ACHE

by M. Never

  Everly clears her throat. “I’ll let you two talk.” She steps backward away from us. Mr. Turner looks at her over his shoulder, as if just realizing she was standing there.

  “Are you feeling all right, Miss Paige? You don’t look well.” He sounds genuinely concerned.

  “No, Mr. Turner,” her voice squeaks. “I’m not feeling that well.”

  “Go home then, young lady. Get yourself well. Can’t have one of our rising stars all run down.” He winks at her.

  “I’ll do that.” Everly smiles weakly, glancing at me. Our swift eye contact feels like a puncture wound. Something is so fucking wrong. I can feel it in my bones.

  I’m locked in a steel box. Trapped. I can’t demand her to stay, and I can’t avoid the man standing in front of me. Too much is at stake. Too many careers on the line. Too many emotions blowing in the wind.

  Everly disappears, and my heart crumples like a piece of paper. A wicked fear grabbing hold.

  In the short time we’ve been together, she has come to mean so much more to me than I could have ever imagined. Her absence has me longing for her, and she’s only been gone several seconds. Without her by my side, a piece of me is missing. I handed over part of myself, and I didn’t even realize it. And she took it with no hesitation.

  The question now is what is going to happen to that piece of me?

  What is going on with Everly, and how can I protect her from whatever it is?

  18

  Tage

  I wander the city aimlessly. Thoughts of Everly consuming my mind. Last night. Every heavenly second of it I relive over and over. And every hellish moment of this morning, as well. A tumultuous uncertainty is storming inside me. She regrets it. She regrets being with me because another man has moved into her heart. A heart that is supposed to belong solely to me. A heart that has always been mine. Even when I destroyed it. The wrong thing for the right reasons has never sucked so much.

  There is no other option for us now, though. I won’t let her go again, so whatever she’s feeling for Alec Prescott is going to evaporate. I’m going to make her forget him. I’m going to make it like he never existed.

  Everly belongs to me, and no one is going to come between us again.

  No one is going to fuck it up again. Especially me.

  I sit on a park bench with the warm June air rippling the waves of my overgrown hair. I’m on my fifth cup of coffee and jittery as hell. It has nothing to do with the caffeine, though. I just want to be with Everly. I want to be standing beside her, inhaling her sweet scent and running my hands along her curves. I want her smiling at me the way she once did. Kissing me passionately, sighing contently. Her sounds always get me. Make me crumble. Make me hard, make me wanton, make me happy.

  She is the only thing that has ever made me truly happy.

  My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I check the message. Work. Always work. It’s my addiction and my downfall. I can never say no because I live for the high. For the danger. For the unknown.

  The message from the private caller reads:

  A friendly face has made an appearance in New York. Thought you should know just in case you wanted to say hi.

  I scroll though the several surveillance pictures that accompany the text, and the spike in my blood pressure almost makes my head explode.

  I jump up off the bench, sending my coffee flying as I rush to the closest street. I hail a cab in record time as I track Everly down. She doesn’t know it, but I’m tapped into the GPS on her phone so I know where she is at all times.

  A quick ride through midtown and I am jumping out the taxi door right in front of her apartment building. I refrained from stalking her all day, for sanity's sake, but it’s after five, so it’s no surprise she’s home.

  I race up the three flights of stairs and almost barrel through her front door, but I stop myself at the last second. We are navigating on delicate waters right now, and the last thing I want to do is upset her more. We have a lot to talk about. A lot, way more than just what transpired last night.

  “Ever!” I bang on the door impatiently. “Ever, it’s me. We need to talk.” I continue to pound. I won’t stop until she answers. Moments later, the hinges squeak as the door swings open.

  “Tage, this isn’t a good time.” Her words vaporize as I look beyond where she’s standing and see Alec sitting on the couch.

  My protective instincts kick into overdrive. Shoving Everly out of the way, I go after Alec like a raging bull. Pulling a Glock from the back holster of my waistband, I pounce on top of him, shoving the barrel of the gun into his mouth.

