Evan's Addiction

by Sara Hess

  Walking next door I knocked on Shaw’s door. “You ready yet?”

  “No,” came her reply from inside. “Samantha and I are doing girl stuff which takes longer.”

  My groin tightened imagining her naked rubbing on lotion…in some really interesting areas. “Can I come in and watch?”

  “It’s a menstruation meeting so you would have to leave your penis at the door, unless you’re a duderus?”

  I coughed out a laugh. “What the hell is a duderus?”

  “A dude with a uterus, dummy.”

  I could hear both her and Samantha giggling on the other side, but all I cared about was hers. “You’re the dummy, dummy.” With kids in the house I had to be careful on what came out of my mouth this weekend.

  Their laughter increased and felt like beating my chest hearing her happiness. “You must be delirious with hunger because that is the lamest comeback I’ve ever heard from you.” She ribbed.

  “I am, so hurry that little backside of yours up so we can go eat.”

  “I’m going to be at least another ten minutes so I will meet you down there, you nut head.” Shaw had been watching her words as well this weekend.

  “Fine, I’ll try my best to save you some whole grain cardboard and vegemite.” I turned away with a snicker.

  “And I’ll try not to smash it in your face like the pies we were discussing earlier.” She yelled.

  I was laughing as I made my way down the stairs and when I heard Blake’s roar I laughed harder.

  “Evan, I’m going to kick your ass.”

  “Watch your language, potty mouth; there are children in the house.”

  He appeared at the top of the stairs in a towel, frustration and retribution all over his face. “Where are my clothes, Dick…Tracy?”

  I held up his bag. “Right here, Ass…shtin Martin. I was just trying to do you a favor and bring your bag down for you, because I’m that kind of guy.” I waved it, daring him to come get.

  He marched down the stairs. “If you run don’t think I won’t come after you and tackle you naked.” One of his brows rose and he sneered. “I bet that’s what you were hoping for anyway, weren’t you? You want me all over you naked, don’t you?” He shimmied his hips.

  I gagged and backed up towards the front door. “No one wants you naked all over them, dude.”

  He lunged at the same time I opened the door and lobbed his bag out, and while Blake was slightly bigger than me I’d had a plan, so when he lunged I gave him an extra shove sending him out the door with his bag. I saw his towel slip and a flash of his naked ass before I shut the door behind him and locked it.

  Banging ensued. “Open the door, you Shit…ake mushroom! When I get my hands on you I’m going to take your lacrosse shaft and break it in half.”

  I was laughing, but I couldn’t stop my slight wince at that threat. This was going to bring about weeks of pranking. Hopefully we didn’t end up losing any skin or breaking any bones.

  “I’m sorry, Sweet Cheeks, but I just can’t give you what you need. My lacrosse shaft belongs to someone else.”

  “Don’t worry, woman hands, I’ll donate mine for her to use.”

  Both those remarks offended me greatly, and just when I was thinking about letting him in.

  “What’s going on?”

  I looked behind me to see Shaw and Samantha tripping down stairs wearing curiously amused expressions. They were both in shorts and tanks, and Shaw had her red hair in a long braid that curved off to the side and over her shoulder, teasing her breast. Her eye make-up was just enough that it made her eyes look bigger, greener and brighter.

  Damn, she seemed to get more beautiful every time I saw her.

  I stepped away from the door to meet them at the bottom with a smile. “Blake needed some air and I was helping him out.”

  “I can hear you, Wanker Smalls. Whosever there, open the door and you can watch me give Evan a candy gram.” Blake hollered.

  Shaw’s lush mouth spread into a wide grin that had my dick nodding in approval. “Ohhh, what does a candy gram involve?”

  Blake growled through the door. “It involves me tying him up, dipping his nuts in sugar, and placing him on top of an ant hill.”

  Her mouth pursed and I could tell she was holding back laughter. “Well, it’s a no wonder I’ve never heard of those. I can’t see that being very popular.”

  I nodded sagely, wrapping my arm around her waist. “So we’re on the same page then, right; leave the loiter on the door step?”

