Wingless Book Series (book 1) Page 15

  Before things went way too far, he slowed down and looked at me with an odd expression. “You’re alright with this aren’t you?” he asked.

  “Of course. I mean, it’s okay isn’t it?” I stumbled, trying to not seem like it was something I had been wondering all this time.

  “Yeah, were adults. Why wouldn’t it be okay?” he laughed from above me.

  I stared up at him feeling a little ignorant. “I don’t know, I just…I don’t know what I was thinking.” I shook my head as it all continued.

  There are things that happen to you in life that you will always remember, and this was one of them. I had never been intimate with anyone before so there was no comparison, but I truly believed it was an amazing first time. It was all so similar to the Ferris Wheel; it felt electric, in a good way. His body was fueled by the emotions of all that was going on. When it was over it was all a haze. I sighed, staring at the ceiling in awe.

  Evan sat up in the bed, beaming. “That was like I said, it didn’t need to be planned to be amazing. And it was amazing.” He smiled at me, smoothing my tousled hair. “You want something to drink?” he asked, getting up and walking out of the room.

  “Sure, I’m parched. Is that normal?” I asked, laughing.

  “Depends. And yeah, seems like you would be after that.” We both laughed.

  It all felt right, and I was happy.

  “I’m just glad you decided that you were okay with going through with that,” he said, taking a drink of his water.

  I squeezed my bottle opening it. “What do you mean?”

  “Eve, what do you mean what do I mean?”

  I was confused now, all my paranoia was back. “Evan, I don’t get what you’re saying.” I sat up in the bed, alarmed.

  “Jesus, Eve!” he yelled at me, jumping out of the bed as if something bit him.

  “What?” I was starting to panic.

  He shook his head, looking at me in awe. I pulled the covers up and stared at him as well. I always used to go with my gut instinct, but with Evan, I didn’t feel like it was working that well anymore. Where it had gone, or if it would come back, I wasn’t sure.

  Evan pulled on his pants, throwing his shirt on as well. He sat down on the edge of the bed with his back to me. “It’s a big thing to do what we just did for me, and I thought you understood that,” he said solemnly.

  I thought I had too. Obviously I was wrong. “I won’t understand unless you tell me.”

  “Let’s not worry about it. Are you happy being with me?” he asked me, looking at me intensely.

  “Yeah, I am,” I said, sliding down to the end of the bed to be near him.

  “Okay, well, then that’s all that matters right?” he asked.

  “Of course it’s all that matters. You make me happy, and I care about you a lot. If I didn’t, we wouldn’t have even done this,” I said, assuring him. He wasn’t wrong for it.

  Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I jumped and Evan motioned me to get dressed and opened it.

  “Ari!” he exclaimed loud enough to hear him from in the bathroom.

  I hurried and threw my clothes on, excited that she was back, I hadn’t seen her since Kenny had disappeared. I was hoping this meant that Kenny was back too. I came hurrying out of the bathroom, to catch a glimpse of her in person; I had missed her free being.

  She smiled at me. “Hey there, girly!”

  “Hey, long time no see!” I exclaimed, so happy to see her I hugged her. Evan gave me a weird look. I could tell he was a little weirded out as well to my instant affection for her. It had been some time since I’d had someone who could relate and that I could talk to about life now.

  Evan shook his head at us both. “I’ll leave the two of you alone,” he said, walking out.

  “So, how have things been here?” she asked, surveying the room with a grin.

  I started to feel self-conscious about what had just gone on. I could tell she knew as well. “Things have been alright. It was a little scary at first when Kenny left, but things are alright,” I said, sitting down on the bed.

  She stood staring at me closely. “Eve, did something happen here, um, just now?” she asked delicately.

  “What do you mean?” I blushed.

  “Did you and Evan, you know? Never mind. Did you guys have sex?” she demanded, turning a little too serious.

  “Yeah, it was the first time,” I said, remembering how it all had gone down and almost getting lost in the memory.

  Ari quickly snapped me back to reality. “Listen, sex is looked down upon for all of them, unless they’re willing to stick with the person they engage in the act with. It’s like a union, and you never want to cross the union. It can be very dangerous. Evan is not going to let you go, it’s what they call a “Lock.” And once that happens, there’s no getting out,” she said so seriously I did not for once take it as any kind of typical Ari. So that was what Evan had meant when he was so freaked out.

  “What about you and Kenny?” I asked, hoping she was in the same boat.

  “Same here. When I met Kenny I didn’t know anything about this, but I learned quickly, believe me. Kenny would love to have different women, but he can’t. It’s part of who they are. They see no one else but you after that,” she said, sitting next to me. She ran her hand down her leg, studying her movement quietly.

  “What happens if it doesn’t work out?” I asked.

