by Deb Rotuno
Faith and I thanked the kid behind the counter for our ice cream, stepping back out onto the boardwalk. I slowly dragged my spoon through hot fudge, whipped cream, and cold ice cream, bringing it to my mouth.
The beach had been crowded with students from both Glenhaven High and Edgewater College. It was Friday, and most just seemed to need to blow off steam. Summer break was so close, the air seemed to vibrate with the anticipation. Faith had seen a few people she knew, and so had I—one of whom had been Brad.
“So…that was the asshole who threw a drink at my brother,” she said, licking her spoon and smiling at my laugh.
“Yeah, he’s…special.” I sneered, shaking my head. “He’s also not allowed at the café anymore. Wes banned him.”
At the mention of my cousin, Faith’s cheeks heated and she focused more on her sundae than anything else around her.
“Hey,” I whispered, nudging her a little. “He really does like you.”
Her sweet blue eyes locked on to my face, silently pleading with me not to fuck with her. I sighed deeply because I understood both sides. My cousin, despite his laid-back personality, was trying to give Faith a chance to settle in, finish high school, and heal a little from all that she’d been through with her brothers and father. He wasn’t leading her on or teasing. He just wanted her happy. Faith, however, was running out of patience.
They flirted and laughed and got along better than I’d ever imagined they would, but my cousin was trying to be a gentleman. And he was Evan’s best friend, which made him wary from the start. And even Evan had told Wes time and time again that Faith was quite capable of making up her own mind. My cousin, however, merely wanted to do the right thing because he really liked Faith—almost to the point of overprotectiveness.
“You think it’ll change when I’m out of your house?” she asked hopefully. “Not that I don’t want to be there…I just meant when I start Edgewater in the fall.”
Grinning, I took another bite of my ice cream. “Maybe, but Faith, you need to talk to him. He’s a dumb boy. Trust me, I grew up with him. As awesome and smart and silly as he is, he’s just…Wes. He’s busy, and he’s trying to make sure you aren’t…”
“I’m fine,” she huffed, rolling her eyes. “I’m almost nineteen.”
“And he’s twenty-two, Faith. He’s had relationships before—one was even serious for a bit—and he doesn’t want to move too fast or hurt you. You…coming here…that was a big step that came out of nowhere. Even Evan worried about you, you know?”
At the mention of her big brother, Faith sighed. “I’m okay. It’s been almost five months.”
“And you’re still dealing with your dad’s shit, Faith. Hell, he hasn’t even been sentenced yet, and he’s still got to face the prescription thing. I’m hoping he’ll plead out like Tyler said, but…”
She nodded, snorting a little, but looked over at me. “You know, Evan and Tyler…They guarded me, protected me after Mom died, even before that, and I love them for it, but I just want…normal. I want…I want to be treated like a girl, a woman, not someone’s baby sister.”
I laughed softly. “Maybe that’s what my cousin needs to hear. I can’t say I blame you.”
We walked into Sunset Roast, and I smiled at the handsome thing behind the counter. His shyness was set aside when he was at work. He smiled and greeted the regulars, he joked with Susan—who was currently throwing sugar packets at him—and he worked his ass off in the back unloading the deliveries and keeping the inventory straight. He even continued to maintain the filing that my cousin still wasn’t allowed to touch. He’d turned into Wes’s right hand.
Evan’s smile was warm, sweet, despite the fact that he was still batting away sugar packets. “How was the beach?” he asked, leaning over the counter to kiss me before I fed him a bite of ice cream.
“Sandy…beachy,” I said with a grin, but I watched his mouth wrap around my spoon for one more bite, aching to have that mouth everywhere.
“Where’s my ice cream?” Wes gasped in shock, coming in from the back.
“Down at O’Malley’s, you mooch,” I snapped back, looking at him like he was crazy. “Get your own sundae…or better yet…Next time bring your happy ass with us to the beach. Then you can get your own fucking ice cream. How ’bout that?” I smiled innocently his way as he narrowed his eyes at me.
“That’s cold, dude,” he muttered, eyeballing my spoon as I fed Evan another bite. “And you are distracting my employee with chocolate and whipped cream and…”
Evan snorted, shaking his head. “Here we go,” he sang under his breath, wearing an amused smile.
