Wingless Book Series (book 1) (28 page)

“
Of course that would matter,” he
said, giving me an evil eye.

“
It really doesn’t feel like it,”
I said, crossing my arms.

“
I don’t get you. You say this is
what you want, you accept my proposal, and yet you’re complaining
that we are moving in the direction towards being together,” he
said, walking past my moody mope.

“
I do, but why can’t we live where
we want?”

“
Because some things in my life
don’t work that way. I’ve done all I need to do out here, and now
that I’m with you, Piper Valley is the place I need to be,” he
said.

“
No, that doesn’t even make sense
because Kenny and Ari aren’t engaged or married, so why would they
have to go there too?” Having talked to Ari enough, I knew that
Kenny was never going to ask her to be his wife.

“
Whether Kenny likes it or not,
that is who he is going to be with,” Evan said, looking at me
intently.

“
So once again there is no choice
in anything.” I threw my hands up in disgust.

“
There’s always a choice in
everything. You made a choice when you slept with me,” he barked.
The look on his face was one that I had only seen when he dealt
with Kenny, and it took me aback. I wasn’t used to it being
directed towards me.

“
Whoa!” I shot back. Evan tossed
his shoes one by one out the closet in a fit of rage, his body
tense with each throw.

“
Whoa what!” he yelled, whipping
sneakers in a huff.

“
I slept with you because I was
thinking about sex, not about being bonded into some kind of
contract. If you would have been more informative maybe I would
have thought twice!” I yelled at him.

“
I thought I was okay?” he asked,
grabbing hats now, his breath coming in short puffs.

“
Well you weren’t,” I said,
starting to give up. The argument was going nowhere.

“
I’ve told you that I am not like
the typical guy. I have told you what I do, what my family does.
Ari, I’m sure, has informed you. I know my dad has as well. So why
do you always insist on playing stupid with me?” he snapped, his
fist balled up. He brought them to his head, looking up at the
ceiling as if he had a huge headache.

“
Why are you being so mean to me?”
I asked. This was one side I had never seen.

“
Because I care about you more
than anything, Eve. Ever since we met, everything has changed for
me. You’re all I think about when I do anything anymore, and I
would do just about anything for you. I want you to be happy,” he
sighed, the intensity coming down a bit.

“
I know you do,” I said in a
whisper.

“
No, you don’t. I know you’re the
one for me. One hundred percent, you’re my soul mate. I feel I am
yours for whatever reason it may be. So I know and feel that I
would do anything to be with you. I will do whatever to get this
right. Does that make any sense to you?” he asked me.

It made sense to me; it was almost
like a poem, like something you would hear in a movie.

“
Yeah, it does. And I feel that
way too. I guess sometimes I just like to complain. I haven’t lived
your life for long, but if I want to be with you, that’s what I
have to do. I’m sorry,” I said.

Evan pulled me in for a kiss, all
the anger disappearing. He gripped the back of my head hard,
running his hand down my back. I could tell he was pleased I gave
in or accepted what was going on. The look on his face was of
almost a panic, and after he explained it to me, it was a panic of
losing something that he found more sacred and special than
anything he had ever known. It was a nice feeling to think someone
cared that strongly for me. At the same time, I wondered how much
of it was of free will and how much was fate to him.

Chapter 28

Welcome Home

I sat on a patio chair next to Ari
still half asleep while movers went in and out of our house packing
and taking boxes to the U-Haul. It was way early and there was no
stopping the process. I was tired and cold and not in the mood for
moving. I was in the mood for sleeping. Although Evan said all the
stuff from this house was being left behind, there still seemed
like a whole lot of stuff to be moved.

Ari was in a robe clutching a huge
coffee mug to her chest, probably trying to stay warm as well. I
had a blanket wrapped around me-the only thing sticking out was my
head. I imagined that maybe if I had just ignored Evan, they would
have just packed me with the bed and I could be sleeping
still.

“
We brought breakfast,” Kenny said
as him and Evan approached.

He tossed a bag at Ari, sitting
down in the lawn chair with her. Evan handed mine to me politely.
Kenny still wasn’t in the best of moods and I never got to talk to
Ari to figure out why he wasn’t. I thought about it for a little
while as we sat out here, and I came to the conclusion that he
liked being forced about as much as I did.

“
They’re almost done and then we
can head out,” Evan said to me, trying to get his arms into my
secure blanket wrapped around me. I nodded, loosening my grip to
allow Evan’s hands to sneak in. I jumped at the cool touch on my
stomach and sides. He maneuvered to my inner thigh, I knew because
his hands were freezing. Evan liked little silly games such as
these, he knew only me and he knew what was going on-to him it was
amusing.

“
Are you going to eat?” I asked
him, opening the bag of breakfast sandwiches.

“
I already ate on the way here,”
he said, heading off into the house to the waiting mover who wanted
to know what to do with something.

The situation, even though it
seemed fixed, was still delicate. Evan knew not to overstep his
bounds on this, and I was grateful of that.

“
Ari will you hurry up?” Kenny
barked at her, grabbing the bag of food and getting up.

“
I’m eating, God!” she said,
tossing half her sandwich at him in disgust.

“
Well, eat faster next time. Go
get dressed. Do you ever do anything on time!” he said pushing her
towards the house.

I watched her face go from disgust
to sadness. It bothered me. He plopped down in her spot, lounging
as if he had not a care in the world, as if it didn’t matter to him
that he had just hurt his girlfriend, or whatever he wanted to call
her.

“
Why are you so mean to her?” I
blurted out, while chewing my food.

Evan was coming towards us, but
stopped when he seen what was going on.

Kenny looked at me with a confused
look on his face. “She knew we were leaving in the morning,” he
said, trying to keep it simple to avoid me.

