Wilted (9 page)

Slipping on his jacket, I nod and retrieve my soaked leather satchel from beneath my feet. The elevator ride feels so awkward and foreign. Evan is a gorgeous guy, but I have never been physically attracted to him. There’s a strangeness around him that I’ve never been able to figure out. Even after working with him for a while, I still can’t put my finger on it.

Once we are in front of my apartment door, I struggle with the right thing to say to him.

Honestly, I don’t want him coming inside. Taking my keys, I open the door and lay them on the inside table, frowning at the remembrance of Nik’s anger this morning. He’d destroyed everything that had been sitting on it. Luckily, I cleaned up all the mess before I left for work. I wouldn’t want Evan to walk in and see it.

“Where do you want me to put this?” he asks from behind me.

“The bar in the kitchen is fine. Thanks.”

Evan smiles and walks toward the kitchen. “You need to get out of those wet clothes before you get sick.”

“I’m fine. I’ll grab a hot shower and change in a bit anyways.” I’m hoping he gets the clue to leave when I hand him his jacket, but he doesn’t.

“Why don’t you go have your shower and I’ll fix us some plates?”

Son of a bitch!

“Oh, um… all right. I’ll just be a minute,” I say nervously.

“Take your time. Everything is still hot anyways.”

Closing my bedroom door, I secure the lock and begin the painful process of stripping off the dress I’m wearing. It is one of my favorites, and now it’s ruined. Fitting, I guess, since so is my life.

After a quick, hot shower, I throw on a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt, and hurry to run a brush through my long hair. I’m not worried what I look like. Evan’s not someone I care to impress.

It smells like an Italian restaurant in my apartment. As I turn from the hallway, I see Evan place the last of the food on a plate. He already has everything laid out for us. I hate to be rude and ask him to leave. He did go through all this trouble anyways.

“Feel better?” He spots me from out of the corner of his eye and turns to give me an appreciative once over.

I’m wearing yoga pants, not lingerie, dipshit!

“Yes, much better. Let’s eat,” I say, wanting to get this over with.

Neither of us talks much over dinner other than to exchange a few words about how delicious the food is, and before long, I’m stuffed. I’m grateful that after he helps clean everything up, he picks up his jacket to leave.

“Well, I guess I will leave you to pack. Remember, I’ll have someone pick you up at eight.”

“I’ll be ready. Thank you for dinner and the ride home, Evan,” I say opening the door.

“Anytime.” He winks and turns to walk out the door.

Perhaps I’ve misjudged him. Maybe he isn’t so bad after all.

“Champagne, Miss?” the female flight attendant asks as she hands me a glass of champagne.

“Oh, no, thank you,” I reply, waving her off.

“Take the drink, Kylie,” Evan insists.

Hesitantly, I reach over to take the glass from her hand and thank her.

“You really should relax, you know?”

“Sorry, it’s just that I’m not accustomed to drinking while at work.”

“Well, think of this as more of a celebration and not work.”

“Celebration?” I laugh, unable to mask my confusion.

“I happen to think this is kind of celebration. Without your hard work, I would have never finished my presentation.”

“It wasn’t anything. I was only doing my job.”

“Don’t be modest, Kylie. I happen to see great things taking place in your future.” Clinking his glass to mine, he smiles. “Cheers, beautiful.”

I clench my glass hard as the words roll off his lips. There is something with this guy, but I can’t put my finger on it.

“Cheers.”

His heated eyes never leave me as I lift my glass up to take a drink. Nervously, I look away, trying to sort through the awkwardness that this now places between us. Most girls would be thrilled to have such a hot guy flirting with her, so what is wrong with me? Nik is obviously nothing but a fucking two-timing jerkoff. It’s over for good between us. There’s nothing holding me back from just throwing caution to the wind and taking this one for a test drive, but I can’t. I just can’t.

“You look tired. Why don’t you close your eyes and rest.”

If he wondered about why I am so tired, it’s because I didn’t sleep at all last night. I guess my rift with Nik had me more worked up than I want to admit. Knowing he’d fucked some random girl from the club and then came to see me? Well, it had my head spinning. Especially when he actually had the nerve to look hurt when I insinuated I’d slept with Evan. I mean he’s the one who’d thrown the first punch in that conversation.

“Yeah, I think that would be best.”

Placing the empty glass on the table beside my seat, I force a smile in his direction and lean my head back against the leather headrest. I tilt my head a bit and close my eyes, and before I know it, I’m lost in dreams of Nikolas.

I can feel his strong arms holding me. The love in his beautiful eyes is overwhelming. Slowly, his hand brushes the hair away from my face, and I melt. “I love you, Kylie.” He inches in to kiss me with those delicious lips. My heart soars at the anticipation of feeling them pressed against mine.

