by Sara Hess
Carrie rushed up to the counter holding out her card. “Jeez, I never thought about just shoving my card under the cashier’s nose to pay for things. Thanks Shaw.”
Nic was right behind her with his card out. “Carrie, don’t you dare.”
Evan spun me out of the way before I got trampled by women trying to pay their own way, because it appeared I started a feminist war. When that all got figured out the lady directed us further into the building and handed us over to two men who provided us all with flight outfits and began going over safety instructions.
I’d never done anything like this before. Heck, I hadn’t ever been to an amusement park so I wasn’t sure how I was going to take to the high adrenaline situation, but I had to admit I was excited. Skateboarding and bike riding were my only real adrenaline highs.
Soon we were all taking turns floating on air, and I found it wasn’t as scary as I thought. In fact, it was amazing. This was the first time for half of the group, so while us amateurs were trying to get the hang of a basic hover, the other guys were doing flips and zooming up, down and around.
It was aggravating because I wanted to be able to do those things too, but when I tried I just ended up getting tossed wildly about. Evan stayed next to me taking the time to explain certain tricks. I thought that was rather cool of him. Most guys normally wouldn’t want to waste their time on making sure someone else was getting the full air experience at the cost of their own fun, but he did, and with his help I caught the logistics of it and was finally able to execute a couple without crashing into the padded sides.
It was crazy amazing and I strangled Evan in a hug when I exited the machine. “Oh…my…god! That was incredible. Thank you so much for showing me how…and for bringing me here. I’m sure it’s not the real rush of an actual plane jump, but it is still unbelievably amazing.”
Evan clinched me tight, our half helmets knocking together. “Are you saying you want to get the real rush of jumping out of a plane?”
I jerked back. “What! No way am I saying that.” I so did not want to jump out of a plane…at least, not right at this moment. It was an interesting notion though.
He chuckled. “We’ll have to progress slowly then. Ever been bungee jumping?”
“No.”
I had always wanted to try though, but I never had the money. I had the money now but I’ve been so focused on my new business I’ve forgotten about those things I’d always wanted to try when I did have money. But it was also really difficult to spend it because I liked seeing my balance grow. The more it grew the more secure I felt. But I suddenly realized that there had to be a balance between feeling safe and having fun. I had definitely been short changing myself in the fun department.
Gripping Evan’s biceps I went to shake him back and forth, but he was too solid for me to shake. “We should totally make a date to do that soon. Have you ever been?”
Evan’s grin was wide and his eyes twinkled as he stared a down at me. “Yes, several times, and I would love to set a date for us to do that.”
I should have realized that he’d already bungee jumped. The man was an adrenaline junkie. In fact… “Have you jumped out of a plane before?”
He nodded. “Two or three times.”
Right, it was probably more than that. “Holy Monkey Balls! Was it scary? Did you pee just a little?” The man was crazy.
Laughing, he pulled me in for a hard squeeze, kissing the side of my neck. God, he was gorgeous, and when he laughed my inside quivered and clenched.
“You are so fucking cute right now, and so fucking high on adrenaline you’re bouncing off the proverbial walls. But to answer your questions; yes, it was a bit scary, and no, I did not pee…even a little bit. When I get excited it’s kind of hard to pee, if you know what I mean.” He waggled his brows.
I frowned in confusion but then he bumped his hips forward and I gaped feeling his stiff erection against my abdomen. “Seriously! High-risk activities get you…aroused?” I whispered the last, because not everyone needed to know.
The smirk on his face was downright corrupting. “Not normally as bad as I am today. You seem to be making it worse.”
I narrowed my eyes on him even as my heart leaped in bliss and my blood zipped feverishly. “There you go; blaming me again for you faulty plumbing.”
“Not faulty, Red. You just make me super charged; better, faster, stronger, longer…” He bent down and nibbled my neck making me giggle and squirm.
“God, you are such a dork.” I laughed.
