by Amber Lacie
“He’s not always grumpy. He’s gentle and sweet,” I retorted.
A grin spread across her face as she wrapped her arms around me, squeezing all of the air from my lungs. “This is fantastic! I knew you weren’t an old bitty. You do have a heart and Evan stole it.”
“Fuck you and your old bitty. God, you’re such a smartass.” Pushing her arms off me, I stood, grabbed my clutch from the coffee table, and walked to the front door. “Come on, we’re leaving.”
“The boys aren’t here yet.”
“Yeah, well if I stay in the apartment with you any longer I’m going to end up in an orange jumpsuit. Get your shit together, it’s time to go.”
As we walked down the stairs, I continued to mumble to myself about Eve calling me old. Sending Evan a quick text as we stepped outside the front door, I let him know we were ready to go. Eve and I stood in silence as we waited for the guys. She tried bumping my shoulder with hers to get me to laugh, but I was too annoyed.
When a sleek, black SUV pulled up, I felt a slight sense of relief, knowing Evan would be there to calm me down. After parking, Theron stepped out of the driver’s side and opened the passenger side door for Eve. “Ladies, are we ready?”
“I don’t know, babe. Kayla is really old. She may need a walker,” Eve poked.
“Oh my fucking God. Theron put your wife in the car before I murder her.”
Laughing, Eve slid into her seat and Theron shut her door. “My wife must have hit a nerve today.”
“It was more of my entire nervous system. It’s fine though.” Opening the back door, I found the seat empty and missing one very tall, sexy man. “Where’s Evan?” I asked, my heart sinking.
“He said he’s sorry, but he had to deal with something really quick. He’s going to meet us there.”
“Why didn’t he just text me?” I asked in confusion.
“Because the dumbass left his phone in my car.”
Nodding my head, I hopped into the backseat and snapped my seatbelt into place. Sure enough, Evan’s phone was lying on the center console between the seats. That explains why he didn’t reply to my text. While sitting silently in the backseat, I prayed to whatever Gods were listening for Evan to be there tonight. He was the only thing I was looking forward to.
Fucking Brix, I thought as I picked at the nametag she placed on my chest when we walked into the bar. Her long brown hair was perfectly curled, pinned back on one side with a small white flower. The white flower, with just a hint of gray, perfectly matched the print on her flats and fitted dress. Around her neck draped a long silver chain with a small charm at the end. I wasn’t willing to get close enough to investigate it, but I was certain it was a flower. It would only make her theme come full circle. It was supposed to be a party and she looked as though she was going to sell someone a timeshare.
“Stupid fucking nametag. It’s going to leave a mark on my dress,” Eve spoke with thick disgust in her voice, “I promise you, Kayla, she’s going to be the death of us all.”
“Probably. Drinks are free, right?” I asked. After all, if I was going to get through this night, that was the most important question to ask.
“All night. Drink up, my friend. You remember the plan, right?”
Sighing, I recalled the promise I had made to her during the drive over to the bar. “I have to keep you being knocked up a secret by making sure your drinks disappear throughout the night. Operation Knocked Up Cover Up is a go.”
Smacking my arm, Eve glanced around the room. “Kayla! For fucks sake, keep your voice down.”
“Don’t worry, haven’t you noticed I’m in the naughty corner? I broke the dress code.” Eve quickly glanced around the back room to the bar. Tables were scattered throughout, and I was in the very back corner. “This wasn’t my choice. Brix decided that since I didn’t want to put my whole self into the preparation for the wedding, I could sit in the back, so as not to distract the attention from her.”
“Shut up! Did she really say that?”
“No. It was more along the lines of, ‘Seriously? There’s a dress code. I don’t have time for this. Just go over there.’ That’s the translated version.”
“It sounds about the same. Theron said Evan should be here soon. I thought you might want to know.”
“He’ll get here when he gets here. I’m not worried.”
“No? The napkin you’re twisting in your hands and the two empty drinks in front of you say otherwise.”
