Chapter 47
Evan
I’ve officially turned into a stalker.
For the past three days, I’ve been stalking Anais across campus, desperate for a chance to talk to her.
Every time she sees me, she either turns the other way or pretends I don’t exist. It’s fucking infuriating to say the least. I’ve become a man I don’t recognize, someone I despise.
A fucking pathetic simpering idiot, trying to make the woman I love talk to me.
Dad was right. Love is humbling.
I’ve never had to chase women before. And, though I hate that Anais is making me work for this, I get it.
She’s reclaiming her power, exerting some control.
In our relationship, I held all the cards, taking what I wanted, never once stopping to consider how it made Anais feel.
I was an asshole. I see that now. But just because I was a fucking idiot, doesn’t mean I can’t be the man she needs.
There’s no other way. Because the little brat is mine. And I’m going to make her see that.
Like I can sense her presence, my gaze sharpens just as she bursts through a set of glass doors.
A guy walks beside her, smiling down at her as if she hung both the moon and the fucking stars.
My body tightens. Something a lot like jealousy slithers through me, dark and uncomfortable, but it fades slightly when I look closer.
Her body is stiff, her smile forced. She’s uncomfortable.
Something in me snaps, and before I know what I am doing, I’m striding across the quad toward her. She doesn’t look at me, but I know she senses my arrival. Her breath hitches, and her body visibly shivers.
“Anais,” I drawl, stepping into her space.
Her eyes begrudgingly meet mine. “Evan,” she breathes.
My cold gaze flicks to the prick beside her. “Leave.”
He laughs, but its humorless. “I don’t think–”
I cut him off. “I wasn’t asking.”
He glares, puffing up his chest, trying to assert himself. I smother down my laugh. I have at least six inches on this guy and pounds of muscle. Let’s just say, I could destroy him without breaking a sweat.
“Just go, Jarrod.” Anais sighs, clearly sensing the tension. Jarrod scowls, but like a good little puppy, he walks away without another word. “What the hell are you doing here again, Evan?” Anais hisses.
My gaze flicks to my brat. Despite her unfriendly demeanor, just being near her settles something inside me. “We need to talk.”
“No, we really don’t,” she brushes past me, but I catch her wrist, stopping her. She glares up at me, tugging out of my hold. “How the hell did you know I’d even be here? Do you have a copy of my schedule or something?” She laughs but it trails off. Her eyes narrow.
And right now, I hide nothing. I’m an open book.
I don’t bother denying it. Guilty as charged.
I may or may not have bribed the administration office with a generous donation, just to gain access to Anais’s schedule.
It was in that moment, I knew I’d fully embraced my inner stalker and really lost my fucking mind.
I’ve been underhanded, but achieving my objective remains my priority, and if it gets me what I want.
.. And anyway, I was choosing to focus on the positive side of things. No one could say I wasn’t committed.
She lets out a disbelieving laugh, shaking her head. “You did, didn’t you? You have a copy of my schedule; that’s how you knew I’d be here.” Her lilacs narrow. “You really don’t understand boundaries, do you Evan? I can’t believe you.” The disappointment on her face is like a knife to the heart.
I thought women swooned over this sort of shit. The relentless pursuit. They sure as hell do in those goddamn romance books she reads. But in reality, she’s schooling me on the meaning of boundaries, not falling into my arms declaring her love.
This is fucking bullshit.
Still… at least she knows there are no lines I wouldn’t cross for her.
“Anais–”
“I have to go.” She cuts me off before walking away. This time I let her.
Anais is making me work for it and I can’t even blame her. This is my punishment, my karma for the way I treated her. And I deserve every second of her wrath. But I’ll take it, if that’s what she wants. If she wants to play the long game, I’m all in.
If it takes me forever to prove what she means to me, then I’ll fight every day, until my last breath.
Because Anais Lauder is mine.
And I will get her back.
A life without her… well, it doesn’t make sense.
The next night I find myself outside the dingy karaoke bar Anais dragged me to over a month ago. Despite our friendship being on rocky ground, Harrison casually informed me that my little brat would be here tonight.
Call me crazy, but I think my best friend is warming up to the idea of me with his sister and might even be my secret cheerleader.
He hasn’t said it outright, but I hear it in the way he talks in our now resumed boys’ nights.
Things are still tense between us, but we’re finding our new normal, and that means a lot to me.
I honestly believed I’d lose Harrison through all this, but I should’ve known better.
Stepping inside the bar, I scan the crowd, my heart stalling when I catch sight of Anais with her friend Lana, laughing near the stage.
If you didn’t know her, you’d say she looks carefree, happy even.
But I know better. I see the pain she’s trying so hard to hide.
And it kills me knowing I’m the one that put it there.
My heart hammers in my chest and I swallow down the emotion tightening my throat. Christ, I’m such an asshole.
Shaking the thought away, I allow my gaze to roam over her body, taking in her tight leather pants and red tank top.
She looks like every fucking man’s wet dream.
And now, every fucking asshole in this bar is going to see her up there on that stage, dressed this way.
My vision turns red as a surge of anger thrums in my veins.
I want nothing more than to go over there, throw her over my shoulder and take her home.
But I know that won’t do me any favors, right now.
With a weary sigh, I glance around the space, finding a small table tucked into a dark corner.
Taking a seat, I settle in for what I know will be a night of bad singing.
But if it takes sitting through what I can only describe as torture, to make Anais see what she means to me, then so be it.
I’ll spend the rest of my days in this dirty place if need be.