  She looked up at me and shrugged, her delightfully freckled cheeks turning rosy. “I never answer the door at other people’s houses.”

  “Right now my retribution is set at one person, but it can climb higher.” Blake threatened.

  I pulled Shaw with me and looked back at Samantha who was watching us with what seemed to be exceedingly probing eyes. Wonder what that was about?

  “If you feel the need to let your brother in I won’t hold it against you.”

  She shrugged looking unconcerned for him, but her eyes on me still remained concentrated. “He’s a big boy, and it’s not like it’s the only door in.”

  “Not scared of his retribution?” I asked.

  Samantha’s lips curved wickedly. “He knows better then to start something with me. I know everything about him and what really gets under his skin.”

  “Do tell.” I pressed.

  She shook her head. “I don’t give away tactical advantages.”

  I narrowed my eyes on her but nodded. “Smart.”

  A got a smirk back at that.

  The three of us walked into the kitchen to find that half the house was up and making a huge dent in the food. Everyone was scattered around the kitchen in the process of filling their plates and mouths. We joined them and talk of last night became the main topic.

  The glass door leading to outside opened and Blake stepping in wearing clothes and a scowl. He pointed at me menacingly. “When you least expect it, Limp Biscuit.”

  I was sitting at the kitchen nook…that wasn’t all that nook like with six of us squeezed in it…with my arm around Shaw and I just gave him an arrogant grin.

  “Uh-oh, what did we miss?” Noah asked.

  Blake walked over to grab a plate. “Evan decided to start a prank war.”

  Three male groans filled the air.

  “Evan, what the hell…o.” Seth grunted, correcting his language. “The last one caused a couple thousand in damages. I thought we decided after that one to lay off them.”

  “That was before Blake was living with us and we never did give him a proper introduction into the house.” Forking a sausage I brought it to my mouth while moving my hand from Shaw’s shoulder to her knee, and squeezing. She jolted and gave me a flushed evil glare that only had me squeezing higher. She started and compressed her legs together.

  Nic swung his fork between Blake and me. “Make sure Carrie stays out of your path of destruction.”

  Shaw snorted…which was cute as fuck…and I also observed Carrie roll her eyes at his over-protectiveness.

  Carrie gave him a small elbow nudge. “I’ve never been part of a prank war; it sounds like fun.”

  He massaged her neck. “It starts out in fun and relatively harmless, but it always escalates. We’re talking about laxatives in the juice, Habanero sauce injected in the fruit, smeared creams and food on every surface, and then it moves to having your entire bedroom moved to the back yard.” Nic glared as we all laughed.

  Shaw looked at Nic with a smirk. “Let me guess; the bedroom was yours?”

  He scowled. “Yes, and it took me hours to put everything back.”

  “It still sounds fun, although time consuming.” Carrie laughed.

  “You guys must have done it off-season, because I don’t know how you would have found the time otherwise?” Samantha commented.

  Landon nodded from the across the table, pressed up tight to Maya’s side. “Yeah, we had way too much time on our hands in
the off-season. It turned us into juveniles.”

  Maya coughed, appearing to cover up a grin. “Yeah, I’m sure that was the reason.”

  Landon did something under the table that caused Maya to jerk, squeal, and elbow him.

  “I’ve always thought there was something seriously wrong with that Y-chromosome.” Shaw shook her head somberly, eyes twinkling. “Two pairs beats an XY any day.”

  “You tell it, sista.” Nadia raised her hand and they slapped high-fives.

  Then of course all the girls had to voice their consensus.

  And in retaliation the guys squeezed and poked the women next to them making them squirm and yelp.

  “Okay, enough of the touchy-feely. You all are going to make me sick.” Luka groaned. Most likely Seth’s touchy-feely towards his sister was making him sick. “Are we hanging out here again today?” He stood and took his empty plate to the sink.

