Evolve Series Box Set (24 page)

Laney: Had a great bday. Friends gave me a party. Miss U 2. Thnks again 4 the flowers. xo

I question the xo, should I still put that, while on fantasy vacation with another guy? Yes. I’ll always be willing to give Evan love, a hug and sweet kiss, so I decide it’s okay. Is it okay someone else now calls me baby? Is it okay that I crave touching foreheads with a new guy? Is it okay that I just want to enjoy this fairytale I’ve entered and not examine it right now? Yes, yes, and hell yes. As I’m throwing my phone back into my bag, Dane walks in behind me.

“Everything okay?”

Turning to him, I give him my most reassuring smile. “Perfect, just gonna get dressed. Oh, and I’m planning on stealing this robe, just so you know. Look, it has the little ears on it,” I show him the emblem right above my left breast.

He gives a slight snicker. “No need to resort to thievery, crazy girl, I’ll buy you a robe. Breakfast is out here when you’re ready. I’ll eat with you before I shower, but give me a sec to count the silverware.” The wink that follows is all kinds of smartass sexy.

I don my favorite sundress, which doesn’t count as a dress because it’s comfortable, and sandals. After a wonderful breakfast buffet, Dane gets ready and we head out to take in all that is the Magical Kingdom.

Dane laughs at me all day, I’m almost worse than the little kids running around here. I don’t blatantly butt in front of them in line or knock them down or anything, but I can certainly gush over a character with the best of them. And it is okay to wear your ears all day, age is not a factor.

One thing I learn quickly, though, is to stay away from the shops, because he will buy me anything my gaze lingers on for more than ten seconds, and not only do I feel like I’m taking advantage of him, but he’s spending another fortune paying the courier. Did you know you can pay them to take all your bags to a collection point so you don’t have to carry your purchases around all day? Brilliant.

***

This will be my favorite moment of the trip, maybe in life, no matter what else happens. There’s a slide show being played on the side of the castle in time to the likes of Whitney Houston, Celine Dion and other female belters, and all the lamp posts are releasing a blanket of bubbles over the crowd. The smaller kids are running around their parents, catching bubbles, the dads are trying to keep track of them as it’s dusk now, but the ladies in the crowd all have the same look at their face as me—total amazement at this fairytale moment.

“I love the look on your face right now,” he says hotly into my ear, his strong arms encasing my waist.

“What look is that?” I grin up at him.

“The look of love; you’re in love with this moment, this place. It’s how you’ll look at your husband, your children; it’s breathtaking.”

“Dane?” I finally whisper after I don’t know how long. I want to freeze this moment in time, to always feel like life is perfect, happy and carefree.

“Hmmm?” He nuzzles the side of my face and neck with his nose and the tenderness brushes my soul.

“Are you happy?” My hushed tone is all but silent; I’m amazed I got it out at all.

“More so every day,” he says, pulling me to the center of a clear spot and dancing with me beneath the bubbles, in our bubble.

CHAPTER 30

Ultimatums

***Laney***

If I thought being at college, living on ramen, getting very little sleep, and living in a cramped room sucked before, then I think it blows complete ass now. Having spent the best four days of my life wrapped in Disney and Dane in a posh hotel, eating at fancy restaurants, and enjoying room service, being back to reality carries an extra sting. I can’t believe it’s over already, it flew by.

Dane and I experienced all we could; rode every ride, did the Princess tour, watched the fireworks from our balcony, laid by the lagoon, had a candlelit dinner, you name it. Sleeping in the same bed every night wasn’t awkward at all; we tumbled in exhausted every night and Dane was a perfect gentleman…almost annoyingly so. Those last few blazing kisses we shared on my birthday eluded all too well how hot things could be with Dane.

“The Crew,” as I now refer to our group, is happy we’re back, and I brought each of them a pair of Mickey ears with their name embroidered on the back. Sawyer also got a t-shirt and ball cap for his extra efforts. So after a whirlwind birthday, I’m settling back down and things are going great.

