Finding Eva (Highland Creek Series) (20 page)

“Nothing. We were just talking about this before you guys came in because he can’t seem to stop talking about you. To be completely honest, it has been driving us crazy, and we are just happy to know that you feel the same way,” Addie elaborated. Reagan continued to smile, and Eva wondered if she always walked around with a smile on her face.

“Well, thank you. I really like him. Not that I don’t
love
talking about my relationship with your brother, but what about you guys? Are you dating anyone?” Addie shook her head no, while Reagan began bobbing her head yes.

“I am!” Reagan was all too eager to talk about her boyfriend Marcus, but she couldn’t help but notice Addie made a face of disgust.

“We go to school together; I met him a couple of months ago when I was there for summer classes. He is hot as hell, but my family isn’t too crazy about him.”

Addie snorted. “Maybe it is because he is on supervised probation.”

Eva pursed her lips and looked at Gwen, whose eyes became wide at the news. Reagan just swung her hand in a big deal gesture.

“I don’t know what the big deal is. He is working his way through it, and he was like nineteen when he made a mistake. He will be done in a couple months. You guys are just being judgy.”

Addie scoffed at her. “We are not being judgy. We are being mature, responsible adults that don’t want to hang out with people who start committing crimes when they are barely old enough to vote.”

“You just said it all. Judgy.”

“Whatever.” Addie rolled her eyes, desperate to end the conversation. “Let’s dance.”

Eva didn’t know what was going to happen with Aaron’s sisters, but she had a great time with the two girls. They were fun, flirty, and really showed Eva and Gwen a good time. And they were very good at getting other people drunk. This was why Eva found herself stumbling toward the bathroom to get away from another round of shots, more so than having to actually pee. Any more tequila and she would throw up. She was coming out of the bathroom stall when she noticed the black haired girl from earlier primping in the mirror. She smiled, trying to be nice, but if the look of speculation in the girl’s eyes told her anything, this may not end well. She tried to remember the name, M something, but her alcohol addled brain wasn’t letting her remember.

“Aaron is mine you know.” Eva looked up from washing her hands, staring at the girl through the mirror. She was too drunk for a catfight, which is what it might turn into.

“Look …” She turned to her to defuse the situation but was cut off.

Marcia jabbed her finger in Eva’s face. “No, you look. You may think that you have Aaron right now, but know this. All he’s doing is fucking you.”

“Well it is better than fucking you.”

“You so sure about that?”

Eva knew there was something there, but all that damn tequila meant she wasn’t thinking straight. “What the hell does that mean?”

Marcia tsked her lips and gave her a sad smile, “You poor, poor girl. Do you think you are the only girl that Aaron is sleeping with? He was in my bed last night, not yours. And understand this: he can stick his shit in trash, but he will never be with you long term. Why would he when he has me?”

Eva just sputtered, not knowing what to say before Marcia bid her goodbye and stormed out with a huff. Eva stomped her foot, hating that she got the last word, but then got pissed the more she thought about what Marcia said. What the fuck did she mean by the fact that he was in her bed last night?

Eva left the bathroom pissed off and on a mission to find Aaron, who had arrived at the bar fifteen minutes earlier with his brothers. She was in luck; the object of her scorn just happened to be standing at the table with his brothers. She figured he just got back from the bar based on the new beer in his hand, but she saw red when he looked at her and smiled. She marched toward him, faltering slightly when she saw Marcia smirking at her while sipping her drink.

He smiled and reached for her. “Hey, babe,” which became an indignant “Hey!” After she poked him in the chest.

“Don’t ‘hey babe’ me.” She poked him again just for good measure. She went to do it again, getting pissed while thinking about her recent conversation, before he grabbed her finger and held her arm out. “I just spoke to Marcia.” His eyes widened at the name, and she balled up her fist to hit him before she remembered that he was holding her arm so she couldn’t hurt him. She had to lay off the tequila; it was messing with her right hook. “Were you with her last night?”

Aaron hesitated a little too much, and she could see that he didn’t want to answer. All the people at the table were watching their interlude, and she got pissed the longer he stood there.

“Well, I think that answers my question. Thanks for everything, asshole.” She grabbed her purse and tried to walk off as dignified as she could while still drunk. She may have stumbled the first couple of steps, but she gave herself a mental high five for staying upright. She didn’t know how she was going to get home, maybe a cab, when she heard Aaron running after her telling her to wait.
Yeah, right
, she thought, and continued to walk into the summer heat before she was jerked back with the hand on her arm.

She tried to pull her arm away, but he had an iron grip. “Hey! Get the hell off me! Just because you are fucking two different women doesn’t mean you can manhandle me! Don’t get mad because you got caught!”

He turned her around to face him, gripping her shoulder and shaking her. “What the fuck are you talking about? I am not fucking two women, trust me, the one I have right now is enough.”

She shook out of his grasp, wiping the tears she started to fall. “So you weren’t with her last night?”

He scrubbed his hands over his face, brown eyes pleading for understanding. “She came over to the house, yes, but nothing happened. Where the hell is this even coming from?”

She continued to cry, unable to stop the tears that flowed. “I talked to your slut in the bathroom and she told me how she was with you last night. She also told me that you would be coming back to her after I leave.”

