Chapter 5
Evan
A few days has passed and Alani seems intent on avoiding me. We haven’t spoken much since the dance we shared. I’ve tried talking to her several times, but she doesn’t say much, and it’s making me tense around her. I mentioned it to Noah and he said I probably just need to give Alani and I time to adjust to one another. But, I’m impatient to get rid of the strain between us, so I’m hoping we can sort things out when we talk tonight. I think she finally agreed to sit down with me because tomorrow is her reunion and we can’t go in looking like the strangers that we are.
Alani comes out of the bedroom. “Do you only wear button ups?” she asks, sounding annoyed.
Well, only recently—ever since the tattoos dedicated to her started to cover more than just my chest. The last one was done Tuesday morning, after her first night in my apartment. I had ‘Close’ added. Believe me, the irony is not lost on me. I thought that since she’s now living with me, we’d get to know each other and become closer than we’ve ever been. I realize that I was an idiot and that women are more complex than I thought.
“Not always,” I answer in a clipped tone, hoping she moves on. She drops it, but looks bothered by my response.
“Okay, so what do you want to talk about?” she inquires, heading towards the living room couch.
“People are going to be talking to us at your reunion, and I want to make sure we have our story straight,” I reply, sitting down across from her. “Let’s start with high school—what it was like, your favorite teacher, and if you played any sports.” Alani shifts in her seat and hang her head down.
“High school was terrible. I was the miserable geek with braces, Coke bottle glasses, and no friends—well, until Kerrigan. It was bad,” she relates sadly, then looks up. “I didn’t play sports, and my favorite teacher was Mrs. Everly.”
“I doubt you were a geek,” I tell her with a chuckle. I can’t picture that at all. She gives me a small smile in return.
“Oh, it was bad, trust me. Casey Miller, the queen bee of our high school, made my life hell because of how I looked! When Kerrigan and I became best friends, Casey made it a point to be meaner—well, only whenever Kerrigan wasn’t around. Kerrigan was the only one who had more pull in high school than Casey, so when Kerrigan and I became friends, things got better. Plus, I got my braces off and started wearing contacts.”
I sit and process what Alani has revealed about her past. There’s nothing I hate more than punks who think they’re better than others. People say that I’m a bully—and it’s helped me get to where I am today—but what they don’t realize is that I always fight for the underdog. I take on tyrants and I destroy them. If Casey Miller is at this reunion, I hope for her sake that she’s changed.
“So, what about us?” I ask, changing the subject. “What are we going to tell people we are?”
“Boyfriend and girlfriend, I guess,” Alani replies. “And we’ve been dating for the last two years.” We go over some more details and fill in our background to make our non-existent relationship sound more credible.
“You want to go grab dinner? We can go pick up your dress,” I suggest after we wrap up.
“Yeah, sounds good. And thanks for doing all of this, I really appreciate it. I promise, I’m trying to think of something so I can get out of your hair and you can get your space back.”
She thinks I want her out? “Alani, you’re free to stay as long as you want,” I tell her.
“Well, let’s see what happens tomorrow and we can go from there,” she replies vaguely.
As uncomfortable as things have been with Alani in my apartment, I want her to stay and be in my life—forever.
When we arrive at the new Italian place, I ask the waiter for a table in a private corner. Lani seems more relaxed tonight and I want to take advantage of that. She’s been unusually chatty and it’s put me at ease. After we take our seats, we quickly browse through the menu and place our order with the waiter. As we wait for our food, we engage in conversation.
“What were you like in high school, Evan? I bet you were a jock—an arrogant jock,” she guesses with a know-it-all grin. I don’t like to talk about my past, but she’s finally in a good mood and I don’t want to ruin it.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I was not a jock. I didn’t play any sports,” I answer to humor her.
“That actually surprises me,” she replies thoughtfully.
“Why?” I curiously ask.
“Well, you don’t lack in confidence and the world seems to do what you say. I just figured that maybe being in sports helped you develop your self-esteem and constantly winning turned you into the cocky, confident bastard that you are now,” she responds good-naturedly before taking a sip of her wine.
“The confidence is something that happened over time. And calling me a cocky bastard? The wine must have gone straight to your head,” I tease. Wanting to shut this conversation down before she pries any further, I say, “Tell me about your family.”
