Left Behind: Left Behind Series #1 (14 page)

I
stand up, forcing her to stand with me, and she stumbles backwards. A smug
smile spreads across her face as if she knew all along I’d do exactly what she
wanted. Without saying a word, I grab her arm and lead her out of the bar.
Hooting and hollering follows us the whole way. For a split second, I think
about how Jake is going to catch wind of this. I’ll shoot him a text later
before he has a chance to talk to Kacie. He’ll be busy the rest of the night,
anyway. Ava is giggling all the way to my truck, making it really hard to
resist the urge to leave her ass on the curb.

Ava
climbs up into the truck on her own and looks at me. “Where’s the new car?”

“Not
here,” I answer.

She
shrugs her shoulders. “We could have christened it.” I push the door closed on
her and try to keep my mouth closed. She needs to shut the fuck up or she’s
going to find herself stranded somewhere between here and her place.

The
whole ride to her apartment, she talks about what she wants me to do to her.
Maybe I should have brought the Scirocco. It would have made this trip a hell
of a lot shorter. I pull up to the walkway that leads to her door.

“What
are you doing?” she asks. “You can’t park here.”

“I’m
not parking,” I say, glaring out of the front windshield.

“Why
not?”

“Because
I’m not staying. Now, get out.”

“You’re
a fucking asshole! I hate you! We’re so done, Evan. Do you hear me?!” She keeps
shouting as she fumbles to get her seatbelt off and jumps out of the truck. “I
don’t ever want to see you again!” she screams, then slams the door closed. At
least she didn’t leave it open.

Evan

For
a while, I drive around with no particular destination in mind. Somehow, I end
up pulling into Kacie’s driveway with no idea how I got here. Relief rushes
through me because her convertible is the only other car here. I’m happy that
Nate, or whatever the fuck his name is, isn’t spending the night. It’s after
midnight. I have no business being here. My head is telling me to go home, but
something else makes me get out and walk up to the door. All of the windows are
dark. She’s probably sleeping. What if she gets pissed because my dumbass wakes
her up? I decide to ring the doorbell. If she doesn’t answer in a few minutes,
I’ll leave and come back tomorrow.

After
a deep breath and checking the time on my phone again, I press the doorbell,
then step back. An eternity passes. There isn’t any sound from inside to
indicate someone is home. Disappointment fills me as my feet take me back down
the steps. As I reach the last one, I hear the sound of the locks being undone
and the door opening.

“Evan?”
The sound of Kacie’s voice instantly has my heart pounding. “Are you okay?” The
light fixture above the door gives off just enough brightness for me to make
out her soft, beautiful features. Her hair is pulled up. She’s wearing a tank
top and pajama shorts. She still looks fucking amazing.

“Um…hey.
I’m sorry to wake you. I was driving through the neighborhood. Figured I’d stop
by. I would have called first,” I say, holding up my phone, “but realized I
didn’t have your number.”

It
sounds like she’s giggling. “That’s a really pathetic way to ask a girl for her
number.”

I
smile. “I know but, in my defense, I’ve never done this before.”

Kacie
holds out her hand. “Give me your phone.” I walk back up the steps, holding it
out. She takes it from me, taps on the screen a few times, and hands it back.
“Now you have it.”

“Did
you give me your real number or a fake one?”

She
giggles again. “I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” She takes a step back
into the house. “Are you coming in, or did you really drive all the way out
here to get a number that you could have just asked Jake for?” Why the hell
didn’t I do that?!

“Are
you sure? Were you sleeping?”

“No.
I was reading.”

“But
I didn’t bring a milkshake,” I say.

She
laughs. “That’s okay. I have something better.”

I
follow her inside and she leads me through the dark house and into the kitchen.
When she flips on the light, the first thing I see is a vase of roses. Son of a
bitch! “I didn’t take you as the kind of girl who would like roses,” I let slip
out.

Kacie
tries to hold in a smile. “I’m not, actually.”

“How
did your date go, anyway?” I’m watching her grab plates from one cabinet and
two glasses from another.

“Dinner,”
she corrects me, “was fine.” Kacie puts the dishes on the counter next to the
cake and motions for me to sit down on a stool. She walks over to the
refrigerator, pulls out a carton of milk, and stops at the drawer to get forks
and a knife. “How was work?” She looks up at the clock, then back to me. “Did
you leave early?”