He grabbed her, pulling her face into his chest and stroking her hair to calm her down. “She’s wrong. I couldn’t do that if I wanted to, not when I am falling in love with you!”

Eva stepped back, unsure about how to proceed, wiping her face with the heel of her hand. Love? What the fuck? She was definitely feeling something for him, but love? It was too much and she couldn’t process the information.

“I am too drunk to have this conversation,” she said, because she didn’t want to deal with his confession and she really was too drunk for this. She just wanted to lie down, drink some water, and pass out until tomorrow. Her statement seemed to affect Aaron too, who reached for her. She went willingly, lifting her head for a kiss.

He held her face, kissing her cheek. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Let’s get you to bed. We can talk about this tomorrow.” Although it was a partial cop-out, she just nodded and let him lead her to his car. She didn’t want to think about his budding feelings, or what she was going to do when summer was over. He was just supposed to be hot sex, but he was turning into a bigger complication than she had ever imagined.

E
va thought that death would feel better than the drummer boys that were beating in tandem on her head. She moaned in pain as she buried her head under the pillows and wondered why she drank so much. She was always one to have a good time, but she usually didn’t overdo it. Then she remembered the massive amounts of shots that were poured down her throat by the girls. They drank for everything, because Aaron had a girl they liked, because Addie was off today, because Ash was out of Bryan’s life. You name it, they celebrated it with a shot. Eva just didn’t remember that she shouldn’t do the same until it was too late.

“You’re awake.” She jerked at that voice then remembered why that was a bad idea when she clutched the side of her throbbing head.

“Unh,” she grunted, because who needed words when you couldn’t even think? She did turn around to look at Aaron, who was standing there smiling with a mug in his hand.

She reached out to grab the mug and tried to remember what happened last night. It came back as she sipped the warm, comforting liquid. The bar, Marcia, their mini fight, him screaming that he was falling in love with her. If she had been halfway sober, she would have realized that Marcia was probably lying, but she was a bit too upset. Plus, he had admitted that he saw her two nights ago, which really pissed her off. She knew their relationship was complicated, but was it too much to ask that he respect her enough not to be screwing his ex?

“So … Marcia?” Eva figured it was like ripping off a Band-Aid, and the quicker they talked about it, the quicker they could clear the air. And she could decide whether whatever they were doing would continue. But she really wanted it to continue, so she hoped he didn’t piss her off.

“What I was trying to tell you yesterday was that I am not with Marcia. I haven’t seen her romantically for months, and I definitely haven’t slept with her in months.”

“But you said—”

He stopped her with his hand on the side of her face, rubbing his thumb over her cheek.

“I said she came over. I didn’t tell you what happened. It was late and she came by asking about some stuff that I am working on for her. I know that sucks, but I can’t tell you what we talked about because I am technically her lawyer. I will say, in the effort of full disclosure that she had been by the office within the last couple of weeks and basically tried to seduce me.” So maybe Eva didn’t want to hear this, because that meant that bitch was trying to take her man when they had just started to get serious. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think anything of it, but it is ridiculous that she cornered you in the bathroom and tried to make it seem like we have more going on than we do.”

“But she said when I am gone …”

He pointed at his chest. “I am telling you she is wrong. Even if you weren’t here, which you are, there is no way that I am going to go back to her. That was over a long time ago, and I told her that the other day when she came to the office. I don’t want to lose you over bullshit, which is what she is trying to spread.”

Eva thought about it and did find it a bit off that she would confront her in the bathroom. Aaron seemed like a straightforward person, and she knew that if he wanted to see Marcia, he wouldn’t string her along. She hadn’t known him for very long, but something told her that wasn’t his style.

“I don’t know why, but I believe you. She threw me last night; I mean, I was really drunk. And then we started fighting and you dropped the L-word.”

He scratched the side of his head and blushed, an adorable sight that she didn’t think she would ever see. “Yeah … about that. I didn’t mean to blurt that out without thinking. That was just poor planning. I wasn’t lying when I said I think I am falling in love with you, but I shouldn’t have said it like I did.”

He looked so cute being embarrassed that she couldn’t help but lean up and kiss him, which didn’t end in the gentle kiss she had planned. He palmed her face as he towered over her, guiding her back down onto the bed while he leaned over her and kissed her. She loved the feel of his weight on top of her and rubbed her hands up and down his back in slow strokes before she moved them to his head to touch his silky strands.

Aaron kissed his way down her neck, and as much as the mind wanted, the body wasn’t willing. She let him play with her breasts for a couple of minutes as he sucked on one nipple before biting it lightly. Then she put her hand on his head and tugged lightly to get his attention. He popped his head up, aggrieved to be interrupted, but took one look at Eva’s face and knew he was not going to be getting any today.

“Babe…” she rubbed the side of his face, kissing his cheek lightly as she rubbed her leg slowly up and down his calf “…as much as I would love to have sex with you, my head is killing me and I am so damn hung over I want to curl up in a ball and pray my stomach doesn’t upend itself.”

He laughed, rubbing his nose down her face. “I kinda figured when I looked at you and saw you turning green.” He kissed her, rocking his body against her one more time before lifting himself up on his elbows. “Do me a favor next time and lay off the tequila.” He left the bed, unashamed of his nakedness and clearly aroused as he walked into the bathroom, presumably to take care of himself.