Home (Finding My Home Book 1)

by Nikita Parmenter

  “Come in, Ever” she yells.

  I push open the door and spot her in her dress, doing a smoky eyed look, no idea how she does that and to be honest I’d probably end up poking myself in the eye if I tried.

  “You look hot” I say to Rylie.

  “Thanks girl, you’re looking great too” she says finishing her makeup. “How do you want to do your hair?”

  “I’m just going to wear it down. I always wear it up so that’ll be enough for me” I chuckle as I take the hairband out of my hair and shake out my waist length dark hair, it falls in waves around me. I glance in the mirror over Rylie’s shoulder, it’s a bit curlier than usual since I wacked it up in a bun when it was wet, but it looks good. My outfit looks amazing, but I feel like it’s missing something.

  “What’s that look for?” Rylie asks straightening her hair and glancing at me in the mirror.

  “I feel like it’s missing something” I state.

  Rylie scans me from head to toe before she grins and reaches into a drawer beside her.

  “Here” she smiles as she chucks me a red lipstick that matches the shade of my top. She stands up straightening her outfit one last time in the mirror and then moves to the side so I can apply the lipstick.

  “That’s better” I grin in thanks as I pull my boots on. “How're we getting there?”

  “Oh, I have a car, I just prefer to use my bike but now it’s getting colder I’ll start to use it more.” She explains as we make our way through the house and out to her car.

  “Let’s go party” I grin.

  “Fuck yes!”

  We have to park down the street from where the party is being held because there are so many people already here. I text the guys to let them know that we’re on the way up to the house and we start picking our way through the crowds and up the long driveway.

  “It’s busier than I thought it would be. Won’t the cops get called?” I ask Rylie.

  “Nope, perks of a small town. This is Adam’s house, his parents pretty much own the town, so everyone turns a blind eye when Adam throws these parties” she shrugs.

  “Ah rich privilege, some things are the same everywhere.”

  “You got that right girl.”

  Just before we get to the door of the giant mansion where the party is being held, someone runs their hand over my ass. I spin on my heel ready to rip into whatever fucker thought they could put their hands on me without my permission, but when I turn around there’s no one there. A scan of my surroundings shows that there’s a group of guys off to the side but none of them are paying me any attention, not leering at me like I’d normally expect one of them to do if they had just touched my ass.

  “Fucking hell Dragonfly” Riot growls and I spin forward again the weird encounter flying from my mind.

  I turn to find him, my eyes landing on his tall frame almost instantly. Dressed in dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt stretched tight across his broad chest, he has his black hair artfully mussed and his amber eyes are heated as they run up and down my figure. My mouth goes dry. Fuck he’s gorgeous. He takes a step towards me but before he can reach for me, I’m suddenly snatched up into a pair of strong arms, that seem to have come from nowhere. I’m about to go all ninja Ever on their asses before Jensen’s mischievous eyes, with just a hint of that darkness that I love peeking through, are laughing up at me. My legs automatically wrapped around his waist when the sneaky fucker picked me up, so he’s only a tiny bit shorter than me when he’s holding me like this.

  “You look biteable gorgeous” he growls as he buries his head in my neck and bites down. My hands immediately move from his shoulders and burrow into the soft blond strands at the back of his head tugging lightly.

  “My turn” Rafe growls low enough that no one but us can hear him.

  I’m tugged gently out of a reluctant Jensen’s arms. As soon as my feet touch the floor, I’m in Rafe’s arms as he bends down and buries his head in my neck too.

  “Missed you Ever” he growls.

  “Missed you too Big Guy” I reply softly, wrapping my arms around his toned waist.

  I end up being passed to each guy for similar greetings and when I step back, it’s to see Rylie grinning at me with her eyebrow raised. I walk over to her and thread my arm through hers.

  “Girl, I see what you mean, holy fuck! None of them seemed bothered whilst you were in one of the others arms though” she whispers quietly, seeing that I have no reply for that she continues louder. “Come on let’s go get a drink!”

