Page 33 of On Broken Wings

“Hey, Jen.” Mason came over, staring at his phone. “You mind if Evan takes you home? Dani just called, and asked if I’d stop by her place.”

“You’re ditching me for a bootie call?” I scoffed.

“She’s my fiancée, not some friends with benefits bs,” he growled. “Come on. You’ll be fine. Please?”

I stood there convincing myself that I could do this. It wasn’t a big deal. Evan was cool. We were friends. He had given me no reason to think that he was anything like Nate. He was a good guy. “I guess,” I mumbled.

“I’ll make it up to you.” He hugged me, and kissed my forehead. “Kick his ass a few more times first.”

“Yeah, sure.” I chewed one of my nails as I watched Mason’s back disappear in the crowd. I’m sure he was going to find Evan and ask him about the ride. Everything would be fine. I’d be fine. I had to be fine.

ooooooooo

Evan

“Yo. Evan.” Mason pushed his way to where I was waiting to get the pitcher back.

“Hey.” I lifted my chin in acknowledgement. “S’up?”

“I have a favor to ask. I gotta leave, and Jen’s having fun. You think you could give her a ride? I don’t want her out by herself at night.”

“Yeah. I can do that. Does she know this?” I was surprised by the request. I’ve tried to give Jenni rides before, and she’s always turned me down, pretty adamantly too.

“Yeah. I talked to her already. She has her keys with her, so just drop her at the apartment. Thanks.” He patted my shoulder, and then rushed away. I don’t know what made him bail, but I could see the change in Jenni as soon as I got back to our table.

“You ready to lose again?” She leaned against the corner, eyeing me.

“Who says I’m losing?” I set the pitcher down and starting racking the balls. I watched as Jenni wrapped her arms around her middle. She started fidgeting with the leather cuffs on her wrist, and tucking her hair behind her ears. She was trying to not let the loss of the shield her brother was affect her, but it was. I could see how exposed she saw herself, and how she was slowly withdrawing from me. “You ok?” I waited thinking she’d say no, but she just nodded.

“You break.” She pointed to the table, and then stepped back out of the way.

We played two more games before both of us called it quits. I’d like to say I won at least one of them, but that’d be a lie. Jenni’s a hell of a pool shark. “You ready?” I placed my cue back on the rack on the wall.

“Sure.” She tipped her head down and stared at the ground. This was the Jenni I met the first time. This wasn’t the girl I’ve been studying with. It’s like we took a giant leap backwards. “My car’s in the side lot.”

She nodded as she fell into step beside me. When we breezed through the door, and out into the warm night air, I lifted my arm to place it on her lower back. I wasn’t thinking about how she would react, I was merely guiding her where we were going.

The second I made contact, she went completely stiff. “What are you doing?” Her head flew to the side, her eyes meeting mine.

“Sorry.” I removed my hand. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s a habit, Jenni.” She nodded as she mumbled something to herself. We reached my car, and I held open the door for her. “Your chariot awaits.” I grinned as I swept my arm out in a dramatic motion.

“Thanks.” She climbed in and I closed the door.

I jogged around to the driver’s side all the while berating myself for forgetting about her aversion to being touched. I knew this. Why the hell did I touch her? “Because you want to, Evan,” I growled before I opened my door. I wanted to touch her so bad. She was beautiful, and my fingers tingled whenever I was around her. They wanted to know what her skin felt like. They wanted the one thing they couldn’t have at the moment.

“I live five blocks down on this side.” She pointed to the right as we pulled out of the parking lot.

“Must be nice to be this close.” I attempted to fill the quiet in the car.

“Sometimes.” She sighed. I didn’t know what that meant, but I wasn’t going to push her. I’d already touched her. The last thing I needed was for her to start avoiding me again.

When I pulled into the lot of the apartment building, I took a spot near the entrance. I was hoping to talk, but Jenni had other plans. She quickly unbuckled, and started to climb out. “Wait.” I reached out, my fingers brushing her arm. She recoiled like I’d burnt her.

“Fuck!” I hissed. “I’m sorry.” She sat there with her hand on the door handle, just staring at me.

Her eyes closed, and she took a deep breath before she stared right at me. “Who are you, Evan Shaw?”

“What do you mean?” I swallowed. I couldn’t be honest, but I wanted to be as honest as I could.

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