Fair Play (4 page)

I nod with satisfaction.

“There’s more I want to feed you later,” he whispers into my ear.

I give him a coy smile as I think about all of the amazing parts of Evan’s body I would love to have in my mouth.

He scoops up another small bite of the dessert and moves it toward my mouth.

“Don’t you want to try it?” I ask.

“I’m enjoying watching you eat it.”

I open my mouth and he slides the next bite in. The second bite is even more delicious and I let out a slight moan of approval. “You really need to try it,” I prod.

Evan relents and takes a bite of the dessert. “You’re right. This is good.”

When I glance at Evan’s mom and dad, I see his dad is devouring their dessert and his mom is looking at me like she’s already planning our wedding.

The only guy I’ve ever considered marrying is engaged to someone else but hopefully not for very long.

“So, Evan tells us you’re going to be taking a job at your dad’s advertising firm,” Evan’s mom says. I knew it was an inevitable question.

“I’m actually considering going to graduate school,” I say, even though I’ve only started to consider it in the last
few hours, since I heard Aaron would be there.

Evan actually chokes on the last bit of dessert he had just put in his mouth and when I look up at Mrs. Warner her eyes are wide.

“Isn’t Aaron going to graduate school?” she mutters.

“Yes, I believe he is.” I say it like I’m a little unsure even though I’m damn sure and he’s the only reason I would ever consider such a stupid proposition.

Aaron Donovan is going to grad school because he doesn’t want to leave Rainy and I’m going to grad school so I can be with Aaron. It makes me wonder how many students are actually attending the program to get an education.

Evan’s mom gives her son an ugly look which says:
What does Aaron have that you don’t
and I suddenly feel really bad for Evan.

Ever since we were kids, Evan and Aaron were both best friends and mortal enemies, often at the same time. Our parents, all being best friends and in the same social circles, forced us together. Evan and Aaron are both gorgeous, super athletic, outgoing, smart and highly competitive. But Aaron has always been just a little bit better at everything than Evan and it’s killed him. Nearly everything Evan’s wanted, Aaron’s managed to get, most recently being the President of their social club, The Clubhouse. Not only is
The Clubhouse the most popular social club at their university, being President of The Clubhouse was something Evan talked about for four years, ever since they both joined.

And Aaron won.

He also won Rainy.

I’m not sure which victory hurt Evan more.

But something happened to Evan since we saw each other at Spring Break. We were all at Aaron’s family cabin by the lake. That was my first glimpse of Miss Rainy Dey and I saw how easily she could be cracked. It didn’t take much. I just sat close to Aaron a few times and flirted with him. She packed her stuff and took off in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, Aaron took off after her, which was not something I was anticipating. 

Evan has changed though. He’s start
ing to show compassion and even caring for other people. It was like not getting Rainy did something to him. And now that Rainy and Aaron are engaged, it’s almost like he wants what they have.

I never thought I’d see
the day when Evan Warner wanted to settle down with one woman. But then, a year ago, I would have said the same thing about Aaron Donovan.

I was the one patiently waiting for Aaron to sow his wild oats. I was the one he was supposed to settle down with.
But then Miss Middle Class swooped in and put her little claws into him.

God, I hate her.

After Evan’s dad pays the tab, we say our goodbyes and Evan and I head back to his car.

“Graduate school, huh?” he says as he places his hand at the small of my back and we make our way through the parking lot. “I had no idea you were interested in furthering your education.”

I’m interested in furthering the time I spend with Aaron Donovan
, I think. But I say, “The idea just came to me.”

“I’m sure it did,” Evan snarls.
“I bet it just popped into your head as soon as Aaron said MBA.”

“I’m surprised to see you got a new car,” I say as we a
pproach his shiny new BMW M5.

The car is hot and I know it was his prize for winning The Club
house Tournament. His social club is notorious for their yearly Tournament. All of the senior guys in The Clubhouse put in several thousand dollars and the guy who sleeps with the most freshman girls wins a brand new car bought with the money in the pot. The guys in The Clubhouse have been participating in The Tournament for years. Both of Aaron’s older brothers won shiny new sports cars when they were seniors.

I’m not sure if Evan realizes that I know all about The Tou
rnament. I’ve known about it since Aaron’s oldest brother won his car and I’m sure the only reason Aaron didn’t win was because he met Rainy.

Evan’s expression turns sullen when he looks at me. “It was a gift,” he says which isn’t completely true and it makes me want to push him on it.

Evan opens the passenger side door for me and I hop in. The interior is posh and decked out. He’s definitely got all of the bells and whistles.

When he hops into the driver’s side, I let out a low whistle. “This
interior is fantastic.”

“I guess,” he says dismissively. He’s clearly not impressed with the car or maybe with the way he acquired it.

“A gift from whom?” I probe as he starts the engine. It purrs like a contented kitten.

He ignores the question as he pulls out of the parking lot and doesn’t respond until we get on the highway.

“The guys in my social club gave it to me,” he says without looking at me. His eyes are fixed on the nearly empty freeway.

“They gave you a car?” I ask under the pretense of curiosity. I want to see what he’s going to say about screwing nearly every freshman girl on campus.

We drive in silence for a while longer and I can see his jaw is growing tenser with every passing moment. Finally, he heaves a heavy sigh and says, “It was a competition. The car was the prize.”

“What kind of competition?” I ask feigning ignorance.

He rubs his temple and I can see he’s clearly getting uncomfortable. “I fucked more freshman girls than any other senior in the social club. And I got several extra points because two of them were virgins.”