Bennett and Tate are still going strong, and in a shocking twist, Sawyer, Zach and the twins seem to be a foursome; they’re undecided on who’s gonna pair off. Dane, Bennett, Tate and I have bets placed, but that’s on the down low. I’m getting quite close to Avery and Kirby. They’ve come over to hang a few times and I’m so happy to have friends on the team. It really helps make it easier to accept that this is my team now; I can’t undo Kaitlyn’s treachery, but I can make the most of what I have.

I’ve seen Dane every day of the two weeks we’ve been back and I find myself looking forward to it from the moment I wake up each morning. Some days he catches me before my first class, breakfast snack warm in his hand. A few other times he’s appeared to whisk me off campus for a nice lunch. Perhaps my personal favorites are the evenings he’s waiting outside practice to drive thru for our dinner after a long day.

I love how lighthearted and easy things are with Dane, but I can’t ignore the inkling eating at the back of the daze…I still know so little about him, he’s disclosed almost nothing and I’ve laid my story bare. What does he do, in general, when I’m in class? How does he ask me to stay over every night, which I always decline? Are his parents ever home? I have so many questions; I want to know him better.

I need “meat” to a relationship, something worth sinking my teeth into, a foundation. Time spent together is empty if I know you no better when you leave than when you walked in. Yes, I’ve loosened up a bit since being at college, but blind leaps of faith will probably never be my strong point.

Talking or texting with Evan every day gnaws at my insides. I’m going home this weekend to spend some time with my dad and Evan will be there after his game. I’m not sure where we stand at this point or what he’s anticipating and it’s the same story with Dane. In fact, I’m not sure where I stand or what I want exactly. Have I chosen Dane over Evan? If so, how can I choose someone I know so little about over someone who shares my skin? And if Evan was here at school now, would I choose him? Does Dane want to be chosen?

At least Dane knows the Evan story. Talking openly with Evan about Dane this weekend is bound to be a shock to him. I’m planning to just go with the flow and see how things play out, which is what Bennett says I should do, but I’m not okay with stringing two hearts along, if that’s what I’m doing. I’m pretty sure Dane is into me on a serious level, and I think Evan still is, but I wouldn’t bet an arm on either. And my own back and forth confusion, well, I’m getting sick of myself, frankly.

Physically—I want them both, but with Dane it’s definitely more primal, not to mention he’s actually physically here, which is a pretty key component. Emotionally—I want them both, but obviously Evan and I go much deeper, it is different now, though, distance has not been good to us. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” my ass. Not stitching that little pearl of wisdom on a pillow anytime soon. How about “absence makes the head dizzy and fills the heart with aching bewilderment.”

I have finally gotten some closure, which led to a marginal amount of inner peace, with the Kaitlyn scandal. I finally got up the nerve to call her about a week ago to ask for an explanation, and she was all too happy to tell me about it. I knew she’d jump at the chance to sound off; Kaitlyn doesn’t have a demure or reserved bone in her body. That fog I used to live in incontestably extended beyond Evan, because I had no clue about the abhorrence Kaitlyn had been harboring.

She couldn’t contain the bitterness in her cruel words as she told me she was “sick of the poor, pitiful me act” and that I didn’t deserve Evan’s devotion. In other breaking news, apparently I was a tease and secretly loved how Matt Davis crushed on me. While I couldn’t get her to outright admit she’d orchestrated my fraudulent decline to UGA, she freely admitted how she’d “be happy to watch over Evan now that you aren’t around to distract him with your bullshit act.”

Seriously, psychopath? Like Evan would want you after you showed your true colors; Evan doesn’t do evil. Somehow she failed to see the flaw in her plan, because now she’s lost two friends and still will never have Evan. I’d be lying if I pretended it didn’t and wouldn’t always hurt like hell. How could she have faked a friendship that I thought was so good? She meant the world to me for so long and I was the person she hated with the fires of hell? It just doesn’t seem possible that I’m able to drive a car, attend college, remember the signs in ball…and be so far off the mark with those around me. I must be completely clueless.

***

“You sure you don’t want me to come with? I could meet your dad, get a hotel, whatever,” Dane whines. No, whine isn’t the right word, because whining is annoying and whatever he’s doing is adorable. I know why he’s worried, I told him Evan was going home, too, and ever since, he’s offered to come with me at least once an hour. “Are you going to tell him about me?”

