Evolve Series Box Set (58 page)

My fingertips trail down her neck, her shoulders, her sides, learning every dip, line, and curve that is Whitley. I end my gentle exploration with hands gripped around her tiny waist, hauling her whole body into mine. Releasing her sweet mouth, I nibble her jawline before feasting on her neck, her pulse drumming against my eager mouth.

“Ah, Whit,” I growl, licking slowly up to her ear, “damn, you’re sweet.”

She grabs my cheeks and pulls my face to hers, eyes aflame. “You about done with the disaster dating thing?” Her chest heaves, her breaths coming heavy and hungry.

Oh how this little pixie makes me laugh. “Yes, ma’am. You forgive me?”

She twists her mouth, tapping her chin with a single finger. “I don’t know. Seems like I should make you sweat it out since you made me so crazy.”

“Only a crazy woman can love you like crazy.”

“You better be ready to give as good as you get,” she warns, nipping my mouth and bringing to life another part of me I thought for sure had died. The part that loves to cherish, the part that wants to be embraced, and the part that yearns, has always yearned, to have that embrace returned.

“I’m a thorough kind of guy, Ms. Thompson. I’ll give you something to hum about every chance I get, you precious little thing.” I tap her nose airily. “And no more dating for you, either.”

“I told you, Thad wasn’t a date.” She wiggles, burrowing closer against me.

“Yeah, I know, but what about the other night when I asked you to hang out and you had plans? I assumed you had a date then.”

“I didn’t.”

“Well then—”

“I sat at home, Evan. I wrote a paper, took a bath, and fell asleep watching a Duck Dynasty marathon.”

I’m elated to hear she didn’t have a date; I’d been trying to ignore the fact that it’d been eating away at me wondering what she’d done with who, since the minute she blew me off that night. But, now there are much more important matters at hand.

“Duck Dynasty! Why don’t you ever force me to watch that instead of singing bullshit or whatever?” I slap her bottom. She squeals and jumps, landing her firmly in my lap.

“I didn’t know you liked that show. There’s a lot I have to learn.”

“Whit,” I sneak a kiss, “I’m from Georgia. I hunt and fish; Duck Dynasty is a pretty safe bet. In fact, anytime you have to choose between beards or singing, what do you think my answer would be?”

“Okay, okay,” she giggles, “lesson learned.”

“You guessed strawberry shortcake, my favorite dessert, but missed this? Crazy girl.” I move for her mouth, already starving for another taste, but her body goes stiff as she gnaws her bottom lip, climbing out of my lap and scooting away.

“Hey,” I reach out and rub her leg, “what just happened?”

She won’t look at me, head turned to the window.

“Whit, talk to me, please.”

Her head shakes. “I had almost forgotten, so it’s not like I lied. I’m sorry.”

What am I missing here? Did she steal the strawberry shortcake or something?

Her mutter is lined with worry. “I didn’t guess about the shortcake. Or the fishing. Laney fed me some info a while back. I’m a big, fat fraud.” Her fist goes to her mouth and she bites her knuckle. “I’m not in tune to you; I’m a cheater.”

Do not laugh, Evan. The lady thinks it’s serious, you take it seriously.

“Woman,” I say, watching as she turns her head to me but her eyes dodge mine, “come here.” I pat her spot in my lap.

She’s unsure, thinking I’m mad, so I give her a smile and pat my lap again. Hesitantly, she crawls back in and I wink at her, letting her know I could care less. So she got the DL on me, so what. She cared enough to put her info into play…so I see no problem here.

“You worry too much, sweet girl. I love that you wanna know my secrets. I love that you wanna know me.”

“Really? Okay. And just because she told me a few little tiny things doesn’t mean our connection isn’t real.” The whole sentence came out in one rushed ramble with no pause for breathing. It was adorable.

“Really and agreed. Now relax.” I kiss her forehead, still fighting the urge to snicker at her. “Ask me anything you want, anytime.”

“Will you take me on a date?”

She needed no time to think about that one.

“You bet your sweet ass I will.”

