With a frown on her face, Evie opened the front door to her parent's house and walked inside. She stepped down the long hallway in her sandals until she found her parents sitting with a young man in the library and stopped to peer inside. He had short dark hair piercing green eyes. Evie imagined that if he were to stand up, he'd be well over six feet tall.
The three of them must have seen her standing there, because they all turned to look at the doorway. Evie put on a fake smile. "Hi," she said, stepping slightly into the room. "I'm home, as requested."
"Wonderful!" Mr. Brady exclaimed, standing up from his chair. Both Mrs. Brady and the young man followed suit. "I'd like you to meet Edward O'Shaughnessy. He's new at the company and the second I saw him, I knew you'd want to meet him."
Evie's smile disappeared. It was more like he wanted her to meet Edward. "Nice to meet you, Edward," she said as she stepped forward to shake his hand. "My name is Evie."
Mr. Brady cleared his throat. "Evelyn," he interrupted.
"What?"
"Your name is Evelyn."
Evie turned to look at her father, still holding onto Edward's hand. "I'd like him to call me Evie, Father," she said through clenched teeth.
Mr. Brady only smiled. "Isn't my Evelyn a gem, Edward? She gets her looks from her mother."
Mrs. Brady blushed as her husband shot her a smile. "Evelyn has surpassed my so called beauty," she said, obviously trying too hard to pull off modesty.
"It's nice to meet you, too," Edward said with a smile as she dropped his hand. "Your father is right. You're absolutely lovely."
Kyle had been staring down at his chemistry book for a good hour when he heard a knock on his door. He jumped up from his bed and ran to the door, but before he opened it, he took a deep breath. He knew it had to be Evie. She was almost two hours late, but he knew she'd come eventually. Slowly, he pulled the door open.
She stood there, looking up at him with watery eyes. "I'm sorry, Kyle. My parents wouldn't let me leave. I told them I had homework, but they forced me into really boring conversations with some Edward guy who called me Evelyn all night!"
Before Kyle could even respond, she threw herself into his arms and pressed her face into his chest. "They don't listen to a word I say..." she sobbed. He reached around her and grabbed her bag from the floor and then pulled her inside. Andrew was still asleep, so he didn't see Kyle lead Evie to his bed.
She held him close as she cried. "I can't study right now. I'm sorry. We'll study tomorrow. Right now I just want to go to bed."
"It's okay," he assured her. "I've been studying while you were gone, so I don't mind."
She looked up at him, sniffing. "You studied, Kyle?" she asked with a smile. "Did you get a lot done?"
He shrugged. "Some. Don't worry about it. Here." He turned around and undid his bed, then put his hand down on the cool sheets. "You can change and do all your other girl things in the bathroom down the hall. I'll show you where it is if you want."
"No, that's okay. I had a friend in this building my freshman year. I know where it is." She let go of him and picked her bag up from the floor. "Thanks, Kyle. I'll be back in a few minutes."
After she was gone, Kyle got up and went over to his closet. He pulled out the extra blankets that Nicki had stashed in the corner and laid them out on the floor. Quickly, he changed into shorts and a T-shirt and then stuffed his dirty clothes into the bag on the floor. He crawled between the blankets on the floor, looking up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. He was still in that exact same position when Evie opened the door back up and looked down at him.
"What are you doing?" she asked as she set her bag back down by his desk.
"Sleeping," he said. "Why?"
She shook her head. "You're not sleeping on the floor just because I'm here. Get up and get into the bed, Kyle."
Kyle stayed where he was. "You're my guest, Evie. I'd be rude if I didn't sleep on the floor."
She knelt down beside him and put her hand on his arm. "You're so sweet, but really, Kyle get up from the floor. Besides, I need to be in your arms tonight. Will you hold me?"
Kyle sat up quickly, nodding his head. He couldn't object to that. Even if Andrew was in the room so they wouldn't be able to do anything, he couldn't pass up holding her in his arms all night. He stood up and sat back down in the bed, slipping his legs under the covers and then looking up at her.