  “There is no ‘what if.’ You don’t want the ‘what if’ to happen. So, let’s just hope that you and Evan made the right choice. You two seem to care about each other, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

  She got up, smiling, and headed out the door. I crawled back in the bed, burying my head under the covers. I needed to sleep, this was all becoming very intense.

  Chapter 20

  Arrival

  Ari and Kenny were home again and Evan was thrilled. We all sat out in the living room in the morning. I was still half asleep from a rough night of tossing and turning and crazy dreams.

  Kenny seemed in good spirits as he chatted with Evan. He told us he realized that Evan was right and headed back home after smoothing things out and getting Tony’s approval. I don’t know how much of that I believed, and I doubted Evan took it seriously either.

  “But while I am here with all of you I wanted to relay the message for Dad. He has a job for us in the next town over. So, are you all down to hit the road?” he asked, looking at me for approval. Evan looked at me as well.

  “Sure, I don’t mind,” I said with a sigh. Once you saw it how much worse it could be, to see it again, wasn’t so disturbing.

  We all started packing up; Evan said we would be gone for two days, no longer, no less.

  “Why do we need this big suitcase for two days?” I practically whined. The lack of sleep was starting to get to me.

  “I got a duffel bag if that will make you happy,” he said sarcastically, sensing my irritability. He tossed it at me, laughing.

  “It’s not funny. And I’m tired, so I hope there is room to sleep in this car,” I said, seeing we were taking Kenny’s and not the truck.

  “You can rest your head on my lap,” he assured me, throwing his clothes in the bag.

  “Thanks,” I said, tossing my stuff in as well.

  We headed out in Kenny’s black Camaro. Evan and I sat in the back; Kenny’s music was so loud I could barely hear myself think. I was sure we were going to die with his bat-out-of-hell, Speed-Racer type driving. I rested my head in Evan’s lap, gripping his thigh in pure terror, trying to sleep. Evan rubbed my back constantly, feeling how tense I was. We couldn’t speak, and I swore that when I got my feet back on the ground, I would refuse to get back in unless Evan drove.

  Somewhere in the midst of the chaos, I fell asleep. Being jostled to and fro woke me up occasionally, but after who knows how long, we finally arrived. It was near dark when Evan woke me and slipped out of the car. I strained my eyes into focus, stumbling out myself.

  I
yawned, looking up at the huge hotel and bright lights. The valet nodded his head at me, getting in the car. I wasn’t even sure where we were. Evan came over to me, wrapping his arm around my waist as we headed inside. I looked back to see where our things were seeing a man who was following close behind with our bags.

  “Take the elevator up, sir,” he said. He was feeble and timid compared to Evan and Kenny.

  Kenny hit the button on the elevator in a rush, looking irritated. Ari had sunglasses on as if she was undercover. She was wearing a tight black dress and black high heels and she couldn’t have looked more noticeable if she’d worn a snake around her neck. I laughed to myself at my joke.

  Getting to our rooms, Kenny and Evan spoke low for a couple seconds and we parted ways. I flopped down on the bed, so tired I didn’t even notice the room. It could have been missing windows for all I knew. Before I could doze off, Evan dove on top of me, crushing me. He practically attacked me, holding my face with one hand, kissing me to the point I couldn’t get air. I turned my head to breathe. He started down my neck, undoing my shirt and flipping the covers off the bed.

  “Evan, I’m tired,” I said, barely speaking.

  He rolled over, landing next to me, kissing my forehead, and then wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to him. I could feel his breath in my hair as I dozed off.

  I got up before the alarm sounded, sitting in a chair by the enormous window, the sunlight poured in the room warming my legs. I sipped on some tea I’d made. Evan slept peacefully across the room. The room was clearly a luxury suite; it had everything you needed to live permanently-marble floors and ceilings with such beautiful architecture.

  The alarm sounded, Evan swatted it, sitting up groggily. He looked over at me and smiled yawning. “Morning, you must of got enough sleep,” he said, putting his feet on the floor.

  “Yeah, I’m good now,” I said, staring at him happily. He made me happy every time I saw his face. “Even in the morning you’re beautiful,” I said, smiling at him.

  Evan rolled his eyes not amused. “You’re goofy in the morning,” he laughed, coming over and kissing me.

  “I’m just in a good mood,” I said, setting my cup down and standing up to look out the window.

  “I’m glad you are. I like to see you happy.” He kissed my forehead, looking with me out the window.

  “I’m going to get showered and dressed,” he said, leaving the room.

  I sat waiting patiently, wondering who was on the chopping block today, what kind of person was about to have everything taken from them. It was easier to just not pay attention to that and just let him do his job.

