Evan's Addiction (71 page)

     Noah scoffed out a snort.

     Clasping my nape with his other hand, Evan pulled my face to his.
His stare was blistering. “Thanks for clearing that up, Red.” He smashed his lips
to mine. The hand under the table cupped my burning, wet core giving it a rub.
I moaned into his mouth.

     When he pulled away I whimpered in disappointment, at both the
loss of his mouth and hand. The later had switched to adjust his hard-on.

     Everyone was staring at us with varying degrees of hilarity.

     Face hot, I shifted self-consciously, as well as in aching
arousal. “I don’t want anyone thinking I’d settle for less.” I blurted out.

     Laughter echoed throughout the room at the same time the door bell
rang.

     Blake jumped up with a grin. “I’ll get it.” He grabbed a Super
Soaker on the way. They had all been answering the door with those incase it
was a reporter.

     We all heard mumbled voices and laughter, and then the door closed
and more than one pair of footsteps headed our way. Blake came back in the room
with Dan and Jasmine following him.

     “Mom! Dan! What are you two doing here? Did something happen?” Evan
jumped up with an anxious frown but didn’t rush over to his mom. Instead, his
hand landed on my shoulder as he glanced between me and her, appearing to
vacillate on who he thought the bad news might concern.

     Dan waved him off with a smile of reassurance. “Nothing happened.
We just wanted to come by and find out how Shaw was doing, and see how you all
are handling things.”

     Evan’s hand relaxed on my shoulder but his frown remained. “We?”
His gaze flickered back and forth between the two of them. “You two decided
together to come for a visit?”

     I could see why he sounded taken aback. The two of them had
arrived together, were throwing the word ‘
we’
around, and Dan was
standing rather close to Jasmine with his hand on her back in a very familiar
way. At Evan’s question their expressions also turned faintly guilty.

     Jasmine brought out an abnormally bright smile. “It’s difficult to
watch all this stuff on the news about you but only be able to talk to you on
the phone. Did we arrive at a bad time?” Her gaze was centered solely on Evan…thankfully.
I was still pretty sure she didn’t like me.

     “No,” Evan responded, his frown not going anywhere. “Why don’t we
go into the living room?”

     I wasn’t sure if that was a question or an order…but it hit my
funny bone because it was directed at his boss and his mother.  

     We all watched in wide-eyed fascination as Evan strode stiffly
from the room with Dan and his mother following him.

     “Holy Freaking Shite!” Noah exclaimed in a shocked whisper. “Dan
and Evan’s mother?”

     Carrie stared at me with wide eyes. “When I think about it they
did seem kind of close during the time you went missing, holding hands and kind
of leaning on each other, but I was too worried about you to take it in.”

     “Evan definitely doesn’t seem too happy about it.” Amanda looked
curiously toward the living room.

     “Well, both of them did just get divorced.” Blake grimaced. “And
your mom seeing your boss has to be awkward.”

     I was feeling a need to stick up for Evan’s mother and Dan. “His
mom hasn’t been in a real marriage for years, though, so it’s not like she’s
rebounding or anything. I’m sure they both took into consideration the effect
their relationship would have on him.”   

     Noah’s lips twisted. “I know Landon’s dad was pretty beat up about
his divorce.”

     “That could be from what she did rather than him loving her.”
Carrie proposed quietly.

     We all knew that story; what Landon’s mother had done had torn the
family apart.

     My phone rang interrupting the silence…Elizabeth.

     “Hey, what’s up?” I asked glad to hear from her.

     There was a small pause before she answered. “I’m good. How are
you?”

     My brow puckered at her hesitant tone. “I’m good too; just
finishing breakfast. I was hoping to finally get out of the house today. Want
me to come by and break you out?” I joked about it but I was also completely
serious. I was worried about her.

     Her laugh was halfhearted at best.

     Amanda asked under her breath who I was talking to and I mouthed Elizabeth. I didn’t miss Blake’s perk of interest.