“And you’re seriously hogging my boyfriend, doofus, which means he can’t go to O’Malley’s, so I bring the ice cream to him.” I pointed around the quiet café. “Don’t like it? Send him on break.”
Susan and Faith were in silent hysterics as they watched us like a tennis match.
“Meany.”
“Slave driver,” I countered, looking up at Evan. “Ignore him. Can you take a break before I head home?”
Evan’s grin was adorable, but he shook his head. “I need to tackle the filing from this week.”
“Ah-ha! Excellent. I’ll keep you company,” I said, turning to Faith. “We’ll head home in a few minutes.” As I walked by my cousin, I set the rest of my ice cream in his hand. “Here, you big baby. Maybe next time you’ll man up and go with Faith yourself. Hmm?” I whispered to him, raising an eyebrow his way.
He shoveled a spoonful of ice cream into his face as we walked into the back, only to yell, “Don’t do anything disgusting in my office!”
“Who says we haven’t already?” I called back, grinning up at Evan. “It’s best to keep him on his toes.”
“Dani,” he said with a laugh and a slow shake of his head as he shut the office door and clicked the lock closed. “Let’s really make him nervous.” He grinned, and it was deadly and teasing.
My giggle was loud, but I sat down on the edge of the desk as Evan picked up the stack of papers from Wes’s inbox.
When the last page was tucked away and the drawer closed, Evan turned to walk into my arms, dropping a heavy kiss to my forehead. His lips met mine in a long, deep kiss, but he smiled into it, pulling back and licking his lips. “You taste sweet and chocolaty.”
I smiled up at him, brushing my lips over his again. “What time will you be home?” Again, an expression crossed his face that I couldn’t quite figure out. “What’s wrong?”
He laughed, looking at me like I was crazy. “Not a damn thing, pretty girl. And I won’t be too late. I promise. Susan’s doing the closing tonight.”
“Okay, good.” I kissed him again, squeaking a little when he wrapped his arms around me and set me down to the floor.
Wes was on the other side of the door when we opened it, his hand poised, reaching for the knob. His eyes narrowed to me, then Evan, and finally around us to his desk.
“Good thing you got a sturdy chair, Wes,” I told him, hearing Evan snort into a laugh when I patted my cousin’s shoulder.
Evan walked me back up front, and we both chuckled when Wes muttered, “You know…I really don’t like either one of you right now. Susan! Where’s the disinfectant?”
My shower was long and hot, rinsing away the sea salt and sand from my few hours at the beach with Faith. I pulled on my usual shorts and T-shirt for bed, thinking I’d just work on some homework until Evan arrived, but when I stepped into my bedroom, I grinned at my handsome guy sitting on the edge of my bed.
“You’re early,” I said, shutting the door and locking it.
Evan was still in his work shirt and jeans, and he smiled up at me, pulling me between his legs as he nodded a little. “I was driving Susan bat-shit crazy. She kicked me out early.”
“Aww,” I crooned through a chuckle as I cupped his face. “Poor baby. Why?”
“I couldn’t stop pacing,” he replied softly, flexing his fingers on my waist, like he was trying to to
uch as much of me as he could at one time. “Dani…I…I want to…Dammit, I just need to ask you something, and I’m…”
He was so damned nervous that he reminded me of the shy boy I’d met in my cousin’s office, and suddenly I was really scared.
“Did I…Is there…”
“Oh God, baby,” he breathed, pressing his lips to mine as he cupped my face in his hands. “It’s not bad, pretty girl. I just…I want to ask you something.”
“O-Okay.”
“I wrote this shit down, and still I’m nervous,” he said through a humorless laugh, but he met my gaze and swallowed thickly. “Dani, I…I don’t want to live in the dorms next year. I want…I want us to find a place…together.”
I gaped at him, not because I didn’t want it—I did, badly—but because he thought I’d say no. “Seriously?” I squeaked, unable to stop the smile from spreading across my face.
“Yes, seriously.” He grinned, but it fell quickly. “Listen, Dani…I’ve talked to your dad, and I’ve weighed out dorms versus an apartment, but I miss you during the week, which sounds ridiculous since we see each other after school. I don’t want just weekends. Pretty girl, I want those things you said when we were in Key Lake—our own couch and bed and library…a small one. I want to come home to you, not Brett or another roommate and not just here on the weekends. I want to hold you every night.”