  Evan appeared back in the room, wearing his typical ensemble: jeans, a black t-shirt, and a hooded sweatshirt. He was ready. We headed out of the room and waited at the door for Kenny and Ari. Ari came out first with a cup of coffee in her hand, wearing a long sundress, different sunglasses, and her hair wet and combed back on her head. She nodded at me, walking quietly behind Kenny. I followed beside her, letting the guys lead the way. No one spoke as we made our way out of the hotel.

  We didn’t pick up the car, we just walked around the hotel and into the pool area. Evan opened the gate, surveying the surroundings and headed in. Kenny stood outside longer, looking over everything as well. I felt a little awkward, so I followed Evan inside, not sure what to do next.

  “Just sit down, relax,” Evan told me, pulling me towards a lawn chair.

  I sat quickly. It all was feeling extremely intense. I didn’t bother asking any questions-there weren’t many people at the pool this early in the morning, so I was at a loss as to who exactly was about to die.

  I leaned back, closing my eyes, trying to zone out. There were a couple of children playing in the water and it made me nervous to think that it could be them. Would Evan make me sit and endure a child being killed? I didn’t think so. He probably would have had me stay in the hotel room.

  “Evan!” Kenny yelled.

  I sat up to see what the deal was. Kenny motioned to the parking lot where a couple was heading towards us.

  The woman was middle-aged, short, sort of stocky build, and plain. Her husband looked to be the same age as her, balding with a beer belly. They looked like average, every day people out for a vacation.

  Kenny followed them in, practically stalking them. I tensed up as they made their way past me.

  “Kenny, come over here,” Evan said, motioning him over. Kenny unlocked his gaze, coming over to me and Evan. Evan stood next to my chair, his arms crossed. “What’s your idea?” he asked Kenny, a little blank in expression.

  Kenny was filled with life, his eyes wild. Ari stood by the gate filing her nails, not a care in the world. She must have gotten used to it by now.

  I, on the other hand, wasn’t sure if this was something I would ever feel completely all right about (no matter how hard I tried). Evan seemed the same-he knew it was his job, but at the same time you could tell that it bothered him.

  “Well, the guy is older, so we could do a simple cardi,” Kenny said, shoving his hands in his pockets, biting his lip.

  Cardi, I figured, meant make it look as if he had a heart attack-as in cardiac. That would be my guess at least.

  Evan looked around again. The man they were speaking of was coming towards us again with a towel in hand, wearing his plain blue swim trunks. Those were the times when I wished, maybe for once, this man would have decided on the zebra Speedo. You only live once.

  Kenny nodded at him, the man nodded back, sitting in the seat next to mine. He grunted and old man grunt as he sat down, his wife wasn’t with him. Or what seemed like his wife at least.

  “How are you young lady?” he asked in a deep, scruffy voice.

  He was stern and a little intimidating. I tensed up, feeling odd talking to a man who was about to die. Kenny and Evan looked at me cautiously.

  “I’m good, sir. How are you?” I felt foolish for asking this, knowing I knew how he would be in the next few minutes.

  The man cleared his throat, his graying hair glistening in the sunlight. He looked like any other man his age-probably had a loving family at home. His skin was worn in all the right spots, his blue eyes a little dull from age. And as I stared at them, I realized they had no life left in them, as if it was already gone. I shrugged it off, thinking I was going a little batty.

  “I’m good. Me and the wife are here on vacation, having a good time.” He nodded, lying back in his chair.

  “Well, that’s, uh, good,” I stumbled, looking at Evan. Kenny watched the man intently for a few.

  Evan came over to me, kneeling down. “Why don’t you go sit over there?” he whispered.

  “What? Why?” I asked, alarmed.

  “Just listen to me. I don’t want anything happening to you.” He motioned with his eyes.

  I got up, annoyed, heading to the gate where Ari stood. She peered over the top of her sunglasses at me before going back to filing her nails. I was surprised there was anything left of her nails by this time.

  Kenny walked over to the pool as if he was looking at something in there. He surveyed some more before he turned to look at the man. I started to feel horribly sick. If it hadn’t been for him talking to me I probably wouldn’t have felt like this.

  I walked over to Evan who was concentrating on Kenny, and grabbed his arm. “I’m going up to our room,” I said, squeezing his arm to get his attention.

  “Okay, here’s the card,” he said in a hurry.

  I headed out the gates and around the fence taking one last glance at the man. He was motionless in the chair, his arm dangling off to the side. As I made it close to the hotel lobby, I heard a loud scream followed by several staff running past, practically knocking me over.

  I was confused at the quickness these men seemed to find out, it didn’t make any sense at all. My mind raced and caused me to turn around and go back. I ran back that way, half running, and then trying to stay calm and walk as to not make a scene.
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br />   I stopped at the fence to see several hotel staff hovering over the man, his legs the only thing visible. Evan was outside the fence only a few feet from me. Kenny was still in the pool area. Ari was standing close to Evan, practically hiding behind him.