“I’m fine. Besides, one of these empty drinks is for you. Now, trade me.”
Eve handed me her full glass of wine and grabbed an empty glass from in front of me. I need to figure out a better way to make her appear as though she is drinking along with everyone else. At first, I thought I could sneak over into the bathroom with it and pour it down the sink, but the bathroom was on the opposite side of the bar, separate from the back room we were located. I knew that if I didn’t figure out something soon, I was going to be screwed.
Robert was standing near the doorway when I walked over to give him my congratulations. He looked so handsome in his suit pants and button up shirt. I never pictured him as being the type to get tied down, and yet here he was, standing with one arm draped around his fiancés shoulder.
Robert smiled as he saw me walk over. “Hey, butthead.”
“Hey, yourself. You know when you get married you have to share everything––even the gallon of milk in the fridge? You won’t be able to take swigs from it anymore. You’ll have to use a glass.”
Brix was not a fan of my joke and looked past me as though I didn’t exist. “Honey, I see someone I have to say hello to. Come over when you’re done here. Love you, muffin.” She placed a quick peck on his cheek as he let go of her.
“Love you, too. Be there in a second,” he cooed.
I watched her walk away to talk to whomever it was she was using as an excuse to get away from me. I knew she wasn’t happy about me not following orders, and my attempt at humor probably didn’t help matters. The thing was, I didn’t care.
“Why do you guys have to push her buttons like that?” Robert snapped.
Looking up at Robert, I fluttered my eyelashes while smiling as innocently as possible. “Whatever do you mean, sweet Robert?”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. You and my sister both give her a hard time. All she wants is for everything to be perfect and you both give her hell for it.”
Damn it. There was a good chance Eve and I had taken things too far, more specifically me. “I’m sorry, I’ll try better to not piss her off. I won’t stop giving you a hard time though. It’s my job to get on your nerves.”
“It’s like you’re in middle school all over again. I hate you.”
“No, you don’t. You love me. I’m your favorite second sister.”
“You’re not my sister. You’re my sisters annoying friend who wouldn’t leave so our parents adopted you into our lives. It wasn’t by blood or by choice. You just kind of happened.”
Grasping my chest in an over dramatic fashion, I gasped, “You’ve wounded me with your words.”
“Shut up. I have not.”
“Have too. Say it, or I won’t leave you alone and you’ll have to spend the entire night with me following you around.”
Throwing his hands up in defeat, he caved. “Fine. You’re my favorite second sister. May I get back to my fiancé and pretend we are all adults now?”
“Aww, I knew you loved me. Go find Brix, I’m going to get a drink.” I took one small step before gently grabbing one of his hands in mine. “On a serious note, if she hurts you, I will cut her.”
“Good to know. Go away now.”
Laughing, I walked out of the room and towards the main bar with a now empty wine glass. Carefully setting it on the bar, I made myself comfortable while I waited for the bartender. Out of nowhere, my skin began to crawl and my blood pressure began to rise. I could hear his voice before I saw his face. Across the room, Paul was sitting at a high-
top table with some blonde falling over his every word. I wonder what excuse he is giving her for the bruise under his left eye.
Fear suddenly began to bubble under the surface of my skin. What if he sees me? What if he walks over? The fear of being spotted had cold sweats running down my spine. Keeping my eyes locked on the napkin in front of me, I refused to move until I got my glass of wine. After that, I planned to make a quick get away into the room before he could notice me.
Just then, a dark red glass of wine appeared in front of me. I quickly smiled at the bartender, grabbed my glass, and stood quickly to make my escape. Instead of making an elegant exit, I turned and took a step into a large brick wall. My eyes flashed upward with worry, only to be pleasantly surprised to find Evan looking down at me.
“Jesus. You scared the holy shit out of me. Don’t do that.” I smacked at his chest as he wrapped his arm around me, letting me breathe him in.
“You looked so sad sitting all alone. I noticed you as soon I walked in. I thought I’d walk over and surprise you.”