When he raised his head amusement was still on his face, but I observed something serious in his amber depths. “And you’re a vision.”
My chest compressed and I had to swallow at the rush of emotion that wanted to overwhelm me. His tone was so sincere and I was struck dumb that all I could do was stare up at him in a blinking daze, but thankfully Blake interrupted my mental hiatus.
“Evan, get your ass inside here. We’re going to try one of those group circles.”
With a grin and a hot kiss Evan ran and jumped into the up-draft of air. Show-off. I shook my head to shake myself out of my dumb-dumb state and noticed Samantha gazing at me. She brought up both her hands interlocking the thumb and forefingers of both hands mouthing ‘connected souls’ looking dewy-eyed.
Rolling my eyes at her I gave her the crazy sign in return, ignoring my pitter-pattering heart. That girl was living in a fairy tale world.
Too soon our time was up and we had to leave. We all decided to go out for a late lunch and the time was filled with talk of the events of last night and today. The only part of the discussion I didn’t like was the ribbing I got for chucking my sandals—I thanked Gabby again for going back and picking those up for me—and pitching a fit over Evan’s minor fender bender—Trey’s viewpoint—but besides that the lunch was enjoyable and went by too quickly. Before I knew it we were back at the beach house packing up our stuff and Evan was driving us back to Charlottesville.
I was extremely disappointed to see the weekend end, but more upsetting was the fact that I’d gotten to spend almost every second with Evan and I wasn’t looking forward to the separation. You’d think after an entire weekend nearly joined at the hip I’d want to get away from his annoying self, but I wasn’t, because he wasn’t annoying.
He was altogether too fantastic.
Uhhggg.
∞ ∞ ∞
ME: I have to cancel tonight because of work.
Evan: Work?
ME: My photographer is sick and I have to fill in for her.
Evan: Why you? Why tonight?
ME: Me, because I don’t have a staff of lackey’s to do my bidding. Tonight, because the guy who needs following is going to a Frat party and that’s the best time to catch cheater’s cheating, if they’re cheating.
Evan: That sounds like the beginning of some kind of tongue twister. I’ll go with you? I can be the Cagney to your Lacey, the Butch to your Cassidy, the Turner to your Hootch.
ME: How come you’re the Front names, and I end up being the dog?
Evan: Coincidence.
ME: Rightttt. It’s a lot of sitting around, and staking out. Very boring. I’ve already left anyway.
Evan: I’ll meet up with you. I don’t like the idea of you going into a Frat house alone.
Me: You could use this time to do something with someone else. I’m sure you’re sick of me by now. Go forth and have fun.
Evan: I have fun with you. I’ll text you when I get out of work and you can tell me where you are.
Me: I’ll think about it. You think about alternate plans just in case. G2G.
I pushed my phone away and ignored it when it beeped again, and again, and again.
It’s been seventeen days since that Monday I decided to give Evan a chance, and he and I have spent them all together; lunches on Monday’s and Wednesday’s, and he was coming over each night after work for a few hours. During these seventeen days we’d gone bowling, played racquetball, worked-out t
ogether, and hung-out at his house with Carrie, Nic and some of his other friends playing board games and drinking on the weekend. Evan had also taken me bungee-jumping last weekend, and hey, I had loved it.
Afterwards Evan and I nearly had sex in his car we’d both been so high on excitement and adrenaline.
I was learning that Evan didn’t like sitting around. He liked to go out and do stuff, and I realized I did too, and I also recognized that I’d been cooping myself up in the apartment too much.
But we’d been in each other’s company for seventeen days straight. He had to be getting sick of me.
I didn’t want him to get sick of me…at least not sooner than projected. But I wasn’t fooling myself; I knew it was coming.
Had he spent everyday with his other women? If so, maybe that’s why he got bored so quickly. Seeing someone everyday had to wear on the nerves at some point. The saying, Absence makes the hearts grow fonder, had to have some merit to it, right? They didn’t make up those stupid Idioms for shits and giggles.
