Evan's Addiction (68 page)

     “You don’t have to do that, Evan. I can do it when I get out of
here. When am I getting out of here anyway?” I grouched.

     I’d been in a hospital twice before in my teens for a sprained
ankle and wrist from skateboarding, but those had been quick in and out visits.
And while I’d just woken up I wanted to leave and be in my own space.

     Evan paced over and took my hand with a half grin. “You still have
another day, Impatient, and I will be getting you that phone.”

      I groaned at both details. “I don’t need you to buy me a phone, Evan.
I have money of my own. Maybe there’s a hidden kidnapping clause in my contract
and I can get a free replacement.”

     His lips pursed stubbornly. “I’ll check into that when I go in to
get it for you.”

     He should realize I could be just as obstinate, and if last night
wasn’t a dream he did say he liked it. “When I get out of here there’s nothing
to stop me from returning it.”        

     He leaned down and whispered against my lips. “Maybe I’ll keep you
too busy so you can’t return it, and eventually you’ll forget all about it.”

     “Do I come off as that forgetful?” I murmured back, breathing in
his minty fresh breath.
Crap!
I pushed him away. “Oh my, god. Get away
from me. I must have the breath of a caveman.” I slapped my hand over my mouth
and the three of them burst out laughing. “It’s not funny.” I mumbled. “I think
I feel some nasty fungus growing in there.”

     They continued to laugh as Evan nuzzled the hand covering my
mouth. “I’ll get you a toothbrush, okay. Then will you kiss me?”

     “Sounds like a deal.” I mumbled.

     Evan got a new brush, paste and water for me and I went at my
teeth like…well, someone who hadn’t brushed their teeth in days. I was in the
process of that when three people I didn’t know appeared in the doorway; and
older man and woman, and a younger guy in his twenties. They were all extremely
dressed up; the men in expensive suits and the woman in a white streamline
business dress and heels.

     Elizabeth jumped up. “Mom! Dad!”

     Her mother frowned, not coming in any further into the room. “Elizabeth, you have to stop sneaking away. For all we knew you could have been kidnapped
again. We’ve all been beside ourselves; Trey was as well.” She waved her hand
at the young male next to her and of course we all looked at him. He was
attractive but the smile on his face almost had me cringing at how creepily
similar it was to our kidnappers.

     Poor Elizabeth. Was this her boyfriend? She never mentioned that she
had one.      

     “You wouldn’t let me come if I didn’t, and I left you a note
telling you where I was.” Elizabeth said with a strained expression.

     Her mother motioned Elizabeth forward with a curt hand wave.
“Let’s go. I’m sure you’ve had enough time to say what you’ve needed.” She
gazed around the room with an impassive expression before resting on me. “We’re
sorry for what happened to you, young lady, but I’m sure you can appreciate
that we would like our daughter home with us for awhile. We are having a small
celebration for her safe return today; family, friends, and her boyfriend, Trey.
We need to get her back so she can get ready for it.”

     “Mother…”

     “Elizabeth, please. We need you home right now, not gallivanting
everywhere causing us more gray hairs.” Her father broke in impatiently.

     I hated to think it because they had to have been scared out of
their minds at everything their daughter went through, but Libby’s parent’s
seemed kind of…pompous. To me, it seemed like they were more concerned at the
ordeal they’d been through rather than what their daughter had been through.

     Libby sighed sadly and looked down at me. “You’ll call me?” She
asked quietly.

     Smiling, I nodded. “As soon as I can.” And I meant it. It might have
been the hostage circumstances, but the connection I felt with Libby was as
strong as what I had with Carrie and David…but not what I had with Evan. He was
on an entirely different plane.

     As though he read my mind Evan squeezed my hand in encouragement. 

     She returned the smile a little more weakly and headed for the
door. Glumly, I watched her wishing she didn’t have to leave with such sour
faced individuals, but before walking out she turned and addressed Blake and
Evan. “I know I said it a hundred times already, but thank you for saving me.”
I noted that her gaze lingered on Blake as she said this, but then she was
pulled out of the room by her mother.