He shrugged and continued. “I’ve wanted it more and more since you said it, and I thought…I’ve talked to Dr. Costa about it because I don’t want you or anyone else to think it’s got anything to do with…I’m OCD and aquaphobic, baby, not codependent.” He laughed a little when I giggled softly.
“Evan…stop. I know you love me and you want to be together because of that, not for any other reason.” I trailed my fingers across his handsome face. “Yes…just yes. Like when? And how soon?”
He laughed, pulling me to his lap, and I locked my legs around his waist. “Well, I talked to Aunt Tessa too, Dani. She’s actually got an idea. You know that empty store next to the café?” he asked, and I nodded. “She’s thinking of expanding, but…But upstairs is a living space, and she’s…Well, she thought it was kinda, sorta…”
“Perfect,” I finished for him in a whisper, and he nodded, raking his fingers through my damp hair.
“For us. Yes.” He nodded again, smiling up at me. “In fact, you and I were her first thought. She hasn’t bought it yet, but she’s working on it. It isn’t big or fancy or…”
My lips met his roughly. He was too cute and too nervous, and I wanted it. Honestly, I wanted it all with him. Anything. Everything. There was never, ever going to be a single thing I’d deny him. He’d been denied enough in his life, and I wanted to be the one to spoil him, love him, keep him.
“I love you, and I love the whole plan. You just tell me when,” I whispered against his lips, squealing into a giggle when he rolled us on my bed to loom over me.
His happy face morphed into something serious as he settled between my legs. Reaching up, I ran my fingers through his hair.
“I’ve missed you. This. I’m sorry I’m so busy and this semester has been crazy. It’s why I want to live with you. I never want to be without this. I need this, Dani. I need you. Always,” he vowed, pressing his lips to mine as I pulled him closer with everything I had.
“Always.”
Our kiss became more—more heated, more frenzied, just more. Evan’s hands roamed over me, beneath my shirt, along my legs. I pulled and tugged at his T-shirt, and he finally relented, pushing up on one hand as he reached back with the other to grab a fistful of fabric in order to tug it off. My pajamas were next and then his jeans, and when we were finally skin to skin, I moaned at the feel of him.
Since our first time, I wanted more of him. We couldn’t get enough of each other, and we’d quickly learned how to drive each other completely crazy. He was beautiful, with heat in his eyes and his mouth on me—everywhere, just like I’d wanted when he’d taken the ice cream I’d fed him. And oh my God, he was so damned good at it. My head fell back as he kissed my sex like he kissed my mouth—warm, wet, deep, and with hums that made my eyes roll back.
Our bodies melted together as one as he slipped inside me. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get over how amazing it felt, how perfect it felt to be one single entity. It was emotional and healing, it made me feel owned and loved, but it also made me feel powerful, because to watch Evan lose himself to me, to us, was absolutely stunning.
Pressing his forehead to mine, he reached between us to touch me in just the right spot to make me completely unravel. Between his fingers and his smooth, sexy voice begging me to let go, I shattered beneath him, pleading that he come with me, and he did, beautifully.
His eyes were closed as I trailed fingers down his back, rubbing my legs up and down his, finding his scars with my other hand.
“Evan?” I said softly, smiling when he met my gaze. “I don’t want to read tonight. I just want…this.”
He smiled, kissing me with the lightest of kisses. “Me too, pretty girl.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Evan
“BABY BOY,” Mom whispered as she pushed the grocery cart. “Isn’t that the girl from your class?”
I looked up from the comic book I’d been reading, pushing my glasses up my nose. I nodded slowly when I saw Katie at the other end of the store’s aisle.
“Yeah. Katie.” I frowned, going back to my reading when I felt my cheeks heat up.
I hated being shy. I wished I was more like Tyler, who got along with everyone—girls included. Though, at that very moment, I was glad he was at baseball practice, because he’d have razzed me something awful in the store, especially had he caught me blushing. I was just happy to have Mom to myself for an hour or so.
“You like her?”