My eyes roamed over the man in front of me. His black boots stood out prominently against his dark blue jeans and matching black t-shirt. I love the way it gripped his broad shoulders. Someone else is breaking the dress code too and I love it. Leaning up on my toes, I placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “It was a good surprise. I’m sorry, you just caught me off guard.”
“I didn’t mean to. Where is everyone?”
“They booked the silver room.”
“What is that?”
“The back room of the bar. It just has a fancy name for fancy people. Come on, I’ll introduce you to them and you can tell them you’re my fancy date.”
“I like being your date, and that was a lot of fancies. How much have you had to drink tonight?”
Not answering, I grabbed his hand in mine and led him to the back room where Eve and Theron were now sitting at my table in the back corner. I mentally wondered what they had done to earn their time out. “I’ve only had three and one was for Eve. I’m perfectly fine. I just hate things like this. Everyone is so fake, you know?”
Squeezing my hand, he let me know he understood as he walked with me into the room. We were almost to the table when Robert and Brix stopped us. Brix was coiled around Robert like a snake. I bit my tongue so hard to avoid saying anything mean, that it started to bleed.
“Evan, I’m so glad you made it. Theron said you got caught up with work. I was afraid you weren’t going to show,” Robert greeted him.
Caught up with work? What exactly had he been doing that made him late?
“Wouldn’t miss it. And who is this lovely lady?”
Seriously? It’s obvious she’s the gold digger.
Robert smiled as he squeezed his arm around her waist. “This lovely woman agreed to be my wife. This is my Brix.”
“You’re a lucky man. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Brix.”
What pleasure? Everyone hates her. Get on board, Evan.
Brix’s smile completely caught me off guard. I wasn’t even aware she knew how to smile. “Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well. I know you were in hurry with work, so don’t worry about the dress code. It means so much to us that you’re here. It’s funny, I wasn’t aware you and Kayla knew each other.”
Bitch, don’t say my name. How the fuck did he get away with breaking the dress code? Glaring with contempt at Brix, I pulled myself closer to Evan as his hand brushed away a stray curl from my face.
“Kayla is the reason I smile. Now, if you’ll excuse us, there are some other people I need to catch up with.”
I’m the reason he smiles? A huge smile spread across my face, instantly quieting the angry voice in my head, as I held tightly to Evan’s arm. I was the reason he smiled. It was such a simple sentence, but it made a huge impact right underneath my rib cage. At that moment, the last of the walls around my heart crumbled into oblivion.
When we arrived at the table I made myself comfortable on the barstool next to Eve. She squinted her eyes at me and leaned over to whisper in my ear, “You’re in a better mood.”
“Yup.”
“Anything to do with that handsome guy in the dark jeans you walked in with?”
“Yup.”
“Well, go on. I need details.”
“I’m the reason he smiles.”
“When did he say that?”
“Just now––in front of Robert and Brix.”
“I bet she loved that. Did her face recoil in disgust?”
“I have no clue. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.”
Taking a sip of my wine, my gaze remained focused on Evan. His hair was combed back out of his face, he trimmed his scruff into a clean line that followed the edge of his jaw, and just a touch of chest hair was peeking out of his shirt. Everything about him screamed sexy and he was there with me.
I watched as his left hand flexed around the beer bottle Theron gave to him, while my eyes focused on the tattoos upon his arm. Odd shapes and swirls fanned down the back of his hand to his knuckle. It was different from the big, broad lines of the tattoo on his other arm…it was more intricate. For a second, I wondered how badly it must’ve hurt to get them done, but then I remembered that Evan was used to pain. He knew what it felt like to lose someone and have his heart broken. In that, we were the same.
A deep laugh echoed around us. My eyes flashed upwards to catch him staring back at me while holding his conversation with Theron. The way he looked at me and couldn’t take his eyes off of me felt amazing. We were in a bar, with plenty of available women, and he didn’t even notice them.
Eve leaned over my shoulder, “You, okay?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I asked.
