by J. S. Cooper
“I’m not even going to ask you what.”
“That’s why I like you.” He smirked. “Your mind probably can’t even think up half of the things I want to teach you.”
“Oh?”
“Oh, yes.” He laughed. “I’m being too forward and perverse and I’m sorry. You just make me excited.”
“I make you excited?”
“In more than one way.” He nodded. “As soon as I saw you across the room, I knew I had to talk to you and we had to meet.”
“I thought you were looking at Alyssa,” I admitted with a small smile.
“At first I was.” He nodded. “But then, well, my eyes saw you and that was that.”
“That was what?” I asked him curiously.
“That was when I knew that I couldn’t care less about her. I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to kiss you. I wanted to touch you.”
“Okay.” I felt slightly disappointed by his words. I mean, I knew it was a sex thing, but he could have at least tried to romanticize it.
“I knew I wanted to get to know you better. Find out what makes you tick, in and out of the bedroom.”
“Really?” I scoffed at him. “You want to know what I’m like outside of the bedroom?”
“It might not seem like it, based on our current conversation, but I am interested in getting to know all of you. In becoming familiar with every aspect of your being. I hope I’m not sounding too intense, but I felt we had some sort of connection-attraction as soon as I saw you.”
“I don’t know what to say.” I gave him a shy smile. This didn’t seem like real life in any way. In fact, a part of me wondered if I was dreaming this all up. It all felt too surreal and totally not a situation that I would ever be in.
“Say that you feel the same way. Tell me that you want to get to know me as well.”
“I feel like getting to know you could cause problems for me.”
“What sort of problems?”
“I don’t know what sort. If I knew, I would most likely have left by now.”
“Left and gone where?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “To the dance floor with Alyssa.”
“We can go onto the dance floor by ourselves. I can do to you all the things I want to do to you.”
“Yeah, but what if all the things you want to do to me aren’t the things I want you to do to me?”
“I guess we can just wait and see, right?” He smiled at me lasciviously and I wondered what he was thinking. What sort of girl did he think I was? I mean, he had to know that I wasn’t that kind of girl, right? But then I almost slapped myself. Why on earth would he think I wasn’t that sort of girl? He knew nothing about me. Except for the fact that I was engaging in this ridiculous conversation with him and letting him think that we might actually do something tonight.
“I don’t know.” I bit down on my lower lip, nerves all of a sudden hitting me. This wasn’t the situation I wanted to be in. All of a sudden, I felt very self-conscious and unsure of what I was doing in this situation. This wasn’t me, and no matter how good looking he was, I didn’t want to be in this situation. “Actually, I think I’ll pass on the drink.” I gave him a small smile. “I think I need to go and see if Alyssa is okay.” I looked into his eyes and his face looked disappointed. “It was nice meeting you, though.”
“You’re not seriously leaving me here by myself, are you?” He frowned at me. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You didn’t offend me,” I said with a small shrug. “I just came out on a girls night and I think I shouldn’t abandon my friend anymore today.”
“She left you, you didn’t leave her,” he said. “I’m sure she’s okay.”
“I just feel bad, though.” I looked at him with a shy glance, wondering why he was making this so difficult. It was kind of flattering that this hottie wanted to spend more time with me, but slightly disconcerting that he was seeming so upset. What did he really care?
“Feel bad for leaving me?” He gave me a teasing smile. “After I grew the balls and the courage to come and talk to you? Now you’re going to leave me and make me feel dejected?”
“I’m sure you’re not going to feel dejected,” I said with a small smile. “There are plenty of other women here tonight who would be happy to talk to you.”
“But I don’t want to talk to them.” He almost whined.
“But they want to talk to you.” I grinned at him. “I’m sure half the women in here want to talk to you.”
“Only half?” He laughed. “Those odds aren’t good. Especially after I came up to the one girl I wanted to talk to and I thought things were going well, but then she decided to ditch me.”
“I didn’t ditch you yet,” I said with a laugh. “I’m still here talking to you.”
