I push him off me, fighting the blush that I know has spread across my cheeks. “You’re such a dork.”
“You love it.”
He finally twists the key into the lock on the door, and I follow him upstairs into his bedroom. Like always, it’s spotless,not a single thing out of place. I always feel silly coming here, like I carry my clutter everywhere I go, but Evan has assured me that he doesn’t mind it. I’m lucky if I remember to make my bed in the morning.
I stand by the edge of his bed, watching him carefully as he peels off his shirt. I swallow, taking in miles and miles of smooth, golden skin, my favorite eight-pack staring at me. “Are you ready to talk?” I ask, my voice suddenly hoarse.
“Can I shower first?” he asks, scratching the back of his neck. I nod, not trusting anything appropriate to come out my mouth.
He grabs some fresh clothes from his dresser, and when he leaves I return to my favorite activity in Evan’s bedroom. I don’t think it really counts as snooping since he’s told me multiple times that I’m welcome to have a look at things in his room. But maybe it feels like that because he’s not in here right now.
There’s a picture of him and his dad when Evan was a toddler, red sauce smeared all around his pink cheeks as his dad poses next to him with similar food stains. It’s so adorable it makes my chest ache. There’s an entire shelf filled will medals and certificates from when he used to run track. A random sheet of paper sits on his desk where he’s written his name a million times. His handwriting is so neat and careful that it looks like he’s printed it out.
I continue running my finger over the words when I feel him step behind me. His breath is warm and comforting on my neck, the fresh smell of his vanilla soap soft against my skin. “Have you been snooping?”
“Potentially,” I whisper. He drops his chin to my shoulder, and I look up at the medals on his shelf. “You really downplayed how good you were at track.”
“Hm. I guess.”
I fold my arms against my chest, annoyed at how chill he’s being about this. “You were the fastest runner in the region when you were sixteen.”
“I told you I enjoyed it.”
“So humble.”
He hums against my neck before pressing a kiss there and I sigh into his touch. His hands snake around my waist before he twists me, and I lean against his desk. How has he gotten that much more beautiful in the last twenty minutes? His green eyes shine in the dim lighting of his room, a droplet of water sits on his upper lip, and he sticks his tongue out to lick it.
“Soooo,” I say, dragging out the word to buy more time to collect myself.
“So . . .”
I roll my eyes. “Do you want to put a shirt on, maybe? How am I supposed to have a conversation with you when you look like this?” I gesture to the sweatpants that hang low on his hips and all of . . .himthat’s in front of me.
“Are you distracted, Scarlett?” he teases.
“Yes, Evan, I’m distracted by your chest and your six-pack and your hair and your—”
“It’s more of an eight-pack, but sure.”
I scowl at him, poking him in the stomach. “Not so humble now, huh?” He laughs, fetching a shirt from the drawer beside me. I watch it stretch over his skin, covering him up inch by inch. He sits on the edge of his bed, and I stay a safe distance away from him. “So, what’s been going on?”
Hearing that he told his dad he doesn’t want to work for B&Co after college was a shock. Evan has been going on about how he’s going to inherit the business since I met him. It’s not like him to change his mind so quickly about something. And he went toMilesfirst about this. That’s insane in itself.
He sighs deeply, looking at the ground, before his eyes meet mine again. “Watching you figure your stuff out with your parents on your own just reminded me how sad it would be for me to keep working a job I don’t even like just to make my dad happy.” He taps his knee three times, and I track the movement. “I don’t want to feel like I exist to please him or keep him happy. I want to do something on my own. I want to keep discovering things I like and accepting change instead of being so afraid of it.”
I nod in understanding. “I think that would be good for you.”
“You think?”
“As long as you know it’s not going to be easy,” I say, and he nods. “You thrive on control and structure, Evan. This is a big decision.”
“I know,” he says, swallowing. “I think the SEI will prepare me for that.”
“I think so too.” I can’t help it. I squeal in excitement, stepping between his legs and holding on to his shoulders. “Look at us, branching out and doing things on our own.”
“Well, not completely alone,” he whispers. “We’ll be doing it together.”
“Corny, but true,” I admit, hiding the amount of excitement that bubbles up in me at those words. I want to see where working together on more things will lead us, instead of trying to work against each other. We’ve worked well together so far and I think it can only get better from here. “Do you want to watch a movie?”
