thinking?"
"Dude, he's hot!" Ryver giggled. She looked over at Ashton and waved, and he winked back before tossing a shot.
"I thought I told you to stay away from him!" Kaylee was getting angry, and she had an idea why. Ryver was her best friend, but at that point, she had never hated her more.
The smile left Ryver's face. "No, you never said he was off limits. You only said Noah and Brandon." Even though she was drunk, she still remembered the conversation, and she was quite proud of that fact.
"Well, I'm telling you now, he's off limits!" Kaylee yelled at her. She could feel the blood rising to her face as the anger really set in. She didn't realize how loud she had yelled, and had no idea that Ashton was close enough to hear her.
"Why is he off limits all of a sudden?" Ryver wanted to know.
Kaylee got even more flustered. "I don't know. He just is."
"Well, it's too late. I'm really into him," Ryver argued.
"Ryver, all he's going to do is fuck you and leave you."
Ryver laughed at her friend and how naive she could be. "I'm aware of that. That's why I'm hanging out with him. It's the same thing I want."
"Forget it, I'm leaving. Thanks for visiting." Kaylee was frustrated, not only with her friend, but with herself as well.
She went to get Colton, to see if he would take her back to the hotel, and when she returned, she saw Ryver and Ashton leaving the club together, hand in hand. She and Colton went to say goodbye to Noah and Jayden, then slowly walked back to the hotel. They didn't say much on the way there; Kaylee was lost in her own thoughts and Colton could tell she was upset, but he didn't know why, and he didn't want to make it worse.
Colton escorted Kaylee to her doo, and hugged her goodnight. "It was great having you back again, Beautiful."
"Thanks Colton. For everything."
"Anytime." He waited for her to get into her room, then he went to his own.
Kaylee looked around her empty hotel room. She wanted to throw something, to break something. She needed to let go of the furious anger that threatened to choke her. Ashton hooked up all the time, so why was tonight any different? If it wasn't Ryver, it would have been some other girl.
But it was Ryver! She was supposed to be her best friend. And it was Ashton! Did it really matter what he did or who he did it with? If it were another girl, would she be this pissed? Kaylee was so confused. She didn't know what was happening or where her feelings were headed.
She grabbed her pajamas and changed out of the club clothes that reeked of smoke. She washed the makeup from her face, still angry but somehow on the verge of tears. Knowing she had to have something to drown out the thoughts in her head, she grabbed her ear plugs and little mp3 player. Music in her head always kept her thoughts from going too far. Putting them in place, and shutting the world out, Kaylee crawled into her bed and fell asleep.
The next morning, the world looked a little brighter for Kaylee. She knew that she had overreacted the night before, but she still wasn't sure why. She was already showered and dressed when she heard a knock on the door between the rooms.
She opened it to find her best friend - or former best friend - Ryver, looking unkempt and ashamed. "Can I come in?"
"Of course," Kaylee told her, trying to sound upbeat, but seeing Ryver come from Ashton's room brought a sharp pain to her chest.
"Do you hate me?" Ryver asked bluntly.
"No," Kaylee answered. It was true but at the same time, it wasn't. The calm that she had felt earlier was shattered by seeing her disheveled friend.
"About last night..." Ryver started.
Kaylee held her hand up. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hardly breathe. "I don't want to hear it. Please."
"But..."
"No, seriously, I don't want to hear it. Help yourself to the shower, I'm going downstairs for brunch," Kaylee said, knowing her words must have sounded harsh, but she just couldn't handle hearing about Ryver's night with Ashton.
She
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