“Yes.” The apprehension is about to kill me and a nauseous wave rolls through me every time I think about exactly what I’ll say.

“What are you going to tell him?” He moves his arms around my waist now and rests his cheek in my hair.

“Good question, what should I tell him?” I peer up into his eyes. Not that I’d ever let Dane dictate my conversations with Evan, asking him was more of me playing a girly-fishing game, but it’s still obvious it’s time we had a “come to Jesus” talk. Is Kaitlyn right, am I a tease? Most girls go their whole life without meeting a man as wonderful as Evan or Dane, let alone finding themselves sandwiched in between two of them. The age old love triangle only seems cliché and trite until you actually find yourself in one, then it becomes agony.

“What do you mean, what you should you tell him? Tell him you’re mine now.”

Whoa, come again? His? He hasn’t proclaimed a commitment and I’ve seen Whitley’s name still popping up on his phone…of course, there’s the whole lavish gifts thing. “Yours, huh? That’s news to me.”

“Seriously, Disney.” He lets go of me and steps back; I feel barren at once. “What the hell are you talking about? We spend every day together.” He runs his hand across the back of his neck in frustration. “Why are you acting so aloof?” He looks devastated, which isn’t my intention at all.

I move to him, wrapping my arms around him. “I just meant…I-I didn’t realize you thought this was serious, or, or committed or whatever. I don’t know. I didn’t want to assume anything.”

“Well, what did you think?”

“I thought we were getting to know each other. I know there’s an attraction, obviously.” I squeeze him harder. “I just didn’t know you felt so serious about it.” My mouth is getting chalky, my palms slick.

“Laney, I’m fixing to lose my shit here.” He breaks away from me again, pacing like a caged animal.

“Calm down, Dane, I’m just telling you the truth. We’re just talking; maybe it’s good we’re having this conversation.”

That seems to help; he at least stills and looks at me now. “Yeah, no, you’re right. Okay, so let’s just talk about it.” He sits down on my bed and pulls me into his lap. “Laney, I want to be with you, exclusively or whatever girlie label you want to put on it, meaning no one gets near here,” he says, using his finger to tap over my heart, “but me. I want to touch you, kiss you, freely. I want you to be my girlfriend…my baby.” He rolls his eyes and laughs. “I can’t believe you make me outline things and sound like a 16 year old.” He apparently feels compelled to remind me he is a man; the way he kisses me now is illegal until you can at least vote.

He turns, laying me back against my comforter and rolling to lay his body along the top of mine. My body tenses with the shock of this new territory, but only for a second while the message from my body moves to my brain. “I do not want you to be anything more than long-time friends with Evan.” He runs one hand through my hair, fanning it off my ear, and then leans down to nibble. “I want you to sleep,” he says, pulling back to look at me, “I said sleep, in my home as many nights as possible.” He runs his face down my neck, leaving open-mouthed, hot kisses along the way. “I want you to fall in love with me, Laney.” He licks straight up my throat. “Is that clear enough for you?”

I have yet to open my eyes, but know he’s looking at me, I can feel his stare.

“Baby? Look at me.”

I’m burning from the v in my thighs to the flushed tops of my ears, like he struck a match. He and I, together, are so feral. “You make me crazy,” I murmur. I’m hoping he didn’t hear me, but his primal growl before his tongue demands entrance lets me know he did. He feels it too, our unbridled gravitation; his hard length presses against me and I counter against him, pushing downward to his up.

“Ah God, baby,” he breathes, his whole body trembling under my fingers, “it’s gonna be so good one day. You and me, explosive.” His mouth teases along my neck, my jaw, and he lets out a big sigh. “Okay, we have to stop, I can’t take it.”

Part of me starts to pull him back to me, but I know he’s right, we’re quickly approaching the point of no return and my body is very ready but my heart and mind are not.

He moves off me to sit and I welcome the moment of reprieve to gather my senses. I sit up and smooth down my hair and clothes, still unable to look at him. I’m being way too lax with Dane way too soon. I have to take back control of this situation. I stand, going to grab a bottle of water out of the mini fridge. I stay on that side of the room as I dive back into our discussion.