     “I was calling because I wanted to make sure you were doing...”
She broke off and sighed, sounding miserable.

     “Libby, is something wrong?” I asked in concern.

     Everyone at the table leaned forward in concern, Blake the
most.        

     “Have you seen any of the news coverage today?” She asked.

     I stiffened. “No, why? What are they saying now?” I hated
listening to what they said about me, Libby, and the other girls, but at the
same time it was difficult not to listen to it because I didn’t like being in
the dark on what was being said.

     There was a longer pause on her end this time, like she didn’t
know how to divulge what she knew, and that increased my anxiety.

     “Just tell me, Libby.” I urged.

     She sighed and than blurted softly. “A woman claiming to be your
birth mother was interviewed on HNN this morning.”

     Ice water streamed through my veins freezing me and my mind went
blank, except for this white noise drowning out everything around me. Hands gripped
my face turning me and I blinked at Carrie’s anxious face in front of me. Her
mouth was moving and at first I wasn’t hearing what she was saying, but then
her words penetrated the buzzing in my ears.

     “…wrong, Shaw?” Her gaze fixed on something over my shoulder.
“What did Elizabeth say to her?” Her concerned gaze returned to me. “Shaw, can
you hear me? What did Elizabeth say to you?”

     Even though I could hear Carrie’s words I was having difficulty
making sense of them. All my brain activity was focused on what Elizabeth just told me; my birth mother had come forward. But while the words were
repeating inside my head I couldn’t comprehend them.

     “Elizabeth told her that a woman was on the news claiming to be
Shaw’s birth mother.” Blake’s voice droned behind me.

     Shock and dismay covered Carrie’s face. “Oh my, god.” She
whispered squeezing my hands.

     “What’s going on?” Suddenly Evan’s concerned face popped up next
to Carrie’s.

     My brain and mouth were disconnected and I was unable to answer
him. I could only stare at him frozen and helpless. 

     “Some woman claiming to be Shaw’s birth mother showed up on HNN.”
Carrie replied for me.

     Anger suffused Evan’s features. “Son of a bitch, are you fucking
serious?!” He growled. Without warning my numb body was lifted and cradled in
his lap. He cupped my face. “Shaw honey, what’s going through that head of
yours? You look in shock.”

     His touch and the palpable concern I could sense in his tone woke
me up enough that I was able to push through my numbness. “I…What…It can’t be
true?” I stared at him in disorientation. “It’s probably just some woman
looking for attention, right?” Was that pleading I heard in my tone?

     His lips thinned. “Probably…but…do you want to find out for
certain?”

     The numbness was dissipating and a surplus of emotions flooded me;
fury, pain, disgust, and something I wanted to kick my ass for feeling…hope.
This was just some random woman looking for attention and money. She wasn’t my
mother. She couldn’t be. And even if she was who cared. She dumped me in a
McDonald’s bathroom.

     But no matter how much I tried crushing it hope dangled like
diamonds in front of me, making me want to reach out to find out if they were
real.  

     Evan’s gentle touch on my face diverted me from the whirlwind of
emotions I’d fallen into. His face was tight with tension but his gaze was
tender as it searched my strained expression. “Hey, you don’t have to decide
anything right now, Red. I’m sure it’s something you doubtless want to chew on
for awhile.”

     I nodded in absent distress, my thoughts inward, but I couldn’t
deny that his arms around me seemed to be keeping the freak out that wanted to
take hold of me at bay.

     “Shaw?” I looked up to see Dan standing in the kitchen doorway,
Jasmine at his side. “If you would allow me I can find out if this woman is a complete
fraud or if there’s a possibility she could be your mother?”

     “Dan, I just told her she didn’t have to think about it right
now.” Evan clipped.

     Dan’s head inclined, his expression controlled in the face of
Evan’s surliness. “Of course she doesn’t have to decide right now, but when she
does I want her to know that I can do that for her if she needs it. She doesn’t
have to handle this alone.”

