Wingless Book Series (book 1) (13 page)

“
Whose car is that?” I asked as we
pulled in the driveway of his house. A black Camaro sat outside.
Evan got out, slamming the door.

“
It’s Kenny’s.” He went to the
door, unlocking it and looking back outside as if expecting
something to happen before going in.

I shook my sandals off, heading
into the living room. Evan called for Kenny and wandered off
through the house. In the living room the girl I saw getting
pummeled by Kenny, was curled up on the couch end. She lifted her
head and looked at me as I came in and sat on the opposite end of
the couch.

“
Hi,” she said
politely, sitting up. She was scratched and a little puffy around
the eye, but oh so pretty
and tiny. She
had the longest eyelashes and beautiful green eyes. I smiled at
her, feeling bad as the memory of Kenny hitting her from behind
went off in my head.

“
Hi, I’m Eve.” I
extended my hand. She quickly squeezed mine
and I noticed her knuckles were also
scraped.

“
I’m Ari,
Kenny’s girlfriend,” she said, moving closer. She seemed awfully
calm for someone who had just
been
beaten.

“
I heard about you. Kenny was
telling me how Evan met someone,” she nodded nervously.

“
Yeah, not too long
ago.”

“
How are things? Are you
happy?”

“
Yes, he is a great guy,” I said,
rubbing my arm out of nervous habit.

“
I’ve known Evan for eight years.
He is a really smart guy, and very sweet,” she said, looking past
me quickly and then back to my glance. I figured it was to make
sure Kenny wasn’t around.

“
That’s what I sense. How long
have you and Kenny been together?”

“
Since I was fifteen. My family
and his family have always known each other. It’s almost like we
were fated or something,” she trailed off.

“
Oh, wow,” was all I thought to
say.

“
He was like a big brother to me
when I was younger, always telling me what to do, but protective,
and then once I got older he was determined we be together.” She
told the story so nonchalantly. “And when you know so much about
someone and been around him so long, it feels right.”

But it’s not, I thought. I nodded,
smiling, trying to show my interest and belief in her
theory.

“
Have you met the family?” She
obviously knew nothing about us being over there
earlier.

“
Yeah, I have. Well, I met his
dad.”

“
He’s nice. Just stay on his good
side. I mean, he cares deeply for his family. Sometimes, I regret
being with Kenny.” She said this so quietly, I barely heard
her.

“
What do you mean?”

“
It’s very grueling to try to keep
up with everything that is going on, and what you can and can’t
do.”

I nodded, it seemed like it would
be hard to deal with all the issues. Whatever the issues were. I
wasn’t sure, I hadn’t cared to ask all that yet.

“
Well, your best bet is just to
not open your mouth about anything you see to anyone outside of the
family, and never go against Tony.”Her eyes darted again as she
spoke.

“
But you’re lucky. Evan is a great
guy. He will take very good care of you. He is very faithful to the
people he cares about, and if you’re one of them, you’re in good
hands,” she smiled.

“
That’s sweet of you to
say.”

“
He’s a good guy.”

Ari jumped a bit at the sound of
Kenny coming in the room along with Evan. They both looked frazzled
and rigid. Evan motioned me over to him. I told Ari it was nice to
meet her and followed him to his bedroom. He shut the door and
handed me my phone, which I totally forgot I had left behind today.
There were six missed calls.

“
Call your parents. I’m sure there
flipping.” He went out of the room.

“
Dad?”

“
Eve!” he practically
screamed.

“
Yeah it’s me, I’m fine. I was out
today with Evan and I forgot my phone.”

“
Honey, you can’t do that to us.
And since when do you stay at his house, or any guy’s house?” He
went quiet, breathing into the phone.

“
I don’t normally, but Dad I
really like him. And, honestly, nothing is going on. I just stayed
over. I met his dad today, too.” I hoped he wouldn’t bite my head
off and would just accept that I was eighteen and able to choose
for myself.

“
That’s all good and well, but you
need to check in more. And when are you coming home?”

“
I don’t know. It’s summer. We are
just hanging out, having fun. Before school, ya know?”

My dad
sighed. “Well, just promise me you will be careful and make
the right choices and come home every once in awhile and have
dinner or something. You’re eighteen, I can’t hold on
forever.”

“
Nope.”

“
I love you, hon. And besides,
your stubbornness would win out right?” he tested me before he gave
up.

“
Dad, it would, but trust me, I’m
fine. Evan is a good guy.”

“
Maybe we can meet his dad
sometime. What did you say his name was?”

“
Um, I think Evan is calling me.
It’s Tony. Dad I’ll talk to you soon. Love you. Bye!”

I ended the call before I gave up
the last name for my dad to freak out over, in case there were news
worthy stories about his dad. Evan tapped on the door coming back
in. He handed me a glass of ice tea.

“
Thanks.” I kissed him, suddenly
realizing I was thirsty and hungry.

“
We need to have a chat.” He sat
down on the floor his back against his bed, looking
miserable.

“
Okay, sounds good.” I was all for
it.

“
I don’t know what is the best
decision; I know you say ask, but there are things you need to
understand.” He looked truly worried.

“
I understand most, Evan. I don’t
think you’re a bad person and you’re not steering me
wrong.”

He shushed me. “Just let me
talk and you listen.” I scrunched my nose at his snappy mood. “I am
never going to be the guy your parents are happy to call their
son-in-law, and I don’t feel like I want to try to
be something I am not. I can’t hold up a huge
front around them all the time either. It’s too much work. This is
my life my family, the way I know normal, and it’s hard to project
an image. I will try to do that for you if I have to go around
them, but I just feel bad for choosing to do so. It’s complicated.
And my dad
and his words about wanting us
together, it’s not that I don’t want that. I just want it when I
decide. And you too
of
course.