Shit. I didn’t mean to ask that—I don’t want to have to answer in return if she asks me about mine.
“My parents are great, and I have a brother, Nick. They all work at the two hotels my parents own,” she responds easily.
“Why did you decide not to go down that career path?” I question, intrigued by her choice. It would certainly have been a lot safer than what she’s gotten herself into.
“Well, that was the plan up until what happened in high school. After that, I knew I needed to do more—to help victims. I was lucky enough to have escaped a worse fate that night, and I still can’t let it go. Imagine what Missy suffered, and even before I found out it was her, I wanted to help people like her. I want to help people like Missy and me, who stay trapped in the past,” she passionately reveals.
Part of me wants to be a male chauvinistic pig and tell her that a woman has no business being a private investigator, that she can’t handle it, and should stick to working for her family’s hotels. But it’s just because it’s Alani, and I don’t want her getting hurt. Instead, I comment, “I’m glad you found your calling.”
“What about you? What made you become a lawyer?” she asks turning the attention to me.
“My story is similar to yours, I wanted to help people victimized by others.” Thankfully, our food arrives and I’m spared from saying anything more. I really don’t want to go into my past with her, so I dig into my food. I keep stuffing my face in order to look busy. Every time it looks like she’s about to say something, I insert another fork full of food in my mouth, occasionally gesturing to our meal and making small noises to exaggerate how much I enjoy the food. She laughs at my antics, and it gives me pleasure to know I’m the one putting the smile on her face. I join her in laughter after swallowing my food, and I feel the tension of the past few days ease between us.
“I want to thank you again for opening up your home to me,” she says in a silky soft, feminine tone. Her voice instantly has my dick’s attention.
“You’re very welcome. And you can stop hiding from me, you know,” I playfully tease with a wink and a smile.
“I’m not hiding,” she denies, before finally admitting, “Ok, well maybe I am. It’s just that it’s been awkward being around you. You make me anxious.”
My dick and I don’t like the sound of that.
Lani
I’ve been enjoying myself tonight in Evan’s company. He hasn’t been his normal aggressive self, and I was able to finally relax. He’s right, I have been hiding, and it needs to stop. I think a lot of my hang up with Evan is that he’s pretty assertive and I don’t really know much about him. After finding easiness with him tonight, I didn’t like seeing his brow furrowed when I said he made me uncomfortable.
“Evan?” I ask tentatively.
“Yes?” he replies, arching a brow at me. I gulp, God help me, he is one fine man.
“I’ve got a proposition for you,” I reply. He raises his eyebrow even higher.
“Alright, I’m listening,” he says, intrigued.
“Before I moved in, what did you wear whenever you lounged around in your penthouse?”
“Just my underwear,” he huskily answers. The image of him laying sprawled out on the couch in a pair of tight, sexy boxer briefs that outline his big package immediately appears in my mind. Get a grip, Lani.
“Okay, so since you’re always so covered up now, I’m probably making you uncomfortable as well. Now you can’t exactly just walk around in your underwear while I’m around since that would be embarrassing for the both of us, but maybe we can compromise and you could just wear shorts. I don’t want you feeling like a visitor in your own home,” I explain. I hear him let out a small laugh.
“Trust me, I have nothing to be embarrassed about whenever I’m walking around in my underwear,” Evan asserts, looking straight into my eyes, “But I still haven’t heard the proposition.”
This is exactly what I need to put a stop to, so I quickly say, “Treat me like a friend and a roommate, and I’ll start acting like one.”
“Ok,” he replies thoughtfully with a nod of his head. “I can do that. But…if you want me to treat you like a friend, then be prepared to be MY friend,” he warns. “Don’t say that it’s what you want, and then freak out when I treat you like one of my friends.”
Shit. I didn’t even think about that when I came up with the idea to ease the discomfort between us. I’ve witnessed the way he is with his brothers and Brayden, and I know exactly what I’m going to get—an alpha male asshole around the clock.
Evan
Alani’s face falls as realization hits that she’s bitten off more than she can chew. I am somewhat entertained by the look on her face as she contemplates the idea. She takes another sip of her wine before the expression changes to one of resolve.