     “They seem warm and cuddly.” Evan grunted acerbically. Blake
didn’t say anything, just scowled at the door they’d all disappeared through.
“Hey, Blake, what are you doing here anyway?” Evan asked.

     When he turned to face us his expression cleared, or so he
probably thought. There was still a small indent in between his dark gray eyes.
“Actually, everyone’s on their way. I just got here quicker.”

     And like he’d called them out of thin air people suddenly began
filling the room. David was there, hugging me breathless and filling me in on
the necklace details. Carrie and Sam were shedding tears at everything I’d been
through and how happy they were that I was safe. The other girls expressed
their relief had happiness with tears in their eyes as well, but they were able
to suck it up. Landon almost had a meltdown learning that Maya had been on the
psycho’s radar before deciding on me.

     I found out the role Greg played in my rescue and thanked him. He
accepted it with a stoical nod telling me he didn’t want to hear any more about
it…I was fine with that since I hated being indebted to anyone, plus how on
earth would I ever repay it…and even with all the chaos in the room I couldn’t
help noticing that his mood was still as austere as it had been during the
gamer party and I found myself unusually curious as to why.

     The Cruz brothers interrupted their racing schedule to stop in.
Evan stood rigidly by my bed, sporting an irritated expression, not releasing
my hand, as Juan and Trey gave me hugs and expressed their concern and relief
that I was okay. Havi, the more reserved of the three, just gave my hand a
squeeze and a small smile.

     Dan was there conveying his deepest apologies for everything I’d
been through. His manner was similar to Evan’s in that he believed he was
somehow partly responsible for what I’d been through. I disputed that notion
vehemently as he gave me a kiss to my forehead. I almost cried at the fatherly
actions of it. And then I did cry when I found out he and Nic had offered up
more money so the psycho would have more motivation to free me.

     Finding out all these individuals had come together and worried
about me, tried to discover ways to find me, rescue me…It was hard for me to comprehend,
but it seemed numerous people actually gave a shit what happened to me; first
with the Ford fiasco and now this.

     I had friends; friends I realized I could trust and lower my
defenses around. Maybe I didn’t have to be such a guarded bitch any longer.

     The only thing marring this surreal moment was Evan’s mother. While
she smiled and expressed her delight that I was safe I couldn’t help feeling
that she seemed a little reserved.

     I was certain she thought I was one gigantic horrible omen for
Evan.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR

EVAN

     “Come into my liar, sweet maiden.” I growled.

     “Your acting like this is the first time I’ve been to your house.”
Shaw said with a grin and a shake of her head as I carried her through the
front door. “And like I broke my legs. You know I can walk just fine, or at
least close if you ignore the hunchback shuffle.”

     I pecked her soft lips hard. “Why don’t you shut your mouth and
act
like you love my efforts at being the prince to your damsel in distress,
because I know it hurts more than you’re letting on.” I gave her a knowing
look.

     Every time she moved around I could see it pained her. She tried
to cover it with a passive expression, but the old woman hobble and the strain
around her eyes and mouth gave it away. It was only three days after her
surgery and she had another two weeks of healing to get through. Because her
appendix burst she’d had a bit more done down there than a customary
appendectomy.  

     “I still think I could have stuck it out at my apartment instead
of having to come stay here at your house.” Shaw declared ignoring my comment
on her pain. “There can’t be that many reporters wanting my story. Elizabeth has to have it so much harder than me because of who her parent’s are and how
long he had her. I’m just a nobody he had for only one day.”

     Striding into the living room I set her gently on the couch.
“You’re not a nobody.” I growled, hating it when she referred to herself in any
negative way. She was incredible. “And those reporters have done a lot of
digging and found plenty of things about you they find interesting.”

     She frowned. “What do you mean?”

     Grabbing a couple of throw pillows I situated them around her, as
well as a blanket to keep her warm. I wasn’t looking forward to what I had to
tell her, but she was bound to find out and I wanted her prepared.

