Page 19 of False Assumptions

Chapter Nine

Layla dreaded trying to get up the stairs to her apartment. Shit. Why did she have to go and hurt her ankle? What was supposed to be a nice walk in the sunshine had turned into a disaster. She should’ve just stayed home and done homework. Dammit. Most of her homework was in her car. Which was still back at the parking lot.

“Are you okay?” The streetlights cast Evan’s face in relief where they waited at a stoplight. The long shadows made it hard to decipher his expression.

“Yeah. No. I don’t know. Everything’s screwed up about today.”

The light turned green, and Evan made a smooth left turn. “Yeah. You groaned, so I wondered if you were in a lot of pain.”

She’d groaned? Sheez. “Well, my ankle hurts pretty bad, yeah, but it’s more that I realized most of the books I need to read are in my car still.”

“Oh. Well, I can help there. We’ll get you home, and I’ll go get your car. I already texted my roommate about going with me.”

Her eyebrows inched up her forehead. “You’re just a full-service knight in shining armor, aren’t you?”

His low chuckle did something to her. Something that made her insides warm and gooey. This wasn’t a feeling she was used to. She pushed it away to deal with later, focusing on giving him directions to her apartment.

When he parked and killed the engine, he glanced from her to the stairs. “You’re on the second floor, aren’t you.” It should’ve been a question, but it was a statement.

“Yeah.” Her voice came out softer and more full of trepidation than she meant for it to. She cleared her throat and repeated, “Yeah,” more firmly. “It’s okay. I can make it.”

Evan scoffed, a derisive noise deep in his throat. Before she could respond, he was out of the car and pulling her door open. Leaning in, he glared down at her. “What’s it gonna be—piggyback again or a fireman’s carry?”

She let out a squeak. Now he’d reduced her to squeaking? What the hell was going on with her? Shaking her head, she forced herself to sound indignant. “Excuse me?”

He smirked. “You and I both know you can’t make it up those stairs. Not before midnight, anyway. So I’m going to carry you again. Are you going to climb on my back and let me? Or do I have to throw you over my shoulder?”

Narrowing her eyes at him, she forced herself not to squeak again. But when he reached for her, she scrambled back. “Okay! Okay! I’ll let you carry me!”

She didn’t really appreciate the smug quality of his smile, but was grateful for his help getting out of the car so she could get on his back. When they arrived at the landing in front of her door, he took a second before letting go of her legs, letting her slide down his back, like he was reluctant to release his hold on her.

But her keys were in her pocket, and she couldn’t dig them out while clinging to him like a baby monkey. He held onto her arm, helping her half-hobble, half-hop inside to the couch. At least she didn’t have dirty laundry all over her living room. Living alone, she didn’t feel the need to keep the main room as tidy as she had with a roommate. But she’d picked up recently, so thank God she didn’t need to be embarrassed about that on top of everything else.

Having Evan in her space felt … strange. He dominated her tiny living room, looming over her as he watched her get settled on the couch, helping pile up throw pillows and a blanket to keep her foot elevated.

“Do you have an ice pack? Or should I fill a bag with ice?”

“Yeah. There’s an ice pack in the freezer door.”

With a nod, he went around the couch to the little galley kitchen. The sound of the freezer door opening and closing reached her, followed by drawers sliding open and more rummaging. What was he doing?

Before she could ask him, he came back in, meeting her eyes as she watched him over the back of the couch. He had a kitchen towel in one hand and the ice pack in the other. He draped the towel over her bare ankle before gently settling the ice pack on the affected side. She hissed at the pain of having it jostled even that little bit as well as at the cold from the ice pack.

Evan stood, rubbing his hands together. “Okay. Leave that on for twenty minutes. Where’d you put your keys?” He glanced around at the papers and books scattered on the coffee table. Well, she’d picked up her clothes yesterday and done laundry. Her usual homework clutter still covered everything.

Holding out her hand, she gave him her keys. Having him or his roommate drive her car made her uncomfortable, but she didn’t have much choice given the situation. She swallowed back her words of caution and irritation, since Evan was being so nice and didn’t deserve her bitchiness. She still couldn’t fathom why he was being this nice to her. But at this point she couldn’t afford to question it too closely. She needed his help.

His fingers brushed her palm as he took the keys, sending a zing of awareness down her arm. Her eyes darted up, clashing with his. He stood frozen, his hand holding her keys hovering over her still-outstretched palm, his sapphire blue eyes intent on her.

But he broke the moment first, pulling the keys into his palm, looking away and clearing his throat. Had he felt the same thing? She couldn’t be sure from his reaction, but maybe so. What did that even mean?

He cleared his throat again. “I’ll, uh—I’ll go meet Carter and get your car. You can text me what you need out of your car, and I’ll bring it up with your keys when I’m back.”

“Oh, um. Why don’t I just write it down before you go?” She leaned over and reached for one of her notebooks, catching it with her fingertips and sliding it closer.

Evan grabbed a pen and handed it to her, his brows wrinkled. “Okay. Why not just text me?”

“It’s easier this way. Trust me.” She kept her voice light and dismissive, not wanting to admit that she had a crappy, old flip phone, and it would take a billion years to text a list of things to him with it. She felt his eyes on her, but refused to look up, focusing on writing out what she needed from her car instead. It was mostly books, but they weren’t all neatly collected in a backpack. And she didn’t need all the books from her car. Not tonight anyway.

Jotting down one last title, she tore off the paper and held it out between her fingers, careful that their hands didn’t have to touch again. Spending so much time with him was making her feel weird. She wanted to examine what this meant, and she needed him to go so she could do that.

He plucked the paper from her fingers, scanned the list, and then folded it to tuck in his pocket. “Alright. I’ll be back in a while. Make sure not to leave the ice on for too long.”

“I won’t”

And with that, he was gone. She heard the key scraping in the deadbolt, locking her in. That was … sweet? Unexpected. But nice. It showed a level of concern that brought that warm feeling back again. And him going to get her car for her. She didn’t even know what to make of that.

She’d expect that from Alyssa. Or even Darren, Alyssa’s husband. But Evan? He barely knew her. Even though they’d decided to start over on more friendly terms, that didn’t mean they were actually friends, did it? Maybe he thought so.

Huh. She’d have to think about that, too.

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