Evelyn Vine Be Mine (57 page)

***

Things were still tense and awkward between us throughout the day, but little by little we began to grow more comfortable. We sat quietly at the dinner table that night, but extremely close, our bodies constantly touching in some small way. Everyone (except perhaps Jamie) seemed to notice the change, and watched us avidly. Most looked hopeful, if not relieved. Donny had made a reappearance at the table, but was sitting as far from Fredi as possible and neither of the two were looking at the other. Feeling uneasy under everyone’s gaze, I turned to Briar and quietly questioned her about her relationship with Alec.

Sure enough, all eyes switched to Briar as she laughed gaily and started in on a long but entertaining tale, with Alec adding in a few humorous comments as well. Stone took the opportunity to slip away from the table, quietly pulling me along after him.

He took me to his room and made love to me slowly. He held me for a long time after, prolonging the experience – the closeness. I woke the next morning with a smile, sharing another with Stone when his eyes slowly blinked open. We took our time leaving the bed and I whistled softly to myself as I strolled back to my room to change. I had a feeling it was going to be a great day and it was.

Well, it was until dinner…

Fredi was in a much better mood as us girls sat at the table alone. We laughed and joked and teased one another until we were gasping for breath.

“Having fun girls?” Alec asked with a broad grin as he slid into the chair Briar had saved for him. She turned to him excitedly and pulled his head down for a kiss. He chuckled in surprise against her lips, while Candy and Fredi playfully told them to knock it off.

Stone made a head motion at Fredi and she rolled her eyes as she got up and grabbed another chair, leaving her previous seat for Stone. I smiled at him and edged my chair closer, snuggling into his hold as he draped an arm over my chair back.

Candy pouted. “Where’re Jamie and Mase?” she asked, obviously looking for her own man to cuddle.

“Gym,” Alec said and then nodded toward me, “Great session this afternoon by the way.”

I blushed, knowing that I’d been much more energetic and enthusiastic today than I’d been all week.

“Thanks,” I said with a small shrug, pulling a face at Briar when she wiggled her eyebrows at me.

“Hey Evie!” Jamie called out as he and Mason approached the table, “You left your phone in the gym.”

“I did?” I asked in surprise, checking my pockets and finding them empty, “Thanks.”

I took it from him and glanced up at him in question, “How did you know it was mine?”

Jamie’s grin became a cheeky leer as he grabbed the phone back and started scrolling down the screen, “Because there’s a nice picture of you and Briar on the display and there were two missed calls from that Logan guy and three from your mum.”

Stone stiffened beside me, but I barely noticed as Jamie kept talking. “Shit, woman, for a shy little thing you have a fuckload of male names in your phone.”

“Jamie,” Briar said suddenly, shaking her head at him rapidly. He ignored her though, his eyes fixed to my screen as he began to read the ‘all male’ contacts out.

“Alec, Charlie, Cooper, Donny, Evan, Grant, Harvey, Jake, Jamie, Logan, Luke, Mason, Mike, Paul, Vic and Zane!” he announced with a laugh. My phone began to ring again and Jamie’s grin grew.

“It’s Logan again!”

I snatched the phone and answered it hurriedly, quickly walking away. I heard Briar swear at Jamie, before I turned my complete attention over to my brother.

“Hey,” I said quickly, “Sorry, I left my phone in the gym.”

“Hey,” he greeted me softly, the usual enthusiasm absent from his voice, “Can I come and see you tomorrow?”

I froze on the bottom step of the stair case and squeezed my eyes shut. Shit. I’d been so caught up in my problems with Stone, that I’d forgotten what the date was.

“Yeah,” I whispered, my voice wobbling as I leant against the brick wall for support. Now I knew why my mum had been trying to call.

“Thanks,” he said on a sigh, “How about we read and write the emails together?”

“Okay.”

I didn’t have any other words.

“See you tomorrow Evie,” he said quickly, before hanging up abruptly.

Chicken, I thought to myself. He’d known I was about to cry. Logan didn’t do tears very well – not many of my brothers did.

I trudged heavily up the stairs and snuggled into bed. Silent tears slid down my face as I waited for Stone to join me. I needed him more than ever right now. I needed to be held. I needed to forget. Tomorrow was a day for remembering. Tonight was supposed to have been happy.

But Stone didn’t come to my room that night. Neither did Candy. So I lay there alone in the dark and cried myself to sleep.

Thirty-Five

I woke alone.

I curled myself into a tight little ball and wondered if Stone was being a possessive idiot again. I considered hunting him down and asking why he hadn’t come to my room, then actually explaining about my family…but I just didn’t have the strength to deal with his crap today.

I gently turned off my alarm when it buzzed, but I made no move to leave the bed. Despite today being the second last day of classes, there was no way I was going to sit through any of them. Nor was I going to study. I glared at the stack of photos peeking out from beneath my bed. I wasn’t in the mood to look at pictures of Stone either.

A stray tear slipped down my cheek and I swiped it away roughly, placing my iPod ear phones in my ears and cranking up the volume on my Disturbed playlist. I lay on my back and pulled the sheet over my head, my phone wedged beneath my butt so I could feel if someone tried to call. I winced as I remembered I’d forgotten to call my mum back…but there was no way I felt like talking to her just yet so I closed my eyes and tried to zone out.