     Sitting down on the maple coffee table across from her I took her
hands. “They dug into your entire life, Shaw. They know you were dropped off at
a McDonald’s as a baby, and about Ford’s harassment of you.” My stomach twisted
at the small flinch and grimace she gave. “They also resurrected Carrie’s story
since you two are friends and roommates.” More twisting to my stomach ensued at
the bleakness clouding her eyes.

     “Oh god, no.” She moaned covering her face.

     Moving to sit beside her I wrapped her in my arms. “Don’t you dare
take on any blame for what’s happening. None of this is your fault. This is
what reporters do; they dig and dig without any care to who gets hurt in their
attempts at getting the best story they can. Carrie doesn’t blame you…”

     Uncovering her face she cut me off. “Where is she? How do you
know?”

     I rubbed her shoulder. “She went to class…”

     “Oh shit. She has to deal with assholes all over again.” She
scrubbed her hands over her face.

     I continued. “And Nic is with her since he has nothing better to
do.” That wasn’t exactly true, but he would have been there for her no matter
what. “Carrie argued with him, telling him she’d be fine, but you know how he
is. If he wasn’t trying to get her naked all the time I’d think he was trying
to fill the position of her father. And I know she doesn’t blame you because
she told me. They were already reporting her story when she came to visit with
you yesterday. Did it look or sound like she blamed you?”

     Leaning into my side she inhaled and exhaled heavily. “I can’t
believe she has to deal with that all over again. You still think its fate and
not bad luck?”

     I tilted her face up to mine, taking note and loathing the
despondency swimming in her glassy eyes. It also didn’t escape my notice that
she was more concerned for Carrie than herself. She’d shown an elevated level
of concern for Elizabeth too. With what they’d shared it wasn’t surprising
they’d connected. Elizabeth had told me the strength of will Shaw had shown in
the face of possibly dying of appendicitis and how she’d given Elizabeth renewed hope of escape.

     My gut had rolled at their escape plan to jump the guy and try to
steal his gun. There were so many ways I could have lost her. I could
completely relate to Nic’s over-protectiveness of Carrie now because I wanted
to wrap Shaw up in bubble wrap…except for those times I wanted her totally
naked.

     I kissed her forehead tenderly and let her head rest back on my
chest. “Carrie said almost the same thing you said to Elizabeth; that she was
fine with her story coming out because Ford’s harassment of you came out as
well. I swear a near cackle came out of her mouth when they showed reporter’s
chasing after him throwing out words like; predator, stalker, and liar. That
asshole is getting almost the same amount of bad press as your cocksucking
kidnapper.”

     “This is a nightmare.” She muttered. “You’d think with changing my
name it would be harder to find out shit about me.”

     I wished for her sake it was. “You might be cheered to know that
the press slammed the person who gave you the dumbass name of Patricia
McDonald. They said it was a no wonder you changed it.”

     “Auhhh, the silver lining. I wondered when I’d see it.” She
snorted.

     “You’re
my
silver lining, Red.” I mumbled into her hair.

     She stiffened and seemed to stop breathing next to me. That caused
my breathing to stutter because I didn’t understand her reaction.

     “Was I dreaming the other night?” She asked softly after a short
silence.

     I frowned. “What do you mean?”

     She rubbed her face into my chest. “Did you climb into bed with
me, and…say we were…fated?”

     She thought the other night was a dream? I tapped her chin so she
would look at me. Her eyes met mine hesitantly. “You weren’t dreaming.”

     “So…you meant it when you said…” She halted and stared at me with
fear and hope and I know she needed to hear me say it again.

     That she was having such a hard time believing it…me, twisted my
guts. Hell, with how long I’d been closing my eyes to it I thought I’d be more
reticent with the emotion, but embracing it was effortless. 

     Cupping the side of her face I vowed. “I love you, Shaw; with
everything I am and everything I will become. There will never be anyone that
could ever compare to you, and who could fit me so perfectly. We are destined.”
I repeated.