“So my charm is still working a little bit.” He grinned. “I just need to get you to stay talking to me all night and then my evening will be made.”
“Haha, I say you’ve got plenty of charm. I doubt that’s a problem that you have.”
“Perhaps not.” He laughed. “However, if you ditch me, then you’ll have me questioning myself and everything I thought I knew.”
“Everything you thought you knew about what?”
“Everything I thought I knew about you when I first glanced at you.”
“What did you think you knew?” I asked him curiously.
“I thought I knew that you were special. That you were a girl that I wanted to get to know. That perhaps we were destined to meet tonight.”
“You’re joking, right?” I started laughing and he looked at me with a wry smile.
“Too much?”
“Way too much.” I nodded, still giggling. “I mean it’s a nice thought and all, but it’s way too much. Romantic and perfect for a rom-com movie starring Kate Hudson or something, but for this situation, not quite.” I laughed some more. “Not after you offered me a blowjob shot and basically solicited me for sex.”
“I didn’t solicit you for sex.” He laughed. “I just let you know that I wouldn’t be opposed to some fun times with you, if you so wished.”
“Uh huh.” I nodded. “Sure, sure.”
“That’s not all I’m interested in, though,” he said seriously, his expression changing. “I hope you don’t think I’m that sort of guy.”
“I hope you don’t think I’m that sort of girl.”
“I know you’re not that sort of girl.” He laughed. “We’d be in the back alley by now, if you were.”
“Excuse me?” I asked him, not really understanding what he was saying. Well, I had an idea, but I wanted him to explain himself.
“We’d be somewhere enjoying each other’s bodies right now already, if you were the sort of girl who was up for a quick fling.”
“I see.” I pursed my lips.
“But you’re not that kind of girl and I’m okay with that.” He grinned at me. “Actually, I kind of like the fact that you’re not that kind of girl.”
“But you wouldn’t have minded if I was that kind of girl, though, right?”
“No guy would mind that.” He laughed. “And any guy who says he would mind is not the kind of guy you want to be with because that sort of guy would be a liar.”
“I see. So you’re saying that basically every guy is a slut or male whore.”
“I’m saying that no guy turns down sex. It’s the way of the land. The law of nature.” He shrugged. “If it’s on offer, most guys are going to take it.” He looked me in the eyes. “Some of us, though, some of us have more discernment. Some of us prefer quality over quantity. And we don’t need the girl who is ready and willing right away.”
“I’m the quality?” I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if he was just saying all of this so I wouldn’t walk away. Which was a stupid thought because it was obvious that was why he was saying everything he was saying. He wouldn’t do a full-circle in conversation out of fun. He did it because I’d threatened to leave. I was probably a challenge to him now. I kn
ew that guys loved a chase. And now that I’d said I was going to go and find Alyssa and ditch him, I was something to be conquered.
“Oh, yeah, you’re the quality.” He leaned close and brushed a piece of hair away from my eyes. “You’re the only girl I’ve looked at for more than ten seconds tonight. You’re a shining star in this room of bright lights. You’re the Northern Lights. You’re the song in my heart calling me over. You’re the nerves in my stomach that are hoping that I’m not being too cheesy. I want to spend the night with you, doing whatever you want to do. I just want to be with you. I just feel like I just need to be around you. I don’t know if that makes sense. I don’t know if I’m coming on too strong.”
“No.” I shook my head, feeling like I wanted to swoon. I wasn’t really sure what was going on, but I knew that whatever it was, it wasn’t going to end now, because I wanted to get to know Pierce better as well. The only problem was, my getting to know Pierce was not really about getting to know Pierce. My meeting with Pierce was all about my journey to Evan.
Chapter 2
Jess
The first time I met Evan was on a Sunday afternoon. I know, I know, you’re wondering who the hell Evan is and what happened to Pierce? Trust me, I’m going to tell you. Eventually. This is a complicated story. I don’t want you to judge me. At least, not without knowing the full story. You have to know the full story.
