AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Leo
"Watch out for your roommate.Craig knows something, but he doesn't know everything. He was snooping through your things when I stopped over to talk to him the other day. When I called him out on it, he confessed he was spying on you for Max. I didn't get all the details from him, but I made him promise to stop. Not that I believe he will. He seems to idolize Max which means he'll do whatever is asked of him. Even if that means turning on you. Watch your back."
Julian pats me on the shoulder and turns to walk away but spins back around.
"And I swear to God if you hurt her, it won't be just Max you answer to. She's everyone's little sister in this scenario. We won't let Max kill you, but you will get your ass beat. Treat her right, protect her heart, and you won't have any issues. This game you're playing, it's dangerous, Leo. Max is going to hate the idea that you touched his sister, but he'll get over that in time. The fact you went behind his back ... that's going to take a little longer for him to come to terms with. You've broken his trust. Betrayed him. You've played with fire, and you will get burned. You may want to avoid being alone with Max after he finds out. For a while. Sometimes his reaction can be ... delayed. He lets things fester and the longer he does, the angrier he gets."
He walked away after that. No consolation or advice on how to proceed. How to fix my relationship with Max that I've already destroyed. My main concern is that I may have also destroyed Evie's relationship with him. And for that, I'll never forgive myself.
We both knew what we were doing. It's not like we made the decision to lie to everyone lightly. I mean, we may have been a little high on endorphins at the time, ready to rip each other's clothes off, but we still knew what we were doing. Right?
Or were we blinded by lust?
Shit.
I think lust may have screwed us.
My apology to Evie gets twisted. She freaks out. The moment gets tense. Then, as she always does, Evie puts it all into perspective for me, and I fall a little more in love with her than I already was.
Which is when I realize that is what will save me from Max. The fact that I love his sister. That I'm in love with her. That I cherish her. I'll protect her.
And there's only one way I can do that where he'll believe me.
No sex. Not tonight. Not yet.
I just don't know how to tell her that. We made this plan together. She picked the date; I picked the place. I put a lot of thought into this. The mood in the room is perfect for our first time. There are candles scattered around the hotel room. Rose petals on the bed.
The entire time I decorated before heading to pick her up, I thought of her. What she would like. If it was too much or not enough. I wanted her to be comfortable. To feel confident.
And I still worry about that. Because we're going to walk into that room together. It's still going to be decorated. The expectations of what weweregoing to be doing tonight will be evident. And I'm going to have to let her down.
The last thing I want is for her to feel unwanted. Or to think I’ve changed my mind about us.
My mouth opens and closes a dozen times on the ride over to the hotel. Her hand is shaking in mine. I can tell she's as nervous as I am. This will take away the pressure of the moment, but it will also destroy the mood. And I still want to hold her tonight. I still plan to kiss her. There's just a line I won't cross now.
My palms start to sweat as we walk down the hall to our room. Releasing her hand, I wipe it down my pants then retrieve the keycard from my pocket. As soon as the light turns green, I push into the room and turn to face Evie.
"Before we—"
"We need to talk." Her words are rushed as she stands in the hall, hands clasped in front of her. This is more than nerves getting the best of her. This is something else.
Extending my hand, she takes it and lets me pull her into the room. Her eyes go wide when I flick the light on, and she sees all the rose petals. The heater has blown some of them off the bed, scattering them on the carpet. The candles have yet to be lit, but they are on every available surface. They're all different colors, shapes, and sizes. It took me days to collect them all, going from store to store, buying ones I thought Evie might like.
They've been hidden in the trunk of my car. With the warm spell we had earlier this week, a few of them are misshapen and slightly melted. I think it adds to their character. Imperfections can be beautiful. It reminds me that nothing is perfect.
Especially not this moment considering I'm about to ruin it.
Evie takes a seat on the edge of the bed, swooping up a couple of petals and gently rubbing them between her fingers.
"They're real."
Yes, they are. I plucked a dozen roses because apparently, it's easier to buy the entire flower than it is to buy just the petals. Unless you want fake ones, which are more expensive than the flowers themselves.
"I wanted to make tonight special for you."
"You have. This is beautiful."
"You're beautiful."
