She grins. “It’s full of surprises. Here, let me give you guys a hand.”
She drops her bag behind her and rolls her sleeves up.
“Winter wear over here, and stuff that’s too beat up to use goes there,” Chastity says, still coolly appraising Sierra with disdain for whatever reason.
I don’t try too hard to understand Chastity.
“Hey, what are you girls doing tonight?”
“Doing tonight?” Chastity says icily. “Having supper? Going to bed?”
“Aww c’mon, it’s Friday! Don’t you guys want to explore the town? See the nightlife?”
Chastity’s face sours. “I- we don’t do nightlife.”
I shrug. “I could do the nightlife.”
“Eva!” she hisses.
“Oh, nothing crazy, Chastity, I swear. There’s a band a guy I know plays in having a show at this spot down on Market Street. You guys should come! It’ll be fun!”
Fun.
I could do fun.
“Is-” I hastily bite back the words I was about to say and switch gears. “Is anyone else coming?”
She looks at me for half a second, and for half a second, I’m terrified I’ve given myself away.
“Nope!” she says with a smile. “Just us girls.”
“At a bar?”
Sierra smiles. “You seriously don’t have to be uncomfortable, Chastity. I mean we’re all twenty-one, and you don’t have to drink anyways.” She elbows the two of us. “C’mon! Have a little fun!”
I don’t do this. I never do this.
Screw it.
“I’d love to!” I say with s smile. I glance back at Chastity, her face still pinched. “We’d love to.”
“Great!” Sierra beams at me. ‘Should we just meet there? It’s walking distance from your house.” She suddenly pulls her phone out. “Oh, shoot. Sorry, here I was offering to help you guys here but I forgot I promised my mom I’d help her with some fall cleaning projects. I’ll see you guys tonight?”
“Sounds good!”
“Excellent! I’ll see you then. Oh and Eva?”
“Yeah?”
“Rowan wanted to see if you could give him a hand over at the parking lot.”
I freeze.
“He’s here?” I squeak.
“Yeah, the dummy gave me a ride here. I think he’s probably just looking for help carrying something.”
“Oh, okay?”
Sierra rolled her eyes. “Yeah, he’s annoyingly vague like that. Try growing up with him. Anyways, see you tonight!”
“Yeah,” I say distantly. “See you.”
“What do you want?”
He turns, grinning. “Well, well.”
“I’m very busy with work, what do you need?”
He grins. “Need?”
My cheeks blush. “Sierra said you needed something? That you wanted me to help you with something?”
He laughs. “Oh, yeah, no, that was a lie.”
I stiffen. “Really.”
“Truly. I just wanted to check a theory.” He steps towards me, moving quite close, and I swallow quickly.
“What theory.”
“If you’d always come when I tell you to.”
My face burns hot like the sun as I quickly glance over my shoulder as if someone’s lurking there, listening.
I whirl back at him. “That was a mistake.”
“Is that what you’re telling yourself?”
“Yes, because it was. I- that was wrong.”
“Did it feel wrong?”
I don’t answer him and he chuckles. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“I have a fiancé!” I hiss.
“Yeah? What’s his middle name?”
“I-” I frown. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t have a fiancé, and you don’t want one.”
“Yes I do.”
“No, you don’t,” he growls in my ear.
I shiver.
“You don’t know what I want.”
“Yeah, angel, I do,” he whispers.
“No you-”
“You want these fingers,” he holds his hand up, his eyes burning into me, “right back here.”
I gasp as his hand slides between my legs, boldly cupping my jeans over the place where my legs meet.
“Rowan!”
“Yes?” he purrs. He rubs his hand across the seam of my jeans, and I moan.
Oh, God.
“Stop it,” I hiss.
“Sure about that?”
He rubs harder, and my legs go weak.
“I-” I whimper, my eyes closing for second before snapping back open.
“Yes.” I swallow the heat from my face. “Yes, I am.” I shove his hand away, stepping away from him. “We can’t do that here.”