  “Hell fucking yes” I grin as Jensen and Luc whoop from behind us.

  Weaving our way through the throngs of people and towards where I’m assuming the drinks are, is making me feel a bit claustrophobic but with the guys at my back it’s easy to push it down. Jensen, Cash and Luc all wander off to talk to various people before we get to the kitchen as Trick gets stopped by one of the other football players on the team. I’m glad they don’t feel like they have to stay with me the whole time.

  There’s a massive selection of alcohol available. Normally I’d have a whiskey and coke or better yet tequila but I’m super wary of opened bottles at parties, even ones where other people are having it too. We’ve all heard the horror stories of what could happen. It’s just not worth the risk. I grab a bottle of beer, popping the top off myself as the other guys do the same. I down mine quickly before grabbing another one.

  “Whoa, Ever what’s the rush?” Riot asks as Rafe just raises his eyebrow at me.

  “Beer tastes like shit, I want to get to the point where it starts not to, so I figured I’d drink them quickly. It’s already starting to not taste so bad” I shrug.

  “If you don’t like it why are you drinking it?” Riot chuckles.

  “She has a point” Rylie agrees with me, grimacing as she takes a swig of her own. “It is better if you drink it quickly. Erm, I’m going to go find Josh” she says casually, as if I’ll just let it go.

  “Josh?” I ask smirking.

  “I’m just feeling him out right now”she winks.

  “Ok but I want details later” I demand grinning.

  “Count on it, girl” she salutes me before turning round and wandering out of the kitchen.

  I turn back to Riot and answer his previous question, “I drink it because I don’t trust opened bottles at parties” I explain.

  “That’s smart” Riot agrees taking a swig of his own beer.

  “What would you drink if we were at home or something?” Rafe signs, a curious look on his handsome features.

  “Tequila” I say without hesitation, “I love tequila, but it makes me behave super silly when I get drunk on it. So I normally stick to whiskey and coke” I chuckle.

  “We have to get some tequila to take with us on the trip. I want to see Ever silly drunk” Riot grins at Rafe.

  “Fuck yes” he signs in reply.

  “On your heads be it guys, don’t say I didn’t warn you” I chuckle, starting on my third beer and feeling a pleasant warmth run through my system, not quite tipsy but on the way.

  “Oh, I am so looking forward to seeing this. Wait until I tell Jensen” Riot chuckles rubbing his hands together like a villain in a kid’s show.

  I raise my eyebrow at him incredulously before both me a Rafe burst out laughing.

  “You up for a game of beer pong?” Riot asks and Rafe nods in response, grinning wide.

  “I’m good, beer pong definitely isn’t my game. You guys go have fun though, I’m going to find Rylie and see if she needs a wing woman” I chuckle.

  “Aright Ever, I know you can take care of yourself but if you run into any problems yell for one of us okay?” Rafe signs.

  “You got it Big Guy” I smile before waving at them, making my way out of the kitchen and wandering through the rest of the house in search of Rylie.

  This place is fucking huge. Several people say hello to me, which shocks the shit out of me, but they must have taken the guys warning seriously as there are
no nasty comments either. Although several of Selena’s girls still give me decidedly hostile looks, I chose to ignore them for now. I feel another confrontation is in our future though.

  I finally make it into the massive lounge area that they’ve set up as a dance floor, dude even has a fucking DJ it’s nuts. As I scan the room looking for Rylie, my eyes land on something that sends white hot jealousy searing through me, quickly followed by pain lancing my heart so sharply it causes the breath to stutter in my chest. Not wanting to see anymore I spin on my heel and desperately try to find an exit in this fucking house.

  I need air.

  I don’t really have the right to feel like this just because I saw Selena kissing Trick. He’s not mine. Hell, I like five of his best friends it would be pretty fucking hypocritical of me to have a problem with one of them liking someone else. I’m not even sure if Trick likes me like that, although I thought he did.

  I finally push through the back door of the large house and stumble past the covered pool and small groups of people, trying to get as far away as I can.

  Fuck, this hurts like hell.