I don’t know how long I sit there, staring at the girl who has my heart, but when she eventually steps up on the stage I have to grip the table to stop myself from going up there and dragging her out.
Anais is a stunningly beautiful woman on a bad day.
But with those lights shining down on her, highlighting every curve, every perfect inch of her, she looks otherworldly.
One look around the bar, I know every guy in here sees it too.
I even spot the goofy prick who was walking with her at school the other day.
My blood boils hot in my veins, as three words play on repeat in my mind.
Anais is mine.
Anais is mine.
Anais is mine.
The music starts up and I go completely still when Anais starts singing.
Off-key and completely out of tune. But I can’t help the smile tugging at my lips.
Because she doesn’t care what she sounds like, or who’s watching her belt out the lyrics and, quite frankly, ruin Forest Blakks’ If You Love Her.
As I listen, it becomes obvious with each word out of her mouth, this song is directed at me.
Something twists inside me, uncomfortable and painful, as she pours her heart and soul into this one song.
And when it comes to an end, and her shoulders slump, I’m hit with a startling realization. I did this. I caused this damage.
My throat turns dry and, mortifyingly, moisture prickles my eyes. I’m not worthy of this woman and it’s about time I start accepting that. For weeks I kept her a secret, treated her like she was no more than a fuck, when really, she was so much more.
A shadow falls over the table, breaking me from my thoughts. My head snaps up to find Harrison smirking down at me as he pulls out a chair and takes a seat. “God, she is fucking awful.” He grimaces.
My lips twitch. “Yeah, she really is. But even with that terrible voice you get caught up in her orbit.”
The smirk drops, a scowl taking its place. Harrison runs a hand through his hair, inhaling sharply. “Look, I might be coming around to the idea of you with my sister, but don’t say sappy shit like that to me.”
I laugh, “Noted.”
He eyes me curiously. “So why are you hiding back here instead of talking to her?”
“There’s about a ninety percent chance she tells me to fuck off.
Again. The odds aren’t really in my favor, and honestly, I’m about ten seconds away from throwing her over my shoulder, taking her to my penthouse and not letting her leave until she forgives me.
” His eyes widen. “Didn’t think that would go down well with either of you,” I mumble.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Maxwell. You sure know what to say to make me want to fucking hit you, don’t you?”
Chuckling, I lean back in my seat. “I’d like to say I’m joking, but it’s getting to that point.”
Just then Anais starts screaming a version of Fleetwood Mac’s Silver Springs.
I glance over, and sure enough her eyes are locked on me as she belts out the chorus, penetrating my armor and hitting me straight in the soul.
Fuck me. I feel the words in every inch of my body.
It sounds dramatic, but I’ll never get away from the sound of my brat. Never. And I don’t want to.
“Think this one’s for you.” Harrison grins.
“No shit.”
He sighs, taking his eyes off his sister and turning to face me. “Why don’t you try talking to her, like a normal person.”
I bare my teeth, biting out, “You don’t think I’ve tried? Fuck Harrison, I’ve ignored work the last three days, just so I can stalk her on campus, begging her to talk to me. She’s made it quite clear she doesn’t want to. She can barely stand to look at me.”
Pride flickers on his expression. He chuckles. “That’s my sister. I’ve taught her well.”
“Not helping,” I grumble.
He shrugs. “If you want her, then you need to fight for her. Do something she’d never expect.”
“Like what?” I ask, curious.
“Hell, if I know. You’re an asshole. Do something…non-asshole.”
Before I can respond, I see a familiar flash of dark hair out of the corner of my eye, sashaying toward us.
“Harrison, what’re you doing here?” she asks softly. Her gaze shifts to me briefly before going back to her brother.
Guess that’s the only acknowledgement I’m going to get this evening.
At least it’s something.
Progress.
“I said I’d come watch you sing.” He beams up at her, like a proud parent.
She rolls her eyes, slapping his shoulder. “I thought you were joking. Not once did I think you’d actually show.”
“Well, here I am. And that singing…” he trails off, clearing his throat. “Well, it was something.”
Lana bounces up beside her, shooting me a dirty look, making it clear what she thinks of me. Not that I care. But it wouldn’t hurt to have Anais’s best friend in my corner.
“Harrison,” she greets with a smile.
“Lana,” he returns.
Fed up with being ignored, I rise from my seat and look directly at my little brat. “Can we talk?”
She stiffens. Then she lifts her chin and those lilacs land on me. Hope fills me when I see her resolve begin to weaken, only to die when she rejects me again.
“I was just leaving,” she murmurs.
And with that she grabs Lana’s hand, pulling her toward the exit.
The sound of Harrison’s laughter has me grinding my teeth. I shoot him a glower. “Man, you’ve really got your work cut out. But hey, if she’s worth it – and I’m starting to think she is by the way you’re acting – know this. She’s going to have you by the balls by the time she’s done with you.”
I pause, thinking over his words, a sly smile curving my lips as three things hit me all at once.
Anais is worth it.
She does have me by the balls.
And I’ll suffer through every second of this torture if it means getting her back in my arms.
I clap Harrison on the shoulder. “If you think for one second she doesn’t already own every single part of me, then you’re not paying nearly enough attention.”
Harrison studies me for a long moment. Then his lips curl into a smirk. “Fuck me. The great Evan Maxwell whipped by a teenager.”
Usually the mention of her age would make me grimace.
But not this time.
Because I’m all in.
Every whipped part of me.
She can cut my balls off and carry them around in her purse if it makes her happy.
I will give Anais anything she wants.
If she will just give me the chance to make things right.