  Shit, that kid was huge for only being seventeen. He was as large as Seth, but a blonde, Russian version. He was on the wrestling team at his high school, but I knew he’d been getting some lacrosse sessions in with Seth. I’d heard he was thinking about trying out for a walk-on position next year at UVA. The kid already had a scholarship for his wrestling so maybe he was planning to do both.

  “If anyone’s interested I’m taking Shaw to the Air-Dome today.” I announced.

  Shaw glanced at me in confusion. I gave her raised eyebrows and a smile in return. I hadn’t told her our plans today because I’d wanted to surprise her.

  “What’s that?” Luka leaned forward looking particularly interested.

  Noah jumped in to explain. “It’s a facility that has a large fan that can make soar; kind of like if you jumped out of a plane, and I am so in on that.” He declared with ‘whoop’.

  Everyone else was up for it as well. Just then the Cruz brothers walked in and when they heard our plans they rushed through breakfast to join us. It appeared Greg hadn’t come back to the house last night so Maya sent him a text to inform him of our plans, and the grandparent’s said they were fine staying back to babysit Nola again.

  I had reserved a time for ten-thirty so with everyone on the same page it wasn’t long before we were hustling out of the house so we wouldn’t arrive late. Blake gave me the finger before hopping into Landon’s Mustang. I gave him an air kiss in return…like I was upset that he didn’t want to ride with Shaw and me. It just gave us more time alone together.

  “So, does this fan send you really high into the air?” Shaw asked.

  Faint nervousness colored her tone. “It can send you up a little over two-stories, but the sides are padded and the bottom is like a trampoline, so it’s almost impossible to get hurt.” I gave her knee a squeeze. “I wouldn’t take you to a place where you might get hurt.”

  “But what if I’m scared of heights?”

  Well, that could be a problem. Glancing over at her I saw her smirking like she was messing with me, but I didn’t miss the hint of anxiety in her eyes.

  “You’re not scared of anything.” I encouraged, rubbing her leg. She seemed to cough, laugh, and choke all at the same time. “What was that for?”

  She wheezed, scrunching up her nose endearingly. “Everyone’s scared of something.”

  How true I thought eyeing her up and down.

  “I bet the things you’re most frightened of are computer viruses and a possible Y2K.” I teased.

  She grinned, but there seemed to be a veil over her eyes, and I suddenly remembered what she’d said to me on our first date. She had a fear, a fear that I would hurt her. Her words had been like bullets firing into my chest that night and they weren’t something I was going to forget.

  “Thinking about them does bring on a smidgen of hives.” Her features turned curious. “What are you afraid of; besides faulty latex and two blue lines?”

  I gave her the evil eye for that but she just smiled innocently. My mechanical response was to say ‘nothing’, because hey, I’m a guy and naturally we’re not scared of shit, but I wasn’t going to be flippant because it wasn’t often she asked me personal questions.

  “I’m not too fond of…snakes.” I confessed.

  Stopping at a red light I looked over at Shaw and watched as she cocked her head in curiosity. “Really?”

  The light changed and I pressed the gas. “Really.”

  “Like all snakes, or just the venomous ones, because I think most people aren’t too fond of the venomous ones.”

  “They all kind of freak me out.” I grinned self-mockingly.

  She arched her brow. “A normal kind of freak-out, or high octave screaming freak out?”

  I adopted an offended expression. “Nothing that even closely resembled a high-octave scream has ever left my mouth. But…I do have a kind of automatic, uncontrollable reflex of running hell-bent when I see one.”

  A giggle left Shaw’s mouth that erupted quickly into laughter, and once again hearing it had something exploding in my chest. “Please at least tell me that your arms flail hysterically?”

  “You’re displaying an inappropriate amount of amusement for my phobia.” I inform her sternly.

  She clutched her chest and chortled. “I’m sorry. I so don’t want to make fun of your fears, but the image popped in my head and I couldn’t contain it.”

  “It’s not that bad.” But it was pretty close.

  Shaw’s laughter tapered off and she attempted to give me an apologetic face, but I could see her lip twitching with leftover hilarity. “I am sorry for laughing. It’s not right to make fun of someone else’s fears.” She gave me a side-ways look. “Even garden snakes?”

