Treasured (Embracing Series Book 1) (8 page)

The tall guy says, “My name is Evan Martin. This is my buddy, Brody Lewis.”

Evan is really tall. He has dark hair, kind of messy on top. He's tan, muscular, and attractive. I can see a tattoo on Evan’s arm, but I can't see what, exactly, it is. There’s also a tattoo peeking out of the tight NYU T-shirt he has on with a pair of tight jeans and cowboy boots. He’s definitely a country guy.

Brody has blondish-brown hair and is kind of short. He’s cute, definitely Nikki’s type. I can tell she’s already drooling over him. They look nothing like Cali guys.

“Do you guys go to NYU?” I ask.

“Yes, we do. We’re both studying law and are in our second year,” Evan says.

“That’s terrific. Nikki and I are studying law as well.”

“What are you ladies doing tonight? There's a party around the corner. You ladies want to meet up there?” Evan asks. I look at Nikki. She smiles and nods.

“Great, we will see you around eight o’clock,” Brody says.

As soon as they leave, Nikki clips her hands and says, “Holy moly, they're cute as hell. We're going to party with college guys. I’m so excited!”

I laugh. I wish I could party with my Liam.

“Let’s go get a new outfit for tonight,” Nikki says, slapping my arm.

I roll my eyes. “I knew that was coming.”

“Oh come on, you know you’ve missed shopping with me.” I smile. She's right; I have missed shopping with her.

We head to the nearest mall. I get a pair of jeans and a cute shirt. Nikki gets a dress and a new coach purse. We decide to get manicures and pedicures while we're there. Then we get our hair done.

I get my hair trimmed and styled. Though Nikki has gorgeous hair already, she gets her hair trimmed and styled as well. She and Addison have no problem with their hair. I, on the other hand, have a frizz head.

I check my phone and see three texts. Holy crap, I had no idea my phone was on vibrate.

Mom: Okay pumpkin, how is everything? Was Nikki there when you arrived? Love Mom.

Addison: Lila Rae, you bitch. I miss you already. Call me <3

Liam: Hey beautiful, I hope you are settled in. I miss your smile, your face and well, every inch of that body.

Before I can call anyone back, Liam calls. He’s worried about me because no one has heard from me. I tell him about my childhood friend being my roommate and that we went to lunch and shopped. He says he's leaving in ten hours and just wanted to hear my voice. I can’t stop smiling.

As we hang up, I say, “I love you, Liam.”

“I knew it! I love you more, though.”

Finally, Addie calls and tells me she's worried and that she already knew about Nikki because Eric had told her. With excitement in her voice, she says she wants to come see us soon.

After all my calls, I finally finish getting ready.

~Chapter Nine~

Lila

I feel very uncomfortable being at this party. We don’t know anyone. Finally, we see Evan and Brody. Evan hugs me, which makes me feel even more awkward. I think he notices because he apologizes.

“It’s okay, Evan.” I smile.

“You look beautiful, darlin’.”

I know he sees me blush. I want to yell, “I have a boyfriend,” but I just say “Thank you.”

Nikki is all over Brody. I can't help but laugh at her.

Brody and Evan seem like really nice guys. Me and Evan have a lot in common, which I think is great.

Nikki says, “I’m going to walk outside with Brody. I’ll be fine.”

I shoot her a
what the fuck
look. This bitch had better not leave me with these strangers.

Evan and I talk and laugh before I realize that I haven’t seen Nikki or Brody in over an hour. Evan says he thinks they left. I text Nikki. She tells me I should go back to the dorms, that she's fine.

I see a tall, auburn haired girl staring me down. I’m not sure why she’s looking at me like that. I smile at her and wave.

Evan gives me a ride and wants to know if he can call me. I give him my number. I feel bad afterward. What if Liam isn't okay with it?

I know he doesn't care if I have male friends, but, after what Ashton put me through, I don't want any secrets between Liam and me.

I put my pajamas on and lie on my bed, thinking about everything that's going on. I look at the clock. It's two o’clock in the morning and Nik
still
hasn't ventured in.

***

I hear Nikki walking in, so I get up and say, “Where the hell have you been, Nik?”

She laughs and says, “I’m fine. Brody is a great guy.”

“So great you had to spend the night with him?”

“No, we sat at the café all night! We just talked. Then we went and got coffee this morning. I brought you a vanilla bean frappe with caramel drizzle just the way you like it.”

She's lucky that’s my favorite.