“Yeah.
Jake and I had something we needed to do. Meg is closing tonight,” I say,
gathering that Jake didn’t tell her about the race. Jade knows. Why haven’t
they told her?

“Oh.
That’s nice you were able to get some time off.” She sits down next to me and
pulls the glass cover off of the cake. It hasn’t been cut.

“Your
friend wasn’t brave enough to try something you made?” I wonder.

“Not
exactly,” she responds. It doesn’t seem like she’s going to explain.

“What
happened?” Kacie cuts the first piece of cake and I hold up a plate for her to put
it on. We repeat the process for the second piece. She’s avoiding my question,
which makes me even more curious to find out the answer. “Kacie?”

“He
didn’t eat it because I didn’t offer it to him,” she says, unwillingly.

“Were
you afraid you’d have to take him to the emergency room?” I tease. She rolls
her eyes.

“No,”
she sighs. “I just didn’t want Nate to have any of the cake I made with you.
Sounds stupid, I know, but that’s what happened.” She doesn’t look up. I watch
as she stabs the cake with her fork and puts it in her mouth.

“It’s
not stupid,” I say, copying her actions. “This is actually really good.”

Kacie
peeks over at me and grins. “It was my assistant. I really have no business
being in the kitchen.”

“You
aren’t all that bad. You would have been fine if I wasn’t here.”

“We’ll
see if you really believe that. The next time I attempt to make something on my
own, you’ll be the first person to try it.”

“No
problem.”

“Really?”
she asks.

“Sure.
I have a pretty strong stomach.” I shrug my shoulders and shove another bite in
my mouth.

She
laughs. “You’re such a jerk!”

I
wink at her. “Do you have plans this weekend?” I throw out. Why is it so hard
to just ask her out?

She
responds, not even wondering why I asked, “Tomorrow night, Jade and some of our
friends are coming over for a girls’ night. Saturday, we plan on laying by the
pool all day. I’m not sure about Saturday night yet. That depends on how Jade’s
date with Kyle went tonight.”

“I
can’t believe I’m going to miss girls’ night.” Kacie raises her eyebrows, no
doubt daring me to make fun of her. “So, you’re free Sunday?”

She
pauses. “I think so. Jade hasn’t mentioned anything.”

“You
two are pretty close.” It’s not a question, but rather something that has
become very obvious in being around them.

“We
are. I have a lot of making up to do. I left her here alone for four years.
Some friend I am, huh?” It’s obvious this has been weighing on her.

“Jade
wasn’t alone,” I offer. “She had Jake and your other friends. Who did you
have?”

“That’s
not the point. There are some things only your best friend can help you with.”
That’s so true.

“How
about you come to my cousin’s party on Sunday? You can bring Jade, of course.
I’m sure Jake will be there. It should be a good time.”

“Meg?”

“Yeah.”

“Are
you sure she won’t mind you inviting me?”

“She
actually asked if I was bringing you.” Fuck! I realize how wrong that sounds
right after it comes out of my mouth, but the look of disappointment on her
face makes it worse. Since when do I suck so bad at talking to girls? She gets
up off the stool and takes our empty plates over to the sink and starts washing
them. “Let me do that.” My pitiful ass follows her, bringing the glasses. After
placing them on the counter next to the sink, I use my body to try and push her
to the side.

Kacie
turns to me. “Do you mind?”

“Seriously.
Let me wash them.”

“I
got it. I’m already wet,” she says, holding out her hands. Now we both said
something we didn’t mean.

My
smile shows I’m not letting that one slide. “Oh, really?”

“You
know what I meant.” She blushes.

Still
grinning, I say, “Yes. I know
exactly
what you meant.”

“You’re
such an ass,” she declares, setting the second plate on the drain board.

I
grab the towel and start drying. “So I’ve been told.” Kacie needs to be asked properly
and she now has the right to say no.

“That
really wasn’t the way I wanted to ask you to the party. It just came out that
way,” I confess. She keeps her head down. I throw the towel on top of the pile
of dry dishes and move to stand behind her. My arms go around her waist and I
rest my chin on her shoulder. “Will you please come to the party with me?” I
whisper. Something tells me she’s rolling her eyes.

“I’ll
talk to Jade tomorrow and let you know,” she whispers back. Again, I’m
wondering if she has the tiniest bit of interest in me. How does she not react
to me being this close to her? There’s enough reacting going on within me that
I need to step away from her or she’s going to feel it. She’s washing dishes.
Why the hell is that turning me on? I pull back without letting her go.

