“Thanks,” I said, happy that she’d remembered.
Hey, Evan, it’s Mara. Thank you so much for the night at Wicked! I had my first lesson with April’s teacher today and it was great! Would you tell her thank you for me?
It didn’t take him very long to reply, which I didn’t find surprising. He was probably just getting home from work and unwinding.
Sure I’m glad that it all worked out so well for you.
I smiled to myself, and then snapped a picture, sending it to him in my next text.
For my contact picture on your phone, I explained. You can send one of you to me, if you want.
I gasped with wide eyes as his picture came back.
Lizzy burst into laughter as she leaned over and looked at what he’d sent me.
“Good old, Evan,” she said, shaking her head.
I looked down at the shirtless picture again, eight abs winking at me from underneath his well-built chest and perfect smile.
Thanks haha.
I saved the picture with his information, hoping that Chris would never see the picture. I doubted that any man wouldn’t be jealous seeing that pop up on their girlfriend’s phone.
My pleasure
I tucked my phone away, my face burning again as Lizzy burst into renewed laughter.
“Does he send that picture to everyone?” I asked.
“Only girls he thinks are pretty,” she said, smiling at me again.
“Oh.” The butterflies erupted in my stomach and I grinned a little, enjoying the fact that he thought I was pretty.
“Oh, Mara,” Lizzy giggled. “I love you. You’re so sweet.”
“What did I do?” I asked, confused.
“Nothing,” she chuckled.
“Okay? I love you, too,” I said giving her a side hug.
“Someday, we’re going to look back at this moment and laugh at you together.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, resting my head on her shoulder.
“I know. That’s why we’re going to laugh.”
Chris poured me a glass of wine as I looked out over the cityscape, enjoying the twinkling lights.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, taking my glass from him.
“You’re beautiful,” he replied, watching me take a sip.
As soon the glass left my lips, he took it from me, pulling me up against his body with his other hand. His face moved towards mine, and I closed my eyes, anticipating the kiss that was about to happen.
His lips met mine roughly, moving in a way they never had before, bruising my mouth in their anxiousness. The one hand clutched me to him at my back, the other, having set my glass down, and weaved its way into my hair.
I moaned as I wrapped my arms around his chest, eyes flying open as I realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt.
I was kissing Evan! His muscles rippled as he tightened his hold on me, lifting me into the air and guiding my legs around his waist.
I melted into his touch, matching his passion the best I could. My heart soared at his touch. We were finally together!
He took a few steps forward and sat me down on the counter in front of him, his hands sliding down my legs, pulling my heels off, tossing them behind him. My stockings came next, a thrill going through me as his hands brushed my thighs under my skirt, drawing the thigh highs off in the sexiest way I’d ever seen.
He broke away from my mouth for a moment, kissing the skin on my legs as it was revealed , dropping each stocking on the floor once it was completely off.
Gasping for breath, I laid back, shoving the glasses out of the way as he unzipped my skirt, his lips brushing my hip after the fabric slid off it.
He climbed up on the counter after me, popping the buttons off my shirt as he ripped it open. Frenzied kisses landed on my collarbone and neck as he pressed himself against me.
I drug my fingers down his back, uncontrollable feelings of ecstasy running through me. His skin was so warm and strong. It was everything I’d ever wanted without realizing it. I didn’t care if I never did anything else ever again in my life as long as he kept kissing me.
His lips met mine once more and his fingers traced the outline of my black, lacy bra.
“Mara,” he panted, the need almost driving me insane.
“Mara . . . Mara!”
I opened my eyes in surprise, Lizzy standing over me with concern etched into her face.
“Are you okay? You were whimpering in your sleep.”
I blinked a few times, trying to gather my surroundings. I was in my bed, right where I’d crashed after work. From the light coming in outside, it looked like it was still early morning. Suddenly, the dream crashed back into my mind full force.
“Yes!” I rushed to say. “I was, uh . . . having a nightmare. I dreamed I was onstage and forgot my lines.”
“Nice,” she said, crawling back into her bed. “You were just kinda loud. I thought I’d wake you up to make sure you were fine.”
“I’m sorry,” I said the blush and horror deepening on my face.
“It’s fine,” she said with a yawn. “I’m glad I helped stop a nightmare.”
“Yeah,” I said with a nervous laugh. “I, uh, need to go to the bathroom anyway. Thanks.”
I quickly got out of bed and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. Leaning on the sink, I looked at myself in the mirror.
My face was definitely flushed, partly from the dream. My heart was racing a million miles a minute as I touched my lips, remembering Evan’s touch.
He didn’t actually touch you! My brain screamed at me. It was a dream!
I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves, before splashing water on my face.
It was the picture he sent. That has to be it. I mean, he looked smoking hot! Who wouldn’t have a dream like that after seeing it?
I grabbed the hand towel and dried off, still feeling slightly breathless.
I looked in the mirror once more, surprised to see the satisfied smile on my face.
Oh boy. I’m in trouble.