“So, Evan...tell me the scariest part of you,” she asks, leaning forward bravely. “What exactly are you hiding?”
Fuck me. She wants to meet The Boogeyman. Well, it’s not happening—ever. I don’t care how much liquid courage she drinks, she’ll never be ready to see the darkest parts of me.
“What makes you think I’m hiding anything?” I respond, taking a drink of my wine and leaning back casually in my seat. “Maybe, you just have trust issues.” With years of training and experience in hiding my true feelings and emotions, I’ve mastered the art of deflection. There’s no way I’m letting her into my darkness.
“No, I know you’re hiding something—I just don’t know what it is. But please, I really do want us to be friends. Just tell me one thing you keep hidden from everyone else,” she insistently pleads. Dammit. I can’t say no to her.
“Fine, I’ll tell you one thing...IF, you answer a question for me afterwards,” I bargain with her.
“Ok,” Alani immediately replies, looking at me expectantly.
“Growing up, my homelife sucked. I didn’t play sports because we weren’t allowed out of the house. My father was very abusive, and my mom left when I was four,” I reluctantly disclose in order to keep my adult life a secret.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Are your parents still alive?” she inquires softly .
“My father died a few years ago. As far as I know, my mom is still alive somewhere,” I hurriedly reply so we can change the subject. “Your turn to answer a question.”
“Ok, go ahead,” she responds gamely.
“From here on out, if you’re ever worried or scared, I want you to go to me. Can I be YOUR friend, the one you can trust and turn to for help?” I ask earnestly. I want to be the one she needs, the one to give her comfort and support.
“No,” she replies with a shake of her head, “I can’t do that, Evan.”
“Why not?”
“Because you think I’m weak,” she answers, “and if I’m at a moment when I’m already feeling vulnerable, I need someone who I can trust to keep me safe without telling me what I’m incapable of.”
“Alani, I can keep you safe, and I never once thought you were weak.”
“Then why wouldn’t you let me walk Molly home by myself that night? You even called me a little girl,” she argues. She’s right, I did.
“Wanting to keep you safe does not mean I think you’re weak. Besides, I promised Noah that I’d get Molly home safely that night. He would have surgically removed my testicles if anything happened to her,” I explain. “Then, there you were, getting all pissy with me. No one had ever spoken to me the way you did and that intrigued me. I was probably just reacting to the stuff you were saying, but I never meant to imply that you’re incapable. To be honest, I just wanted to spend more time with you.”
“Are you sure friendship is all you’re after?” she questions, looking uncertainly at me.
“Yeah, I am.” For now—but I keep that thought to myself.
We finish dinner with small talk—mostly about our mutual friends, my brothers, and life in general. Now that Alani is relaxed, she’s more congenial and generous with her smiles. She’s being the Alani that I want and love.
Lan i
I’ve finished getting ready for my high school reunion, and I’m satisfied with my reflection in the mirror. I picked out this dress in order to make me feel beautiful for when Casey inevitably went out of her way to make me feel ugly again. Although they hurt like crazy in high school, her words no longer bothered me. I’ve grown up since then and have bigger things to worry about than some petty teenage drama.
Walking out of my bedroom, I head straight to the living room to meet Evan. When I see him, I have to stop myself from turning fangirl and fawning over him. He looks amazingly hot in a custom black suit with white pinstripes so fine, they’re barely noticeable. His dark black hair is styled a little shaggy. Unlike his brothers with their dark brown eyes, Evan’s eyes are a captivating deep ocean blue, and I can feel myself getting lost at sea. I make sure I wipe the drool off my chin before I approach him.
“Damn, Alani, you look beautiful,” Evan compliments, looking appreciatively at me. I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks and a shiver running down my spine as his eyes slowly devour my body.
“Thanks, so do you. Uh, handsome, I mean. Not beautiful, because you’re a man,” I babble incoherently with a nervous smile. Beautiful and handsome do not begin to describe what he looks like—gorgeous, sexy, and fucking hot all come to mind. Get a grip, Lani! I remind myself again.
Evan grins devilishly before holding his arm out for me and asking, “Shall we?”
At first, I didn’t want to take his arm, but we need to look like a couple tonight so we might as well start now. I tentatively place my hand on the crook of his arm. Evan pulls me beside him and places his other hand on top of mine. Standing next to him, I feel really small. I know I’m short, but the way he towers over me and his hand engulfs mine makes me feel fragile.
