Left Behind: Left Behind Series #1 (24 page)

He
takes us out the back exit. I’m grateful I don’t have to walk through the club.
When he pushes open the door to the outside, a bright green sports car is
parked in the first spot. Being so angry, I didn’t take notice of it at the
industrial park. It’s smaller than Jake’s Camaro. My knowledge of cars is very
limited, so there’s no way for me to know what it is. “Cute,” I tell him,
following behind.

“Did
you just call my car cute?” A look of disgust crosses his handsome face.
“Forget it. Don’t answer that.” He’s holding the door open for me. When I go to
get in, he stops me. “She’s not cute,” he whispers. “Next time you call her
that, she won’t let you in.”

“I’ll
try to remember that.” I fake cough to prevent myself from laughing at him.

Evan
drives around the back of a small bar a short distance from Skyline.
Thankfully, he doesn’t get out of the car when he pulls up to the door. The car
doesn’t even come to a complete stop before the door swings open. The guy who was
talking to Sean at the race walks up to the window and hands Evan an envelope.

“Thanks.
I appreciate you coming out. Let’s make this the last one for a while, okay?”
Evan says.

“That
was crazy! That guy didn’t mention anything about telling all of those people.
We may have to find another location for the fall.”

“We
probably should, just to be safe. Tell Sandy I said hi and she owes me a
burger.”

Evan
goes to shift the car out of park, but the guy leans down to peer into the
window “I’m really sorry about what I said to you earlier,” he says to me. “I
didn’t mean any disrespect.”

“What
the fuck did you say to her?” Evan barks.

“It’s
fine. Just go,” I say.

“No.
I want to know what he said.”

“She
was in the car with that Sean guy. I didn’t know she was with you,” he tries to
defend himself.

“What
the fuck did you say, Chris?”

“Evan,”
I touch his arm, “I’ve already had a really bad day. Please don’t make it any
worse.”

“I
sort of said she needed to be put on a leash, then hinted she was probably
pretty crazy in bed,” he admits. “But I swear, if I would have known she was
with you, I would have never said a word.”

“Are
you fucking kidding me?!” Evan slams his hand on the steering wheel and goes to
get out of the car. I’m so not dealing with this shit! I grab onto his shirt,
causing him to stop and look at me. “No one is going to talk about you like
that, Kacie.”

“If
you want to do something for me, get me out of here! I’ve seriously had enough
for one damn day!” I holler.

“Fine,”
he surrenders, but turns back to Chris. “I’m not done with you.” Then he takes
off from behind the bar and out of the parking lot. He drives for a few miles
before he speaks again. “Am I taking you home now?”

“I
really don’t want to go home. People know they can find me there.”

He
says nothing else the rest of the ride. I suppose I’m not the only one who’s
had a bad night. After a while, I finally realize where we are as Evan drives
into Meg’s neighborhood. The huge homes are hard to forget. His truck is parked
next to the garage door, which is raising as we get closer. “We have to switch
to the truck,” he informs me. “Sorry to bring you all the way out here, but I
can’t leave her in my parking lot.” Evan pulls into the garage and we open our
doors. He’s standing behind the back of the car, extending his hand out to me.
When I take it, he asks, “Do you want to spend the night at my place?”

“If
you don’t mind.”

“Why
the hell would I mind?”

On
the way to Evan’s, he asks me to tell him what happened at dinner tonight. Now
that I’ve relived the events all over again, my anger and annoyance have
resurfaced. Will this day ever end? He feels bad about getting me all worked up
over my parents again, but he’s also fuming because of how they treated me.
Once we are inside his condo, I notice how much neater it is than the last time
he brought me here. We were only here long enough for him to grab some clothes,
but it was hard to miss the mess.

“I
see you’ve straightened up a bit,” I tease him as he goes into the kitchen.

“I
figured I’d better, just in case you came back. I saw your face the last time
you were here,” he laughs. “I’m not the best housekeeper. It doesn’t help that
I’m usually only here to sleep and shower. I can’t even tell you the last time
I ate a meal here.”

“I
didn’t make a face,” I say. “I just took in the view.”

Evan
comes back into the living room with two beers and some shot glasses. He gives
me one of the beers, sets the glasses and his beer down on the coffee table,
then goes back into the kitchen. “You made a face.”

“Did
not,” I mumble, but he hears me anyway.

“Did,
too,” echoes from the other room.

I
ignore him and slip my shoes off just as he walks in carrying a bunch of
different sized bottles. “I refuse to put those bitches on one more time
today.”

He
laughs. “But they look so damn hot on you.”