Chapter Twelve
“So, explain to me your restaurant,” I said, stirring the noodles that Lizzy had put me in charge of.
“What do you want to know?” she laughed.
“How are you going to open one? I mean, I’m sure that you can, but working at Olive Garden doesn’t exactly seem like a stepping stone towards accomplishing that goal.”
We laughed together as she washed a bundle of fresh spinach before answering.
“At this point in time, it seems like it’s never going to happen,” she sighed, laying the leaves on a cutting board and pulling out a knife. “I keep trying to save up enough money to do something—anything—that will make me feel like I’m moving forward, instead of standing still. Things just aren’t working out, though.”
“Don’t give up,” I said encouragingly. “If you keep working at it, things will fall into place.”
“I hope so.”
She finished her chopping and sprinkled the greens over a sauce she’d made earlier, clearly satisfied with how it turned out as she tasted it.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the spoon I was stirring with. “Would you mind setting the table?”
“Not at all,” I said warmly, opening the cupboard to grab the plates.
“You’ll need four of them,” she said nonchalantly.
I turned back to her, eyebrow raised.
“Who did you invite over?”
She mumbled her reply, shooting me a mischievous grin.
“What was that?” I laughed.
“Evan.” She shrugged, turning her smile back to her work.
My pulse quickened as I remembered the dream I’d had the week before. It had only occurred the one time, but it was burned into my brain for the rest of eternity.
“Who else,” I said, clearing my throat as discretely as I could.
“Oh, yeah. The Boy Toy will be here in about ten minutes. He texted me wh
en he left his house.”
“What,” I screeched, running for my closet. “You decided to wait until now to tell me?”
“I know you’ve been busy and haven’t gotten to see each other,” she giggled. “I thought a surprise, late night dinner party would be fun. Besides, I get in trouble with Evan if I cook a bunch of food and don’t invite him over. This way, he’ll be off work, too.”
“I’m wearing sweat pants!”
Her cute, baby blue sundress made more sense now.
I dashed across the apartment while she finished cooking, laughing at me the whole time. Panic welled up inside me as I tried to find something that wasn’t dirty. A small voice whispered that I wasn’t ready to have Chris and Evan together in the same room.
Just as I pulled a nice, black, three quarter sleeve shirt over my head, there was a knock on the door. I hoped it was Evan, who seemed less likely to care that I only had half of my hair fixed.
“Hey, Liz.”
His warm, baritone voice came muffled through the door and I breathed a little easier.
Calm down, it’s just Evan.
Suddenly, the thought of him pulling my stockings off and trailing kisses down my legs popped into my head and I gasped, knocking my brush to the floor.
“Mara?” Lizzy asked, knocking on the door. “Are you okay?”
“Yes!”
I quickly picked it up and ran it lightly through my hair.
This is going to have to do, I sighed to myself.
There was another knock at the door as I exited the bathroom. My eyes were instantly caught on Evan, though, a blush creeping through my face. Once again, I was remembering the things his dream self had done to me.
“Hey,” he said with a smile. “Long time, no see, right?”
“Yeah,” I laughed nervously, reaching up to twirl my hair around my finger.
I can’t stop thinking about it, I cried to myself. How am I supposed to sit here with my boyf—
“Mara!” I drug my eyes from Evan, turning to the doorway. Chris looked handsome as always, in his suit. I was beginning to wonder if he really worked that much, or if he dressed up because he liked it.
“Chris,” I said as warmly as I could, walking towards him as he held his arms out to me. “How are you?”
“Fantastic, now that I’m with you,” he said, placing a finger under my chin and bringing our lips together for a light kiss.
“Okay,” Evan said loudly. “What’s for dinner, Liz?”
I pulled away from Chris, practically shaking from nervousness. It felt like everyone could tell I’d had a sexy dream about someone I wasn’t dating.
“It smells delicious,” Chris said with a smile. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“It was a nice surprise for Mara,” she said, ignoring her brother and grabbing the plates I’d never set, handing them to Evan. “I know you’ve been missing each other.
Evan glared at her for a split second before taking the stack from her and setting them out in their places.
“Was it a nice surprise?” Chris laughed, wrapping his arms around me once more.
“Yes,” I said with a smile, reminding my insides to calm down.
You didn’t actually do anything with Evan. He and Chris have been around each other before. Just act normal and you’ll be fine. Nothing is wrong.
“It was a surprise for me, too,” Evan butted in, going back into the kitchen to help bring the food out.
“I figured you’d only care about the food,” she replied smoothly.
Chris led me over to the dining area and pulled a chair out, motioning for me to sit down.
“So, have your classes been going well?” he asked, talking softly so as to create our own conversation.
“Really well,” I said with a smile.
“Any job opportunities, yet?”
“No,” I said, caught off guard by the direction he was going. “I picked up a couple of shifts this month to help pay for the classes. It’s been pretty tight between the two. I don’t think I’ll make it to any auditions until next month, when I have some wiggle room.”
“Will there be room for me, too?” he laughed, a teasing twinkle in his eye.