Eva n
As we pull up to Alani’s old high school, I’m taken aback that they’d hold a reunion here instead of a hotel or banquet hall. I look wryly at Alani, who just shrugs her shoulders— looks like we’re going to prom like a bunch of teenagers. I never went to prom, not because we weren’t allowed out, but because it was a waste of time, money, and effort. It’s a good thing we weren’t expecting to enjoy ourselves tonight—she’s here to work, and I’m here to cover the delectable ass that’s barely covered by her short, sexy red dress and make sure it stays safe. I park the car and tell Alani to wait inside for a minute so I can go around the other side and open her door. I offer my hand and help her get out. As I close the door, she takes a deep breath and slowly exhales.
“I’m here for you, Alani.” I reassure her with a small squeeze to the hand gripping mine.
With mild surprise, she looks down at our joined hands before giving me a small smile and uttering, “Thanks.”
Taking my arm, Alani leads us inside the high school’s gym. I glance around as we walk in—just as I assumed when we pulled up, the place is decorated like some lame high school prom. There are black and white balloons, white lily centerpieces, and a cheesy red carpet with a photographer at the end. They were probably going for Hollywood Glam and miserably failed.
When we get to the end of the red carpet, the photographer tells us to move in closer. If we’re going to be stuck at this stupid prom all night, I might as well have a little fun. I pull Alani tightly against me, lift her leg up to my hip, and tilt her back against my arm. She’s startled at first, but then she laughs and goes along with it as we both smile for the camera. If Alani doesn’t get what she’s after tonight, she’ll at least have the photo reminding her of our prom night.
After we pass through the line, Alani grabs our table number and looks around for the table we’ve been assigned. I assume she’s found it when her eyes land on a table in the farthest corner with several guests already seated and she lets out a small laugh .
“What’s so funny?” I ask, perusing the table she was looking at.
“Looks like we’re sitting with ‘the band geeks’. Like that’s supposed to humiliate me? Come on.” Alani takes my hand and determinedly pulling me towards the table.
As we’re quickly making our way through the crowd, I notice people staring at us. I use her grip on my hand to pull her back and slow her down. She turns around, eyeing me curiously. I pull her in to quickly touch my lips to hers.
“Slow down, people are watching,” I whisper before pulling away from her. Her eyes register a bit of shock, but she nods her head in understanding before taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. I give her a reassuring smile and put my arm around her shoulders, pulling her against my side. She wraps her arm around my waist, placing her hand on my hip and we start making our way to the table again.
Before we can reach our destination, we’re intercepted from behind as an overly loud feminine voice greets with false enthusiasm, “Alani, hi!”
Alani tenses, her hand clamping down hard on my hip. Judging from Alani’s reaction, it must be Casey. Alani steps away from me to turn and face her high school nemesis.
“Hi, Casey,” Alani replies flatly as I turn to get a look at the bitch who used to antagonize my girl.
“Sorry you wound up at the corner table, but when you let us know at the last second that your friend would be joining you, we had to move you. But I’m sure we can find room for you both at our table,” Casey tells Alani while smiling seductively at me. I watch as Casey’s eyes slowly sweep my body up and down. Five seconds with her and she’s already pissing me off.
“It’s alright, we don’t mind,” Alani responds.
“Oh, come on, Alani, it’ll be just like old times! Come sit with us,” Casey bubbly invites, gesturing to a table towards the center filled with people who were probably part ofthe popular crowd.
“No, really it’s alright,” Alani repeats loudly .
“Well, okay, we’ll be over there in case you change your mind. By the way, it’s good to see you’ve lost some weight over the years. Otherwise, your friend here would probably have dropped you earlier while you were taking that photo,” Casey remarks insincerely to Alani before smiling sweetly at me. “I know you’re strong and muscular, but let’s face it, our little Alani here was a bit of a heifer back then,” she flirtatiously adds.