  My lip tweaked at her doggedness. “Yes, even garden snakes.”

  “Their so harmless though.”

  “It’s an involuntary reaction I tell you, I have no control over it.” I griped.

  Some kind of cough-giggle erupted from her throat. “Being a city boy you probably haven’t had too many run-ins with those dastardly reptilians.”

  “You’re hilarious.” I responded drolly with a squeeze to her knee.

  She squeaked and grabbed at my hand trying to stop me. The Air-Dome structure was coming up on the left so I had to let up to down-shift. I turned into the lot and parked near the entrance.

  Turning to Shaw I grabbed her nape and hauled her in for a deep kiss before pulling away slightly to stare her in the eyes. “My mom’s the only other person who knows about my fear of snakes. Are you going to keep my secret?”

  Her eyes widened. “The guys don’t know?” Her minty breath whispered across my mouth.

  I could see she was shocked and puzzled that I’d never told the guys and was wondering why I was revealing it to her. The guys and I were close, like brothers, but there was no way I was giving them that kind of ammunition. I would have found live snakes in my bed in their efforts to scare the shit out of me.

  “Nope.” I brushed my answer over her soft lips.

  She took a moment to answer. “I promise to take it to my grave.” She breathed. “But I can’t promise that I won’t use it against you if the opportunity presents itself.”

  I gave her a grin and one more kiss to that delectable mouth. “I figured.” And I did, but I was trusting her with my fear to let her know she was special…singular.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  SHAW

  Evan moved around the front of the car taking my hand straight away. He was constantly touching me now so I was getting more accustomed to the unexpectedness of it, and while the concept of holding hands and hugging was still alien to me, I didn’t go all robotic at his touch.

  I actually liked it…a lot.

  Walking into the Air-Dome I was still puzzling over why he’d revealed something personal to me he hadn’t to his best friends, but it looked like I was going to have to shove my bewilderment to the side and ponder later because Evan was trying to pay my fee to play under a big fan and I couldn’t let him do that. He’d been paying for everything since be
fore and after this dating thing.

  I also didn’t like the way the woman behind the counter was looking at him, or the way he smiled at her. She had to be at least a decade older than him.

  Grabbing my debit card I pushed it in the shameless cougar’s face. “Here Ma’am. I’m paying for him and myself.”

  She turned a glower my way…didn’t like that title did she…and I was pretty sure I heard a choking laugh from Evan.

  “Shaw, I made these plans so I’m paying.” He cleared his throat, holding out his card.

  Shoving his hand away I waved my card under her big nose. “You’ve paid for enough; I got this.”

  Two-hundred dollars was a shit-load of money to me, but it was only fair. I had a few thousand saved up. I wasn’t a tight-wad…okay, I was…but I could spare a little now and then. I wasn’t expecting Evan to pay for everything; although, I did like that he wanted to. It was sweet.

  The cougar snatched the card from my hand, probably tired of waiting as well as staring at my face, and swiped it through the machine.

  “Dammit Shaw.” Evan growled.

  “Quit whining.” I shot back while gifting the cougar with a fake smile when she returned my card.

  “I don’t whine.” He grumbled.

  Snorting, I punched in my four digit code. “All men whine. I think you all have a ‘whine’ gene, and its connected to the ‘pout’ gene, which is adjacent to the ‘bellyache’ gene.”

  The cougar’s sour face actually cracked a smile at that…and now my life was complete. It was possible I was seeing more to their smiles than what was there…wait…she was staring at Evan with that smile again, and it definitely didn’t look like standard professional counter girl smile. That smile was calling on an entirely different profession. My gaze narrowed back on her.

  Evan’s arms wrapped around my waist and he hauled me into his side to grunt in my ear. “I’ll let you get away with it this time, because it appears you’ve already gotten away with it, but next time when I set up a surprise for you let me pay, alright?”

  My nerves went on hyper alert at being so near him. “I’ll think about it.” I covered up my jitters by tucking my card in my pocket.