“Just because you brought me Starbucks doesn’t mean I’m not mad at you.” I try to hide my smile.

“Oh L, he’s amazing. He's from Utah, and he's here studying to be a criminal lawyer. He comes from a great family and I think I want to know more about him. He and Evan have been friends just as long as we have.”

“That’s great, but next time don’t make me worry about you all damn night,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Yes, ma’am, I won’t do it again,” she says, saluting me.

“Okay, smart ass, just let me know when you'll be out all night.”

I can’t stop laughing at her. She’s smiling from ear to ear.

“I need to shower and go to sleep. I haven’t slept in almost two days,” she says.

“I slept pretty well, other than worrying about your bitch ass.”

“Oh, Lila, I’ll be fine.” She hugs me, then heads to the shower. My phone starts beeping. It’s a text from Evan.

“Is that Liam?” Nikki yells from the other room.

“No, actually it’s Evan.”

“I knew he liked you!” she screams.

“I kind of like him,” I say to myself, but am I wrong for hanging out with him? I’ll tell Liam as soon as I talk to him.

I reply to Evan. Then he tells me he would like to take me to see the city.

***

We go to this little café for brunch. We laugh and talk for an hour, then we go to Central Park, where we walk for hours. Evan is from a small city and is a country boy with big dreams. He plans on staying in New York and starting his own practice.

He’s very open about his family and background. He tells me he's an only child and that his father is an English professor at the State University and his mother is a kindergarten teacher at the town’s only elementary school. He'd worked at a coffee shop all through high school and received scholarships to help with school. He’s a football player—the moment I met him, I could tell he plays football or wrestles because of his muscles. He doesn’t look like the lawyer type, but he seems like a very smart man. There’s something about him that intrigues me. I want to know as much as possible about him.

I talk about my parents, my brother, my friends, Addison, Ashton, and Liam—the Liam I’ve fallen in love with, who is off getting ready to fight for our country while I’m here chitchatting with this fine ass man.

I fail to mention Liam is also my boyfriend. I just don’t want Evan to get scared and walk away. There’s so much more I want to learn about him.

Evan drives me back to the dorm. He has a nice car, an older beige Camaro.

“How long have you had this car?”

“My father gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday. It was his when he was a teenager. She's my ol’ lady.”

“Nice.” I laugh.

When we get back to my dorm and I open the door, Brody’s naked ass is standing in the doorway with nothing on but a cowboy hat.

“Holy crap!” I yell.

“Lila, wait,” Nikki says.

“No, Nik, I’ll be back later.” I’m almost in tears from laughing. I can't look at either of them right now.

I close the door. “Evan, I umm…I don’t think we should go in there.”

“What did you see?”

“Brody’s ass!”

“Oh damn, that’s a horrible sight.”

We go to Chipotle for dinner and a movie. He’s so sweet; he won’t let me pay for anything. He doesn’t even ask if I have a boyfriend. Maybe he’s waiting for me to tell him.

He drives me back to the dorms and hugs me when he walks me to the door. Brody must already be gone. I don’t see him anywhere.

“Hey, Lila. So um, what you saw earlier wasn’t what you think.”

“Nik, you don’t have to explain your sex life to me, although I wasn’t prepared to see Brody’s ass.”

“We didn’t have sex. We were playing strip poker.”

“Ah, that explains the cowboy hat!”

“I can’t believe you thought I screwed him already,” she says, a hurt look on her face.

“I’m sorry doll, it just looked that way.” I laugh.

Smacking my arm, she says, “You’re such a bitch, L.”

~Chapter Ten~

Classes are starting today and I’m a little nervous. Nikki and I only have a couple classes together. As I walk into the room of my first class, I see Evan. He smiles when I sit next to him.

After class, I see a tall, auburn haired girl standing by the door. It looks like the bitch from the party.

“Hey, Evan!” she yells.

“What do you want, Alyssa?”

“Who’s your friend?” I ask.

“Lila, this is Alyssa, my ex.”

She doesn’t shake my hand when I reach out to her; she just turns and walks away. I can hear her talking to some friends—about me, of course—on the other side of the hall.

Evan and I eat lunch together and then go to our other classes. I meet up with Nikki after classes so we can go out for burritos.

All I find myself doing is thinking about how great Evan is. Nikki keeps talking about Brody and how they have almost every class together. He really does seem like a great guy. He seems really shy and Nikki isn’t, so they make a perfect pair.

“Are you listening to me?” Nikki asks.

“Of course! Why would you think I wasn’t?”

