by Deb Rotuno
“Evan, please.”
Looking back to her, I shook my head. “I can’t, Dani. There’s a part of me that…shuts down when he starts his shit, and I’ve learned to deal with it. It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of yelling. If you’re there, I…I can’t…My brother almost killed him,” I said, grimacing at the thought. “And honestly, my dad isn’t worth the trouble that would bring.”
Dani glared at me with a skeptical expression on her face, but she reached up to cup my face. “What’s the real reason I can’t go, Evan?”
Studying her face, I took a deep breath and shifted on the swing. “C’mere,” I whispered, pulling her down onto the seat and wrapping my arms around her shoulders. I started to push the swing gently with my foot and pressed my lips to her temple, saying, “When I came here to Glenhaven, all I wanted…all I asked for was a new start. I needed to get away from my dad, from Key Lake, and from all the rumors and whispers I’d grown up with, but I also wanted to be someone different.” Smiling against her hair, I chuckled a bit. “Problem with that is…I’m me. I can’t change who I am. I came here anxious and afraid of water, shy and scared, running from my problems. I’m still all those things, but instead of an escape, instead of simply going to school, I’ve found…more. You…Jesus, Dani…You have no idea what you’ve done.” I laughed softly into her hair, which was a bit sticky from Wes’s prank, but I didn’t give a shit. “You’ve given me…everything.” I leaned on the last word, reminding her of our first kiss.
She turned to look at me, and I kissed her lips to keep her from saying anything.
“From the first time I saw you, the first time I spoke to you, you’ve shown me what things should be, could be,” I explained, trying to brush her hair from her face, but I smirked when it wouldn’t cooperate. “You, pretty girl, are my home now. This house, those people inside, and you…I need this to come back to, and I also need it to stay far away from Key Lake, Montana. I need the two polar opposites to stay separated.”
Dani was shaking her head, tears welling up in her eyes. “I get that, baby. I do. Really. But if you…if you need me, then I can’t promise to stay away. Could you?”
Smiling, I kissed her again. “No.” Sighing deeply, I trailed my finger down her beautiful face. “You remember our first lunch after our kiss, after we became…more? When you asked me about going home? You were worried to even ask about it, but do you remember what I told you then?”
“That you have to appease your dad to keep him paying for school,” she provided, but I shook my head.
“No, not that part.”
Her brow furrowed as tears coursed down her face. “That he can’t hurt you? That the only people who could hurt you are your s-siblings and…”
“My siblings and you. Exactly. It’s true, Dani,” I told her, shrugging a shoulder, but I wiped away her tears with my thumbs. “Please, trust me. I am well aware of where I stand with him. I know he blames me. I know that for a while, I blamed myself, but I also know that no matter what he says, does, or whatever, it can’t touch what I’ve found here. Coming here, despite his anger and protests, has been the very best decision I’ve ever made.” I smiled at the truth of that. “And I wouldn’t have come here without my sister’s encouragement, because I almost gave in to him. So…that being said, I have to go. I have to go home at least this last time until she’s free of him. I owe her that…for…protecting my relationship with you…” I trailed off as my mind made a connection.
“Evan?”
I opened my mouth but shook my head as I realized something. “Wait a second…”
I pressed a kiss to her lips and stood from the swing. I started to pace, thinking back to the last conversation I’d had with my dad, when he’d told me not to weasel out of coming home for Christmas break. It was the same conversation where he’d told me I’d fall for the first girl who “got my dick wet.” I narrowed my eyes because he’d already known. He’d been goading me then, but I’d ignored it.
“He knew,” I whispered, turning to lock gazes with Dani. “He…He already knew about you. So…why’s he pissed now?”
“Because he’s an asshole?”
Chuckling, I nodded in agreement but knelt in front of her. “No, seriously. He had to have figured out…The phone bill. He’s always saying he knows how much Faith, Tyler, and I talk, because he pays the bill, but he must’ve seen your number. He already knew.”
“Which means he’s baiting you, baby!” she hissed at me, her eyes welling up again.