Evie ran to turn out the lights and then climbed into bed with him. His embrace was so warm and she melted against him. Kyle was like no other guy she'd ever been close with. He was so soft, so sweet and the way that his breath hit the back of her neck made her shiver. She put her arms around his and cuddled closer, her back pressed up against his chest.
The only light that was filtering through the closed blinds was that of the streetlights outside, so when she turned her head to look at him, all she could see was a slight reflection in his eyes. Wordlessly, she pressed her lips to his cheek.
"What was that for?" he whispered.
"For being you," she whispered back. "You are without a doubt the sweetest guy I've ever met." She felt him smile against the back of her neck, and she giggled. "You can't start kissing me," she told him. "Your roommate is asleep up in his loft. Besides, I thought we weren't going to do that anymore."
Kyle obviously wasn't listening because before she knew it, he turned her around and encircled his arms around her waist as began kissing her neck, working his way up her jaw line. She stopped him right before he reached her lips.
"Seriously," she said, placing her fingers on his lips before he could reach her. "Stop before I make you get up and take a cold shower. You know we can't do anything with your roommate in the same room."
"He hasn't slept for days. He's out cold and won't hear a thing." He pushed her hand away and kissed her anyway.
Evie pulled away again, frowning at him. "I'm not having sex with you when he's in the room. So, either calm down or go take a shower."
Kyle groaned, flopping back down against the bed. "I'm calming down," he muttered, putting his hands to his head in apparent agony. "I wish I lived in a single."
"Me too, but you don't. Close your eyes and go to sleep. Staying awake obviously isn't doing you any good."
"It would if I lived in a single," Kyle protested.
Evie put her head back on his pillow and stared at him. "Do you even have protection here, Kyle?"
"No..." he admitted.
"There you go then. It's completely out of the question. Close your eyes."
"I'd have it if I lived in a single," he grumbled.
"Close your eyes!"
"Guess what I did today," Justin grinned as he watched Adelyn crawl into bed.
"What?"
"I took my brothers, and we bought our tuxes for the wedding."
Adelyn sat in bed, turning her head to look at him. "Justin, there's something we need to talk about."
His eyes widened. "What? I thought you'd be happy that we got that out of the way. One less thing to plan, right?"
"Speaking of planning..." she went on. "Have you noticed that I have one more bridesmaid than you have groomsmen?"
"I don't know much about these things," he admitted. "Is that a problem or something?"
"Would you mind if I picked one of your groomsmen? I mean, it'll even things out, plus I really think he should be standing up there with us."
"Sure, I mean, my sister and my brother's girlfriend are your bridesmaids," Justin said, smiling at her. "It would only be fair that you had a say in who my groomsmen were. Do you have some long lost brother that I don't know about it?"
Adelyn looked away from him. "Well, not exactly..."
"Who then?"
"There's someone I spend a lot of time with and we've really become close friends. It would only make sense if he were standing up for us."
Justin had a feeling he knew where this conversation was heading... and he didn't like it. "Who, Adelyn?" he asked again, secretly crossing his fingers underneath the blankets. 'Please don't be who I think it is...'
"Now, I know you're probably going to freak out about it, but just hear me out first."
"Adelyn, he can't stand up for us at our wedding, for God's sake!" Justin exclaimed. "Then man wants to steal you away from me! I will not have him standing next to me while I say 'I do'."
"Who else then, Justin? You need another groomsmen!"
He frowned, moving away from her when she tried to get her arms around him. "I'll call my friend from the Tribune. We still talk every now and then."
"Pertel does not want to steal me away from you, Justin!" she exclaimed as she wrapped her fingers tightly around his wrist and pulled him to face her. "He has a girlfriend now, and though I haven't met her, he's smitten. He doesn't care anymore, I promise you!"
"Have you ever thought that this was all an act to get you to think that? He probably made up this girl and is just waiting for you to ask him to be in the wedding so he can knock me over on the alter and then marry you himself!"