“I’m
not leaving until you answer me. If you say no, I’m not leaving until you
change your mind.”

“Guess
you’ll be hanging around until morning then,” she states, setting the last
glass down and turning off the water. “Jade doesn’t call to check in until
around ten or so.”

She
can’t be serious, but I’m going to play along. “Is that your way of begging?” I
half-tease her.

Smiling,
she answers, “Nope.” She starts walking away. “Coming?”

“Guess
not if you aren’t going to beg,” I mumble.

“I
heard that,” she calls over her shoulder, amusing me. I follow the sound of her
voice to the foyer. She is punching numbers into the security system keypad,
then starts to go upstairs.

“Where
are you going?”

“To
bed. You don’t think I’m staying up all night to wait for Jade to call, do
you?” She tilts her head for me to follow. “Lucky for you, my bed is the only
one with blankets and stuff on it,” she tells me as we reach the top of the
stairs and turn right. “I’m waiting until the morning to put fresh sheets on
the guest room beds for the girls. Guess you’re sleeping with me,” she
announces as we walk into her room. It’s bigger than my condo! There’s a
sitting area with two huge, fluffy chairs, a loveseat to match, and a desk. The
bathroom is on the opposite wall. Her actual bedroom is off to the left. Kacie
walks over to the chair she must have been sitting in before I got here, picks
up a book, and puts it on the table.

“You
just made my night.”

The
look she gives me is adorable, even though she’s trying to be serious. “I said
sleeping
,
Evan. If you so much as lay a finger on me…”

“If
I lay a finger on you…what?” I’m testing her and she knows it.

“I’ll
tell Jade.”

“Damn
it!” I love making her smile.

“I’m
not kidding. No touching.”

“Alright.
Alright. I’ll be on my best behavior,” I promise as we go into her bedroom. I
begin emptying my pockets of my phone, wallet, and keys as Kacie stares at me.
“What?”

“You’re
really going to stay even though I said nothing was going to happen?”

“I
told you I wasn’t leaving without an answer about the party. Unless you are
going to tell me what I want to hear, you have company tonight.” My heart
cannot take the anxiety running through me while I stand here, waiting for her
to kick me out. There’s nothing I want more than to stay with her all night.

“You
know, you have my number now. You could just call or text me tomorrow.”

I
don’t know what to do. Does she really want me to leave? The expression on her
face gives nothing away. “If you want me to go…”

“No,”
Kacie replies softly. “I don’t want you to go.” For a moment, she looks as
though she’s worried, but I’m not sure if she’s concerned that I’ll leave or
that I’ll stay.

“Then
I’m not going anywhere.” The worry disappears and I can feel myself relax.

“Okay,
but that’s my side of the bed. You can have Jade’s.” She points to the side
furthest from the door.

“What?”
I ask her back as she heads to the bathroom. Apparently, you can also get to it
from in here.

She
turns to face me. “You can have Jade’s side.”

“I
wasn’t asking for you to repeat it. I want you to explain it.” Kacie doesn’t
close the door. The water is running. She must be brushing her teeth. She
returns to see me standing in the same spot as when she left. “Jade sleeps with
you?”

“Sometimes,”
she answers casually.

“You’re
telling me that you sleep with your female best friend and you expect me to
keep my hands to myself?” Kacie rolls her eyes, understanding what I’m
thinking. “Please don’t ruin the images in my head by telling me all you girls
do is sleep.”

She
climbs in bed, reaching for the light next to her. “I’m turning out the light.
Are you getting in bed or not?” Trying not to think about those two is tough,
but my legs carry me around to the other side of the bed. I pull my shirt over
my head and toss it on the chair. When I reach for the zipper on my jeans, her
voice startles me. “What are you doing?”

“Taking
my jeans off.”

“Why?”
Judging by her response, she may not be as unaffected by me as I thought.

“It’s
not comfortable to sleep in jeans.” How do you keep a smirk off your face when
you realize the girl you like may actually like you back?

She
tears her eyes away and quickly turns off the light. It sounds like she plops
her head on the pillow and pulls the blankets up. My eyes haven’t adjusted to
the sudden blackness in the room so it takes me a second to kick off my shoes
and put my jeans on the chair with my shirt before sliding into bed.