“Oh, I highly doubt that. I can’t imagine my Alani ever being fat,” I arrogantly dispute Casey’s claim. “She tends to keep this sweet ass toned, especially with our daily nocturnal activities.” For emphasis, I slap my hand on Alani’s ass and keep it there. I know Alani’s probably going to kill me later, but I’ll risk it. I’m not about to stand around letting some two-bit whore insult my girl in front of me. I hear Alani make a barely noticeable choked sound and feel her hand clutch the one I have on her ass. I send her a silent apology, but judging from the look she gives me, the light squeeze on her ass wasn’t the way to do it.
“Yeah, well she was,” Casey replies lamely, looking disappointed. She recovers her sickly sweet facade and addresses me, “It looks like Alani has forgotten her manners by not introducing us. I’m Casey, and you are?”
“Alani’s fiancé, Evan,” I respond curtly, ignoring Casey’s outstretched hand. I feel Alani’s grip tighten on my hand. If she wasn’t so small, she’d probably be crushing my hand. I figured the situation required an upgrade to our imaginary relationship status, so I just smile innocently at Alani, hoping she understands. The murderous look she turns on me destroys that hope immediately. She’s probably working out the dimensions of the hole she’ll be burying me in later. Luckily, Casey’s focus was on me the whole time and she missed Alani’s reaction. I turn towards Casey, who’s looking at me skeptically with her mouth agape.
“No way, I don’t believe it! You didn’t mention you had a fiancé,” Casey accuses Alani, suspiciously eyeing the missing engagement ring on Alani’s hand.
“I caught her off guard when I recently proposed. It’s a shame I didn’t have her with me when I picked the ring out, she could be showing it off right now instead of having it resized,” I explain easily. Before Casey could say anything else, I dismiss her with a nod, saying, “We need to get to our table. Alani, would you like to have a seat while I get us some drinks?”
“That’s okay, I’ll go with you,” Alani responds, finally removing my hand from her ass. Holding on to my hand, she leans towards me and whispers, “I think I’ll hold on to this in case it decides to wander inappropriately to another part of my body.”
I smirk as we walk off and head to the bar. At least she’s going to wait until later to kick my ass for all the shit I’ve pulled.
“So now we’re engaged?” Alani questions me in a whisper after we’ve been waiting in line for a few minutes. The lines are long and the event is so disorganized that it annoys the piss out of me.
“Looks like it,” I reply, winking at her.
“It would’ve been nice to come prepared with all the details of your wonderfully romantic proposal. Women ask about that stuff, you know,” she complains, swatting me on the arm and turning her back to me. Is she serious right now? Granted, we didn’t discuss an engagement when we went over our story for tonight, but can’t she just wing it? I don’t bother to respond since she’s turned her back to me—I know enough about women to know that it’s the universal code for she’s done talking to me right now.
With drinks in hand, we go to our table, quickly greet the guests already seated there and have a seat. I sit with my arm on the back of Alani’s chair so that we can keep up appearances while talking without being overheard.
“Do you see him?” I ask.
“No. He’s Casey’s husband, so I’m sure he’s here somewhere,” Alani replies.
“Ok, just make sure you stay close to me. Even if you need to go to the bathroom, I’ll stand right outside the door.”
“Evan, I’ll be fine. I’m not going to do anything stupid,” she replies dismissively .
“Stay close, Alani. I mean it.” I warn, irritated at her lack of concern for her safety.
“Alright. Jeez,” she finally agrees, sounding exasperated.
Lani
At first, it pissed me off when Evan invited himself to my reunion, but now that we’re here, I feel better having him around. With him, I don’t feel like the loser loner I once was, and secretly, I loved the way he handled Casey. I’m glad he saw through her lies and came to my defense about my being fat in high school, but he and I need to have a little chat about boundaries. I didn’t appreciate the hard slap on the ass—it stung and will probably leave his handprint on me for days. If I’m being honest, the feel of Evan’s hand on my ass thrilled me, having his fingers so close to my pussy. The squeeze of his hand had brought his fingertips dangerously close to the moisture that had started to seep from the juncture between my legs, and it ignited a feeling of need in me. I wound up giving him the dirty look that I should have directed at myself for the way my body was responding to him.