“You just seemed lost in thought, that’s all.”

“Oh, I’m confused. I love Liam, but I like Evan.”

Crap, what is a girl to do?

***

Over the next couple of weeks, I hear nothing from Liam. I don’t want to ask Addie, but she figured out I was worried as soon as I called.

“I know about you and my cousin, Lila Rae Carls!”

“What?” I reply.

“He loves you. He told me everything.”

“Addie, I wanted to tell you, I just didn’t know how. I slept with him the last night at the beach house. Well, and a couple other times.” I giggle.

“Bitch, he didn’t tell me that. You damn horny toad. I’m your best friend. I’m supposed to know these things.”

“I know. I should have told you, but I didn’t know how you would react.”

“You're like a sister to me. I love you and trust you with my life. I wouldn’t be mad at you for fucking my cousin all over California.”

I laugh at her. “Speaking of secrets, why are you and my little brother always together?”

She giggles. “I guess I’ll tell you. We've been dating for a while now. We didn’t know how you would feel about it.”

“Nice. I don’t care, just don’t break each other’s hearts. I can’t believe I had to ask you! I’ve known for months. I was just waiting on you to tell me.”

She laughs at my words.

“We’ll see you next month, doll. We love you.”

“I love you both.”

I smile at the thought of them together—they're perfect.

The next few weeks fly by. I spend most of my time with Evan; he always makes me smile and laugh. He's taken me all around the city and given me a tour of campus. He even showed me all the great law firms I could apply for internships at.

***

I’m waiting for Evan to pick me up when a letter comes from Liam. I want to read it so bad, but I wait until I get back to read it.

My sweet L,

I’ve missed your beautiful face. Sorry it has taken so long to write. I’ve been really busy here. I can’t tell you my location. I’ll be home for Thanksgiving and I can’t wait to put my arms around you and kiss those sexy lips of yours. I hope you are doing well and staying away from those college boys. I love you, beautiful. I’ll write soon, my love.

Always,

Liam

As I sit and hold the letter, crying for Liam, I feel so much love for him. Even so, I find myself thinking of how great Evan is. I fall asleep, thinking about the two wonderful men that have become part of my life.

“Hey, Lila,” Evan says as he reaches down and kisses my cheek. He has to be at least six foot two, definitely taller than Liam.

“What do you want to do today, darlin’?” What is up with guys and these damn nicknames?

“Maybe Central Park again?”

“Sounds great, pretty lady. I've wanted to take you there since the last time. Maybe that hot dog stand I told you about will be open today.”

He has a little twang in his voice, which is pretty damn sexy. “Evan, have you lived anywhere other than Utah?”

“Yes, I’m originally from Alabama. Me and my family moved to Utah when I was eight years old. My grandparents still live there. Maybe someday you can go visit their farm with me.”

I knew he had an accent that wasn’t from Utah.

We have a wonderful day because he’s so much fun to hang out with. We go back to his house for beers and a small party.

“Lila, this is another buddy of mine, Zander.”

“Nice to meet you. Are you from here?”

He smiles and says, “No, sweetheart, I’m from Alabama. That’s how I know Evan. His grandparents own the farm my father works for.”

I knew he wasn’t. He has that same twang. He's a nice looking man about the same size as Evan and has dark hair.

“That’s great. It’s nice meeting you, Zander.”

“Likewise, sweetheart.”

Other people come in the later it gets. I see Alyssa and Evan on the patio, talking. They look like they’re having a heated conversation.

“Hi, you must be Lila?” a short, brunette girl says.

“Yes, I am, and you are?”

“Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry. My name is Heather. I have a few classes with Brody and Evan. I used to date Zander.”

“Oh, nice to meet you, Heather.”

“Just to let you know, I’m not a fan of Alyssa. She isn’t a nice person.” I smile because I don’t know how to respond to that. “Oh, this is Margie,” Heather adds, pointing to a girl standing next to her.

“Hi, Margie,” I say as she reaches out and shakes my hand. “I’m going to go dance. It was a pleasure meeting you two.”

They both smile and say they'll catch up with me later. I get another drink, hoping Nikki and Brody will show up. Finally, I see Nikki.

“Hey, bitch, glad you are here.”

“L, what’s wrong?”

“I’m getting evil eyes from skankzilla Alyssa.”

The hatred all over Nikki's face suggests she already knows about Alyssa. “I know she doesn’t want me to punch her in her throat. I haven’t liked her since I met her. I think Brody slept with her. He swears he didn’t, but I know he did.” After a short pause, she sighs and says, “Let’s just have fun.”