“You
noticed my shoes?” What guy notices shoes?

“I
didn’t even know you were wearing shoes,” he responds to my apparently
ridiculous question. “With you wearing that dress,
no one
noticed your
shoes, Kacie.” He falls onto the sofa next to me. He opens the bottles and
begins pouring the different alcohols into the shot glasses. It takes a minute,
but I recognize the shot he’s making. Using a spoon, he pours the grenadine
over the back of it to make the top layer of alcohol seep into the bottom one
just where he wants it to. “Brain hemorrhage?” he offers when it’s ready.

“Why
not? It’s already made.”

After
an unknown number more of them, Evan has accomplished what he set out to do. I
feel better. It’s as if today…or yesterday, I guess it is now…never happened.
We are laughing and carrying on, probably pissing off his neighbors on either
side of him who are trying to sleep. He even gets me to promise to go fishing
with him over the weekend. I hate fishing. I hate anything related to fish, but
I tell him how much fun it will be anyway. I’ve had enough to drink that he
could get me to say yes to anything.

Then
through my clouded, drunken eyes, I see it. The look he gets before he kisses
me. All of a sudden, nothing’s funny anymore. We stop laughing. We stop
talking. We just stop. Evan’s eyes take me in, overwhelming me. His hand comes
up to caress the side of my face. It’s the same way he always does it, only it
feels different this time. The way his fingers trail down my face ignites my
entire body. My eyelids lower as I try to gain control over myself. Is it the
liquor? Or is it just him doing this to me? I keep telling myself I can conquer
the desire he’s making me feel. Then his fingers leave my face. They travel
down my neck, to the top of the dress where they follow the material to my
shoulder, and then back the way they came. This time, his hand goes into my
hair so he can direct me to him. Softly, his lips touch mine and I know I’ve
lost all chance at ever gaining an ounce of control. Screw control! I need him
to finish what he’s been starting over and over again since I first met him. It
no longer matters what I’ve heard. That once he’s been with someone, he’s done
with them. I don’t care. I have no doubt that it will be totally worth it.

Without
removing my mouth from his, I twist around to make it easier to climb onto his
lap. Once I’m straddling him, he does exactly what I had hoped he would. He
deepens the kiss, frantically running his hands down my back to the tops of my
thighs. My fingers twist in his hair. He lets go of my legs to grab onto the
sides of my face, then he pulls back. He doesn’t move. We just sit there,
breathing heavily.

“Kacie,”
he says, squeezing his eyes shut and swallowing hard. “Go to my room, get any
shirt you want out of my dresser to change into, and go to bed. I’ll come check
on you in a little bit, but if you need anything, I’ll be here on the sofa all
night.”

“What?”
I ask, irritated that he’s dismissing me. Can I be any more obvious about what
I want?

“Please
go. Right now.” He still hasn’t moved a muscle or opened his eyes.

“Are
you fucking kidding me?”

“No,
I’m not.”

“You’re
going to let me go to bed alone?”

“Yes.”
He finally looks at me with a sorrowful expression.

“Fuck
you!” I scramble to get off of him and jam my feet into the shoes I swore I
wasn’t putting back on. The anger I feel now is nothing like what I felt
earlier. It doesn’t help that it’s also mixed with embarrassment at not being
wanted, and regret. Nasty combination. 

“What
are you doing?” he asks, concerned.

“I’m
leaving.”

“No,
you aren’t. It’s the middle of the night.”

“I’d
rather walk home than be here with you!” I shout.

“Kacie,
go to sleep,” he orders, getting to his feet.

“I
get that I’m nothing like those tramps you bring home from the club, but you
could have told me you didn’t want me before this.”

“You’re
right!” he hollers back at me. “You’re nothing like them! And this has nothing
to do with me not wanting you!”

“Really?
You could have fooled me!” I stomp over and grab my purse off of the table that
I had dropped it on when we came in.

“I’m
not having sex with you because you’re drunk,” he says, trying to keep some
type of composure.

For
some reason, I find that funny. The kind of funny where you start laughing so
hard, you can’t stop. He’s watching me as if I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have at
this point. “Right, because you’ve never had sex with someone you got drunk
before.”

“This
is different!”

“How,
Evan? How the hell is this any different?” He doesn’t answer me. He’s standing
there, staring at me. Well, fuck him. I turn and head for the door. It’s a long
walk to my house, but whatever. It beats staying where I’m not wanted.

As I
turn the doorknob, his hand reaches over top of my shoulder, holding the door
closed. My body freezes at his closeness. Stupid betraying body! His other hand
slides over my other hip while he brings his mouth next to my ear.