     “She’s not alone, she has me.” Evan said tightly.

     Even though part of my brain was consumed with what I’d just heard
I could perceive the tension in the air between Dan and Evan…I wasn’t the only
one going through something right now; Evan had a bomb dropped on him as well. The
others around the table could sense it too, and their expressions ranged from trepidation
for Evan to sympathy for me.

     It caused the stress within me to mount.

    “And she’s going to need you.” Dan’s voice stayed composed as he
replied to Evan’s brusque words. “But I want Shaw to know that I want to be
there for her too.” His gaze connected with mine, softening, but holding a
serious and stanch glint.

     I wasn’t certain what I was going to do but I was grateful for his
offer. I smiled back hesitantly to show it, but I’d caused him and everyone
else enough trouble. “Thank you, Dan, but…you know, I kind of have the
resources to find out everything about her myself…if I want to…because it’s
kind of what I do. But I do appreciate your offer.” I repeated for good measure.

     My gaze flickered over to Evan’s mom to see her frowning at
me…yep, she totally hated me.   

     Throat constricting, I grabbed Evan’s hand squeezing it as I
turned to face him. His features were rigid in displeasure and I gave him a sad
and apologetic look. Here he was going through something and more of my shit
lands on the table. That was my life; it didn’t rain cat and dogs, it rained
shit.

     Unable to handle everyone’s staring I popped off Evan’s lap and
rushed towards the kitchen door leading outside. The other entryway was blocked
by Dan and Jasmine and I didn’t want to have to brush past them. I needed space
to figure out this latest shit-deposit in my life.

    
Fuck a duck
, I forgot about the mob of reporters in front
of the house. Someone spotted me and began a chorus; ‘
Ms. O’Connel, Ms.
O’Connel, Ms. O’Connel
’.

     I dashed in the direction of the backyard out of their sights but
I could still hear their screams, and the thumping of my heart sped up because
the questions they were yelling revolved around the woman claiming to be my
birth mother.

     “Shaw!”

     I spun in a panic because that shout was right behind me and the
reporters weren’t allowed on the property, but at the sight of Evan my muscles
unwound in relief. He marched towards me wearing a severe expression and the
walls of my chest compressed painfully against my heart.

     How long would his love for me last if problem after problem
smothered it?

CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX

EVAN

     “Evan, you should be inside talking to your mother and Dan. It
sounded and looked like you guys had a lot to discuss.” Shaw’s arms wrapped
around her waist and stared at me looking unhappy and regretful.

     Paying her no regard I continued forward wrapping her in his arms.
It was the middle of November and a faint chill hovered in the air, and she had
only a t-shirt on with yoga pants so I was sure she was slightly cold.

     She tried pushing me away but I wasn’t going anywhere. “Evan,
please, I want you to go smooth things over with your mom and Dan. I’m fine.
All I need is some time to myself.” She objected.

     “Time is the only thing that is going to smooth things over with
my mom and Dan.” I declared.

     Their announcement that they were seeing each other, had been
seeing each other for weeks, was a complete shocker, and not something I was
comfortable with. I liked Dan, a lot, and my mom had a soft and happy look in
her eyes I’d never seen before, but they both had gone through a recent divorce,
and Dan’s hadn’t been because he wasn’t in love with his ex-wife. Then there
was the fact that Dan was my boss.

     I’d kept my opinions to myself, but I hadn’t been able to keep the
displeasure out of my tone. They were both adults so I wasn’t going to make a
scene like a child, and like I’d told Shaw; time would show whether their
relationship would endure. I know Dan would treat my mom really well, but were
his feelings for Landon’s mother truly over? I didn’t want to see my mom hurt.
She deserved to be happy after all these years.  

     However, my mom’s dating life took back seat to the news Shaw had
just received.

     I rubbed Shaw’s back. “My main concern right now is you, Red. The
way you charged from the house forgetting about the pack of wolves out front tells
me you’re not thinking clearly.”