his jaw drops. “Holy shit. You’re seeing someone and you haven’t told me?”

“Wait, what? No, I’m not seeing anyone,” I say, giving him a weird look as he sits next to me on his bed. “I just haven’t been in the mood recently and you deserve a proper fuck buddy.”

The tension in his shoulders eases, and he lets out a chuckle. “Oh, right.”

“You’re so weird,” I tease, slapping his still-damp back as he gives me the finger. “What do you want to do tonight?”

Scooting closer to me, he rests his wet hair on my shoulder as he hums. “Chinese takeout and Grave Encounters ?”

“We’ve seen that movie three times already since I’ve been staying here,” I snort.

“So, it’s a classic.” He winks at me. After a moment, he drops his forehead on my chest and sighs. “Look, it’s not that it’s not great having you here, but when are you planning to go back to the penthouse?”

I stiffen at that. It’s been a week since I told Rhys off and left the penthouse, having brought enough clothes over to Knox’s to not need to go back. I know running away makes me cowardly and childish, but it’s better than the alternative of always being at each other’s throats. While fucking with him has been fun, the consequences haven’t been. For my own sanity and mental health, I don’t think I can take being around someone with that much hatred toward me.

“I don’t think going back any time soon is a good idea,” I say honestly. “Can’t I stay forever?”

“Uh-huh. Stay forever. And what are you going to do when Elton comes home and finds you mysteriously absent?”

“About Elton…”

He raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“I may or may not be dodging his calls.” When Knox gives me a look and rolls out of bed, I throw my hands in the air. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Talking to your brother is a start,” he deadpans, shaking his head at me as he stands at the edge of his bed with his hands on his hips. “Don’t you want to be closer to Elton?”

Gulping through a swallow, I fiddle with the hem of my shirt as I drop my head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You never do,” he sighs. I can practically tell he’s pinching the bridge of his nose and asking all the gods for patience. That’s why we make such good friends. He’s the only one who puts up with me.

Someone who always seems to be too much and not enough at the same time. Someone who doesn’t really know what they want. Someone selfish who can’t even let their own brother in. But my reasons are my reasons and Knox respects that.

Or at least I think he does.

He kneels in front of me, hands braced on my thighs as he squeezes. “We don’t have to talk about it now, but you have to talk about it eventually. Nothing is going to get better unless you do.” He hangs his head for a second. “Actually, now that we’re on the subject of things getting better. I have something I need to tell you.”

I cock my head. “Yeah, anything, man.”

He gulps, Adam’s apple bobbing. “Okay. I— For fuck’s sake!”

He’s cut off by his phone and, with the nature of his job, he has to answer. Getting up angrily, he runs a frustrated hand through his wet hair as he turns his back on me and accepts the call. After a few frustrated words back and forth, and a defeated sigh, he hangs up and turns to face me.

“Work?” I ask, knowing our plan of a chill night in is done.

“Got to sell some stuff tonight,” he tells me, already starting to get dressed as he picks up discarded black jeans from the floor. “You wanna come with?”

“Sure,” I shrug. Normally, all of Knox’s nights out are pretty straightforward. He’s never put in any truly sketchy situations, his clients closer to prep schoolers and DJs than anything else. We once even went to someone’s mansion and spent the night relaxing in their hot tub. “Where to?”

But I know this time is going to be different when he gives me one of those trademark Knox smirks. The one filled with mischief and the urge to wreak some havoc.

“XO.”

There’s a long line to get into XO. It wraps around the corner, nearly blocking the entrances to the other clubs around it. I know this place is popular, but the hour-long wait just to get to the front door is a little ridiculous. It would have been shorter if the bouncer—a huge fucking dude who looks scary as hell—wasn’t denying almost every other person entry for one reason or another.

When we finally make it to the door, he looks at Knox first. It only takes him one second to say a simple, “No.”

“Oh, come on. I’ve been in here before,” Knox argues, that charming smile I’ve seen him manipulate with firmly planted on his lips. When the guy doesn’t budge, he sighs. “Fine. How much more to get in?”

He waves way more than enough bills to get both him and I in, but the bouncer doesn’t budge. “Do you think you’re the first person to try to bribe me tonight? I said no.”

“I’m saying to rethink that,” Knox presses, and I know he’s only being insistent because this is for work, not pleasure, and I don’t want to know what his supplier would say if he didn’t make his sales quota.

“Is there, like, a secret code or something?” I joke, trying to ease the tension between the two. “I know a good series of secret knocks. I could try one out?”

The man’s unamused eyes snap to me, and they flare with recognition. “Wait, you’re Elton’s brother, aren’t you?”

I sigh. Like I haven’t heard that one before, but if it’s going to make the big man nicer, I’ll deal with it. “Yeah. Everest.”