“I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to make you upset. You have to know that I’ve never wanted
anyone as much as I want you, but I just can’t,” he whispers, desperate for me
to stay.

“Why
not?” I need to know. My eyes fill with tears. Evan hesitates, unsure of
whether or not he should tell me what is on the tip of his tongue. “If you
don’t tell me, I’m leaving.”

He
exhales sharply. I must have convinced him that he doesn’t have a choice except
to tell me. He takes his hand off of the door and spins me around to look at him.
A tear runs down my face. He wipes at the path it left. “I’m afraid,” he says.

“Of
what?” I ask in a voice as quiet as his.

“That
when you wake up in the morning, after you’ve sobered up,” his fingers linger
on my cheek, “you’ll regret it.” I start to shake my head and tell him that I’d
never regret anything with him, but he doesn’t allow me. “If you did, it would
crush me. I’m not willing to take that risk.” He leans over to kiss my
forehead. “Please stay. I don’t want you to leave.” My shattered ego pulls
itself back together again after hearing his reason. My heart swells knowing I
must mean something to him if he feels this way.

“I
will,” I say, leaning against him. “But only if you don’t make me sleep alone.
I promise to keep my hands to myself.”

Evan
agrees to come to bed with me. Once we’ve cleaned up the mess we made with the
drinks and get ready, we both curl up under the covers. Exhaustion has begun to
take over. I assumed he would keep his distance, but he doesn’t. He lays his
arm over my hip and nestles in behind me. I feel him move my hair out of the
way, but I’m too tired to make it easier on him by doing it myself. My eyes are
too heavy to keep open any longer.

“I
have a problem,” he says.

“I
offered to help you with that, but you turned me down,” I mumble. He starts
laughing softly, but I can only manage a smile that he can’t see.

“That’s
not what I meant,” he clarifies. “I met this girl who refuses to get out of my
head. I kind of have a thing for her.”

“Do
I know her?”

“Doubt
it. She’s new in town. She happens to be hot as hell, but is the biggest pain
in my ass.”

“She
sounds awesome. What’s the problem?”

“I’m
afraid to tell her.”

 “Wuss,”
I yawn, trying my best to fight sleep from taking over.

“You
think I should?”

“Mmm.”
I’m unable to say full words at this point.

“Sweet
dreams, Kacie,” is the last thing I hear before losing the battle to stay
awake.

Kacie

Something
is trying to wake me up. Whatever the hell it is needs to stop. When I enter a
state of consciousness, there will be a massive headache just waiting to
destroy me. It’s best if I stay in my peaceful slumber. Unfortunately, the
culprit trying to torture me is persistent and ultimately successful. Finally,
it occurs to me what is so desperate for my attention. My hand leaves its
comfortable position under the pillow to grab the phone next to my head on the
nightstand.

“Hello,”
I answer groggily. I don’t bother looking at the screen because whoever it is
will just keep calling if they aren’t answered anyway.

“Where
the hell are you?!” Jade yells. Didn’t I say something about having a headache?

“Bed.”

“No,
you aren’t. I’m standing in your room. You know, where your perfectly made,
empty
bed is located.”

My
eyes fly open so I can take in my surroundings. I relax when I feel Evan’s arm
still draped over me. “Hold on,” I whisper. No need to disturb him. He’s out
cold and doesn’t even budge when I lift his arm to slide out of his
all-too-cozy bed. I swing around to admire his naked chest. The blankets are
still covering the rest of his body. Damn it. Recalling Jade’s on the phone, I
sneak out to the living room. “Sorry. I didn’t want to wake Evan.”

“Jake
told me what happened last night. Are you okay?”

“I
guess you knew they were racing, too?”

“I
did, but I only found out recently when I walked in on a conversation between
Jake and Danny. Jake made me swear not to tell you. He knew you’d be pissed.” I
start rubbing my head. It hurts too much for me to be mad at the moment.

“He
was right,” I tell her.

“You
didn’t forget we’re going shopping this morning, did you?”

Shit!
“No, not at all.” Yup. I totally did. “I just overslept.” I’m going to hell for
lying to my best friend. “Can you come pick me up at Evan’s?”

“Yeah.
I’m on my way.”

“Before
you leave my room, can you grab some clothes for me, please?”

“Sure.
What do you want?”

I
tell her where to find my jean shorts, my favorite blue shirt, and my flip
flops. “Oh, and please grab me a bra.”

“Do
I want to know why you don’t have a bra with you?” 

“Remember
the dress I bought at that little boutique in the city near my school?”

“You
finally wore the peach dress?” She’s a little too excited about it.

