Page 21 of In the Danger Zone
There seemed to be a look of disappointment on Evan’s face. Did he think that would do something? That I wouldn’t see through the façade? He simply couldn’t be trusted – no matter how cute he was, no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he said to me.
“I get that. But I was hoping… Look, I don’t want you to hate me.”
I laughed. “Is this an ego thing? Are you one of those people who hates it when someone doesn’t like them?”
“No. No. Nothing like that.” He frowned. “I just… You can trust me. I promise you that you can trust me. I’m not a bad guy. I’m a guy who’sfriendswith a bad guy, and after seeing how Asher treated you, I realized I don’t wanna be around someone like that.”
“And then what?” I shrugged at him. “You wanna b-be b-best friends with m-me?”
Evan said nothing for a little while. He just kept looking at me closely. “I just want you to know that you shouldn’t pay any attention to the shit he says or does to you. The other night at the party…”
I blushed quickly and avoided his gaze. “W-What about it?”
“I’m sorry he did that to you.”
“Ishesorry?”
“No. But you shouldn’t worry about getting an apology from him after that. He could say sorry a million times and you still shouldn’t accept it.”
“Trust m-me. I wouldn’t.”
“Good. What I said after that, though...” He cleared his throat. “About not letting people disrespect you… I want you to remember that. Don’t ever let people walk over you, especially guys like Asher.”
Every word sounded genuine. That was the worst part. Because Iknewhe was lying. That it was some little scheme to make me let my guard down. My guard had been up my whole life, though.
“Thanks for the advice,” was all I said.
Evan hummed before his eyes landed on my book. “Watcha reading?”
I sucked in a sharp breath. He wasn’t going to leave me alone. “It’s about Impressionism. I’m majoring in art history.”
His eyes widened. “That’s so cool. Maybe you can help me with my essays and stuff.”
My eyes narrowed at him.
“… Or not,” he continued. “I’m an English major. Honestly just kinda winging it here until I go pro. I would have been there already, but my birthday kinda messed things up.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “Your b-birthday?
“I was born a week after the NHL cut-off date. I wasn’t eighteen yet so they couldn’t draft me. UWO has always had an awesome hockey team and I didn’t really wanna stay back home to play in Minnesota. Last year was a great year for the Wolverines. And for me as a player. You know, all that developmental stuff. I wanna be the best before I hit the NHL. But I also wanna be loyal to this team as well. I’ve learned a lot here. Figured staying around two more years wouldn’t hurt, and I wanna get us that championship.”
“Okay,” was all I said.
“I don’t really care about this school stuff, but my parents still want me to get good grades, so failing isn’t an option.”
Of course. He didn’t need to study or read or try hard when it came to actual work.
“How valiant of you,” I said.
“I don’t know what that means,” Evan said with a little laugh.
I rolled my eyes at him. “It m-means courageous. And that was sarcasm.”
“Okay, I know whatthatmeans.” He chuckled some more, but that noise quickly disappeared when he saw my non-response. “So, you’re into art then? Hey, you know that painting with the dogs where they’re playing poker? I love that one. I have that painting in my room.”
My fingers rubbed at my forehead. “Do you?”
“Yeah…” He let out a long breath. “But you look like you’re studying hard, so I’ll leave you alone. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay after the other night.”