What troubled me was I wasn’t getting sick of him…and that was worrying me sick. I had been kind of hoping that all this time we were spending together would grate on my nerves, or that he’d reveal what a prick he really was underneath of that incredibleness. But neither of those things had happened yet. Instead, I was getting even more attached to him.
Seventeen days wasn’t really that long of a time-frame though. Maybe all I needed was another week and then I’d want to punch him.
I had to wonder if the only reason for Evan’s continued interest was because we hadn’t had sex yet. We were doing a lot of other stuff…that man liked going down on me…I liked it too…but he was holding out on the actual intercourse part. Twice he’d taken my own vibrator to me…the big creep had done some snooping in my drawers…and nearly killed me with the number of orgasms he’d pulled from me. He was way too into torturing me.
My core clenched fiercely just remembering it. I couldn’t even feel self-conscious about it because it had been so good. The way Evan had cum in his boxers watching me also minimized my embarrassment.
I know most guys wouldn’t bother to stick around if they weren’t being offered ‘the milk for free’, but some guys did have the fortitude to wait. Evan was definitely someone who liked a challenge; what if I’d become a challenge?
However, it wasn’t me holding out and offering him the challenge. He was the one abstaining.
I was rattled and confused. I was thinking I needed to jump him and get the sex out of the way so this thing could go its natural, expected course.
More time spent with him was bound to wreck me more.
My introspection was interrupted by the sight of my mark, a Mr. Jeremy Upton, leaving his apartment and heading toward his car, a blue Monte Carlo. The only reason I knew the make and model of his car was because I’d researched him.
Evan would have known just by looking. I don’t know if it was a guy thing, or it was because he just knew cars.
Aaanndd, I needed to stop thinking about him. Tonight was a time for both of us to have a break from the other.
I put Carrie’s car in gear—she’d let me borrow it since I still hadn’t gotten around to buying one of my own—and followed the guy as he pulled out of the parking lot turning left. I’d gotten a call this afternoon from a Betty Carson who said she wanted to find out if her boyfriend was cheating on her. She was going to be out of town tonight and she wanted me to follow Jeremy to find out what, or who, he did when she wasn’t around. She’d clued me in that he might attend a small Frat party since he was friends with a bunch of the guys in the House.
Seven minutes later Jeremy pulled into a liquor store and went inside. Ten minutes later he came back out hauling a keg and stacks of red plastic cups. Did people have kegs for small parties? How many people did a small Frat party consist of?
After stowing the keg in the trunk of his car Jeremy slid back behind the wheel. Eight minutes later he stopped at a pizza joint; five minutes, and what appeared to be fifteen pizza boxes later, Jeremy was back on the road.
It appeared Jeremy was the errand boy tonight.
Soon we were driving down Fraternity Lane and Jeremy was parking in front of the Iota Phi Theta house. He must have alerted the house to his arrival because several guys came out whooping and high-fiving, and helped him carry in the pizza’s and keg.
I parked on the other side of the street a few dozen yards away. There were about a dozen vehicles in the Frat’s parking area showing that most of the guys were home already.
Pulling out some course work I planned to get comfortable for an hour or two. During that time I had to fight myself so I wouldn’t answer Evan’s insistent texts and calls. It was harder than I thought. And even though he had texted me, wanting to know where I was, I was still anxious about what he was doing, and who he might be doing things with.
Around seven o’clock cars were lining the curbside and an estimated seventy-five people, not all males, had entered the house. That probably was a small party by Fraternity standards, but it was early and more would arrive.
I figured it was time to go inside so I wouldn’t miss my money shot. I was wearing skinny jeans and one of my nicer shirt; white with a large black flowery print. I pulled my hair out of the bun it was in and let it fall haphazardly everywhere. The jeans and t-shirt already made me stick out like a nun at a whore convention. The bun would have been overkill.