Candy flounced in half an hour later and pulled the phones from my ears with a frown. “Hey sleepy-head! Don’t you have an early class today?”

“Yes,” I said softly, gently taking back the earphones and turning the volume up even further.

Her eyes widened in alarm and I sighed. Go Away – I mouthed to her with a small smile and she hesitantly returned it.

Breakfast? She mouthed back.

I shook my head and she frowned. I narrowed my eyes at her and she held up her hands as she backed off.

She gave me a small wave and another worried look as she left the room, but I knew she’d try again later.

***

Surprisingly, it was Briar that knocked on my door at lunch. She hesitated in the doorway as her eyes ran over me. I was still in bed.

“You missed your morning classes,” she said carefully.

“I know,” I muttered.

“You aren’t studying,” she stated in the exact same tone.

“No,” I agreed.

“Is everything alright?” she asked softly, moving to perch uneasily at the bottom of my bed.

“No,” I answered honestly.

She drew a deep breath and started talking rapidly, “Evie, I’m sorry about this whole brother business. Donny and I should never have carried on like that. We shouldn’t have stirred Stone up. It was just those first few weeks, when he wasn’t making a move, and we kept expecting him to tell us off once you two started, but he never did, and you and he never talked about your family when we assumed you just would, and he’s just annoyed because he feels you’ve rejected him as an official boyfriend and that you’re carrying on with all these others, and - ”

I held up a hand to silence her. “I’m not upset about Stone,” I told her, which was mostly the truth.

“Oh.” Her mouth snapped closed and a puzzled look formed on her face, “Um, well, you should probably talk to him. Soon.”

I nodded slowly and she fidgeted a little more.

“Well, um, if you’re sure you don’t wanna talk, I’ll just go and find Alec then,” she said uncertainly, as if expecting me to burst into tears and hug her at any moment.

“Okay,” was all I said, before pulling the sheet back over my head.

“Er, bye.” The door closed softly behind her and I breathed a sigh of relief as I picked up a book and read beneath the covers.

***

Later, when the sound of slamming doors and laughter told me that the afternoon classes were over, I forced myself to leave the bed and turn my laptop on. It seemed to take forever to load and I twitched impatiently as my empty stomach rumbled. The screen finally finished loading and I connected to the university server…

Well, I tried to. It seemed that everyone was online at the same time, starting their exam study early…or frantically trying to research for their last assignments.

I tapped my nails on the desk impatiently and wondered why I was even torturing myself. Logan would be here in a few short hours to bear it with me. I grimaced as the long list of emails appeared on my screen, the ones at the top showing emails from ten of my siblings. It looked as though Lo and I were the last to send ours out. I glanced down the list and noticed that there were some earlier ones from the younger triplets and Cooper that I hadn’t opened yet, so I procrastinated by clicking on them and looking at the pictures they’d sent me. I laughed at a particularly funny email from Jake, but my smile faded as the inbox screen returned and those ten unread emails stood out clearly.

I pushed roughly away from the desk and strode into the bathroom to get dressed. I didn’t have to deal with them until later…but right now, I needed to find Stone.

***

Stone wasn’t in his room, or the music rooms, nor was he outside at his table. He wasn’t in the dining hall either, but I saw Briar and Alec so I made my way over to them. Neither of them looked up.

“Ahem,” I coughed shyly, blushing a little at having to interrupt their kiss.

“Yeah?” Briar asked dreamily, not looking away from Alec.

“Where’s Stone?” I asked quickly. Briar frowned and glanced up at me distractedly.

“Oh,” she said after a pause, “He said he was going to find you.”

I blinked in surprise, but felt a small smile grow. “I must have just missed him,” I said with a shrug, “Thanks.”

“Have fun,” she murmured, before Alec’s lips crashed back down on hers.

Jeez, get a room, I thought with a smile as I jogged up the stairs and back to my room.

The door was open when I reached it, but the room was empty. I frowned at my computer screen, noticing that the screensaver wasn’t up…and that there was a crushed box of Smarties on top of my rumpled bed. I crossed to my desk and noticed Stone’s extra packet of smokes was missing. I glanced out the window, but couldn’t see him at his table. He wasn’t there yet. It seemed, I’d only just missed him again.

I worriedly looked back at my computer, but none of the emails looked to have been read. I didn’t know what to think, so I started to leave again, intending to take Stone another box of Smarties and confiscate his smokes.

My phone rang.

I pulled it from my pocket and eyed the back of it curiously. Was there some crazy reason my phone always chose the wrong moment to ring?

Preparing to hang up if it was my mother, I glanced at the display and then scrambled to answer it when I realised it was Logan.

“Hi,” I said quickly.

“Evie,” he said excitedly, “I’m here early. I’ll be at your place in a minute.”

He hung up.

I stared at the wall blankly and then slowly lowered the phone from my ear, snapping it closed.

What the fuck?

Why the hell was Logan happy?

I didn’t have time to ponder, because he’d literally meant a minute. My older brother burst through my still-open doorway and swept me off the floor in a huge bear-hug.

“Wh-what?” I gasped, “Umm hi.”

Logan put me down and held me at arm’s length, beaming down at me.

“I have good news,” he said.

“Today?” I asked incredulously. His smile slipped a little, but he nodded enthusiastically.

“Ivy has come to her senses.”