“Maybe,” I soothed her, “but it still boils down to this…If I don’t go, he’ll be even more pissed. I can’t…I owe it to my sister to at least…share this shit with her. She’s taken care of me since Mom died. I don’t want to go, you know that—you saw that last night—but it’s the right thing to do.”
Dani kissed my lips hard, and she tasted salty and sweet with her tears and the remainder of whipped cream. “Okay, then…compromise with me, Evan Shaw,” she commanded, and I nodded for her to continue. “You will talk to me or text with me the entire time you’re gone. And…and…at night, we’re still reading to each other…”
“Easiest deal I could make, Dani.”
“And…” she added, raising an eyebrow at me. “You…Evan, I’m not kidding. If I can’t…if I don’t hear from you, I’m coming to you. And I’ll bring Dad or Wes or someone with me.” When I started to argue, she kissed me again. “That is not negotiable. Don’t even argue.”
I could see from her determined expression that she couldn’t be swayed, so I nodded in agreement. It would be easy to keep in touch with her, so I didn’t see a problem. I also knew that my dad’s work schedule would give me time without any interruption.
“I won’t argue, Dani, but I’ve got three weeks before I leave, and I’d…I’d really like to just…not worry about it. I’m gonna miss you enough as it is, and we’ve got tests coming and my shifts at the café, so can we just…be us, do what we’ve always done?” I asked her. It was as honest as I could be without begging her to run away with me, to hide from it all.
I wanted to tell her—in absolute detail—how much I loved her, but the words were too important, so I was pretty sure I’d have to write them down first. As I reached up to touch her face, I realized just how much she’d changed me. Maybe it wasn’t change but just making me feel more…accepted, and I wasn’t even scared of telling her; I just wanted to find the right words.
“Please?” I asked in a whisper.
Dani’s smile was warm and sweet, as were those beautiful blue eyes of hers.
“Anything, Evan, but I need a shower first. Then I want to find out if Edmund and Faria escape the prison!”
“Yes, ma’am.” Chuckling, I kissed her, loving that she was enjoying The Count of Monte Cristo, but in all reality, it was fun reading with her. It made every book—even that ridiculous yet sexy romance—that much more…Just more. And I’d take it, because I wanted as much good and more as I could get before I left Florida in three weeks.
Chapter Fifteen
Evan
“TAKE YOUR BREAK, KIDDO,” Susan said, ruffling my hair on her way back to the front counter, but she stopped and cupped my face. “Gonna miss you when you’re gone.”
“Why? ’Cause you got more shifts?” I teased her, jerking when she poked my side, and I almost spilled the sugar I was refilling.
“Well, there is that, but…” She glared playfully. “You know, I’m old enough to be your…very awesome young aunt,” she said, grinning when I laughed. “You’re a sweet kid, Evan. I’d warn you all about being safe and being a good boy, but I don’t think I have to. I’d warn you not to hurt Dani, but I damn well know I don’t have to do that, so just…hurry back, okay?”
When I nodded, she kissed my cheek and ruffled my hair again, and I remembered her saying something about her own father being a problem. “Hey, Susan?” I asked, putting the lid back on the sugar. She stopped before heading out front, and I said, “You…Y-You said
your dad was…”
“Toxic, Evan. He was bad news when I was a kid.”
Nodding, I tilted my head at her. “You ever see him now?”
“See him? No. Though I do call him every few months or so to make sure he hasn’t drunk himself to death or…forgotten to pay his rent, so…He’s an asshole, but I’m all he has left, despite the fact that we can barely stand each other.” She walked back to me, tapping my chin gently. “You can’t pick your family.”
Grimacing, I nodded. It seemed to be a repetitive statement surrounding me lately. “Yeah, Dani’s dad said the same thing.”
“They love you. Hell, kid, we all do, so if things get shitty, remember that. Remember who’s in your corner here. You live here now, not back there. You’re just going back for a visit. Home is where this is,” she added, tapping my chest to indicate my heart. “And I am pretty sure you’re leaving it behind.”
She shot me a wink when I nodded. “Break, Evan.”
