Exposure (19 page)

“
You should sleep it off.
You’ll feel better in the morning.” She kisses my
forehead.

“
Promise?”

“
No, but we can do shots
and maybe that’ll help you feel better now.”

“
Ugh. No,
thanks.”

“
Love you,
kid.”

“
I love you too,
Brit.”

Dallas

Why did you make me get
those hairsprays for you the day of my last shoot? Don’t
lie.

New Message From Britain:
You know why.

I need to hear it from
you.

New Message From Britain:
I was hoping you’d see Adam.

Why?

New Message From Britain:
So you’d finally grow a pair of balls and tell Evan that you loved
her.

The front door opens. Tricia shakes
her umbrella off and walks inside. “Good God, it is a mess out
there!”

I watch from the couch as she hangs up
her coat and sets her purse and umbrella by the door. She unzips
both of her boots and steps out of them, walking to the kitchen
counter and picking up the mail. She flips through
bills.

“
Tricia.”

She glances at me, and when she sees
my face, her eyebrows furrow with sudden concern.

“
We need to
talk.”

Chapter
Sixteen

Evan

I awaken to lightening crashing.
Rubbing my eyes, I pick up my phone and glance at the
screen.

It’s 3:28am

I have eight new text
messages.

And thirteen missed calls.

10:38pm New Message From
Dallas: Don’t freak… I’m coming over.

10:52pm New Message From
Dallas: Why aren’t you picking up your phone?

11:14pm New Message From
Dallas: My car totally broke down two miles from your house. I just
ran here in the rain. And now no one’s answering the door.
FML.

11:48pm New Message From
Dallas: It’s really cold out here… haha…

12:07am New Message From
Dallas: So if I die from hypothermia, I want to make sure you know
it’s your fault.

12:08am New Message From
Dallas: And I love you. I want to make sure you know that
too.

1:01am New Message From
Dallas: I totally get it by the way if you’re up and reading these
and just want to torture me. Probs deserve it but kind of wishing
you’d be backhanded by mercy right about… now.

1:56am New Message From
Dallas: Can’t feel my toes lulz.

“
Shit!” I hiss, jumping
out of bed and proceeding to fall directly onto my face. My foot
fell asleep. Of all the nights for my motherfucking foot to fall
asleep.

I stand up and hobble down the hall
and to the stairs, limping slowly down every step until I gain
enough feeling to burst into a gimpy run. I skid across the living
room floor and fling open the door.

Lightning floods the sky, around
Dallas’s bulky silhouette that leans against the
doorframe.

“
H-hi,” he says between
chattering teeth.

“
Holy
shit
, Dallas!” I cry, pulling him
inside and shutting the door. “Oh my God.” I shake my hands in
front of my face. “Oh my God, we have to get you out of those
clothes. Are you okay? Can you make it up stairs?”

“
M-maybe.”

I grab his hand. His skin is ice-cold.
I lead him up the stairs as delicately as possible and to the
bathroom, where I fling on the vent and start the
shower.

“
Evan, I’m
f-fine.”

“
I have to get you out of
these clothes. Why the hell are you here, Dallas? Lift up your
arms.”

He complies, and I help get him out of
his wet t-shirt.

“
I h-had nowhere else t-to
go.”

“
I don’t know what that
means.” But as the room fills with steam, it dawns on me. I cover
my mouth.

Finally, his body relaxes, and he
stops shaking. “I was with Tricia because I’ve always been with
Tricia. Because she’s safe.” He shakes his head. “But I can’t live
with being safe knowing you’re out there. Even if you don’t want
me. And I’m sorry it took me so fucking long to realize
this.”

After I come to terms with the fact
that he’s really telling me what I think he’s telling me, I let my
hands fall on his belt buckle, working at the slick cord with my
fingers. I finally get through, unbuttoning and zipping down his
fly.

“
Say something,” he
begs.

I look up at his pained face. “I’m
trying to get you naked. Isn’t that saying enough?”

He shakes his head.

“
I love you Dallas. I’ve
loved you for longer than I’m comfortable admitting. And I think
you know that.”

His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows.
He turns from me and pulls back the shower curtain, shutting off
the water.

“
What are you
doing?”

“
I’m fine now.” He closes
the distance between us. “And I want the first time I take you to
be in your bed. Not the bathroom.”

My heart races. I press my palms
against his hard chest, looking into his eyes. He corner of his
lips perk up in a smirk. “Now go to your room. Sit on your bed,
facing the window.” He shakes his head slowly. Dangerously. “Don’t
turn around for anything.”

I grin and slink out of the bathroom,
hurrying to my bedroom and jumping on the bed. I kneel in the
center, waiting and waiting until the door creaks open and his
footsteps sound across the floor.

“
Take off your shirt,” he
orders.

I don’t waste a second’s hesitation,
grabbing the hem of my tank top and lifting it over my head. The
mattress moves as he climbs onto it, his chest brushing against my
bare back. A shiver races through me.

Wrapping his arms around me, he takes
my tank top out of my hands and folds it long ways, lifting it to
my face. He uses it as a blindfold, tying it around my
head.

“
Dallas….”

“
Trust me, baby. Lie
back.”

I listen to him, resting my head on a
pillow. His thighs brush mine as he straddles me. He’s
naked.

“
Promise me you want
this,” his voice rumbles from somewhere in the dark.

“
I love you, Dallas,” I
breathe. “I want
you
.”

His mouth crushes mine, stifling my
moan. I open my mouth for him, his tongue slipping past my lips and
finding my own as his hands wander my chest, cupping my
breasts.