“You’ve been sitting next to me for almost thirty minutes and we both have full wine glasses. One of them needs to disappear. It’s not like you to pass up free wine.”
“Sorry, blame Evan. He distracted me.”
“It’s fine. Do you want to follow me to the bathroom? Maybe we can pour one glass down the sink and no one will notice.”
“Sure.” Standing, I placed my hand on Evan’s arm. “Babe, we’re going to the ladies’ room. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Need me to go with you?” Just the fact that he offered had me weak in the knees.
“No, we’re good. We’ve been doing this a while.”
Chuckling, he pulled me into his arms for a quick kiss before releasing me to discard the wine in the bathroom. As I followed Eve out into the main bar, I looked for Paul to see if he was still there, but I didn’t want to make it obvious. When I didn’t notice him after a couple of quick glances, I let out a small sigh of relief, which caught Eve’s attention.
“Evan has you that worked up, huh?”
“What? Oh, yeah, I guess you could say that.”
“Just relax. Everything will work itself out.”
As we rounded the corner to the bathroom we found ourselves waiting in a rather long line. One day someone would realize the women’s bathrooms were never large enough, and they would build a bar with a restroom so huge, buses could park in them. Whoever came up with the idea would make money hand over fist. Women would flock to it, and I bet there would still be a line.
By the time it was finally our turn, I had already finished off a glass of wine. Not wanting to get drunk, I poured the other one down the sink while Eve went about her business. Once she was finished, we headed back towards the bar to get refills. We waited in another line for about fifteen minutes before the bartender was finally able to see us.
“My feet hurt. I’m sitting down.” Eve plopped down on an open bar stool and rested her feet on the bottom rung of the bar.
“Just like you two to be lazy and kick your feet up like you’re at home. You disgust me.” Nails on a chalkboard. The sound of Paul’s voice cut into my flesh like shards of glass.
“What the hell do you want?” I spat.
“Now, now, Kayla. Is that any way to ta
lk to your boss?”
“You’re not my boss.”
“If you plan to keep working for Chandeleer, I am. Your dad promoted me––this morning to be exact. I’m out celebrating with Lisa.”
Turning my head, I looked to where Paul was pointing. The blonde that was with him earlier was waiting at a table, along with a few other men I recognized from my father’s company. Shit. “She looks lovely. You should get back to her.”
“I was planning on it, until I saw you sitting here. How convenient this is for me. It’s not every night you get to confront your lover after she punches you in the face.”
“One, I’m not your lover. Two, get fucked.”
“You don’t deny punching me? I wonder what the police would say about that?”
“They’d say they don’t give a fuck since you already gave them your view on the matter.”
He circled me like a killer whale, waiting to attack a seal. “Perhaps, or maybe they would be inclined to listen to me. I wasn’t myself the other day. I was embarrassed, and since I work for your dad, things were complicated. Pressing charges would’ve meant I could lose my job. The events of the day just keep replaying in mind. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I can’t—” Paul recalled, as if he were mentally traumatized by the events.
What if he could spin it all in his favor? What happens to me? Reluctantly, I looked back at Eve over my shoulder before facing Paul once again. “Fine. What do you want?”
“That’s my girl. I want five minutes outside with you, alone, just to talk. If we can’t work things out, I’ll go quietly.”
“You’ll go quietly?” I reiterated.
“Absolutely. I give you my word.” His words had never held any value in trust, so I knew better than to go with him, but what other choice did I have?
Gently placing my hand on Eve’s knee, I grabbed my clutch from the bar. “Hey, I’ll just be a minute.”
“Forget him. I don’t know why you can’t just walk away from him.”
“I can’t explain it. I’ve done this to myself.” Lowering my head, I followed Paul outside. He came to stop on the side of the building where the dumpsters were hidden between brick wall dividers. I stood silently in front of him, my stomach sinking to my knees, waiting for him to say whatever he needed to say so I could move on with my life. What I didn’t expect was the intense order of events that would follow.