  I knew him and Selena had a thing before obviously, I mean that’s why she’s had such a fucking problem with me, but he said he only slept with her the once and then she went batshit. I may be pretty tipsy, having picked up another beer on my search for Rylie, but I know what I saw. Without permission my eyes start to water, I feel like an absolute idiot. He’s not mine, I shouldn’t feel like this, but I do.

  Before I know it, I’ve reached the woods at the edge of the large expanse of lawn that sits at the back of Adams house. Although I’m thoroughly ensconced in my emotional downward spiral, I still have enough common sense to realise that I probably shouldn’t be out here by myself, not with the stalker and my dad’s men still a threat. I turn to walk back to the party, taking a deep breath and trying to calm myself. I’m the queen of hiding my feelings usually. I’m confident that I can get through the rest of the night without anyone realising I’m hurting on the inside.

  I hope.

  Before I can take another step, someone pulls me backwards by the collar of my jacket, I immediately lean forward as my flight or fight response kicks in and use my forward momentum to help remove me from my jacket. Momentarily thankful that I hadn’t done it up when I came out here, too upset to remember despite the outside temperature. As soon as I’ve pulled my arms free, I start to sprint towards the party and more importantly the groups of people, yelling as loud as I can and cursing myself that I wandered so fucking far away in the first place, idiot move Ever.

  I should know better.

  “Ever Rose!” a distorted voice behind me yells, fuck.

  That damn nickname means that it’s the stalker that’s after me. I thought he’d given up after we mentioned the police in the woods but obviously, we were wrong. I can’t decide if it’s better or worse that it’s my stalker rather than one of my dad’s business associates.

  A large hand closes around my bicep, gripping painfully tightly. I yelp knowing I’m going to have a vicious bruise tomorrow and he yanks me back against him, hard as his other hand closes around my mouth. I instantly bite down on it, as I throw my elbow back into his stomach. His grip loosens enough that I manage to throw myself forward and break his grip completely but in doing so I end up on my hands and knees, fuck not good, this position makes me far more vulnerable.

  I scramble to get up quickly.

  “EVER!” a familiar voice yells, rapid footsteps racing towards me.

  I almost sag in relief as I spin around on the floor, planting my ass on the cold, damp, ground and trying to see once and for all the identity of the fucker who is stalking me.

  By the time I turn around though, all I can see is a dark hoody covered back racing back towards the woods. I can’t even tell the colour of his hair since he has the hood pulled up. Cash picks me up off of the floor and places me back on my feet.

  “Are you ok, Everleigh?” He asks, his voice frantic as he places his big palms against my cheeks.

  I slowly tip forward until my forehead rests against his chest, breathing heavily and he wraps me in his arms.

  “Sweetheart, what happened?” he asks gently, adopting Trick’s nickname for me.

  The use of it sends an illogical stab of hurt through my heart. Which is a ridiculous thing to even be thinking about right now, since I was almost fucking kidnapped.

  “Just give me a second” I whisper quietly to Cash, trying to get my pulse under control, fuck that was close.

  I feel Cash nod above me and appreciate that it was him that found me, he always was the most understanding when we were kids and would wait for answers rather than demand them. I take a deep breath and step back looking up at him. I quickly explain to him what happened with the guy and hope he doesn’t ask me why I was out here in the first place. I feel a bit ridiculous about it now but I am no less hurt by it.

  “He called me Everleigh Rose” I tell him at the end, “that’s what the fucking stalker called me in all the notes. So it has to be him and not one of my father’s men.”

  “Fucking hell, I thought he disappeared after we said we’d go to the cops in the woods” Cash growls as we walk closer to the party, we stop by the end of the pool still out of hearing distance of the other people, “that’s the final straw though Ever, tomorrow we go to the police and tell them about all of it. Did you get a good look at him?” he asks.

  “No, I had my back to him the entire time, trying to get away and when he spoke his voice was all distorted somehow. So, I wouldn’t even be able to recognise him from that” I tell him, “I’m not even sure what the police will be able to do” I say dejectedly.