I could have killed Evan when he introduced himself as my fiancé since I knew Casey would pick up on the fact that I didn’t have an engagement ring. But, the man’s quick thinking and smooth explanation of the missing ring saved him from my immediate need to throttle him. That and seeing the look on Casey’s face when she found out I was engaged to someone as hot as Evan. I normally wouldn’t stand for Evan’s show of possession and manhandling me, but I’ll let it slide tonight because I saw the way Casey was ogling and flirting with my date for the reunion. I know it’s petty, but it brought me great satisfaction to witness the seething jealousy from my longtime rival.
After an hour, there’s still no sign of Devin—maybe he isn’t coming. I’m about ready to give up and get out of here. Looking around the room, I watch as my former classmates enjoy themselves. It’s just like being back in high school, where people pretty much stuck to same clicks they used to belong in, except I don’t have Kerrigan—she’s still in Kentucky. I start to feel like an idiot that no one is talking to me, and Evan is getting a glimpse of my pathetic teenage loser years. I know I’m not the same girl I was back then, so I decide to take control of my fate. The music has slowed and I plan on asking Evan to dance with me. I never went to my prom—Kerrigan and I had decided to stay home together instead, ordering pizza and watching movies. I knew back then that I’d have more fun with her at home than showing up at prom with some guy I barely knew. Now that I had Evan with me, I wanted to retake some of the simple life experiences I’d missed out on as a teenager because of what Jackson and his friends did.
“Evan?” I say, trying to get his attention.
“Do you see him?” he asks scanning the room. Of course, he would be focused on our mission. He’s not here for fun or to fulfill my teenaged fantasy of dancing with the hottest guy in the room during prom.
“No,” I disappointedly answer. And just like that, I lose my nerve to invite him to dance with me.
“What is it?” he asks, turning to face me.
“Never mind, it’s nothing,” I timidly reply, looking away.
“Alani, did you want to dance?” he asks, gently turning my face towards him.
“Yes, but only if you want to,” I respond, searching his eyes to see the truth in whatever response he gives me.
“I do,” he says and I believe him. He takes my hand in his and guides me to the dance floor.
Once we’re on the dance floor, he pulls me in so closely that I’m able to lay my head on his chest and hear the beat of his heart. As we’re slowly swaying to the music, I realize that I needed to feel this closeness to Evan. I begin to lose myself in the comfort of his arms and everything seems to fade away, leaving just the two of us on the dance floor. I can feel Evan’s fingertips on my back, in the space between my shoulder blades,gently brushing up and down—I wonder if he’s even aware that he’s doing it. My whole body shivers with want for Evan and a need, so incredible, rises within me. I feel Evan pull slightly away from me, making me come back to reality and suddenly realize that the song has ended. I look up to see him looking intently at me.
“I’m kissing you,” he announces before I can move away. I can’t tell if he said it as a warning or a promise, and my eyes close with the thrill of anticipation. Oh my God, Lani, STOP! What are you thinking??? You can’t let him kiss you! Just the touch of his lips earlier tonight left you stunned—what do you think a full-on lip lock would do? The thought shocks me into awareness and my eyes open immediately.
“No, Evan. It’s alright, we don’t need to go that far just to give these people a good show,” I hurriedly say. That’s when I made the mistake of looking into his eyes. Shit. I can see my desire reflected in those eyes and my resolve weakens.
“Trust me, Alani, it’s never just for show,” he says empathically. Hearing those words and the command in his voice, I’m compelled—I do trust him. My mind shuts off and I feel my head nod imperceptibly.
As he starts to slowly lean down towards me, my eyes close once more. And the moment his lips touch mine, the desire inside takes over and controls my body. The kiss deepens, and my hands are clutching the lapels of his suit jacket, tugging to bring Evan even closer. The kiss ends too soon and I’m desperate for another. Evan pulls back, leaving me to look at him in confusion. Why did he stop?
“Evan?” I ask tentatively, still dazed from our kiss.
“Yeah?” he replies. I’m not sure why his simple response upsets me, but the feeling reminds me that I’m here to work. I want to ask him why he stopped, but I don’t want to risk the humiliation.
“I need to go to the restroom,” I answer flatly.
“Ok, I’ll go with you,” he responds, releasing me from our embrace.
“Don’t be ridiculous! It would look odd if you were just standing outside the women’s bathroom waiting for me to get out. Get us some drinks. I’ll be right back,” I say, getting annoyed. Besides, I could use a break from his presence so I can compose myself. The man is killing me tonight with the emotional roller coaster he’s put me on.