Now, back to Evan. I know, I know, you want to hear about Pierce and what happened when we left the club, but I can’t not talk about Evan first. Evan is the reason for all the trouble. Who knew when I met Pierce that night that there was going to be an Evan in the picture? Not me. Not at all, but man, Evan is the man of all men. Hot damn, Evan Evan Evan. The first time I saw him, I thought my panties were going to fall off. And they nearly did. I’d gone over to meet Pierce at his apartment for an early dinner and when I’d rang his intercom, he’d buzzed me in and let me know that he wasn’t actually home yet. He said that I could go up and that the front door would be open. He’d said to just let myself in and wait for him. He hadn’t said anything about there being another man in the apartment. He hadn’t said he’d had company. He hadn’t said any of those things. So you can imagine my surprise when I walked in and I realized that I wasn’t alone. And by not alone, I mean I was accompanied by an extremely attractive man.
He was standing in the kitchen at Pierce’s apartment and he was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a white T-shirt. His back was to me and I checked out his ass in the way that women check out the bodies of men they find physically attractive. It might have been a little creepy because I didn’t say anything for a good minute or so as I stood there admiring him and then he turned around and gave me a huge grin.
“Enjoying the view?” he said with a small nod and a twinkle in his deep green eyes. My face flushed as I stared at him, wondering how I’d never met him before and how he’d known that I was there. If he’d heard me coming through the front door, why hadn’t he done the polite thing and come out to greet me? I should have known from that moment that Evan was something different. He didn’t even have the initial politeness that most people have. Maybe that was why I was so drawn to him. Though I think I would use any excuse now.
Evan stared at me like he was challenging me to say something snarky in response to his view comment. I mean, what sort of man asked you that when he first met you? How cocky could one man be? I have to admit that one of the first thoughts in my mind as I stared at him was to wonder if he was single, though that was more for Alyssa’s sake than it was for mine. I mean, I’m not greedy. I didn’t need two hot men fighting over me. Not that I had any hot men fighting over me, but you know what I mean. And it wasn’t as if I wanted Evan. Not at all. Not when I was in the beginning stages of dating Pierce. I know, I know, you want to know more. I’ll get to Pierce, though he’s not as important. Not anymore.
“What view?” I asked, feigning confusion as I glanced at him, trying not to stare at him too hard. He was absolutely gorgeous, in one of those old Hollywood ways: debonair and dashing. Strikingly handsome. He didn’t have that baby-boy edge that Pierce had about him but he was equally as alluring. Let me be honest, he was even more alluring. Maybe that was why Pierce hadn’t introduced us yet. Maybe he only wanted me to meet his unattractive friends. Not that I’d really met any of his friends. It was really too soon for that. But if I had met more, I had a feeling Evan wouldn’t have been one of the first ones to be introduced. He seemed like the sort of guy who couldn’t be trusted. I mean, if Alyssa hadn’t been with me on the night that I’d met Pierce, I’m not sure that I would have introduced them—and we were best friends. And it wasn’t because I didn’t trust her, I trusted Alyssa implicitly. I knew without a doubt that she would never do anything shady with anyone that I was dating. But what if I’d only gone on one or two dates with the guy before they met and what if they clicked and were more attracted to each other than he and I were? Would that be fair to try to stop them, just because I’d met the guy first? Also, I knew that Alyssa was hot. In all fairness, she was probably a lot hotter than me. She had a look that every guy seemed to go for. She was petite, blonde, big boobs and ditzy. To be honest, that was why I’d automatically assumed that Pierce had been staring at her the night we’d met. Guys normally went for her first. Not that I’d minded, but it was something I always had in the back of my mind.
Which was why I was curious if that was why I hadn’t met Evan yet. Maybe Pierce knew that Evan was one of those guys who could most likely get any girl and, well, Pierce and I had only just recently met. And I wasn’t even really sure what was going on or what I wanted to be going on.