“I would hope so,” I laughed, my attention breaking from him as the other two joined us at the table, setting the food down in the center.
“This is one of my own creations,” Lizzy said, laying a napkin over her lap. “So let me know what you think—for real! My feelings won’t be hurt if it’s terrible.”
“Lizzy can’t make anything bad,” I laughed, grabbing the serving spoon.
“I beg to differ,” Evan said, leaning forward and resting his folded arms. “When she was about seven or eight, she got the bright idea to cool off our ramen noodles with apple juice.”
“It was terrible,” she laughed, remembering as well. “But, like he said, I was only seven.”
“A few years after that, she decided to make peanut butter cookies for everyone.”
“Sounds yummy,” I giggled.
“You would think so,” Evan laughed, leaning closer to me. “She put a whole tablespoon of salt in the dough though.”
“They were inedible,” Lizzy chuckled. “No amount of sweet could save them.”
“Mom was crushed,” Evan said, a fond look in his eye.
“She would always eat the dough with us,” Lizzy said, the same look on her face. “That’s one of my favorite memories from being a kid.”
“Is that what helped you realize you wanted to open your own eatery?” Chris asked.
By this point, everyone had dished their own food and was taking the first bites.
“I like this one,” she said, smiling. “And, yeah, I guess so. I never really thought about it. I just always knew that I wanted to own my own restaurant.”
“What if it never happens?”
“It will,” Evan said with a little force.
He looked a little put off, his fingers gripping around his fork.
“Dreams fall through all the time,” Chris continued, oblivious to the fact that he’d obviously done something to set Evan on edge.
“If you work hard enough, though,” I said, trying to ease the tension. “Anything can happen.”
“That is true,” Chris said with a smile, raising his first bite to his lips.
We all watched as he chewed it up and swallowed, the grin on his face growing even wider.
“This is really good!”
“Thank you,” Lizzy breathed out, relaxing instantly. “I always get so nervous when someone new tries my food.”
“You don’t need to be,” Chris said appreciatively. “This is very well done.”
“She’s good at what she does,” Evan said, smiling at his sister in triumph, as if he’d won some unspoken battle.
“What about you, Evan?” Chris asked, scooping another bite up. “What’s your dream?”
“He wants to be a playwright,” Lizzy said.
“Really?”
“Not exactly,” Evan chuckled nervously.
“Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes. “He already has a story idea. Someone else wrote it bad, though, so he’s going to write his own.”
“How interesting.” Chris wiped his mouth and folded his hands in his lap. “Aren’t you worried that there’s not enough job security in that, though?”
“What do you mean?” Evan asked.
“Will writing be enough to take care of you and any family you have for the rest of your life?”
“It’s hard to say,” Evan said hesitantly. “Success in the performing world depends largely on what other people think of your work, no matter how much you put into it.”
“Exactly! You could put countless hours into something and have nothing come from it.”
“But it would be worth it, to me,” Evan said. “It’s hard to follow your dreams. A lot of people take the easy way out and pretend that they’re happy for the rest of their life. No one sees them dying inside, wishin
g they’d followed their heart.”
“Spoken like a true writer,” Chris laughed, picking up his fork again.
“What about you, Chris?” Lizzy asked. “Do you have a dream?”
“I’m perfectly happy the way I am,” he laughed.
“He wanted to go to school to be an architect,” I said softly, suddenly butting into the conversation. “But he was worried he wouldn’t be able to support himself, so he didn’t do it.”
“Sometimes dreams can’t be followed,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve never regretted my decision.”
I looked up from my plate and glanced at Evan. He looked like he wanted to call Chris on his last statement. I’d never seen him so hostile before. Something had ruffled his feathers bad.
“Well, thank heavens Mara followed her dream,” Lizzy said, raising her glass to me. “Otherwise, none of us would be here now.”
I blushed as the men raised their glasses, as well, the same expression on their faces. It took me a second to realize that it was admiration—and that Evan’s wasn’t brotherly.
As if he’d noticed me catching on, he broke his gaze away from mine and looked at his sister. It seemed the same smile was given to her, as well, but I was sure I detected a slight change.
What am I doing? Chris is right here! Stop looking at Evan.
I turned my gaze back to Chris and smiled warmly, leaning forward and meeting him for another small kiss.
I didn’t miss the tightening of Evan’s fist out of the corner of my eye as I pulled away.
Chapter Thirteen
“That was intense!” Lizzy said breathlessly, leaning up against the mirrored wall.
“But fun,” I said with a smile, trying to catch my own breath.
We’d gone to our first dance class together at a studio not far from the apartment. It had been nonstop action for the past hour. I’d loved every minute of it. The feeling of being back to what I did best was amazing.
As it turned out, Evan had been serious about coming to classes with us. He couldn’t make the dance classes because of work, but he’d told us both he’d do his best to see if he could make it to the acting classes on the weekends.
Lizzy had only signed up for the weekday dance lessons with me. She’d dropped several hints that if Evan were going to show up to act she wanted to be there to see it, though.
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