“And you’re Rhys’s friend too?”

While we’re considerably not friends, I won’t point that out. “Totally.”

“I’m Butch,” he says, outstretching a hand to meet mine. “Didn’t get to say that the first time you came around. Next time, just skip the line and come see me up front, yeah?”

“Okay, yeah,” I stutter with a nod. He gestures for us to walk in, but not before throwing one last distasteful glare at Knox.

“Fuck yeah,” Knox says, clapping me on the shoulder and smacking a kiss on my cheek. “Good shit. You good to hang out here while I get some business done?”

I nod. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“See you in a bit,” he says with a wink, disappearing into the crowd.

Without anybody with me, I feel a bit awkward. I would go get some liquid courage, but I think that would just lead to another confrontation with Rhys, something I really don’t want. So, instead, I stand in the corner and wait for Knox. I let the music in the background—“Benz I Know” by Kelvyn Colt—consume me and sway to the beat. After ten minutes, I get bored and decide to just fuck it. I spot Britt at the end of the bar and Rhys all the way at the other end. Making my way there, I wait about ten more minutes until I’m in front of Britt.

She does a double take when she sees me, glancing toward the other end of the bar before turning back to me. “Everest, right?”

“Yeah,” I say with an uncomfortable chuckle, scratching the back of my neck. “Can I get a Bareback?”

She snorts. “That sounds like something Skylar would make. Anything normal?”

“Vodka Sprite, then,” I tell her.

“Sure thing,” she says, starting on the drink. “So, does Rhys know you’re here?”

I choke on nothing but saliva at her blunt question. My face heats up as I shake my head. “Why would he have to know?”

“Right,” she says, giving me a pointed look. She hands me the drink and gestures for my card. “Closed or open?”

“Closed, please.” Reaching into my back pocket, I fish my card out of my wallet. I try to ignore what she’s insinuating, but I can’t. “Um, so, Rhys?”

“Skylar has a big imagination and an even bigger mouth,” she yells over her shoulder as she cashes me out. “He’s convinced there’s something going on between the two of you. I told him to stay out of it, but he’s already making fan art.”

“There’s nothing going on between us,” I state, scoffing. “Why can’t everyone just mind their own business?”

“Because Rhys has been an absolute fucking terror lately and we’re the ones who have to deal with him,” she counters. She goes to hand me the card, but as soon as I reach for it, she snatches it away. “Wanna be a doll and fix that for us?”

“If he’s pissy, that’s his own shit to deal with,” I growl, snatching my card away. I realize I’m getting angry at the wrong person, and I suddenly wish I had told Knox to come here on his own tonight. “We’re just?—”

“Is that for me?”

Knox appears beside me, a light sheen of sweat on his face, his piercings glittering under the club lights. He takes the drink I ordered and downs it in one go. Wrapping an arm around my waist, he presses his lips against my ear. “Let’s dance, babe!”

My attention is still on Britt as she raises one sculpted eyebrow and slowly nods to herself. “Right. Well, this’ll sure be fun.”

I go to ask her what she means by that, but I’m already being dragged away to the dance floor by Knox. He tries to get me to dance with him, but I’m stiff as a board, unable to get my mind off what Britt meant.

“You’re being a buzzkill!” he screams in my ear, trying to get me to move my hips. “Just have some fun!”

I go to tell him I want to go back to his place, knowing that he’ll agree, until something catches my attention.

Or someone .

Rhys stands behind the bar, hands poised over a cocktail shaker, but he’s frozen. I can see every nerve in his body trembling, the muscles in his arms strung taut with tension. When my eyes flick up to his face, his jaw is set in a tight clench, eyes narrowed dangerously, but not at me.

No, he’s staring directly at Knox.

I’m trying to put the pieces together, trying to understand what’s happening, but it’s hard when Rhys’s piercing stare follows every path Knox’s hands are taking over me. Then his gaze finds mine, and everything else fades away. I can barely tell when Knox starts slipping my shirt over my head, my bare chest meeting his bare skin where he apparently took his shirt off too. His hips grind sensually against mine, his cock already hard and aching for me. I know he’s all strung up, sexually frustrated, and hoping that tonight will be his night to get lucky again.

And maybe it would be if not for the intensity in Rhys’s eyes being enough to take my breath away.

“There you go! Now you’re getting into it!”

Knox’s voice is barely a muffled call, like I’m underwater and can only kind of make out his words. It’s almost as if I can hear the deep, uneven breaths Rhys is letting out on the other side of the club, almost as if I can feel the way rage thrums through him.

But then Knox’s hands start to wander like they’ve done before, innocently enough to my ass, until his lips lightly brush against mine.

And then all hell breaks loose.