Shrugging, I didn’t bother to look up. Katie was pretty, with light-brown hair and bluish-green eyes. “She’s okay. She…Sh-She likes Brandon ’cause he’s funny and…and…can even make the teachers laugh.”
My mother didn’t say anything for a moment, but I felt her eyes on me. When I looked up, she only said, “Pick some cereal for you guys. Make sure to grab that fruity one your sister likes.”
After setting my comic down in the basket, I spun to pick up three boxes. Tyler liked that chocolaty stuff, while Faith liked the fruit-flavored cereal. I liked the one with the marshmallows in it. Once I set them in the cart, I reached for my book, but Mom’s hand covered mine.
“Evan, look at me,” she said softly, glancing around to make sure we were the only ones in the cereal aisle. “One day, you’re gonna meet a girl who won’t mind that you’re quiet and shy. It’s okay that you are those things, son. It’s what makes you…you. You’re a smart, handsome, sweet boy, Evan. Don’t change that. Don’t try to be like your brother, who is outgoing and sometimes hot-headed. And you can’t be like your sister, either, who doesn’t particularly care about the opinions of others, just those she loves. You are my quiet, introspective one, and I love that about you. You’re going to meet a girl who embraces those parts of you, who loves you for you. When you do, my sweet boy, then I want you to always be honest, no matter how hard the truth may be to say. It’s easier to keep track of the truths than the lies.
“There’s always going to be Brandons in the world, and there will be Katies too, those silly girls who are drawn in by the frivolous stuff. You, my baby boy, are not frivolous. You are deep thoughts and an old soul. You are the classic book, not the grocery-store drivel,” she said, raising an eyebrow at me, which made me grin.
“You buy grocery-store books, Mom,” I teased her, ducking when she reached out to ruffle my hair.
“I do, but it’s the classics that I keep on my shelves, that I reread time and again. It’s the classics that will still be around well after the grocery-store novel has long been forgotten.” She grinned at my chuckle. “You’ll find another classic, Evan, someone just like you. And when you do, hold on to her. Put
her on a high shelf and love her and keep her safe and take care of her.”
“I…I…can’t talk to girls, Mom,” I admitted softly.
She smiled, brushing my hair from my forehead and pressing a kiss to my wrinkled brow. “Trust me, son. The right girl will make you talk. But the right girl won’t mind that you can’t find the words, either.”
Smiling softly at the memory, I glanced up to Dr. Costa. “She was right,” I told her, shrugging a shoulder and laughing a bit.
“Your mom was a smart woman,” she said, glancing up at the clock. “We’re just about done for this week, Evan. Anything you want to discuss?”
I took a deep breath and let it out, raking a hand through my hair and adjusting my glasses. It had been a crazy semester, but thankfully it was over and summer was finally here.
“My…” I sighed deeply, picking at my jeans. “My dad is in jail. Some…some light-security place, but still…He got sentenced to three years.” I huffed a humorless laugh, shaking my head slowly at how that sounded. “They said he won’t serve it all, but when he’s out, he…he can’t be a doctor anymore,” I added, meeting her warm, hazel eyes. I wrinkled my nose. “Is it wrong that I feel like it’s not enough?”
Dr. Costa jotted something down in her notebook, but then she set it aside and leaned forward. Her dark hair was peppered with gray, and her demeanor was calm. “Are you upset that he’s not being punished enough? Or are you still angry with him for things you think he evaded?”
Shrugging, I said, “I don’t know. Honest. It’s not about the money, and it’s not about his hatred for my brother, sister, and me. We aren’t going to miss him. I just…I feel my mother didn’t get…justice. He…he used her and, in turn, us. But…” I shrugged again, not sure what I meant or how to say it.
“Evan, you have to accept that your mother wouldn’t want you to dwell on justice or revenge against your father. She didn’t. She could’ve caused a scene, dragged you and your siblings through a harsh court battle, and essentially exposed your father sooner. However, she tried to simply walk away. The choices she made were hers, and no one will know what she was thinking, but as a parent myself, I can almost understand. She just wanted you to have a good life, a happy one.” She sat back in her chair, eyeing me for a moment. “And if you want to give your mother justice, then the absolute best thing you can do is to move on. Success, prosperity, happiness—those things are what would not only give your mother justice, but it would serve as revenge against the man who tried to keep you from achieving those very things.