Wingless Book Series (book 1) (24 page)

Aunt Lee came up, placing a hand
on Evan’s shoulder. She was my mother’s sister, a sweet, loving
lady with hair always perfectly styled, polished nails, and the
loveliest clothes I had seen on a women of her age. She was older,
but she carried it so well. She didn’t look any older than maybe
forty.

“
It’s nice to meet you Evan. I’m
Eve’s Auntie,” she said, smiling warmly at him and giving me a
wink.

“
Nice to meet you,” Evan said
politely.

“
You take care of my Eve. I know
right now my sister is upset, but I think Eve has a good head on
her shoulders. I have always thought that, and I hope you know it
girl,” she said to me, squeezing my arm. “You and Marcus were
always something special to me and Uncle Hank,” she said tearing
up.

“
Thanks,” I said, smiling at
her.

“
She needs to hear that,” Evan
told her, handing me a plate.

“
Well, I’m always here for her.
Maybe Bug doesn’t see it now, but later on, she will know that she
raised a good girl and that the only mistake she made was growing
up and falling in love with such a handsome man as yourself.” She
patted Evan’s arm and hurried into line to get some
food.

“
She seems like a really nice
lady,” Evan said, taking a hamburger.

He held one up at me. I nodded
letting him put it on my plate. I wasn’t all that hungry but I
thought I would humor him.

As we sat down to eat, the noise
around was that of laughter and of talking, everyone caught up on
their children and jobs and how his or her lives were working out,
good or bad. It was the same thing as every year before
that.

Gray sat down with Marshall across
from us. “I see Uncle Mel had a little chat with you. Is everything
okay?” he asked, stuffing his mouth with a hamburger, looking at me
with honest concern.

No matter how concerned he could
act, there was always a little instigation in everything he said to
me. Maybe I was just not willing to see past his shallow-like
behavior.

“
Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, picking
at my sandwich.

Evan looked at me and then at
Gray. “You’re alright right?” he asked me, alarmed.

“
Yes, I’m fine,” I said, shoving a
chip in my mouth to have a reason not to speak.

“
You got to watch that Uncle Mel,”
Gray said not toward anyone in particular.

I was starting to get a little
irritated with Gray’s attempt at airing my business in front of
Evan. Evan seemed a little confused, but tried to keep it cool and
eat. I could feel him tapping his foot next to me.

The boats revved loudly in
the water, children
laughing and screaming
as they sped by. It caught everyone’s attention as we all ate.
There were several people doing crazy tricks on their jet skis.
Uncle Mel was still down by it all, watching.

“
He hasn’t changed at all. I don’t
think so anyways,” Gray went on.

Evan kept his eyes on Uncle
Mel.

“
Gray, I don’t care. It’s a once a
year thing. Just shut up,” I said, balling my napkin, getting
angry.

“
I’m just saying, you would
think-“

I kicked Gray under the table
missing his leg and kicking the picnic table instead with a loud
thud.

Gray looked at me, catching on to
what I was trying to do. “Geez, Eve, can you ever just chill out.
No matter how I talk to you, you’re always so angry about
something,” he said.

“
Because you want to talk about
things that don’t need to be talked about,” I said back, glaring at
him.

Evan turned to look at us. Clearly,
he was trying to catch on to the conversation.

“
You’re my sister. I hate him just
as much as you,” he said.

“
Don’t worry about it. Hating
someone isn’t getting any of us anywhere.”

Suddenly, a loud crash jolted
everyone to their feet. My Aunt Lee screamed so loud I was sure
someone was dead or dying.

“
What is it?” my
dad
asked, running over to Aunt Lee. Evan
followed my dad over to look himself.

“
Holy shit!” Gray exclaimed. “That
boat almost crushed Uncle Mel.”

My dad
started to run to Uncle Mel. Evan stared off at what had just
happened, not moving. Everyone, besides me, Evan, and Gray, rushed
over to Uncle. I didn’t care to look.

“
Wow, that’s nuts,” I said,
grabbing Evan’s hand that was wedged in his pocket.

He came back to life a little.
“Yeah, it was a little to nuts,” he said, staring.

“
What do you mean?” I asked him,
thinking about it. The boat missed Uncle Mel. So why was Evan so
freaked out about it?

“
He was almost killed by that
boat. That’s a little odd.”

“
Well, maybe the boater missed his
turn or something. It’s no big deal. He shouldn’t have been so
close to the water,” I offered.

Evan shook his head. “No, I know
what it was. I felt it. And that is not a good thing,” he said,
crossing his arms and turning to face me.

“
What are you talking about?” I
said in a whisper.

“
That was me. I did that. I don’t
know why, though. I’m really starting to get freaked out,” he said,
looking at me as if he was losing his mind.

“
Evan, I don’t think you did
that,” I said, touching his arm.

“
Yes, I’m telling you I did,” he
said again, this time more agitated. He put his hand to his head as
if he was in pain.

“
Evan, do you want to
leave?”

“
No, I need to know what’s going
on. This has never happened before,” he said almost
panicked.

My heart started racing, the
thoughts of years ago pouring back to me. It was like a bad
nightmare all over again.

“
Do you think we should go over
there and see what is going on? Do you think anyone is catching on
to anything?” he rambled.

“
I think it would be weirder for
me to go over there to tell you the truth,” I said, feeling sick. I
needed to get it over and just say it and maybe it would calm him
down, I thought.

“
What? What are you talking
about?” he asked me, his face looking puzzled as he looked at
me.

“
The reason why Gray was talking
like that about him is because when I was younger, something
happened. My Uncle Mel, um, he did something to me when I was a
little kid. No one ever told the police. He wasn’t put in jail, but
that’s what would have happened. I don’t know if you understand,” I
said, feeling the pain in my stomach get worse.