“Yeah,
and as soon as I get the chance, I’m burning it.”

“Stop
it! Don’t blame the dress because your night sucked,” she laughs. “Blame that
on your mother. The rest of the shit you could have handled just fine.”

“How
did you know about my mom?”

“Kacie,
she messes you up every damn time you see her. She’s like a natural disaster
wreaking havoc wherever she goes,” she sighs. “Need anything else?” I run over
the list one more time and she claims she has everything. “I’m walking out now.
I’ll be there soon.”

“Just
text me when you get here. I’ll change in the car. Evan should sleep longer.”

My
purse is sitting on the coffee table where I dropped it last night after almost
leaving. I grab it, then tiptoe into the bathroom to try and make myself
somewhat presentable. Washing my face and brushing my teeth with the spare
toothbrush I always keep in my purse really does wonders. If freshening up
could take away a headache, I’d be set. The t-shirt Evan let me borrow last
night gets replaced with the stupid ass dress that I’m going to destroy. I only
put it on now because there’s no way in hell I’m leaving this place with only a
t-shirt on.

I
decide to leave Evan a note because he’ll worry when he wakes up and I’m not
here. He’d probably check his phone right away, but I don’t want to send a text
in case he hears it. There’s some junk mail laying on the kitchen table, so I
grab a piece and write on the back of it.

Don’t worry.

Went shopping with
Jade.

Forgot to mention it.

Didn’t want to wake
you.

Call me later.

<3 Kacie

There’s
something else I want to add, but I’m afraid. The debate continues in my head
until I get the text announcing Jade is waiting outside. Shaking, I scribble it
underneath my name, take it into his bedroom where he’ll be sure to see it, and
run out the door before I change my mind.

Jade’s
car is idling in the parking space next to Evan’s truck. The grin she’s wearing
this early in the morning is nauseating. “What the hell is your problem?” I ask
her after climbing in. My friend laughs at me. She points to the red can in her
center console. “How did you know?”

“You
sounded like shit on the phone,” she tells me, dropping the clothes I asked for
on my lap. After taking a sip of the best cure for a hangover, I start to
change. “It looks awesome, by the way. Maybe you should just put it in the back
of your closet and revisit it again after the bad karma wears off.”

I
throw it into the back seat, along with those damn heels. “You hang it in your
closet, give it a try, and let me know how it works out for you.”

Once
I’m situated, Jade puts the car in reverse and sets off for the mall. “So, how
was it?”

“How
was what?” I rest my head back and close my eyes.

“Don’t
play stupid with me. The sex. How was it?”

“There
is no sex to tell you about.”

“What
the hell is wrong with you, Kacie Foster?” she snaps. “How can you torment the
man like that?”

“For
your information, I tried. He turned me down.”

“No
way! I don’t believe it,” she laughs.

“Well,
that’s what happened.”

“You
need to tell me.”

She
won’t let it rest, so I tell her everything starting from when Evan picked me
up at Skyline because she’ll ask about it eventually, anyway. When she hears
what he said about being crushed if I regretted it this morning, she thought it
was the sweetest thing she’s ever heard him say. “Come on. You have to admit
how cute that is.”

“It
is, but it didn’t help me last night.”

She
agrees and begins to tell me about her date with Kyle. Knowing my best friend
has finally found someone who makes her happy is heartening. Jade has purposely
avoided these kinds of relationships her entire life. Because of her parents
continuous fighting that ultimately led to a failed marriage, she’s been
scarred and afraid to get close to anyone. Who would blame her?

When
we finally arrive at the mall, I tell Jade we need to walk through the food
court. If I don’t get something in my stomach soon, there will be no productive
shopping for me. At the counter, I order another Coke and a chocolate chip
muffin. “Jade, do you want one?”

“No
way. If I start eating like you, then I’ll have to do that running thing, and
we both know that shit isn’t happening.”

“One
muffin won’t hurt you,” I assure her.

“You’re
right. It won’t. However, once I make an excuse to eat a muffin, what’s next?
Cake? Candy? Cookies? Crap! Just get me a blueberry one.” The guy behind the
counter rolls his eyes and gets our order ready without a word. Smart move,
dude.

Since
we are eating our unhealthy breakfast before diving into the clothing racks, we
slowly stroll to the opposite end of the mall. Jade window shops along the way,
pointing out things she’d like to try on, as well as stuff she believes would
look good on me. We are pretty much the same height and body type. How could
something look better on me than on her? I’ll never understand Jade’s reasoning
on this kind of thing, so I don’t even bother asking for clarification.

