"Evan," is all I get out.
His whole body shudders when I say his name. Then, with his eyes closed, he rests his forehead on mine. All I can do is sit there soaking him in and enjoy being so close and touching me.
He wraps his hands around my waist and the next thing I know, I'm sitting on his lap, right there on the couch in the middle of his living room. A living room that I had spent many times with Brett and him, watching TV, and even playing board games.
Instinctively, I wrap my arms around his neck, and he smiles like that was exactly what he wanted me to do. He kisses my temple before pulling away just enough to look me in the eye.
"Here’s how this is going to go. I get one week with you. In that time, your virginity is mine, but I'm not going to force you, and I don't want you scared."
My eyes go wide. What in the world gave him the impression that I would be scared of him? I've done a better job than I thought hiding how I felt about him. But I've always had a crush on him and the last thing I would be is scared, especially not of him.
"The first day you walked in on Brett's arm, I wanted you then. I shouldn't have. You were only weeks away from your eighteenth birthday. When you dated Brett, you guys were over here all the time, and I enjoyed spending time with you. At the time, that was enough."
"But when we broke up..." he squeezes my hip to stop me from talking.
"When you two broke up, I still wanted you. But because Brett is my son, it didn't change things. I kept telling myself how wrong it was, but I never stopped watching after you. Had I known you were in this kind of trouble, I would have taken care of it and never would it have gotten this far. But there’s no question, I will have you."
Now it's my body's turn to let out an involuntary shimmer as he starts rubbing his hands up and down my back. But all it does is get it impossible for me to think about anything else other than where else I wish he would put his hands.
"I've always had such a crush on you, too. It was me who was always insisting we hang out here instead of going out and doing things because I wanted to be near you. I never could admit that to Brett. Even though I think in reality, I knew it was over with him long before he dumped me, I just didn't want to lose you."
He nods and stares at the wall across from the couch for a moment like he's trying to make a big decision.
"Well, it’s good that now it's all out in the open, and we know where each other stand. Why don't you get ready for bed? You'll be sleeping in my bed with me."
Right now I'm thankful that the club told me to pack a bag of things that I would need, but just the essentials. So I at least have a toothbrush here. But I want to push my luck with one more thing.
"Is it possible to check my email before we go to bed?"
"Why do you need to check your email? Is everything okay? His face fills with concern.
"I want to see if my friend Willow has checked in. She too needed money and decided to go for a mail-order bride option. They matched her with a guy out in Montana and she promised to email and check in, letting me know how it was going. Especially since neither of us would have a contact phone number for a while."
He cusses under his breath and shakes his head before gently lifting me to stand up. Without a word, he takes my hand, leading me towards his office and sits me down and starts up his work computer. When he pulls up the browser and turns to me, I freeze.
"What’s wrong?" he asks
"This is your work computer," I say, as if that should explain everything and in my mind, it should.
"Yes. You said you need to check your email."
"But no one touches your work computer. You don't even let Brett touch it," I say, remembering the time that Brett's computer was in the shop, and he asked his dad to use the computer for a school project. But his dad wouldn't let him, and instead made him use the laptop saying no one is to ever touch his work computer. Yet here he is freely offering it to me.
"If I did not trust you to use it, I would not have offered it to you."
He gives me a pointed look, making his meaning clear. He trusts me to use it, but he didn't trust Brett. I nod, bring up my email to check for anything from Willow.
Pulling his phone out, he makes a phone call and steps out into the hallway.
Scanning my email, which is mostly junk. I don't see anything from her. So I send her a short message telling her that I'm safe, who bought me, and a quick overview of what happened at the auction. Finally, I tell her I'll check my email again in a few days.
Though I try not to eavesdrop on Evan's conversation in the hall, it's hard not to hear what he's saying. Apparently, he’s on with someone in the office and whoever picked up the phone is shocked that he's taking the time off. He's convincing them that he's not sick or dying, but simply decided to take a week off, and he'll be checking his email in case he's needed.
As I close out my email, he wraps up his phone call and walks back into the room.
"Anything from your friend?"
“Nope. Not yet, but I sent her a message letting her know that I was safe and okay."