Page 24 of Waiting For Ever
Her soft moan spurs me on. I lower my head, ready to take the peak of her breast into my mouth. My phone vibrates on the nightstand, followed by Allie’s familiar ringtone, sufficiently dousing ice water on the moment.
We spring apart like we’re caught. Ever pulls her shirt down and rests her arm over her eyes, her chest rising and falling as she attempts to slow her breathing.
“Fuck,” I say under my breath. I sit up on the edge of the bed and slide the phone to answer, placing it on speaker while I, too, try to control my breathing. “Hey, Allie. Good morning. How’s the retreat?”
“Julian! Hey. You working out already? You sound out of breath.”
“No, just ran back up the stairs when I heard my phone,” I lie.
“I tried to call Evvie first, but she didn’t answer.”
“Oh, uh, I think I just heard the shower. She must be in there. Want me to have her call you?”
“No. No. It’s fine. I just wanted to check in. See how things are going. The retreat is awesome. Thank you so much for running things so I could do this. I knew you were the exact right person to succeed me someday—”
I snag the phone off the nightstand and take it off speaker as I stand up, intending to walk out of the room to continue the conversation in private under the guise of making coffee downstairs. Before I leave my room, I turn and see Ever sitting on the edge of the bed now, gripping the edge of the mattress with both hands. She looks up at me, all expression gone from her face, just big gray eyes waiting to see what I’ll do next. I tilt my head as if to say,I’m sorry we were interrupted, my mouth lifting in a sad smile before I turn and head down the stairs.Shit!
Chapter 22
Everly
Iguess this is what sexual frustration feels like. Weirdly it’s much like regular frustration, except for the ache in my lower region that’s got me keyed up. I set a record for brushing my teeth, getting dressed and flying out of the house. I can still hear Julian talking in the kitchen when I quietly dip out the front door. I decide to run to Fit and take my frustration out on the punching bag again.
Spotting Lilly’s car in the lot from a distance picks up my pace. Although we text daily, I haven’t seen her in almost a week. I’ve been blowing off turning in my schoolwork because I don’t have a car to get there. Allie offered hers any time I need it, but I’m trying not to need anything from anyone. The instructor is chill, provided I’m completing my assignments, and tells me to turn them in whenever I can. So I haven’t even seen Lilly at school yet. I’m already smiling at the thought of catching up with her.
Old-school rock hits me as loud as her greeting when I walk through the doors.
“Davis! Where you been? I miss your face.” Lilly is grinding on the elliptical in the empty gym. “I see you already got in your cardio. Wanna lift together?”
“I’d planned on hitting the shit out of the bag for a bit.”
“Oh, it’s like that, huh? Okay, give me five more minutes and I’ll join you in there. You can tell Auntie Lilly all about it.” She winks exaggeratedly.
Rolling my eyes at her auntie comment because we’re the same age, I laugh and give her a thumbs-up.
***
“Iknew there was something between you two. Not to be dramatic, but you both were givingjust kiss alreadyenergy from day one. And honestly, I’m glad to see someone catching his interest besides the Cougar Club.” She makes a barfing face and gagging noises with the last comment.
“Eww. We ran into one of them yesterday on the way out after our early workout. Sylvie. It’s like she finds reasons to touch him. So gross.”
“After you had your meltdown?”
“Yeah. I didn’t mean to confess that. You just have a knack for dragging it out of me. Maybe you should become a therapist.”
“Yeah, then I could charge you.” She screeches when my face drops, embarrassed. “Kidding! Ev! Stop!” She halts slugging her bag to look at me. I stop, too, but don’t make eye contact.
She adds, “I’m not like those douchebags you called friends in Oak Valley. I don’t fuck people over to make myself feel better.” She tossesher hand at me like shooing away a fly. “Wipe that guilty look off your face and let’s get back to you and Julian.” She wiggles her eyebrows and turns back to her bag.
At the mention of his name, I take a hard swing at the bag, then another picturing the Cougar Club. I continue to take my irritation out on the equipment and say, “Yeah, let’s shelve the cougar discussion for now. I don’t get it, and I don’t know if I want to.”
After a hot minute of hooks and jabs, I stop, turn to Lilly, panting, and say, “One minute I’m this virgin fantasizing about fictional characters and the next I’m ready to jump the bones of the most beautiful guy I’ve ever seen in real life like I’ve done it a million times. And the things I want to do to him...” I groan. “And I don’t even know how to do them. But with him, I just feel . . .I don’t know. My body takes over. But we keep getting interrupted. Maybe it’s a sign.”
“Yeah, a sign that you need to plan better.” She cackles at her logic. “And if you ask me, that’s the best way to figure it out. When it’s all hot animal magnetism and instinct. You’ve got...how long till Allie comes back?”
“I don’t know. It was originally three weeks, but she texted me this morning she may stay longer ‘if we can hold down the fort’ for her." I use finger quotes to mimic her words. “And of course, I agreed. She’s kinda saving my ass right now with the place to live, the job, all of it.”
“Plus, you get to continue being roommates with the hot cougar magnet.”