“
No more teasing,” I beg
when he releases me for air. “I’ve had to endure months of your
teasing. I fucking need you now.”

He chuckles into my ear. “As you wish,
my love.” His hands find my shorts, tugging them off. When I’m
completely naked, he kisses his way to my navel, gripping my thighs
so I remain spread for him.

“
I’ve wanted to taste you
since the office shoot. I imagined plunging my tongue into your
perfect pussy.” He groans. “I can’t believe this is finally
happening.”

I squirm beneath him.
“
Please
,
Dallas!”

I can feel his breath on me. He blows
a trail down my slit and whispers, “God, Evan. So fucking
wet.”

I moan as the tip of his tongue traces
my lips and around my clit.

“
I hate you so much right
now,” I mutter.

“
You love me.” His tongue
flicks against the tip of my clit. I moan his name, my toes
curling.

Suddenly, his tongue plunges into me,
and I almost scream. He drags his mouth back up to my clit and
sucks it into his mouth, pushing two of his fingers deep into my
pussy. I cry out as he works me, the pressure building and
building, and I finally lose it when he curls his fingers upward
and scrapes his teeth against my clit. I clutch at his hair through
my release, falling limp as the wave washes over me.

He crawls up to me when I’m finished
and removes my blindfold, kissing me deeply so I can taste myself
on him. “You’re the most delicious thing I’ve ever
licked.”

“
You’re not done with me,
are you?” I breathe.

“
You’re kidding me,
right?” He strokes himself, picking up a condom from the sheets
that he must have brought with him from the bathroom. “I’ve been
waiting too long to have you.”

“
Hurry,” I moan. “I can’t
wait another second.”

He rolls the condom on and leans in to
kiss me, slow and needy and wonderful. His lips move to my neck. “I
love you, Evan,” he whispers against my neck. Slowly, he pushes
himself into me.

He’s different from every guy I’ve
been with—not just the fact that I love him, but the way he moves
inside of me tonight, as though every thrust is deliberate. “Fuck,
Evan. You’re tight.”

“
I don’t do this a lot….
Ahh.” My breath catches in my throat as he quickens his pace and
kisses my breasts. Before I even know it’s happening, he flips me
over so I’m riding him. I gyrate my hips, reveling in the friction
of him moving in and out of me. When his thumb finds my clit, it’s
too much.

“
Kiss me,” he orders with
a gravelly voice. “I want to feel you come.”

I lean forward and find his lips. He
increases the pressure of his hand and I lose it, crying his name
into his mouth. When I’m finished, he flips me again and throws my
legs over his shoulders, his fingernails digging into my hips.
Every thrust is deeper than the last and I’m so sensitive—it’s
almost too much. Finally, he groans his release and collapses on
top of me.

Our breath dances together until we’ve
each finally caught our own. I run my fingers through his hair and
start to laugh.

“
Was I that
bad?”

“
It’s not
that.”

“
Then what?”

“
I came twice.” And then I
giggle again.

He chuckles and presses his lips to
the cleft of my ribcage. “Damn straight, you came twice. That’s the
new norm now. Get used to it.”

I sigh happily. He rolls from me, and
I snuggle up against his chest.

“
I need to go back to the
apartment and get my shit tomorrow. That’s going to be
awkward.”

“
How’d she take
it?”

He shrugs, staring at his dark
ceiling. “Better than I did, I think, and I was the one doing the
breaking up. I think after a while, you become so content with
remembering how it used to be that you’re not ready to let go.” He
pushes the hair from my face and looks into my eyes—my soul.
“Promise me, Evan. We’ll never turn into that.”

I grin. “Are you asking me
to be your
giiirrrlllfrienndd
?”

“
Check yes, no, or
maybe.”

I faux ponder for a moment, and then I
grow serious when I remember what my future holds. “Dallas, I’m
leaving in the fall. I’m moving across the country.”

He shrugs. “So what?”

“
So what? It’s a big deal,
so what.”

“
I’m only going to have
one year of school left, and part of that time I’ll be in Costa
Rica working on my project. So yeah, it might suck for a while. But
then I’ll come for you.”

“
You’d move across the
entire country just for me? Even if you have a great job by then?
Even if there’s no field work in Boston or anywhere else close to
Harvard?”

“
Evan—I can’t live without
you. I realized this when I was sitting on your porch and thinking
that I was going to die.”

I play-punch him. “Pussy.”

“
Seriously.” The back of
his knuckles caress my jaw, and he kisses my forehead. “I’d move
anywhere for you.”

^^^^

The first thing I wonder when I wake
is that maybe I dreamt everything. I sit up and put on my glasses,
sliding out of bed and trudging to the hall. The bathroom is
vacant.

Did Dallas leave to get his stuff
already?

Did he change his mind?

Did he realize he made a mistake
leaving Tricia?

And then I smell something delicious
from downstairs, which is very strange, considering I don’t think
Britain or Delilah have cooked a day in their lives. I make my way
down to the kitchen and see Dallas by the stove, flipping a pancake
in a skillet. He sees me and grins. “Sleeping Beauty’s finally
arrived.”

“
Ha, ha. What are you
making?”

“
Maple, oat, and carob
chip pancakes, recipe courtesy of your mom.”

“
My
mom? You’ve been talking to my mom?”

“
I didn’t tell you?” He
slides the pancake onto a stack of cooked ones. “She asked for my
phone number back at her place and has been texting me ever
since.”

I groan. “I’m going
to
kill
her.”