Page 20 of False Assumptions

Chapter Ten

“Coop!”

Elena bounded up to him, throwing her arms around him, causing him to stumble back a step from her unexpected exuberance as he caught her against him. He looked up to see Carter smiling indulgently at his girlfriend. They’d been back together for about a month now, and Carter was happier than Evan had ever seen him. Carter deserved to be happy. He was the best guy that Evan knew. And Carter had been moody as fuck while he and Elena had been broken up.

Evan pulled back from Elena, grinning down at her. “You coming along for the ride?”

“Of course! What else am I gonna do? Hang out at your place by myself?” She made a derisive noise and opened the passenger door of Carter’s car, climbing in the front seat before Evan could say anything.

“Hey! I was planning on riding shotgun.”

She poked her head back out of the open door. “Oh, really?” All feigned innocence. “I had no idea. Sorry.” She dragged out the last word. Definitely not sorry.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Evan resigned himself to being folded in half to sit in the back seat. Carter came up behind him, chuckling. “Sorry, man. You snooze, you lose. Especially where Elena is concerned.”

Evan laughed too. He’d spent enough time with Elena to know how she was. Well, how she was now, since she’d been seeing a therapist. That had helped turn her back into the outspoken and outgoing person he’d met a year ago at a club. They’d danced, he’d thought she was hot, but he’d been too preoccupied with what he’d seen as Matt Schwartz poaching the girl he’d originally been interested in. He’d had no idea at the time that Hannah and Matt had so much history. Carter had actually gotten a date with Hannah once, but she’d been in love with Matt all along. Neither Evan nor Carter had stood a chance.

Which for Carter had worked out fine. Once he’d met Elena, Hannah’s best friend, he’d been a goner. And now that the football season was over and Evan spent more time at home watching Carter and Elena’s relationship unfold, he felt a sort of longing to have that too. Which was weird. He hadn’t wanted a relationship in a long time. Not since his freshman year.

He’d dated this girl whose life was a complete disaster, and he wanted to help her. Which hadn’t seemed like a problem until his coach had chewed him out for slacking off in practice and making mistakes that cost them a game. Coach Hanson had told him to get his head out of his ass and let his girlfriend handle her own shit or he’d sit on the bench for the rest of the season. After that, he’d stopped jumping at her every call, and she’d gotten pissed and dumped him. He hadn’t been all that upset about it. It had been a relief to not have that kind of drama dragging him down all the time. So he’d decided he was just going to have fun. No drama. No bullshit. No strings.

That had been fine for the last few years. But even some of the die-hard players that he’d looked up to were settling down. Lance Kane got married, for Christ’s sake. And even Chris Watkins had a serious girlfriend. Now Daniel Carter. Although that was less of a surprise. He’d never really gone for no-strings sex. Carter liked strings. But there was something about the way he and Elena were together that seemed different than Carter’s past girlfriends. Evan couldn’t put his finger on what that was, but he noticed it all the same.

And it looked like something he never knew he wanted.

Shaking off those thoughts, he climbed into the backseat, bitching about how cramped he was, which only provoked laughter from Elena, and comments like, “Man, there’s sooo much legroom up here. I love how I can stretch my legs out as far as they’ll go. It’s so comfortable.”

“Watch it. I’ll figure out a way to get you back,” he threatened. Playfully, but not really.

Carter caught his eye in the rearview mirror. “Hey, now. No revenge plots on my girlfriend.”

Evan sat back as far as he could, crossing his arms. “I can’t make any promises.”

“Ooooh,” Elena put in. “I’m sooo scared.”

He thumped a knee into the back of her seat.

“Hey!”

“Oops. My bad.”

She turned and glared at him through narrowed eyes. He gave her his most charming smile in return. Laughing, her face relaxed, and she turned back around. But she quit commenting about all her legroom. They arrived at the trailhead parking lot a few minutes later, and Evan climbed out of the backseat, grateful to be able to stretch his legs.

He chuckled when he climbed into Layla’s beat-up old Chevy with its threadbare upholstery and cracked vinyl piping around the edges of the seats. But it started without a problem. The passenger seat had a pile of books and papers on it, and a glance at the back seat showed more of the same. Apparently she used her car as a sort of mobile study space. He made quick work of adjusting the mirrors and the seat before backing out, the dim headlights cutting through the night.

Back at her apartment complex, he parked in the spot marked with Layla’s apartment number. He figured he’d run up and drop off Layla’s keys before hopping back in Carter’s car. Maybe he could convince Elena to let him have the front seat. Not likely. But when he climbed out of Layla’s car, Carter and Elena were waiting for him.

He gave them a quizzical look. “Need to stretch your legs, Elena? I thought you had plenty of room in the car.”

She stuck out her tongue at him before answering. “We thought we’d say hi and make sure your friend has everything she needs for the night.”

“Uh, okay.”

Carter chuckled. “She means that she doesn’t trust you to take care of a girl.”

“Hey! I know how to take care of girls.” He smirked. “At least, I’ve never had any complaints before.”

Elena smacked his arm. “Don’t be dirty. From what you’ve said, she’s not that kind of friend. Which is unusual for you. I want to meet her.”

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