“You must be very proud,” I retort.

For the first time since we’ve been on the road, he shoots me a look. It seems like he’s trying to gauge my reaction.

“I’m not,” he replies. “To be honest, it kind of makes me sick to drive it.”

“Evan the Conqueror is actually feeling some remorse over his numerous and vast conquests. I can’t believe it.”

“Evan the Conqueror?”
He seems surprised by the moniker which surprises me. “Where did you come up with that?”

I laugh. “You’ve always been a one-night delight. Did you suddenly grow a conscience?”

He waits until a loud Harley passes us before he continues. “I slept with 52 freshmen and every one of those encounters was meaningless. I won a car. All the guys high-fived me and called me their hero. It was an ego boost for like five minutes. I got my photo on the wall next to every other guy, who won The Tournament. But it’s not an accomplishment I can talk about. I can’t put it on my resume. If I ever get married, what am I supposed to tell my future wife? What if I have a daughter? Would I even want her to be around someone like me? Not one of those girls could even look me in the eye the next morning. I had my dick inside them and they couldn’t even look me in the fucking eye. Yeah, that’s some accomplishment.”

It could be the first time in my life that I don’t have som
ething to say. No snappy comeback. No bitchy remark. No words come to me.

But I can feel Evan’s pain and despair permeate the small space between us. I feel a similar pain when I
actually allow myself to feel, which isn’t very often. Mostly, I numb my pain with elaborate shopping sprees courtesy of my dad’s generous line of credit, getting drunk or having sex with one of my fuck buddies.

Tonight maybe Evan and I
will be able to numb each other’s pain.

I place my hand on Evan’s thigh in what I hope will be pe
rceived as a comforting gesture. I usually don’t do
comforting
or any other gesture that may be perceived as
nurturing
because I’m not. I’m about the furthest from nurturing that a girl can possibly be. I often wonder if I was somehow created without that gene. I may be one of the few girls on the planet who doesn’t go crazy for cuddly puppies, furry kittens or babies of any kind. If it’s cute, you can keep it the hell away from me.

To my surprise, Evan reaches down and entwines his fingers in mine. It happens so fast, I don’t have time to protest or pull my hand away…and then it feels so right, I don’t want to.

Then I wonder
what the fuck is wrong with me
? Why are my fingers interlaced with Evan’s and why do I like it? Didn’t I just make fun of Aaron and Rainy for being attached at the hand and now here I sit and somehow I’ve become attached to Evan?

My world has once more turned completely upside down.

By the time we reach the parking garage of Evan’s new condo, he still hasn’t let go of my hand. We’re still
entwined
. I know he’ll have to let me go to put the car in park, or so I think. But he actually reaches around and manages to put the car in park with his other hand.

Then he leans over and gives me a soft kiss. “Come on,” he says. “I’ve been dying to show you my new place.”

When he finally let’s go of my hand so we can exit the car, I’m floored that I actually feel like something is missing. And I’m pissed at myself for being disappointed that he doesn’t grab my hand again when we walk toward his front door.

The condo unit has three floors and each floor is its own apartment. Evan has a top floor suite, which he says includes front and back balconies.

When we get inside I’m fairly impressed with the size of the unit. For a bachelor pad, the place is pretty impressive. With just a cursory glance around, I estimate the size at about 3500 square feet. He told me he just moved in a week ago, right after exams and the place is almost completely furnished. The décor is exquisite and I’m impressed with Evan’s taste.

“Do you like it?” He looks like a proud father showing off his first born child.

“It’s nice,” I reply because I don’t want him to get too full of himself.

“Just nice?” he asks clearly deflated.

I smile. “It’s
Architectural Digest
gorgeous. Are you happy?”

He returns my smile with a stunning grin. I can’t say I’ve ever seen Evan this happy about anything. He’s usually Mr. Too
-Cool-to-Care. He grabs me and pulls me close. “You’re the only woman I’ve invited to my place.”

“You’ve only been here a week.” For Evan, that sounds like a long time to go without sex but maybe he’s gone to the girls’ places instead.

“I’m only 25 minutes from campus. You should move in with me.”

I take a few completely stunned steps back from him. “I’m not moving in with you. Why would you even suggest that?”

Now he’s the one who looks stunned. “There’s plenty of room. We could be like roommates.”

I cross my arms over my chest and stare at him.
“Roommates who sleep together?”

“Something
like that,” he mutters. He’s now clearly unsure about how sensible his suggestion actually was.

I continue staring at him in utter disbelief.

“Don’t be angry,” he says as he moves in closer to me. “It was only a suggestion and obviously not a very good one.”

“What would even possess you to suggest something like that?”

He uncrosses my arms and pulls me close to him. “Maybe I just like having you around.”

“Even my own parents
don’t like having me around,” I admit.

“They don’t know what they’re missing,” he whispers into my ear then playfully bites my earlobe.

“Maybe you can give me the grand tour and show me your bedroom.”

“My bedroom is the best part.”

Evan is not lying. His bedroom is enormous and decorated with beautiful heavy mahogany furniture. His curtains are pulled back and I see a massive glass slider that opens onto a balcony displaying a panoramic view of the entire downtown. If I did want to live with someone, this would definitely be tempting.

I have to pinch myself as a reminder that Evan is nothing more than a fuck buddy and my plan is to get Aaron. But I’m becomingly increasingly concerned that Evan has other ideas.
Ideas that include the two of us and some kind of future together.

But it’s never going to happen.