Mastered(21)

Evangeline had merely rolled her eyes and informed them that any waitress who made the effort to remember their names and their preference in drink and to make them feel welcome after a long shift would receive the same.

Steph had snorted and then pointed out that if that were the case, they’d all be making as much in tips as Evangeline did.

With a sigh, Evangeline plunged ahead, because she was in a no-win situation. If she didn’t tell them everything, they’d haul themselves down to Impulse, interrogate Maddox and then God only knew who else and likely end up in Drake’s office.

And if she did confess every single thing? Who was to say the outcome would be any different? Only in this case, they might well skip Maddox and the other minions and go straight to Drake.

So she did something she never did with them because she trusted them absolutely. Never questioned them or their loyalty. But she also knew once they gave her their word, that even if it killed them—and it would in this case—they’d keep it. She set conditions.

“I’ll tell you the rest but only if you swear to me that one, it never leaves this room and remains between the four of us. And two, you’re to leave it alone. I mean completely alone, as in you forget it as soon as I tell you and there will be no confronting anyone, no questioning anyone, no investigating anyone or being nosy. You have to swear it,” Evangeline repeated emphatically. “Or my lips are sealed.”

The three looked shocked but each nodded in turn, though Steph didn’t look at all happy at having to promise something before she even knew what Evangeline was going to reveal. Her lips twisted into a mutinous line, but Evangeline stared her down, never once averting her gaze, until finally Steph threw up her hands in surrender.

“Okay, okay,” she said in exasperation. “I promise.” She glanced at Lana and Nikki and then added, “We all promise. Now will you just get on with it? We’re dying of curiosity here!”

Satisfied that she had their consent, and knowing that they’d never go back on their word, Evangeline falteringly related everything that happened after Eddie had been tossed from the club. She left nothing out. No words that Drake had said to her. They were burned into her brain, so it wasn’t as though she would ever forget them.#p#分页标题#e#

By the time she finished, her cheeks were on fire and no doubt so red that she looked like she was sunburned. The room felt way too hot and she desperately needed a cold shower, or even better, a bathtub full of ice she could submerge herself in until her flushed and aroused, traitorous body rid itself of the lingering aftereffects of Drake’s mouth, lips, tongue. His touch. God, just his touch had sent her up in flames. She didn’t dare imagine if things had gone further and they’d had full-on sex complete with penetration of more than just his tongue. She could feel yet another wave of heat invade her body, and every single one of her girly parts tingling in wild anticipation. She had to stop this!

How on earth, hours later, could just remembering all the things he’d done turn her into a complete hormonal mess? She didn’t even have the courage to hold her friends’ gazes anymore and had long since fixed her stare at a distant point so she couldn’t see their reactions.

When she finally dared to sneak a glance at her friends’ expressions from underneath her eyelashes, their mouths were agape and their eyes wide with complete shock. And for once in their lives, particularly Steph’s, who never had a shortage of anything to say, they were utterly speechless.

Nikki’s mouth popped open and shut several times in a row while Steph just stared in stupefaction. Surprisingly, it was Lana, the quietest of the three, who finally managed to squeak out, “What? For real? Are you serious?”

And it was a squeak. Barely audible due to the obvious disbelief cracking her words.

Seemingly Lana’s breaking the stunned silence began a barrage of questions from all directions until Evangeline covered her ears and groaned, sinking back onto her pillow and closing her eyes. She reached for the second pillow and would have pulled it over her head to shut them all out, but it was promptly snatched from her grasp and Evangeline found herself staring up into Steph’s outraged features.

 “Oh hell no,” Steph huffed, her eyes flashing as her head hovered directly over Evangeline’s face. “You are not getting out of this.” Then she stopped, clearly at a loss for words for a second time in mere moments—twice in a matter of seconds? Her hand flew above her shoulder, palm up and fingers splayed wide in a universal gesture that screamed what? Her expression said everything else her gesture didn’t cover . . . Like why? And how? And holy crap! Really?