17. Evelyn
EVELYN
T he restaurant closed at ten, but I didn’t get out of there until after eleven.
I had walked out into the darkness with a smile on my face.
It had been a good night—an excellent night, thanks to Elliot’s hefty tip.
He left more than enough to cover the meal that was getting taken out of my check and then some.
His tip plus all the others I’d earned that night meant that I wouldn’t have to worry about my rent for at least a month or so. It was a huge relief.
I stepped out with my head down as I returned a text to Madison. When I looked up, I found Chase right in front of me. He had his hands tucked into his jacket pocket, and he was giving me a warm smile.
My phone dinged, and I looked down at the screen.
MADISON: Thank me later.
I looked back up at Chase. “What are you doing here?”
“Madison told me that you walk home from work every night. I thought that maybe I could walk with you.” He shrugged. “Would that be alright?”
A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth despite warning bells going off that I needed to tell him no.
“Sure,” I agreed. I knew if Elliot found out, he’d be pissed. But what was I supposed to say? Even if I told him no, he’d still have to walk back anyway.
He turned and walked alongside me. “So, how was your night?”
“It was good. Stayed busy enough to make the time pass quickly, but it wasn’t so busy that I didn’t get a breather when I needed it. I made good tips too, so now I can focus on school rather than stressing out about rent.”
“You have your own apartment?”
I nodded. “If you can call it that. It’s more like a large closet,” I joked.
“My scholarship came through late, and by the time it was all said and done, all the housing had been claimed. My brother had to help me get the first month’s rent and deposit together, but I’ve been making all the monthly rent payments on my own since then. ”
“What about your parents?”
My mood shifted.
“They passed away a couple of years ago. Car accident.” It felt like my heart spasmed, but I had learned that it was just the pain of losing them that I knew I’d carry with me for the rest of my life.
“Oh, shit, I’m sorry for asking,” he said, turning his attention back to the sidewalk ahead of us.
“It’s fine,” I assured him. “You didn’t know.”
It was quiet for a moment, but then he turned to look at me again. “So, you have just the one brother then?”
“Yep, just the one. His name is Gabe. What about you? Why don’t you tell me about your family?”
He moved his hand to the back of his neck, squeezing it.
“There isn’t really much to tell. I’m the youngest of three.
I have an older brother and sister. Both of them live across the country, along with my dad and stepmother.
It’s just me and my mom here. And her boyfriend, whom she’s been with for the last ten years, but refuses to marry. ”
I laughed at that. “Why?”
He chuckled and shrugged. “She said she wasn’t ever making that mistake again.”
We both laughed. We were only about a block away from my place, so I started walking a little slower, wanting this moment to last longer.
I found that the more time I spent with Chase, the more I liked him.
I enjoyed talking to him and getting to know him, and it felt like it was the only time I’d be able to without Elliot noticing.
“Did you grow up here in the city?”
“Yeah, pretty much. I still have friends in the area, and of course, here at school.”
I came to a stop outside my building. “You must be close to your mom.”
He stopped in front of me. “Yeah, it was just her and me for the longest time. I guess I didn’t have much of a choice but to be close to her. I’m a total mama’s boy. Go ahead and make fun of me.”
I laughed. “No, I wouldn’t make fun of you. I think it’s sweet.”
“Really?” His eyes locked with mine, and I could see his pupils dilate, causing his eyes to grow darker.
“Really,” I agreed, slightly breathless from looking into those darkened pools. I could feel my heart start to race. My stomach tightened and filled with butterflies. From the look in his eye, I wondered if he was going to kiss me.
He wet his lips, but as soon as he started to lean in, he pulled back. “So, when do I get to take you out on a date? A real date.”
A long breath left me. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or upset that he didn’t kiss me. “I… I don’t know.” I shook my head to clear it. “I’m just so busy with school, and homework, and my shift at the restaurant.”
“Well, you have to have one night off, right?” He looked so hopeful, it was cute.
A laugh slipped out. “Yeah, of course I do. I just…”
“What?” he asked, cutting me off. “You can’t say that you don’t like me. I know you do.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course, I like you. It’s just that my life is complicated enough as it is without throwing someone else into the mix.”
“I won’t make things complicated.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, thinking about how it wasn’t he who was the problem. It was Elliot.
“I won’t,” he promised. “I’ll take some of those complications away.”
I leaned my shoulder against the brick building. “That’s some big promises to keep.”
“I’d promise to hand over my left kidney if it made you agree to go out with me.” He smirked.
I laughed. “Alright, fine,” I agreed, instantly regretting it. But it was too late. I’d agreed.
His eyes lit up, his grin growing. “On one condition.”
“What?”
“You have to keep this quiet.”
He frowned. “Why? You’re ashamed of me or something?” He feigned hurt.
“No, it’s nothing like that. I just… like I said, my life is complicated. I don’t want anyone else in my business. Let’s just keep this between us for now. OK?” I lifted my brows as I looked up at him.
He studied me for a moment, but eventually, he nodded. “Alright. We’ll keep it quiet for now.”
“Thank you.” My entire body relaxed.
“I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow night.”
I smiled and nodded once in agreement.
“Good night, Eve.” He backed away, leaving me to walk inside by myself.
While I was excited, I was also scared because if Elliot found out, I was toast.
The next twenty-four hours passed in a blur with little to nothing memorable about it.
Unless you could count Professor West being a decent human being, that is.
He was pleasant in class. He didn’t take any jabs at me, and he gave me back my paper with a nice big A written in red.
He didn’t call me to his office either, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
He seemed to be lying low. I made it through the day and managed to get back home, where I did some homework before getting ready for my date with Chase.
I pulled on a maroon sweater and a pair of skinny jeans, which I paired with my knee-high boots.