I put the sugar away and restocked the back of the counter before grabbing my backpack. This was my last shift at Sunset Roast until after the new year. I was spending the weekend at the Bishop house, and Wes and Dani would be driving me to the airport Monday morning. The closer it came, the more nervous I was becoming, and I wanted to soak up as much of everyone here as I could, but the mere idea of leaving Dani had me pulling out my journal.
I lost myself to my words to Dani as the sun started to dip. I paused at one point, flipping through the filled pages from the very beginning and shaking my head at just how different things were from the start. And they were all to Dani—from that first letter to my Library Girl to my heart being scrawled out on the most recent page. So much had changed. I had changed. And I wasn’t sure to whom I owed it all: my sister for making sure I came here; Dani for just being that sweet, beautiful thing she was; or was it me? I didn’t know where to place the value, because everyone, all of it, played some sort of role in it. Despite how badly I didn’t want to leave, I had no choice, but I had to figure out how to push through the next few weeks. I needed to cling to the good that was here in order to survive the stuff back home.
“You’re not allowed in here,” Meg stated, pulling me out of my head, my writing.
Glancing up, I narrowed my eyes at Brad’s pompous grin as he shrugged a shoulder at her. Susan was pulling her phone out of her pocket, sending off a quick text, and it was most likely to Wes, who had left the café to pick up an order from the bakery. As I glanced up at the clock and stuffed my journal back into my bag, I expected Wes back any second, but I wasn’t sure how this guy would behave.
I stood from the booth, shouldering my backpack, and stepped behind the counter, coming face-to-face with Brad on the other side of the register.
“You gotta go, Brad. Wes banned you from here,” I told him as calmly as I could, keeping my tone low because there were still customers in a few chairs.
A slow, humorless grin spread over his face. “Well, if it isn’t garbage boy…How’s Dani?”
The smile I gave him back was real, and I wasn’t sure where the words came from, but I said, “She’s fantastic, and I’d tell her you asked about her, but she doesn’t really like you, so…she probably won’t care. You still have to go.”
Meg and Susan giggled, and I waited for Brad to move, but he shook his head. He tossed a look behind him, and I saw the two girls from the library that day Dani had pushed Brad away—the blonde and the redhead. I honestly didn’t want to know how that worked or even how they were possibly all together. Though I now knew their names from class as Yvonne and Brigit.
“I’m just trying to get my girls some coffee, asshole.”
“Oh, well…they can stay. You can’t,” I stated, shrugging a shoulder.
I wasn’t sure what this guy’s problem was with me, except maybe his sour grapes over Dani, but he leaned forward. “Tell me, garbage boy…Is Dani as freaky in the sheets as I think she is?”
There was movement behind him, and I smirked at who had heard him ask that question. Wes sidled silently up next to him, a heavy hand reaching toward his shoulder, but it was the smaller figure I pointed to.
“Well, I’d say ask her, but I’m not sure she’ll answer you,” I ground out through gritted teeth. However, my hands fisted at my sides as I shook to keep from hitting him. I was used to people picking on me, but no one disrespected Dani.
Dani’s face was a gorgeous, heady mix between pissed off and amused. When Brad saw that she was standing there, she laughed outright in his face. “You’ll never know, Brad.”
Wes’s hand finally landed heavily on his shoulder, making him jump, and when he turned Brad around to escort him out, the two girls had abandoned him. “Brad, the next time you show up in my coffee shop, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing. If you think I’m kidding, try me.” Gripping him even harder on the way toward the door, he added, “And if I ever hear you talk about my cousin that way again, then fuck the arrest. I’ll simply beat the shit out of you.”
Snorting, I shook my head. I had to admit that Wes reminded me of Tyler more and more, but I looked to Dani. “Sorry, pretty girl. I tried to get him out of here before you got here,” I told her, but my voice was terse and a bit harsh.
She grinned, leaned across the counter, and kissed my lips. “You’re kinda sexy when you’re angry.”
Laughing, I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, that’s me.” Turning to Susan, I said, “I’m back from break, but I need to file a few things in Wes’s office before we start closing up.”