  “Tell me who the fuck you are,” I snarl as I squeeze the trigger and his cheeks. “What the fuck do you want with Everly, and how do you know Vicki?”

  Alec just shakes his head, muffled sounds spilling out of his mouth as Everly screams at me. It’s all a bit chaotic in the room, but the force is necessary.

  Anger, rage, vigilance, and possessiveness flare inside me as I push the barrel farther down this motherfucker’s throat. He gags, and I find immense satisfaction from the reaction.

  “TAGE!” Everly’s shrill voice cuts through my hysteria. “Get the fuck off him!” She pulls at my arm. “Please!” Her earnest tone reins me in.

  With ragged breaths, I withdraw the gun, but I don’t move off Alec. I want answers, and I want them right fucking now.

  He pants, catching his breath, then a shitstorm rages in his eyes. “Asshole.” He shoots off the couch, sending us both to the floor. We grapple, a punch thrown here and there. He lands a good one on my cheek. I retaliate by splitting his lip wide open.

  “Stop!” Everly shrieks, and then the gun goes off. I’m on my feet in a split second, corralling her against the wall.

  “Are you fucking crazy?” I slip the gun out of her hand before she kills someone.

  “No, I’m fucking pissed,” she snaps.

  “Not an excuse to fire a weapon.”

  “You were about to blow my boyfriend’s fucking head off.” I wince at the word boyfriend.

  “Only out of necessity.” I re-holster the gun and glance back at Alec to make sure he isn’t getting any funny ideas. We don’t need any more vigilante moves.

  Pulling my cell phone out of my back pocket, I hit one button to dial the private number that so generously sent me the surveillance pics.

  “Tage?”

  “Simon. I need you to run some interference. Use my GPS location. Intercept any responses to shots fired at this location.” I glare into Everly’s eyes. “It was an accidental discharge.”

  “Done.” I hear Simon typing away faster than lightning on the other end.

  “Stay out of trouble and keep your gun in your pants.” Click.

  “Who the fuck is Simon? Why do you have a gun? Actually, why don’t you just start with who the fuck you are,” Alec erupts.

  “I should be the one interrogating you,” I bark.

  “Stop!” Everly explodes. “Just stop. Both of you. We all just need to get on the same page.”

  “Well, I would love to know what fucking page that is.” Alec agitatedly wipes some blood from his lip. His tan, pretty-boy suit is all messed up and splattered with red stains. My ego inflates from his disheveled appearance. Take that, pretty boy.

  “Maybe if we can talk like civilized adults and not act like hormonal teenagers” — she is clearly directing that statement at me — “we can avoid any more bloodshed.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” I almost want to pout.

  Ever rolls her eyes. I really am just an adolescent teen in a man’s body, and I’m secure enough to admit it. My impulsiveness is part of the reason I’m still alive.

  My motto? Always be one step ahead — and have bigger gonads than Godzilla.

  “You can’t come barging into my life whenever the fuck you feel like it, Tage,” Everly downright scolds me. “I have a life, and a person I care about. You need to accept that.” Something in her statement sounds so final. Is she choo
sing him over me?

  Gritting my teeth, I focus on the issue at hand. I didn’t barge into her apartment because she was with another man, although after last night, I sure as fuck would. I’m not letting her go so easily.

  “You can’t trust him,” I announce loudly enough so the whole room can hear.

  “Like hell,” Alec growls, taking a step toward me.

  “Explain.” Everly jumps between us with her arms out. She was always a spirited one.

  Sighing, I press a few buttons on my phone and show her the evidence. These images could potentially crush her. Hurting her is the last thing I want, but I’ll be here to pick up all her broken pieces. She won’t deal with this alone. She won’t be alone, ever again. I hold up the screen and show her the pictures. Several of an older woman and a man conversing on the street and getting in and out of the same car.