I strode into the house, pushing through the crowd, and headed directly for the keg. I knew where it was because I’d been in this house seven times during the course of my career; each time coming out with an incriminating picture. I wasn’t expecting this time to be any different.
Paying the five bucks cover charge for unlimited beer…that I had no intention of touching…I strolled around looking for Jeremy. Thankfully, I didn’t have to look far; he was in the dining room playing quarter bounce. Dozens of males and females were gathered around the table, but regrettably for me and an early night, none of the females were hanging off him.
I didn’t miss this part of the job.
Finding a spot against the wall for optimum viewing I leaned against it and waited, camera phone at the ready. For the next thirty minutes I watched Jeremy interact with the girls around him. He threw around a lot of smiles, touches, and hugs, but it wasn’t anything that was worth a picture. I needed lips on lips and lots of groping. Right now the guy was just overly friendly. For me it would have been enough, but my clients wanted harder porn shots.
The only thing good about this party was that none of my harassers hung with this Fraternity, but I did still have to deal with several guys hitting on me. Most of them would walk away with only a nasty sneer, but some were too drunk to read my repugnance and sidled up next to me.
At the moment I was dealing with number five, and this one was the worst.
“Go away.” I repeated, glaring at the drunken douche-bag whose hand was planted on the wall above my head so he could lean down in my face.
“You’re a hot little piesh, and I like girlsh that play hard to get.” He slurred.
I waved my hand dispersing his foul breath. “I’m not playing hard to get. I have a boyfriend and I’m not looking for another.” I so wanted to call this asshole an asshole, but I was trying to keep things civil because I didn’t need to draw attention.
The knob-polisher leaned in closer, leering at me up and down while licking his lips in a really disgusting manner. I was going to need a bath tonight and maybe even a strong antibiotic.
“I’ll be your boyfriend tonight.”
“No thanks. I like sandy brown hair and amber eyes, not blonde hair and brown eyes.” I clipped, shifting away from him.
He frowned in confusion. “What?”
I rolled my eyes. Was it the alcohol, or was he always this stupid?
“She’s saying I’m prettier than you and to get lost.”
My head swiveled in shock to find Evan standing behind
stupid; the muscles in his face twitching, his lips tight, and a fire burning in his eyes. Evan gave stupid a hardy shove that had him stumbling away, and thankfully he kept on going. It appeared he wasn’t too drunk to realize Evan was taller and bigger.
“Evan, what are you doing here?”
Had he really taken me up on my suggestion to go have fun without me? I had hoped he would go hang out with his friends, not come to one of these hook-up parties. My throat began to clog up with disappointment…and hurt.
He looked down at the cup of beer in my hand like it held Ebola. “Tell me you’re not drinking that?”
I shook my head and the next second it was gone from my hand, and then his palms hit the wall on either side of my head and his hard, hot body caged me against the wall. “I’m here to find you, Red.” His tone was a low roar cutting through the music and crowd noise. “I’ve been texting you all night trying to get you to give me your location, but you’re stubborn as hell. So for the last hour and a half I’ve been hitting Frat houses trying to find you and I have to tell you I am not happy. How many guys have hit on you tonight? How many have gotten in your face like that asshole?”
I stared at him in astonishment. “You’re here for me? You’ve been looking for me? What…Why? I told you I was fine.” I couldn’t believe he’d been searching parties for me.
He scowled. “It’s not fine when I find drunken tools hitting on you. It’s not safe coming to these parties alone, and if this guy you’re trying to catch cheating notices you taking pictures of him he could turn aggressive. If any of these guys realized who you represent there could be a full blown riot.” Evan’s hand gently gripped the back of my neck and he gave a tiny shake. “Fuck Shaw! You weren’t answering my calls or texts; I’ve been worried about you.”
My astonishment exploded. He’d been worried about me?! But…why? I’d been looking after myself for as long as I can remember.
Evan’s and my eyes were locked and I watched his amber orbs flare, and I realized my hands had settled on his waist without me even knowing. I went with it and squeezed the solid muscles there.