“Kylie?” Evan’s voice jolts me from my sweet dream. As I blink my eyes several times to chase the dream away, he smiles at me. “Hey, there. I hated to wake you, but we’re about to land.”

Quickly, I straighten up in my seat and adjust my falling hair. My heart sinks at being ripped away from my dream. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive Evan for waking me, but I’m angrier at Nik for still haunting my head in the first place. Once I feel the jet touch down on the runway, I know I have to pull myself together. This is no time to fall apart, no matter how badly I want to.

Though I’ve only been in LA for a few days, I think I’m really going to enjoy this position, even if it is only for a couple of months. Keeping busy really has been the best thing to keep my mind off the breakup. I’m truly grateful for the distraction.

Tomorrow is Skylar’s big night in London. She’d sent me an invitation to attend the unveiling of her design, but with everything going on, I knew I couldn’t take the time off of work. Gazing over at the clock, I’m sure she’s asleep at this hour. Smiling to myself, I dial the number anyways. I’m important, so she can just pull her ass out of bed and talk to me.

“Hey, there,” Skylar’s sleepy voice comes through the phone.

“Lazy ass! It’s only what 3:00 A.M there? Were you seriously asleep?” I tease her.

“Hmm, let’s see… I’m lying in bed in my cupcake pajamas with my eyes closed. Drool on my pillow… Nope, not asleep.”

“Smartass. I’m sorry I woke you up, Sleeping Beauty.”

“Oh, shut up, bitch. You know you can call me anytime. What’s up? I miss you!”

This is where I want to unload everything on her. I want to tell her about Nik, my pregnancy scare, and that my whole world has come crashing down, but I don’t. The girl is halfway across the world from me, trying to heal from her own pain. If I tell her about Nik, she will be on a plane home immediately and I can’t have that.

“God, how I miss you!”

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” she asks, her voice growing concerned.

“I’m fine, skank. I just wanted to wish you good luck with the event tomorrow night. I wish so bad I could be there!”

“Honey, it’s fine. I know you’d be here if you could. I hope I can keep from hurling in front of everyone tomorrow. I don’t like being the center of attention.”

“You should be proud of yourself. I know I’m so fucking proud I could cry! Tomorrow night, my best friend is going to shine like she deserves!”

“You are hilarious. Yeah, I may be shining as I hug the toilet a few times. Lucas says I shouldn’t be scared, but I am. What if no one likes it? I’ll look like an idiot in front of a thousand people.”

“You showed me that design, bitch! I told you, it’s incredible! Stop stressing and just enjoy tomorrow night.”

“I wish you were here to calm me down.”

“Well, I’m going to do that from across the globe, but either way, I’m here. You know that! I’m going to be cheering you on!”

“I love you, you know that?”

“Of course you do. I’m just so damn lovable the world can’t resist me!” I tease her. She laughs and it makes me smile. By just hearing her voice, she’s helping me and doesn’t even realize it.

“The LA branch of Telko wants me to fill in for a while out here. It’s a great opportunity, plus it’s good for my resume. I just wanted to let you know I’d been in LA for a while if you needed me for anything.”

“That is wonderful, Kyles!”

“It’s crazy, they are offering me all these things, and I can’t wrap my mind around it. They’re even providing me a place to stay. So, if you’re in LA, I’ve got plenty of room for you guys.”

“Are you kidding me? How did your parents take you living in LA?

“Mom and Dad won’t like me leaving Austin, but they’ll understand.”

“And what about Nik? He moved to Austin for you, Kylie.”

Her words cut deep. I know what he did to be with me, but none of those matters now. Taking a deep breath, I think of a good way to respond without going into detail.

“Nik’s got restaurants all over the world, Skylar. He doesn’t have to stay in Austin if he doesn’t want to. Besides, it’s not as we’re living together or anything. This is really a great opportunity for me. I’d be stupid to pass it up. It’s unheard of to get offered something like this at my age.”

“I’m so proud of you. You so deserve this.”

“Why does it feel like I don’t, then? Part of me thinks I shouldn’t be here, that I need to go home,” I reply.

“Kylie, you work your ass off. I’m just glad someone’s recognized that.”

I roll my eyes. I just hope all this has not been Evan’s doing. I’d like to think I’ve earned this opportunity.

“Kylie?” she asks, wondering if I’m still on the line.

“I’m still here. You’re right. Then again, you always are, though, right?”

“Awww. It only took twenty years to hear those words out of your dirty little mouth. And I have to be all the way in London to hear them. Wait, let me record that so I can play it in the future.”

“Shut up, you little wench. Never mind, I take it all back. Go give Lucas a blow job or something.”

“Um, no on that one. Sleep, yes.”

I laugh at her response.

“Go back to sleep then. I love you. Good luck tomorrow.”

“I love you, too, and thank you!”

“Night, girl.”

“Mwah.”