But at the same time I know
what he wants out of me, and he is right. Me being here alone,
doing what I am here to do, it makes for shaky ground. And if I
want to pull stuff off, I can’t compromise it. It sounds strange,
but it’s true. So, I guess I can either
leave or I can ask you to help me be with you, by, uh, moving
in. And before you answer me just know, if you’re with someone like
me, the safest place for you to be is close to me anyway.” He
sighed, blowing out air. That was more than a mouthful of thoughts;
I was blown away and impressed.

“
Fine, I’ll do it!” I jumped in
his lap, excited.

“
Eve, think long and hard. You can
choose to stay away from this lifestyle. Not many people are
willing to jump in, and most are trying to get out.”

“
No. I want to be with you, and
this is helping you and I am happy to help.”

He sighed, shaking his head.
“Alright, I hope you don’t regret all of this.”

We kissed the most amazing, spine
tingling kiss I could ever imagine. It was a moment that I would
keep with me for a long time.

Chapter 14

Big talk

We decided before going to bed for
the night that we would go to see my parents and have a talk with
them about my decision. Judging by what I knew about my parents, I
wasn’t sure how they would react. I knew that it wouldn’t be that
great of a response, but I was ready to do it. Evan agreed that he
should go because it was him taking their daughter away. He said no
matter what went down, he would stay and endure it as
well.

Morning showed up fast. I
reluctantly showered and dressed. There was no way around it, if I
was going to stay with him I had to tell my parents. I couldn’t
just stay away night after night.

We pulled up to the house. Evan
parked away from the many cars already in the driveway. My sister
was home, which meant even more chaos when I unloaded the news. I
stared at my house, wondering if I could do it. This was what I had
wanted. There was no time better than the present, I thought,
getting out. Evan slowly got out too, shoving his hands in his
pocket.

“
Man, I don’t know what I feel
worse about,” he said, not moving from the side of his
truck.

“
What do you mean ‘worse’ about?
Is there a worse?”

“
For me, yeah. Is it worse to try
and convince a father to let his daughter move out, or to convince
him he hadn’t been sleeping with her the whole time she had been
gone?” He shot me a look of confusion and angst.

“
Let’s not worry about this, let’s
just go in and get it over with. And you said you promise you’re
not going to bail, no matter what.” I poked his chest. He nodded,
sighing loudly.

Coming in the kitchen, the same
scenario as always was going on. Food was being prepared, my mother
in the kitchen chopping and mixing like always. Gray was on a
barstool, Devan alongside of him. This was getting better and
better by the minute. Devan looked up, took one look at Evan, and
you could tell by the look in her eyes, she was horrified. She
stifled it in front of my mother the best she could.

“
There you are,”
my mother
said, coming up and kissing my
forehead. She fluffed my hair, examining me as if to see if I came
back in one piece. I swatted her hand, setting my purse on the
table.

“
Evan, nice to see you again,” my
mother said with hardly any enthusiasm. Evan nodded with a tense
smile, shoving his hands in his jeans. “Breakfast is almost done, I
made crepes.” She pulled her apron off, looking at the two of
us.

“
Awesome,” I said, raising an
eyebrow at her.

My sister came around the corner
stopping, surprised. She immediately found Evan and checked him out
quietly from where she stood.

“
Do you need anything, Mom? Help
with setting the table or anything?” she asked, coming to stand
next to me. Evan made his way to the hallway, staring at the family
pictures. I could tell this was hard for him to wait
for.

“
Long time no see. I don’t I think
I ever got away with staying at a guy’s house for two days.” She
jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow. “He’s cute.”

“
Is it really that bad of a
situation?” I asked, trying to feel her out. Maybe she got an
earful from my parents and could give me a heads up.

“
I guess it all depends on how you
look at it,” she said, eyeing me. I wasn’t sure what she was
looking for, but I was very sure she wasn’t going to find
it.

Everyone started to gather at the
table for breakfast. Evan had made his way to the den, watching TV
by himself.

“
Well, let’s do this,” I said,
holding out my hand. He reluctantly took it, getting up and
following my lead. Everyone was already seated.

“
How are things
going for you, Evan?” my dad
asked
sternly.

“
Things are good.” He shoved eggs
in his mouth, looking down at his plate.

Everyone busily ate, chatting here
and there. Gray stared occasionally at Evan giving him the hardest
look he could muster.

“
Evan, I hear you’re in school
with Eve and Gray. What year?” Hannah asked, bubbly and full of
life. Mark gave her a glance, going back to feeding the
baby.

“
It’s my third.” Evan was short
and sweet with everyone. His mood was very relaxed, almost
coma-like. It was if someone had just killed his cat. Hannah nodded
staring at him for more, but then she realized there was no more,
and went back to her food.

“
How were your couple days away
from the house?” my dad chimed in, trying to create some sort of
conversation.

“
Um, eventful,” I said, trailing
my fork across my plate. It was now or never. I looked at Evan. He
stared back, raising an eyebrow. I raised mine back. “I came by to
talk with you guys. I didn’t know everyone would be here,” I
blurted out. This grabbed everyone’s attention and all eyes were on
me. My mother sprang to life, her face flushed.

“
Whatever you
need to say, you can say with all of us here. We’re all family,” my
dad
spoke up, setting his silverware down
and giving all his attention to me.