I stopped myself from continuing my thoughts. I wasn’t sure why I was getting caught up thinking about some guy I’d just met. I was acting crazy. I’d only known Pierce for one week, so it wasn’t as if I’d expected to have met his whole family and all his friends by now. If I was being honest with myself, I hadn’t really met anyone in his life, save for someone who may or may not have been a co-worker or ex-lover at the coffee shop by accident one day. I was still confused by his explanation for how he’d known her. He’d mumbled something and she’d looked at him with slanted flirty eyes and a part of me had wondered exactly what the story was, but I couldn’t ask. That would have been way too crazy. I couldn’t be nosey and slightly jealous when we’d barely met.
“You were checking me out, right?” Evan grinned again. “From the back and now from the front.”
“I’m not checking you out.” I frowned at him. “Why would I be checking you out?”
“I don’t know, why were you checking me out?” He raised his eyebrows at me.
“I wasn’t checking you out.” I glared at him. This guy was cocky and a bit too direct for me. Couldn’t he pretend that he hadn’t realized that I’d been checking him out? Wasn’t that what most polite men did? Though he obviously wasn’t polite. He also looked like he was a few years older than Pierce, so I wondered if he was a bad influence. Maybe that was why Pierce had started getting annoying already. Maybe he was listening to this asshole on how to be an arrogant prick and be annoying to girls very quickly. I immediately felt guilty at my thoughts, but Pierce’s pick-up at the club had been slightly off at some points and his “game” was a little bit too confident and self-assured. It was annoying.
I frowned to myself at my thoughts as I stared at Evan. I needed to stop being so negative. Pierce wasn’t that annoying. I was just a bitch, a whiny bitch. I mean, it wasn’t his fault that he’d taken me to Ethiopian restaurants on both of our dates when I’d told him explicitly that I didn’t like Ethiopian food. I mean, he wasn’t expected to remember everything about me. He’d just met me. And, well, it hadn’t been so bad. I hadn’t died. And he had apologized both times. Even if his apology had seemed kinda weak. Maybe it was some sort of douchey move that he’d learned from Evan. That would make sense to me. This guy looked like a douchebag with a capital D.
“Sure, o
kay.” Evan winked and walked towards me. “You can feel them if you want,” he said as he stopped in front of me.
“Feel what?” I said, gazing up at him. He had stopped and was standing way too close to me. I knew he was trying to make me uncomfortable so I didn’t step back from him. Though I really wanted to. My body was starting to feel hot just being this close to him. I was scared that I was going to explode into a ball of fire.
“My muscles.” He flexed his arm. “I can see you’ve been checking them out.”
“I wasn’t checking out your muscles.” I shook my head, though my eyes did fall to his arms then. I watched as he flexed them again and I watched as his biceps went up. Boy, he was muscular. He definitely had a different physique than Pierce. He was a lot more built and I normally didn’t like guys who were super muscular, but this guy was on the cusp of perfect. He had a ridiculously hard and built body, but he’d still be good to cuddle in bed. Though I wasn’t sure why I was thinking about cuddling with him in bed or spooning. Oh, shit, why was I thinking of spooning? Oh, shit, my eyes were now moving downwards. Oh, why oh why were my eyes moving to his crotch area? I was checking to see if he had a bulge and, if he did, how big it was. Once again my mind went to the spooning. What would it feel like if he were behind me, pressing into me, his strong arms wrapped around my body? Oh, God, I’m horrible. I shouldn’t be having these thoughts about Pierce’s friend. I shouldn’t be having these thoughts about anyone. I’m a good girl. Maybe if I repeated that to myself enough times then that would be true again. I told you that something changed that night at the bar. I’m not sure what, but all of a sudden my mind had gone crazy. All of a sudden I was like some sort of pervert, thinking about hot men, hot bodies, touching, one-night stands, all those things that good girls don’t think about. At least good girls like me, though I suppose I’m not really a good girl. Not anymore. Well, technically I still am. I hadn’t slept with Pierce. Yeah, we’d done stuff, but stuff didn’t mean I was a slut. Stuff just meant stuff. Everyone did stuff. Though, I suppose everyone didn’t meet one guy one week and then start fantasizing about that guy’s friend the minute they met them. Even if the guy was as hot as Evan.