  “Is that—” She squints. She isn’t wearing her glasses.

  “Alec, yes,” I bite.

  “No.” She grabs the phone from me. “My . . . mom?”

  “Your mom?” Alec spies over her shoulder to get a look of his own.

  “It is,” I confirm. Everly stares at the picture heavily for several long seconds.

  “She looks so different.” She frowns.

  “You mean she looks clean?”

  Everly nods sadly.

  “Looks can be deceiving,” I warn her.

  “This is the woman you were telling me about?” Everly glances back at Alec.

  “What?” I stiffen.

  “That’s her,” Alec confirms.

  “What am I missing here?” I ask them both.

  “Well” — Everly hands me back my phone — “before you busted in here like Rambo, Alec was telling me that he was approached by a woman who was threatening me. And him.”

  “She threatened her?” I snarl.

  “She said Everly has something she wants. She tried to blackmail me, but it didn’t work, so she resorted to threats. I’m concerned for Everly’s safety. She didn’t look well at work. I knew something was up. I confronted her.”

  Definitely not the explanation I was expecting. Or hoping for. The ideal situation would be Alec was working with Everly’s mother, which would give me the perfect excuse to kill him. But no such luck.

  “What is she after?” I press.

  “No idea. She wouldn't tell me. She just wanted me to deliver Everly when and where she texted.”

  “Well, that shit isn’t going to happen,” I grunt.

  “I think I might know what she wants.” Everly wrings her hands together, pacing her apartment.

  “Which is?” Both Alec and I are completely enthralled.

  “A key, maybe?”

  “A key to what?” I ask.

  “I don't know.” Her green eyes jump frantically between me and Alec. She’s hesitant to talk, and it’s for a host of reasons. “I have to tell him,” Everly beseeches me.

  “Ever—” I shake my head sternly.

  “Tell me what?”

  Everly and I just stare each other down. She’s chewing the shit out of her lip, fraying at the seams. The past is burying us faster than an avalanche, and she is the only one who can make the decision to let the truth save us or destroy us.

  “If we tell him, he becomes a part of it. No turning back,” I warn her.

  “He’s already a part of it.” She makes a good point.

  Dejection reflects in her eyes as she continually glances between me and Alec. She’s deliberating. She cares about him. I can see it, and it kills me.

  “We have to.” Her voice strains.

  “Tell me what?” Alec demands. He’s in the dark, and he doesn’t like it one bit.

  I can’t blame him. It’s a shitty place to be. Unfortunately, sometimes, the dark is the safest option.

  “My name isn’t Everly Paige.” Everly shuffles towards Alec. “Well, my birth name anyway.” Alec stands still as a statue as Everly speaks. As do I. “My real name is Destiny Star Reynolds. My mom was, is, a drug addict, and she got wrapped up with some really bad people when I was young. She had married this guy who was a huge drug dealer in Chicago. He sort of became obsessed with me when I turned thirteen. He locked me away in my room and kept me like a prisoner.” She clears her throat. That time was so hard for her. The isolation, the loneliness. I can remember it like it was yesterday. Picturing her standing in that window, a sad image of a girl longing for something, for someone, to save her. For some reason, the idea popped into my head that that someone could be me. Climbing into her window was the best choice and the biggest mistake of my life.

  “Did —” Alec clears his throat uncomfortably. “Did he hurt you?”

  I know what he’s getting at. I thought the same thing at first. Why else do you keep a young girl locked up from the world?

  “No. Never. He never touched me. It wasn’t like that. I was more like a doll. It was weird, no doubt, but he never abused me.”

  Alec visibly sighs. Yes, it is a comfort knowing he never hurt her. I would have killed Gunner right there on the spot if he had. It would have fucked my whole career up, but it would have been totally worth it.

  “So, how exactly do you two know each other?” Alec points between the two of us. Ah, the burning question.

  “I took her virginity.” I slide my arm around Ever.

  “Tage.”

  Alec scowls, and my life is complete.