Evan’s face dropped.

“
It’s okay. I mean, I know it’s
not okay, but I’m okay. That’s why he isn’t allowed around
anymore.”

“
Your parents did nothing?” he
asked even more irritated.

“
He is an alcoholic. He has
issues. That’s just how it worked out. I try to just not think
about those things that I can’t change.”

Evan pulled me to him, holding on
to my arms. “If you want me to do something about it, I will. I
would do that for you,” he said, looking in my eyes.

“
I know you would, and that’s what
is so great about you,” I said, smiling.

“
I wouldn’t think twice about it.
No one protected you from him, and I could. You just remember
that,” he said.

“
Believe me, it’s a thought that
crosses my mind all the time,” I said.

“
You shouldn’t have to think about
that all the time. You should be able to feel like something was
done. Your parents should have made you feel safe again, not have
to look at that man year after year.”

“
Let’s just go,” I said, taking
his hand.

We headed out of the park, walking
away was rather easy. The feelings of betrayal left me as we made
our way out, the only new memory that I would have now was the one
of my entire family screaming and yelling that Uncle Mel was not
breathing. It seemed he had a heart attack, but I knew the truth. I
knew that Evan fixed what was wrong and even if it pained the
family to endure a death, in my eyes, it fixed so many years of
feeling as if I was wronged by my whole family for supporting that
pervert. Although I didn’t know where he would go after this, I
knew that he was taken care of.

Evan unlocked the truck and opened
my door once again. I got in, the feeling of relief sweeping over
my whole body.

“
You alright?” he asked me,
starting up the truck.

“
Yeah, for once I can actually say
I am,” I said smiling. He squeezed my hand as we drove away from it
all.

Chapter 23

Breathe

I rolled over in bed; my arm fell
with a thud where Evan should have been. I yawned, sitting up.
Moments, maybe even seconds later, Evan came rushing in the room
with a tray. On it was breakfast. He came to my side of the bed in
good spirits.

The thing about Evan was,
even with how exceptionally attractive he was when he was happy, he
still seemed serious and stern. But when you got to know him, you
could tell the slight difference. It was in his eyes and in a small
crease of his mouth. He had a way of bringing my spirits up and
keeping them there just by being
in the
room. Ever since I met him, I felt like nothing else
mattered.

I totally forgot about all that
was expected of me from my parents. I gave up on hoping that Gray
would one day treat me with respect. I didn’t care about any of
that anymore. All I cared about was this guy who was standing in
front of me with breakfast. I wasn’t sure how healthy it was to
just want to be with someone nothing more, but that’s how I felt.
He literally made me feel whole. I didn’t even care if I found a
career or purpose in life. As long as Evan was there in my life, it
had a purpose. I could do anything as long as he was around to see
me do it.

The part that was a little
strange to me was that the person I felt so bonded to was so
different from
what I would have expected.
And at the same time, I felt like he was a gift and that I had been
lucky to meet him at all. I was paired with fate, literally, and I
liked that.

“
What are you daydreaming about?”
Evan asked, breaking through my thoughts. I shrugged my shoulders
accepting his long kiss. “Good morning. More like afternoon. And
happy birthday,” he said, placing the tray over my legs.

I surveyed the food-fruits,
pancakes and bacon. Oh, and orange juice, because after this long
of living here, he knew that it was my favorite.

He climbed into bed with me, in
good spirits, watching me eat the whole time.

“
Thank you. This is nice,” I said,
giving him a bite of melon.

“
That’s not the end of it,” he
said, chewing.

He was definitely not as messy at
eating as Gray. For a guy he was proper, he said that he was raised
right, I said that must mean he thinks I was raised wrong. It was
always a laugh discussing the differences though.

“
Oh, really? What else do you have
in mind?” I poked at him, sipping my juice.

He smoothed my hair that was more
than likely crazy wild now. I always looked a mess in the morning,
but around Evan, it didn’t matter to me anymore.

“
They’re called surprises, so that
means you won’t know until you receive them,” he said, smiling,
looking away, trying not to let me see his expression.

“
Fine. How about you take this
back in the kitchen and I will get showered and dressed?” I asked,
handing the tray over.

He set it on the bed shaking his
head. “I have one gift I would like to give you right now,” he said
with a sly look on his face.

He took my hand, leading me into
the bathroom.

The first gift was all I expected
and more.

“
Alright well I’m going to step
out for a few. I’ll be right back,” he said from outside the
shower.

I started rinsing my hair out in a
rather chipper mood after the “gift.” “Okay. Do you want me just to
sit here and wait, or come with you?” I asked, trying to hurry up
and get out of the shower.

“
No, no just finish up. I’ll be
back in like, fifteen minutes at the most,” he said, pulling the
glass shower door open. He puckered his lips, waiting for a
kiss.

I started laughing as the water
hit his face. “You’re crazy,” I said kissing him anyway. He nodded
shutting the door and heading out of the bathroom in a
flash.

I got out of the shower wrapping a
towel around my hair and one around my body. I opened the bathroom
door seeing a big red box with a black bow sitting on the bed. It
sent excitement through my whole body to see a present. I knew he
had snuck that there on the way out.

Opening it, I gasped. It was a
pair of black dress pants, almost soft to the touch, and a red top
with black graffiti-like butterflies scattered over it-there were
no sleeves. It almost reminded me of a bustier without the tight,
uncomfortable, stiff feeling to it. And the shoes were to die for.
I held them in my hands, a smile creeping across my face. They were
black strapped sandals with a huge chunky heel.