CHAPTER 22

Kiss Me

***Evan***

Date #1 (none of the rest count)

Conspirator- Fate

Girl- Whitley

Stats- little blonde hummingbird, biggest blue eyes you’ve ever swam in, Junior

Problems- nothing we can’t solve together

“Hi.” She opens the door, perky and smiling. Her eyes slowly survey me from head to toe, dressed in Timberlands, jeans and a long sleeved white Henley, and I hope she likes what she sees. “Sorry,” she blushes and scoots out of the way for me to enter, “come in.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I kiss her cheek, “I can wait all night. These are for you.” I pull a bunch of daisies tied together with twine from behind my back. I hear her breath catch and trembling fingers take them from me. I figured your first real date called for a whole bunch of flowers, not one at a time like I usually hand her.

She’s really nervous; thank goodness I’m not the only one.

“What were you so deep in thought about?” I ask her.

“What to wear.” She glances down to her shorts and tee. “I’ve proven I’m an epic failure at dressing correctly for the occasion, so I was waiting for you. Where are we going and what should I wear?”

Oh, that smile of hers…did I mention it already?

“I’m not telling you, and wear whatever you want. But, you’d probably be fine in jeans.”

“I can do that. Make yourself at home, it will only take me a minute.”

“Do you want me to put those in water for you while I wait?” I glance to the flowers, still clutched to her chest.

“Sure, thank you.” She hands them over slowly, seeming to not really want to part with them just yet. “There should be a vase in the cabinet above the fridge.” She turns to go down the hall, but I catch her by pulling on the hem of her shirt, dragging her back to me.

“Don’t be nervous, pretty girl. We’ve been on plenty of dates. We may not have called them that, but we always have a good time together,” I breathe huskily in her ear and watch the goosebumps pop out over her bare shoulders and arms.

“I’m glad we’re calling them dates now,” she admits sweetly.

I run one knuckle down her neck. “Me too. Now gimme some sugar before you run off.”

She kisses the tip of her finger then touches it to my lip. “That’s all for now,” she teases me.

“Go get ready. Quickly,” I hiss, trying to swat her bottom and missing as she scampers away.

***

I found this spot on accident, just out driving by myself one day, thankful to find somewhere relatively close to school where I could hide way. But now, I don’t want to keep it my secret; I want to share it with her. No more will it be the place I sit to stew on old memories, but the paradise where I make new ones.

“Stay put until I come get you, okay?”

“Okay.” Whitley grins, giddy at the prospect of a surprise.

I chuckle to myself and shake my head as I climb out; she’s so easy to please, so easy to make happy, but I plan to be the man who takes her from agreeable to delighted all the time.

The truck bounces a bit as I unload all the stuff out of the back of it, but she never turns around; I know she wants to prolong the surprise. I hate to think she holds on so tightly to times like these because she’s not used to people doing them for her.

A few minutes later I have it all set up and open her door. “Whitely,” I take her hand, “you can get out now.”

She turns to face me, eyes squeezed closed. “I didn’t peek, I promise. Should I keep them closed?”

“You are precious.” I kiss the end of her nose. “Open your eyes, I don’t want you to fall.”

With a small pout, she opens her eyes and uses my hand and shoulder to climb out. It’s once her feet are firmly planted that I move her hair and slide the one daisy I’d kept behind her ear. It pales beside her beauty. “Shame for the flower really; never had a chance.” I wink and lead her by the hand through the dark to what I hope is a surprise of her dreams.

On the ground is a blanket surrounded by lit candles with a picnic set for two. Music plays softly from my phone hidden behind the picnic basket, and as my arms sneak around her waist from behind, I can feel her pounding heartbeat against my chest. 

“Evan,” she sighs, “it’s beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful, Whitley Thompson, inside and out. And I need my ass kicked for taking so long to tell you.” Brushing her hair back, I touch my lips to her ear. “I’d have taken you out somewhere, but I kinda wanted you all to myself. That all right?”

“More than okay.” She turns, meeting my lips. “This is perfect,” she murmurs against them.

I scoop her up and cradle her in my arms, carrying her to the blanket where I gently set her down. “As you can see,” I attempt some sort of sexy accent, “we have champagne and cheeseburgers with,” I reach into the basket to reveal the grand finale, “chocolate mousse for dessert.”