“Five minutes, Alani. That’s it,” he orders strictly. Well, thank God I just need to pee! Next, he’ll be coming up with a schedule for when I’m allowed to breathe!
“You’re such a controlling asshole, it’s annoying the shit out of me!” I say, walking off in a snit.
“Get used to it, babe,” he matter-of-factly calls at my back.
I’m beginning to see the pitfall of our relationship—we’re both a mass of contradictions. I tend to shove him away and then wind up pulling him close, whereas Evan teeters from gentle to aggressive. Not that we’re a couple, but I now know why the relationship status ‘It’s complicated’ exists.
Evan
I’m back in another motherfucking long ass line just to get drinks. It irks me even more now that some idiots are getting drunk and acting like complete jackasses. I think what just happened on the dance floor is making me edgy. Once I had Alani against me, I couldn’t resist putting my mouth on her. I would have gone on kissing her, but I had to stop and pull away before she felt my erection against her or I wound up taking her right in front of everyone. The sexual frustration has been putting me in a foul mood ever since.
I feel a hand caress my back from shoulder to waist and it makes my skin crawl, knowing it’s not Alani since she’s currently in the restroom. It’s an unwelcome touch from a stranger—I don’t fucking like people putting their hands on me without my consent. I have the strong urge to lash out as the hand squeezes my ass and I hear, “Well, hel-lo!”
I turn around and find Casey giggling and batting her eyes at me. Perfect. Just fucking perfect. She’s just what I needed right this moment because apparently, I’m not pissed enough already.
“Are you having fun?” Casey asks in a flirty voice as she walks two of her fingers up my chest. I’d love nothing more than slap the skank’s hand away, but I think of Alani and how I can maybe help her by finding out where the hell Devin is. So, I have to play nice with Devin’s whore of a wife.
“Frankly, Casey, I’m having a shitty time waiting around just to get a fucking drink.” That’s as close I can bring myself to being nice to the bitch.
“Well, it’s a good thing I showed up then. I can definitely make your night a lot more enjoyable,” she flirts, tracing her finger from side to side down my chest and abs.
“Where’s your husband?” I quickly ask, removing her hand off of me before her finger can move down any lower. She keeps trying to reach for me, so I hold on to her wrist.
“He just got here, but he went to the bathroom. I bet we can sneak off somewhere and have ourselves some fun—he won’t have a clue!” Casey says excitedly, the lust showing clearly on her face. Shit. All I can think about is how close Devin is to Alani right now—I need to get to her. But first, I have to get rid of Casey.
“I have no fucking doubt that your husband is clueless—he married a cheating, slutty bitch like you, didn’t he?” I remark snidely, dropping her wrist and walking off. I got what I needed from her, so I didn’t have to hold back my contempt.
I almost want to run to make sure Alani is safe, but I keep my cool and quickly get to my destination without arousing suspicion. As I reach the bathrooms, she comes walking out of the women’s door.
“Damn it, Evan, I wasn’t even gone that long!” she protests. I ignore her and press her back against the wall, trapping her with my body. This probably isn’t necessary, but Alani doesn’t need to know that. I want to press my advantage while I have a plausible excuse for being so close to her. She’s too stunned to resist, and I lean down to nuzzle her neck.
“Devin’s here, Casey said he went to the bathroom,” I whisper in her ear .
“How will I get close enough to him?” Alani quietly asks with a tremor in her voice. I don’t know if my closeness is affecting her or if she’s concerned about what she needs to do.
“What was your plan before?” I inquire.
“I was going to take a glass he drank from,” she replies. I nod my head in acknowledgement as I release her.
We make our way back to the table and I strike up a conversation with the people we were grouped with. Seems like everyone was placed at this table because they weren’t deemed cool enough to sit with anyone else. I’m proud of Alani when she starts making jokes and tells her former classmates that she’d rather be at this table than with the cool kids. As she tries to put the others at ease, I watch her begin to relax and let go of any insecurities that may have been lingering from high school. The laughter at our table gets louder as everyone enjoys themselves. Hell, even I’m entertained and have gotten out of my funk. I become aware that everyone has stopped talking all of a sudden and are looking in Alani’s direction. I turn to find Devin looking at me with a pissed off look on his face. As Alani begins to turn in his direction, Devin’s facial expression completely changes.