“Yeah, yeah, kiddo. We’re fine. We’ll get you if we need you.”
My temper was still a bit on edge as I walked to Wes’s office. I knew Dani was behind me, and once we were inside the room, I heard the door clicked closed. After setting my backpack down in one of his chairs, I grabbed the stack of papers out of the inbox and started to file. Turning back to the desk, I found myself nose-to-nose with Dani. She’d moved the inbox and plopped herself up on top.
“Dani…”
“Am I a freak in the sheets?” she asked, and I could see her amusement, her teasing, and her warm gaze just about everywhere. “Only you would know…”
The laugh that escaped me came out like a bark, and I sighed deeply, the anger at Brad dissipating almost immediately. I walked into her embrace, her legs and arms enveloping me completely.
Inhaling deeply the scent of her, I nuzzled her hair, the crook of her neck, all while she dropped kisses to my cheek, my jaw, my throat. “I think you’re beautiful in my sheets,” I told her, grinning when her giggle shook us both.
She pushed back and cupped my face, kissing my lips. “Ditto, baby.” Studying me with an adorably curious expression, she smirked when I raised an eyebrow her way. “I was just trying to remember if I’ve ever seen you mad, Evan. And I think that was the first time.”
I shrugged, shaking my head and reaching around her for the next stack of papers to file. “He was saying disgusting things about you.”
“He called you garbage boy,” she argued, sounding affronted.
“He disrespected you. I don’t give a damn about how he feels about me, but…no one…” I slammed a drawer of the filing cabinet closed after putting a page in its correct folder, spinning to face her. “No one can talk about you like that.”
Dani tilted that gorgeous head of hers at me, beckoning me back between her legs, and I went willingly. “Well, I appreciate the…chivalry, Evan.” She smiled, reaching up to rake her fingers through my hair when I chuckled, but her smile fell quickly. “This weekend will fly by,” she whispered, wrinkling her nose when her voice broke a little.
My forehead dropped to hers, and I nodded against it when she asked if I had my things packed back at the dorm.
“Can we just…read tonight?” she asked against my lips, and I nodded again, smiling a bit. “Good. I just…I want to hear your voice.”
“I’ll read to you anytime, Dani. I swear it.”
It real
ly was my favorite thing to do with her. We’d kiss and make out, though we hadn’t taken that big step, and that was okay because she was leading us. The physical side of our relationship was phenomenal, but to hold her in my arms afterward and read to her was the best feeling. She made me feel important, like I was taking care of her like she did for me. I could never find the words to tell her how I felt, so I showed her in every way possible—with my kisses and my hands and by reading to her.
And all of that reminded me of my journal, and a plan formed in my head. Pulling back, I smiled at her, kissing her softly, deeply, but ended it before we lost ourselves in her cousin’s office.
“Dying to find out if Edmund finds the treasure?” I teased her because we only read together when we could, so we were slowly working through The Count of Monte Cristo.
“Well yeah! I hope he gets back at all those fuckers who screwed him over!”
Grinning at how adorable she was, I nodded, grabbing the last stack of papers. “Yes, ma’am.” I chuckled and finished up the filing. “C’mon. I gotta help the girls clean up, and then I’m yours for the rest of the weekend.”
“I want longer than that,” she whispered, climbing onto my back, and I grinned over my shoulder. Dropping a loud, sloppy kiss to my cheek, she added, “I want always.”
I sighed happily. “And you have me, pretty girl. I promise.”
Dani
The flicker behind my eyelids and the deep roll of thunder quickly brought me out of sleep. I tried to remember how I’d gotten into my room, but I barely remembered Evan carrying me upstairs. I had to have fallen asleep watching the movie with him and Wes.
Rolling over, I frowned that Evan wasn’t with me, but rubbing my eyes, I glanced over at the clock, my heart breaking at the fact that I’d be putting him on a plane in less than six hours. The weekend had flown by just as I knew it would. I’d lose him for a little over three weeks, which would no doubt crawl like molasses. Suddenly, the need to touch him, kiss him, hold him, was overwhelming, so I got out of bed and opened my door.