Her beautiful giggle cuts through the night air, more brilliant than the stars above us. “May I propose a toast?” she asks, holding up her glass.

I grab my glass. “Ladies first.”

“To finding your first choice,” she delivers faintly.

“To overcats and admitting when you’re wrong.” I clink my glass to hers and wink.

We both take a sip, Whitley’s eyes serious and locked on mine. “Wrong? About what?”

“A lot of things,” I explain with a mocking laugh, “some good, some bad.” I stand, offering my hand to her, which she quickly accepts. “Mostly worrying more about what I’ve always known instead of what I’ve always wanted.”

What I’ve always wanted. Someone to meet me halfway, to be the other half of my team. A bubble of our own that no one bursts through, where we’re equally important to one another, we both know it, we both trust it, putting it before all else. When I lean in to kiss her, she’s already up on her toes to grab it and give it back to me, with passion. When I walk in a room, she smiles like her day just got better, and my eyes seek and find her first in the crowd.

Honestly, I really don’t ever compare the two, but I do realize something now. With Laney, I put her up on a pedestal, then spent all my time trying to get her to come down and see me. Whitley walked right up to me, out of anyone and everyone in the room, and asked me to sit beside her.

She’s been right beside me, literally, ever since.

I feel her next to me now; lost in my thoughts, I pulled her body flush against mine, one hand curled around her waist…and there she stays, content and silent. “Dance with me, pretty girl,” I croon, my voice low and sated in her ear.

“Mmm,” she hums, slinking her arms around my neck, her little body fitting perfectly into every bend of mine.

Every spot we meet incinerates me, teases me. Her head lays against my chest as we sway so slowly we’re almost not moving. “Kiss Me,” by Ed Sheeran plays softly, my new favorite song. Goddamn it feels good. Right. This moment, probably made for girls to swoon about, rocks my soul. The deep, carnal beat of the song matches the one in my chest and the one in her throat where my thumb rubs lazy circles.

When the song ends, her head rises and she asks, cheeks flushed and eyes glazed. “Evan?”

“Huh?” I murmur into her hair, where my mouth has decided to rest.

“Just checking if you were still with me.”

“Oh, I’m with you, Whit,” I agree, now looking at her, “and you’re with me. There’s no reversing this spell.”

Gradually, it kicks in, a glow moving across her face. “So no more dating?”

“No, there’ll be lots and lots of dating.”

She tenses in my arms. “Um…”

I don’t drag it out too long. I didn’t intend to tease her but know exactly what she thought I meant when she goes rigid. “Just me and you. Lots and lots of dating…each other.”

“That was just mean,” she grumbles, pulling out of my wrap on her and crossing her arms across her chest.

“I’m sorry,” I say, knowing this is so not the time to laugh. “I didn’t mean for it to sound like that.”

“Hmpff.” Her bottom lip pops out and she tries so hard to stay mad.

“Whit,” I step to her and pull her closer, “forgive me.” I nuzzle her neck, teasing her with my tongue. “Please.”

“Convince me,” she replies, then gives herself away with the moan.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She can stay mad all night.

CHAPTER 23

Psychedelic

***Laney***

Freaking voicemail!

I haven’t heard from Dane since he dropped me off last night around 11. His phone keeps going to voicemail and all my texts to him remain unread. So I sit here, forcing myself to finish up my Psych paper, which started out as your average pain in the ass homework assignment but has turned into quite the epiphany of self-reflection.

That’s what alone time will get you.

The assignment was to write a ten page paper, double spaced, where you are both the Psychologist as well as the patient, and portray one session concerning one prime topic or “issue.” Now if that doesn’t sound like hella fun, I don’t know what does. Yet here I sit, merely the medium, as the paper writes itself. It’s suddenly one of my favorite assignments ever.

I was going to write about Evan and my feelings of guilt, heartache, some regrets, but the imaginary doctor started out asking “about me” (that seems like something the doctor would do first session, right?). After softball and Dane, I may have mentioned Disney movies, and then my family, or lack of…and voila! My paper, “Disney and Mommy Issues,” is written. I’m thinking it’s pretty brilliant.

Surely it hasn’t escaped everyone’s attention (but mine) that Disney doesn’t do moms.