I braided my hair, pulled it over one shoulder, and pulled on my gray pea coat.
When he rang my buzzer from outside, I didn’t bother with letting him through.
I just moved out to the street and welcomed him there.
“Hey,” I said as he turned to face me.
“Hey, for a minute there, I thought you were standing me up.”
I pulled my coat closed. “I wouldn’t do that.”
He put his hands into his jacket pockets. “You just wanted to make sure that I didn’t come up.”
I gave him a tight smile, unsure of what exactly I should say. “I hope you’re not offended. It’s just that my life is?—”
“Complicated,” he finished for me. “Yeah, I got it.”
“Are you mad?” I asked, unsure of how he would answer, but then he gave me that reassuring smile of his, and I knew he wasn’t.
“No, of course not.”
I smiled with relief. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t want him to be mad at me.
I liked him, and I liked that he liked me.
He was exactly the type of guy I always pictured myself marrying.
Tall, smart, and handsome. He was sweet, friendly, and seemed patient and understanding.
There was only one little problem. Well, it’s a big problem, actually.
Elliot. And even though Elliot was everything I hated right now, deep down, he was also everything I wanted.
“So, where are we going?”
“I was thinking about it all day. I didn’t want to have some boring movie date night where we can’t even talk.”
“Yeah? So, what did you come up with?”
He gave me a lopsided grin. “You’ll see.” He pointed down the sidewalk, and we started walking in that direction, side by side. “I thought that maybe we could get to know one another a little better on our walk.”
“Okay. What do you wanna know?”
He shrugged. “Everything.”
I felt my insides turn to mush as every inch grew warm. “I’m not sure we can cover everything on one date.”
“Exactly.”
I smiled widely. “You’re good. You know that?”
He shook his head. “That’s the thing. I’m not.”
I looked over at him.
“I’m not the guy who says all the right things at all the right times.
I’m not the best at being consistent or picking up on hints.
I only had a couple of girlfriends through high school, and all three of them would tell you how oblivious I was.
One of them even slept with my best friend behind my back, and I had no idea. ”
“Sounds like you were preoccupied.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I guess. But that’s also my point.
I’ve never really been interested in anyone for any real length of time before.
I never met anyone that I couldn’t walk away from, but then I met you.
” We both stopped walking, and he turned to face me.
“I don’t know how you’re different, but you are. ”
I stared into his eyes. I wasn’t sure what to say.
I’d never had a guy say those kinds of things to me before.
I’d never had a guy look at me with that look in his eye.
I swallowed over the lump in my throat, and I wet my lips.
My mouth opened even though I had no idea what I was going to say.
Before any words could come out, my phone chimed from my coat pocket, breaking the moment that was growing thick between us.
I blinked and gently shook my head.
“I’m sorry,” I said as I pulled my phone from my pocket. We both started walking again as I unlocked my phone and read the message.
ELLIOT: Come to me. I have a job for you.
I rolled my eyes and swiped the message away, switching my phone to silent so I wouldn’t have to hear it go off again. I tucked it back into my pocket.
“I guess we’d better get started on everything you were talking about, huh?”
He looked down at me as a slow grin pulled at his lips. “Yeah, I guess we’d better.”
We traveled through downtown Chicago at night, doing nothing but talking and walking at our own pace as the city moved quickly around us.
When we got hungry, we bought a street taco from a food truck so we could eat as we kept walking.
We didn’t have anywhere specific in mind.
We were just wandering free. We talked about our pasts, our futures, we laughed, joked, and flirted.
The city was beautiful with all its lights.
I couldn’t help but feel like I was living in some romance movie.
As the night grew later, the temperature dropped. We grabbed a hot chocolate from a vendor and decided to take a seat on the Memorial Fountain. I turned to face him.
“I’ve had a really good time with you tonight.” He took my hand in his. His words made me smile.
“I’ve had a really good time too.”
“Do you think that maybe you’d like to do this again?” He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I mean, not this exact thing, but go out with me again?”
I smiled at his nerves that were suddenly showing through. “I think I would.”
“Yeah?” he asked, smiling as he was starting to lean in.
“Yes,” I giggled just as his hand moved up to cup my cheek.
He was only an inch away when he whispered. “Can I kiss you now?”
I couldn’t speak. All I could do was nod.
He was slow at getting that close, but the last inch was nothing. In the blink of an eye, his mouth was against mine. His lips were soft, and his tongue was gentle as it slid into my mouth to dance with my own.
The second I felt his warm tongue, the butterflies in my stomach came alive.
My abs tightened, and the junction between my legs began to throb.
I wondered when my body started to react that way because I’d never felt that ache until Elliot got his hands on me.
Suddenly, all I could think about was Elliot and how I wished he were as sweet and as kind as Chase.
I knew Chase would never say the things to me that Elliot would.
I knew that Chase would never spank me or demand that I kneel beside him completely naked, all so he could ignore me.
But during that kiss I was sharing with Chase, I realized that all the things I hated about Elliot were also the things that turned me on the most. I had a good time with Chase on our date.
And I was even enjoying our kiss, but the reaction from my body wasn’t because of Chase.
It was because of the things that Elliot had started and not finished.
Realizing that, I felt dirty. I had been taking all of the needs that one man had caused me to feel, and I was trying to find another to fill the void.
I was cheapening the whole night, the whole memory.
What would happen if I did end up marrying Chase?
In twenty years, he’d be telling everyone how he knew I was the one when we shared our first kiss in front of Memorial Fountain, and all I’d be able to think about is how he was falling in love while I was thinking of another man.
I slowed the kiss and pulled back, breaking it. I saw the depth in his eyes when they opened and locked on mine.
“It’s getting late.”
He nodded once. “I’ll walk you home."
And he did, just as sweet as ever.
That only made everything worse.