  Everly pushes me off her. “Our past is complicated.”

  “It’s going to become less complicated because we are getting back together.” I slip my arm protectively around Everly once again.

  “What?” Alec visually slices Everly open with a look shaper than a straight blade. Scary.

  “Um, no, we are not.” And she pushes me away once again.

  “Then what was last night about?”

  “Last night?” Alec repeats, his facial expression hardening.

  “Tage,” Everly growls at me. It’s adorable.

  “Yeah, we had sex.” I look pointedly at Alec. “It was incredible.” I twist the knife even deeper. Asshole. I know.

  “Tage,” Everly explodes.

  Okay, maybe I’m being a little too loose-lipped. It’s really not nice to kiss and tell.

  The look on Alec’s face is priceless, though. I wish I could take a picture. He is trying so hard to keep it together, but the angry shade of red his skin is turning completely gives him away. Need a better poker face, buddy.

  I shouldn’t be enjoying this so much, but I am. You’re going to be out of Everly’s life in three-point-two seconds, and I’ll make sure she never thinks about you again.

  “Alec, I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you. It was an accident. A mistake.”

  Mistake?

  “I don’t know how you accidentally fall into bed with someone, Everly.”

  Ooooh, his tone is ice cold. It even makes me shiver.

  “Alec, please. I’m sorry. Can we just talk about this? About everything?” Everly is nearly on her knees begging this jerkoff to hear her out. To forgive her.

  “Ever.” I tug on her arm. “Let him go. You don't need him.” You have me.

  Everly lashes out at me, shoving me away. “Yes, I do. I do need him. You don't get to decide for me, Tage. You don’t get to just waltz right back into my life and expect me to drop everyone that I love. Last night was a mistake. It should have never happened.” The words are painful. Painful for me to hear and painful for her to say, because I know they’re not entirely true. I know Everly Paige better than anyone, and last night meant as much to her as it did to me, but Alec has staked a claim on a bigger piece of her heart than I anticipated.

  “I think I need some air.” Alec brushes by us with a ghostly expression on his face. The dude is clearly fucked up, and not in the good way.

  “Alec, please don’t go. Please, let's talk about this.” She catches his hand at the last second, but he instantly pulls away. She’s crushed.

  She’ll get
over it. Over him. Eventually.

  Alec slams the door behind him, and all that’s left is us. Exactly the way it should be. The way it should have always been.

  “Hey.” I take her arms and turn her to face me. There are heavy tears running down her cheeks. “It’ll be okay. I’m here.”

  She peers up at me with a dark expression. It’s quite frankly a little disturbing.

  Then, silently as a sniper, she slaps me right across the face.

  19

  Alec

  Outside on the street, I suck on my vape pen like it’s a damn oxygen stick.

  My mind is fucking reeling. This day, I have no words to describe it. I woke up on top of the world, and right now I’m buried beneath it.

  Everything is bruised — my heart, my lip, my ego.

  The first time in forever I take a chance on someone, and it blows up in my face.

  “Rough day, huh?” Tage suddenly nudges me. I glance over at him to find a surprise. A fading red hand print graffitied across his cheek.

  “You could say that.” I begin to walk away. The last person I want to be around is him.

  To my utter dismay, he follows.

  “Get lost,” I spit.

  “We should talk.”

  “I think you’ve done enough talking.”

  “Not even a little bit.” He latches onto my bicep and directs me into a dark pub on the street corner. “Drinks will help.”

  “Nothing will fucking help.” I inhale one more puff of my vape.

  “Alcohol always helps. It’s the cure-all. Especially when you drink so much of it you forget you even exist.”

  “I wouldn’t mind forgetting you exist.”

  Tage just grunts, but he doesn't seem bothered by my snarky comment at all.

  The bar is a dump. Dusty, ancient furnishings and a bartender older than the day.

  “Two shot glasses and a bottle of Jack.” Tage slaps the bar top.