Brody and Evan come to dance with me and Nikki. A slow song comes on and Evan wraps his arms around me. Damn! He smells so good.

As I dance with him, trying to keep my distance, he pulls me close and whispers in my ear, “You look wonderful tonight, darlin’.”

I know he sees me blush when I smile. He starts singing “Bless The Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts.

Damn this man can sing. I know he plays guitar because I saw the guitar in his car. He's never played for me, but I hope he will soon.

I already had a few drinks and don't want to say anything stupid, so I smile. Nikki is staying with Brody, but I’m ready to go back to the dorm.

Evan takes me home. He's been flashing me those beautiful green eyes all night. He seems like he wants to ask me something.

“I like spending time with you. Can we hang out again tomorrow?”

I giggle. “Sure, after class.”

He leans in and kisses my nose.

***

I hear a knock at the door and think maybe it's Evan, but when I open the door I get a huge surprise. It’s my Liam.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“I missed you so much, and when I knew I would be here for a few days, I had to see you.”

“I missed you too.”

I start kissing him and pulling all his clothes off.

“Slow down, woman.” Liam laughs.

I smile as I kiss every inch of his body. I lay him on my bed and look at his beautiful body. I kiss his neck and make my way down. He still has his boxers on. I pull them down; he's so hard.

I kiss all around his stomach and his thighs. I want to feel him in my mouth, but I’ve never done that before. I'm not sure how to do it. As I stroke and rub him, I lean in and put him in my mouth.

“Oh my God, where the hell did you learn that from?”

I must be doing it right. I move faster.

“I want you,” he says. “Climb on top of me; I want to feel you wrapped around me.” I start sucking harder. “Baby, it feels so good. If you don’t stop, I’ll come in your mouth. I want to be inside of you. I don’t think I can hold it.”

Smiling, I look up at him and slide my way up his body. I put a leg on each side of him and guide him inside of me. I’m so excited I can barely breathe.

“I never want to stop making love to you, my beautiful L. You are truly amazing.”

I feel him explode inside of me as I fall down on his chest, panting like I just ran ten miles. I realize after he came inside me that he wasn’t wearing a condom. So glad I started taking those pills last month.

“The condom! Fuck! You had me so turned on I forgot to put it on.”

“It’s okay, I’m on the pill now.”

He smiles and rubs his nose against mine. “That’s good. Now I’ll never have to wear one again.”

“I love every part of your body,” I say.

“I can’t stay long,” Liam whispers.

“I know, my love.” I start to cry.

“Don’t cry, my sweet L. I’ll see you on Thanksgiving.”

“Promise?” I say.

“I promise you, I’ll be back in your arms soon.”

What would I ever do without his embrace? His kisses? His touch? I would die from a broken heart.

***

I shower and hurry to class. I’ve never been this late before. I meet Nikki for lunch and tell her about Liam stopping by.

“Lila, you have sex written all over your face!”

“What? Do I really?”

“No, you’re just glowing. I’m happy he swung by to give you a quickie; now you'll stop being so damn sad when Brody and I get our groove on.”

“Bitch please, I’m not sad. I hate hearing his moans.”

“I know. He’s loud, isn’t he?” Nikki says.

Evan texts me that he wants to meet for dinner. I feel bad. I need to tell him I have a boyfriend. I just don’t want to hurt him. I love hanging out with him and I know once I tell him about Liam, it’ll all change.

***

The days fly by. Before I know it, it’s a week from Thanksgiving. Nikki is going to Ohio, and Evan and Brody are going home to Utah. I’m going to miss hanging out with Evan, but I’ll be with Liam. Do I tell Liam about Evan? I don’t want him to be jealous. I still haven’t told Evan about Liam.

Before we all go our separate ways for the holiday, I have dinner with Evan, Brody, and Nikki. I decide it’s time to tell Evan everything, but I don't say anything about Liam before, during, or after the dinner. What the fuck is wrong with me? Ugh!

He’s such a great friend. I’m really lucky to have him and I don’t want it to change.

After the dinner, Evan says, “Lila, I’ll miss hanging out with you.”

I want to say I’ll miss you too, but I’ll be home making love to my boyfriend all week.

“You’ll have Brody.”

“Not the same. He isn’t as pretty as you are.”

“I have to agree with you on that. I’ll call you when I get back.”

He leans over and kisses my cheek. “See you soon, darlin’.”