“Hey, Alani! It’s been years,” Devin greets her with a brilliant smile. He leans down and gives her a quick kiss on the lips. I scoot my chair back at an angle so that my knees straddle Alani’s chair. I don’t know his agenda, but I want to be ready to jump up in case he tries anything.
As Devin straightens up, he eyes me. I’m not sure if he’s trying to get a reaction out of me, so I just arch an eyebrow at him. He sits down on the empty seat on the other side of Alani, putting his arm on the back of her chair and asking, “So, how the hell have you been?”
“Good...I’ve been doing good, Devin,” she answers uncertainly. Since she’s never mentioned being on friendly terms with Devin in high school, I assume she must be confused by this new development. I watch him place his hand on Alani and begin to massage her shoulder. He takes a sip of his alcohol before placing it on the table.
“Well, we definitely have a lot of catching up to do,” he says smoothly as he puts the hand that previously held his drink on Alani’s knee. Alani stiffens as he caresses her thigh. She places her hand on his to stop his wandering hand. He chuckles before adding, “You and I need to get reacquainted.”
“Devin, is it? I’m Evan, Alani’s fiancé,” I introduce myself, adding a bit of menace in my voice. I know I have to let this play out in order to help Alani, but I don’t like what he’s doing.
“That’s right, and I’m Casey’s husband,” he responds, emphasizing the last two words. I think he’s trying to intimidate me with his tone, but in my line of work, I’ve taken on tougher guys than him without backing down. He finishes the rest of his drink and places his empty glass on the table. Judging from the small, quick tilt of her head towards the glass, Alani has noticed it too. Now, she just needs a distraction.
Emboldened by the liquid courage and leaning towards me from behind Alani’s chair, Devin sends accusations at me. “You tried to fuck my wife! She told me all about how you took her to some dark corner of the school and made out with her. She said she you wanted her bad and you were so horny, she had to stop you from sticking your fucking cock inside of her!”
“Never happened. Everything that bitch told you was bullshit. I never touched her,” I quietly deny, leaning in close to prevent others from witnessing our exchange. It all makes sense. Embarrassed or angered by my rejection of her advances, Casey probably ran back to her friends and told them that Alani’s new fiancé wanted her—trying to humiliate Alani instead. The troublesome bitch told her husband a bunch of lies to make him jealous enough to come after me.
“You just stay away from her!” Devin demands, emphatically pointing his finger at me. Although I have no intention of going anywhere near his wife, I’m tired of this fucker and his telling me what to do. In a move so fast, it’s barely detectable, I pull on his outstretched arm while simultaneously kicking his chair out from under him. Caught off guard in an already precarious position, his body easily falls to the floor.
“Holy shit, buddy! How much have you had to drink tonight?” I exclaim, immediately jumping to my feet. I kneel down on one knee to help him up, but before I do...I give him a quick chop to the throat while he’s on his hands and knees and he begins to choke. With my arms around him, pretending to help pick him up from the ground, I speak clearly and quietly next to his ear, “Don’t you ever fucking lay a hand on Alani again!
“Good God, that fall must’ve knocked the wind out of you!” I comment aloud, standing up with him and patting him on the back. I glance down at the table and notice that the glass has disappeared.
“Are you alright, Devin?” Alani asks with concern, standing to check on him. Devin just nods his head and walks away.
“Bye, Devin, it was nice meeting you!” I call at his back. After that, Alani and I decide to call it a night and say farewell to the group at our table.
“What was that all about?” Alani asks once we’re in the car. I explain to her what happened at the bar, but not what I did to Devin. That should just stay between us guys. Once I’m done relating the story, she responds with, “Still the same Casey, I guess she never grew up.”
“So you believe me?” I ask, looking at her, surprised. Alani seems to question me a lot, especially when it comes to women.
“Yeah, I do. It’s not like we’re dating, you have no reason to hide anything. Besides, I saw her eying you earlier tonight,” she replies with a smile.
“Yet. We’re not YET dating,” I tell her so she knows I still plan to pursue her. I watch as she rolls her eyes, but she doesn’t fight me on it. Well, that’s a start.