  “Maybe nothing but it’s better that they know something is going on” he reasons. “Did you keep the notes he sent you before, I know we couldn’t get the mirror from the woods but the other ones?”

  “Yeah, ok that’s a good point. I guess it is better that they know. I think the notes are in my room at Trick’s house, I dumped everything out of my bag to pack it to come to yours” I tell him.

  “Ok that’s good, we can take those to the police tomorrow too” he looks at me curiously, “Ever why were you outside by yourself, I thought you were with Rafe, Riot and Rylie?”

  Fuck. There goes the hope that he wouldn’t ask me why I was out here alone.

  “I was but Rafe and Riot wanted to play beer pong, so I went to find Rylie, she’d gone to find some guy called Josh” I shrug.

  Please let it go.

  He scrutinises my face and then asks again. “So how come you were outside by yourself then?” he asks softly.

  I drop my chin, fuck.

  “Everleigh?” he asks, as he gently places a finger under my chin and raises my mortifyingly watery eyes to meet his.

  “I saw Trick and Selena kissing in the lounge, and I freaked out” I admit quietly. “It was stupid I know, and it shouldn’t even affect me like this. I know that, but it did, so I had to get away and get some air.”

  “Ever Sweetheart, it’s not stupid if that’s how you feel. I saw that too but you can’t have stuck around for very long because he immediately pushed her away from him and started yelling about how he never wants her anywhere near him again and he thought he had made that clear” he tells me and I glance at him hopefully, “he’s been in there for the last however long, searching for you. Wanting to tell you what really happened before one of Selena’s little minions can come and tell you a twisted version.”

  “Really?” I ask.

  “Of course Ever, Trick would hate for you to think that he would kiss her after what she’s done to you.”

  My heart sinks a little bit, I want him to not want to kiss her because he wants to be with me but that’s unfair of me to hope, so I push that thought down and lock it away.

  “He doesn’t want anything to do with Selena, he cares about you far too much. We all do” he adds firmly.

  “I feel like an idiot for crying
right now” I say chuckling darkly at myself.

  “Nah, nothing wrong with crying Ever. Come on lets go and find the guys they need to know what happened and Trick has probably roped them in to helping him try and find you, when he couldn’t find you instantly. They’ll be freaking out right now because they’ve been looking for you for a while and still haven’t found you” he chuckles at his friends expense, as he starts to walk off I put my hand on his arm to stop him.

  “Thank you for coming for me Cash, that could’ve gotten really nasty” I say as I wrap my arms around him tightly, he buries his head in my hair and then kisses the top of my head gently.

  “Always, Ever” he says firmly, “I’m always going to come for you, il mio cuore” Cash finishes in Italian and emotion once again clogs my throat, I have no idea what he called me the sentiment behind it was clear.

  “Come on before you have me crying again” I say jokingly, as I step out of his arms slightly raise up on my toes and kiss him gently once on the lips.

  He smiles at me then grabs my hand and pulls me the rest of the way towards the house and back inside the door that leads to the kitchen. Just as we arrive there’s a commotion by the door to the dance lounge as Trick sees me. He comes barrelling across the room, the other guys hot on his heels as he literally knocks people out of the way before they finally get the message and just step back out of his path, creating a clear path between him and me. They all stare at him incredulously as he rushes past, the whole of the kitchen has paused in whatever they were doing and are just watching this whole thing unfold. When he finally reaches me, he instantly wraps his arms around me and hoists me up off the floor.

  What is it with these guys and picking me up?

  Who am I kidding? I love it.

  My legs wrap around Trick’s waist as he buries his head in my neck, his breathing slightly laboured, no doubt from his mad dash through the unsuspecting kids in the kitchen. I move my hands from around his neck and run them gently through the wavy, dark blond strands on the back of his head, looking to the rest of the guys questioningly. Rather than help explain what’s happening they each just smile softly before creating a circle around the two of us and facing outwards, effectively blocking everyone else’s view of whatever the fuck is happening right now.