The
first section we hit is the summer clothes. We both need some new shorts and
light-weight tops. There is plenty to choose from, which almost never happens for
me, so I jump right in and start going through the racks. Once I have about
seven or eight shirts and just as many pairs of shorts piled in my arms, I tell
Jade I’m going to head to the dressing room to try them on.

“Hold
on a second,” she tells me. “Let’s head over to the dresses for a quick look.”

“I
don’t need a dress for anything. Just meet me back there when you’re done.”

“You
do need a dress for your birthday next week. You might not want to go out
partying, but we will at least go out to dinner. Take a quick look around and
see if you find anything. If not, no big deal.”

“Fine,”
I concede. “Don’t get upset if I don’t like anything.”

Her
phone starts to ring and she fumbles with the clothes she’s collected from
around the department to get to her purse. Pulling it out, she says, “Why the
hell…Hello?... Shopping with Kacie, why?... At the mall. Where else would we
shop?” She looks at me, rolls her eyes, and turns her back as she takes a few
steps in the other direction. I ignore her and begin shuffling through the
dresses. After last night, I’m not really in the right frame of mind to look at
something that doesn’t cover me from my neck all the way down to my toes.

“Find
anything?” Jade asks, once she catches up.

“Nothing.”

“Here.”
She holds out about five hangers. “I found these. They have three of them in
different colors if you like the dress but not the color. If you don’t want to
get new shoes, we could find a pair at home to go with any of them.”

“Thanks,”
I say, taking them from her. “May I go to the dressing room now? I can’t hold
one more thing.”

She
frowns. “Yes, smart ass. Go to the damn dressing room. I’ll be back there in a
few. I just want to take a look over on this side. If I find anything else for you,
I’ll bring it back with me.”

“Gee,
thanks.” She either doesn’t hear me or simply ignores my snide remark.

The
dressing rooms sit all the way in the far corner of the section. No one else is
back here, but the only room unlocked is probably the smallest of them. It’s
not worth trudging all the way back out to the service desk with this crap,
only to have to wait for someone to get their lazy ass back here. So I settle
for the one that is available right now. I reach up and hang the dresses on the
bar, then lay all of the shorts and shirts on the stool in the corner. Some of
them fall to the floor. Great. Since there is no place else to put my purse, I
place it on the floor next to the shit that fell. There’s one bite of my muffin
left so, after shoving it in my mouth, I throw the white paper bag it came in
next to my purse. I’m wishing I didn’t inhale that second Coke and toss it in
the garbage can before I came into the store because I’m thirsty. I really wish
I was back in bed.

First,
I try on the shorts and the shirts. Only two pairs of shorts look halfway
decent, but all of the shirts look fine. I decide to only get four of them,
though. I separate the clothing into two piles so I remember which things I
want to buy. For a moment, I almost skip trying on the dresses. Then I figure
that Jade hasn’t come to get me yet, so there’s some time to kill.

I
finally make it to the last dress that needs to be tried on. What the hell was
I thinking letting Jade pick these out for me? This one is black, looks like it
will barely cover my ass, and it’s strapless. At least the dress last night had
the thin straps, giving me some sense of security. Jade would have no trouble
wearing this, but my boobs don’t do well with strapless anything. They tend to
jump right out of the top. Can’t have that for my birthday dinner, can I? The
light chiffon material feels nice against my skin as it falls over my body. It
actually doesn’t look as bad as I imagined it would. As I check out how it
looks in the mirror, there’s a small knock on the door.

“Someone’s
in here,” I call out, knowing it’s not Jade. She would be yelling through the
door or trying to walk right in. Whoever it is pushes their luck and knocks
again. I know when I first came in here that there was no one else back here.
Why the hell can’t they pick another room? This time, I say nothing and keep
admiring the dress. Maybe I could pull it off as long as there’s no dancing
involved.

 The
knock comes a little louder this time, which pisses me off. I rip open the door
and shout, “What?!”

The
familiar crystalized, blue eyes on the other side of it drop from my face to
roam my body. Obviously caught off-guard, he recovers quickly and pushes his
way into the dressing room, closing the door behind him. Because of the small
space, this causes me to step back. I notice his hair is disheveled. It’s
usually messy, but in a neat way. He also has a look of determination in his
eyes. “Evan, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Did
you mean it?” His eyes are glaring into mine.

“What
are you talking about?”

“The
letter. Did you mean it?”

“Clearly
I meant I was going shopping. I’m standing in a dressing room wearing a dress
that has tags hanging from it,” I say, holding my arms out to the sides to show
him. I know damn well that’s not the part of the note he’s talking about.