“
It’s, like, six in the morning.
Do you know how to treat anyone even halfway decent?” I asked
him.

Kenny thought he was intimidating.
Maybe Ari had gotten used to it, but I didn’t fear him. Even if he
could overpower me, I knew I would try my hardest to kick the shit
out of him.

“
I guess not, Eve. What’s it to
you anyways? You got Evan to be all sweet and sappy,” he laughed.
“Ari obviously isn’t for all that. Once you know her well enough,
you will see.” He seemed amused.

“
I know girls don’t like to be
treated like shit,” I said, getting up, which was hard with the
blanket.

“
I treat her fine. Just stay out
of it. I didn’t realize your girl had such a mouth on her, Evan,”
Kenny said as Evan came to my side.

“
Kenny, cool it. Maybe you should
take her advice and lay off Ari,” Evan said, not looking
pleased.

“
Oh, here we go,” Kenny said,
sitting up in defense.

“
She’s in there upset. How many
times a day can you make her cry dude?” Evan said, shaking his
head.

“
Not enough.” Kenny got up walking
off.

I wanted to punch him. Evan
grabbed my arm, turning me in the opposite direction.

“
Go get in the truck please,
before you do something you will regret,” he said sternly, watching
me. It was as if he thought I was going to make a quick sprint to
Kenny and deck him or something. It sounded good, but I was too
tired. Maybe the reason why I had been so vocal with Kenny as
well.

“
Could you use anymore help?” a
tall muscular blonde said from the driveway with a beaming smile of
pearly white teeth.

I had never seen him before, he
was stunning. As stunning as Evan. I almost felt bad for thinking
this to myself. Evan approached him, giving him a hug and a
handshake.

“
No, I think we are about done,”
he laughed. I folded up my blanket, heading over to Evan and this
guy.

“
Eve, this is my brother Mark.
Mark, this is Eve,” Evan introduced us.

Mark beamed his smile my way,
looking at Evan and back at me. “She’s beautiful,” he said, shaking
his head. “I can’t believe you found such a beauty,” he said,
poking fun at Evan. I laughed along with him; it was always funny
to tease Evan about things.

“
Yeah, she is she doesn’t take
kindly to being told so, though,” he said, looking at me with
amusement.

“
Well, that makes sense. I’m sure
she heard it her whole life,” Mark said.

I was enthralled in their witty
banter and cheerful tone that went back and forth, and I stood
there watching it take place with a silly smile on my face. It was
so fascinating. Mark was like a whimsical fairy of cheer or
something less silly sounding, I thought to myself.

Kenny and Ari came walking out.
Mark cut the conversation short to watch the two come towards
us.

“
Well if it isn’t Mr. Doom and
Gloom himself,” Mark said to Kenny.

Kenny sighed, giving him a hug.
“What are you doing here?” Kenny even was less rude when he was
around Mark, I thought.

“
I’m here to offer my help, but
looks like I’m too late. You lovely ladies ready to move to Piper?”
he said, looking at Ari and me.

Ari wrapped her arm around my
waist. This caught me off guard. “Oh yeah, it’s going to be just
splendid,” she blurted out with a hint of sarcasm that only I
seemed to pick up on. We headed to the cars.

“
What’s up?” I asked as she opened
the truck door.

“
I’m riding with you guys,” she
said quietly. I got in first. She got in, slamming the door shut
and throwing on her sunglasses, hiding behind the big
frames.

“
Does Kenny know this?” I asked
alarmed.

“
I don’t care; he’s not on my
favorite list right now. Ever since this move, he has been so upset
about us having to move there,” she sighed.

“
Why? I don’t understand.” I asked
before Evan made it to the truck to stop the
conversation.

“
He thinks it’s the end of his
playboy ways or something, I don’t know. And believe me, if I
could, I would let him go his own way.” She moved a little to make
room for Evan. Kenny flew past the truck and took off.

“
Everyone ready?” Evan said,
starting up and heading out as well.

“
Is there any sort of out clause,
Evan? I know I asked before, but now would be a great time to
figure one out?” she said dryly.

I looked at Ari and then Evan in
confusion.

“
Ari, I told you before, he will
be fine and he will adjust,” Evan said.

“
What do you guys mean?” I burst
out, confused.

“
Nothing, Eve,” Ari said, waving a
hand my way looking out the window.

“
No, you tell me what you mean or
I swear I will throw you out of the car,” I snapped. Evan glanced
my way keeping his eyes on the road.

Ari looked at me confused. “What
do you mean, tell you? You know what I’m talking about. Why must I
need to spell it out for you?” she said a little
agitated.

“
Because it doesn’t make that much
sense. If Kenny is this mean to you, then why can’t you just leave?
No one deserves to go through all that,” I said, remembering the
night Kenny pounded on Ari at Carlo’s.

“
It doesn’t work that way. I told
you that. Once it’s done, it’s done, and no matter what happens, I
can’t go anywhere. That’s why he is pissed off all the time, Eve.
Come on, do you think I was BS-ing you? If Kenny could, he would
dump me in a heartbeat.” She went back to staring out of the
window, upset. I didn’t know what to say. I looked at Evan for
help.

“
Ari, I know he is a jerk, but
deep down he cares about you. He was young. He didn’t know what it
all meant back then so it’s hard to accept, but I know he cares
about you,” he said softly.

Ari started to cry. All was silent
as we made our way to Piper Valley. I didn’t know if Evan was
telling the truth, maybe he wished Kenny did care about Ari, or
maybe he knew something that we didn’t. I just thought Kenny was a
total jerk. Knowing that Ari had no choice in being with Kenny made
me feel even sorrier for her, but I had a sinking belief she wasn’t
the only one in the boat. If Ari had no choice, then that meant
neither did I.