"Justin, that's ridiculous! He would never do that!"
"How do you know? You haven't known him for that long."
"I've known him longer than I've known you, so you better close your mouth. I'm asking him to be in our wedding and it's not up for discussion any longer."
Justin stared at her, his jaw dropping. "You can't do that!"
"Oh, yes I can!" she said, releasing his wrist and falling down into her pillow. "What are you going to do to stop me?"
Justin didn't say anything, he only glared. There was nothing he could do.
"And you're going to take him to that same place you took your brothers today, and you're going to make sure he gets a matching tux. Got it?"
"I'm not taking him anywhere," he muttered.
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes! You are!"
Justin flopped down into bed and pulled the covers up around him. "This isn't fair," he murmured. "I should get to pick my own groomsman. Instead, my fiancé decides that the man I hate most in this world will stand up for me at my own wedding. How is that fair?"
"Quit complaining and go to sleep. You don't hate him as much as you think you do."
"And you know this because..." he prompted.
"Because men are stubborn. They don't mean half of the things they say."
"Well, that's just great. Thanks a lot, Adelyn."
She kissed the tip of his nose and smiled. "You're welcome, honey."
Kyle opened his eyes and looked over at the clock on top of the television. Apparently it was almost three in the morning. He wondered what had woken him up when he heard a rustling sound by Andrew's desk. As gently as he could, he moved his arms away from Evie and sat up, looking around.
"I thought you said she was a friend," Andrew's voice came from behind his computer. "If she's a friend, then why are you all curled up with her on your bed?"
Kyle frowned. Like it was any of his business... "She is a friend," he whispered anyway. "She had a rough night at her parents' house, and I was comforting her. Can you please be quiet? I don't want her to wake up." Without waiting for an answer, he laid down again and put his arms back around Evie. With the frown still on his face, he squeezed his eyes shut to try and block out the light that was coming from Andrew's desk lamp. They flew open when he heard the sound of Andrew crunching into potato chips. Instead of getting upset, he pulled the blankets up to their chins and hid his face in Evie's hair. Why did he have to get stuck with such a loser roommate? And why the hell did Andrew all of a sudden decide to wake up at three in the morning?
He had almost fallen back asleep when a loud crash sounded throughout the room. Both Kyle and Evie jumped. Kyle held her tighter before they sat up and looked to see what had happened.
"What the hell?" Evie mumbled as she looked over toward Andrew's desk. Kyle's roommate was on the floor, and getting up. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Andrew insisted. "I just lost my footing on my way up to bed."
Kyle flopped back down on the bed and sighed. Was he ever going to get any sleep?
"I'm Evie, by the way," Evie went on. "You're Andrew, right?"
"Yeah." Andrew replied, this time successfully getting up into his loft. "You're Kyle's girlfriend?"
Evie faltered as she looked up at him. "Well..." she said. "It's a little more complicated than that."
Kyle looked over just in time to see Andrew's look. "And you said she was just a friend."
"I didn't say that!" Kyle exclaimed. "I said she was a friend, I didn't say JUST a friend! God!"
"I'm just saying that it's a little different from having a friend here," Andrew went on.
"I'm sorry," Kyle said. "Next time I'll give you the exact details of every relationship I have. Okay?"
Andrew didn't answer, and Evie looked down at Kyle with a grin on her face. It was obviously amusing her that he was upset.
"What?" he demanded.
"You're cute when you're angry," she told him. "Your face turns red and your eyes get all squinty. It's really cute!"
"How is that cute?"
"It just is," Evie insisted as she leaned back down into bed and kissed him.
"Oh, God!" they heard Andrew cry from his loft and Evie giggled, pulling away.
"We're sleeping! We're sleeping!" Kyle exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around Evie and pulled her down next to him. "Next year remind me to get a single," he muttered under his breath.
Chapter 14
Keeping the Peace
Family: Timberlake
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email Me (irishgirl982@yahoo.com)