Fighting for Evie, page 17
Thankfully, I haven’t seen her here yet, so Lanie and I tap our cups together in a mock cheer and drink up. I’m not planning on having any other drinks tonight, the guys make the punch so strong that most of the time one drink gets me to that sweet tipsy spot I like, I don’t want to go any further than that. Nothing about being drunk looks fun, I like to have control over myself and the idiots I’ve seen stumbling around after indulging too much are anything but in control.
The music is still being blasted, but we’re all tired after dancing so much so we migrate to the edge of the crowd to relax for a bit. When Lanie and Derek start making out I excuse myself to find the bathroom, I need to splash some water on my face and take a breather for a few. I think I drank my punch too fast.
The further I walk the fuzzier everything gets but that doesn’t make sense.
Why am I so lightheaded... something isn’t right.
When I luck out and find a bathroom with no line, I pull my phone out of my pocket to call the guys, but I can’t focus on the screen. Sliding down to sit on the floor to try to keep myself steady, I hit some buttons and I think I manage to make a call, but I’m not sure who I dialed.
I can hear someone calling my name, but it sounds like they’re at the other end of a tunnel, so far away. I try to talk but the words come out garbled, my tongue isn’t cooperating, and I wiggle it around trying to decide if it’s too big or just too heavy, completely forgetting the call I was trying to make. The phone is too much, I try to stick it back in my pocket and after a few tries I think I manage it.
My brain doesn’t feel right and I’m both concerned and unconcerned at the same time, which is odd. The floor in here is cold and feels good on my hands, so I lay down and enjoy the cool tile on the rest of my body as well. People are banging on the door, but I can’t make myself get up, this is my bathroom now. A very distinct sound echoes through the room and suddenly I’m not alone anymore.
The lock was picked.
There’s someone here and I think I know him, but I can’t focus on his face when my eyes want to stay closed. Whoever it is picks me up off the floor and halfway carries me out into the hall.
I can’t hold my head up so I let it rest against this guy's shoulder as he helps me hobble down the hall, and I hope we’re going somewhere quiet. There’s too much noise out here, and it’s all blending together until I hear my name.
I know that voice.
Opening my eyes, I see Pierce right in front of me and whoever was supporting my weight suddenly drops me. I feel like I’m floating until I crash into something hard, opening my eyes again I expect to see I’ve fallen onto the floor, but instead I find myself up close and personal with Pierce. He’s growling something but I’m too tired to focus on what it is, I know he’ll take care of me, so I close my eyes and let sleep take me under.
Pierce will keep me safe.
My mouth is dry and my throat is scratchy when I stretch and roll around in bed. I don’t remember laying down last night or even whose bed I’m in, and that thought has me snapping my eyes open. I’ve only been in this room once before, but as soon as I see it, I know this is Pierce’s room.
Now the question is, why am I in Pierce’s bed?
Bits and pieces of the night before filter through my foggy brain, and I come to the conclusion I was drugged. That’s the only logical explanation, but realizing that’s what happened has my skin crawling. I know I only had the one drink and then everything went downhill. The last clear memories I have are from when I went to look for a bathroom, after that I think I tried to call someone and then laid down until someone picked me up off the floor.
At first I think it was Pierce that carried me out of there, but then I remember seeing him in the hall, so someone else must have picked me up. The thought makes me nauseous and I want to take a shower to scrub all the dirty feelings off me.
Voices are trailing down the hall from the kitchen and I know the guys are probably freaking out right now, so I only take a minute to use the bathroom and pull my hair up, before I venture out there to let them know I’m ok.
Hopefully they’ll be able to fill in some of the blanks I have after Pierce showed up. The only thing holding me together right now is the knowledge that he would never let anything happen to me, and I know I saw him after I left the bathroom.
If he hadn’t shown up, there’s no telling what would have happened, or if I would have even remembered. That doesn’t sit well with me, but knowing he was there puts my mind at ease before I can freak out thinking about what ifs.
Thirty-One
Pierce
Getting that call from Evelyn was the most terrifying moment of my life. I could hear the party in the background and her trying to talk, but she didn’t sound right and she wasn’t making sense. Maddox and the guys had already left to stop by our house after he picked them up, but the gym was closer to the party, so I jumped in my car and broke every speed limit on my way there. The fraternity house was full of people, but they made the smart decision to get out of my way when I started snarling.
On my way through the house, I saw that piece of shit from the fight holding Evelyn up, trying to get her down the hall. She was barely conscious and when her head fell to the side, I saw red. That son of a bitch. Her eyes opened briefly and recognition flashed when she saw me. He dropped her and tried to run off, but the crowd behind him stopped his escape. He’s a nobody, but everyone at this school knows who I am, and they know better than to get in my way or go against me.
My first priority had been catching her, it was just his bad luck there were enough people around to block him while I was distracted. Once I had her, I held her to my chest with my left arm and then managed to throw a right hook at the bastard, because there was no way I was letting him just run off.
Since the guys weren’t with me, there wasn’t anyone I trusted to look after Evelyn while I took care of the asshole properly, so I held her tight and kicked him when he fell. Some of the fraternity guys I know saw what was happening and picked him up for me, holding his arms down and keeping him still so I could deliver a message, but I still wasn’t satisfied.
He better watch his back, because after this, I won’t stop coming after him until he has nothing left.
That wasn’t the time or place though, not with Evelyn passed out in my arms. Instead, I told the guys holding him to toss him out and I got her out of there. In an attempt to keep her comfortable, I laid her across my backseat as I sped home and called the guys. I sent Beck on a run to the store to grab some drinks high in electrolytes for her to have in the morning, knowing she would have one hell of a hangover from this. They all freaked out while we were on the phone, but when I called them out on it, they calmed down. She needed to sleep off whatever was in her system and didn't need to wake up to us yelling and making things worse.
When I pulled into the garage, Gunnar and Maddox were impatiently waiting and helped me get her into the house, until they started arguing about which room to put her in. That’s when I spoke up again and told them to fuck off while I took her to my room. They didn’t agree with me, but they weren’t the ones who had to listen to her on the phone or see that creep trying to sneak off with her at the party. I died a thousand deaths by the time I finally got to her, and then I was ready to commit murder when I saw his hands on her. They could argue all they wanted, but she was spending the night in my bed where I could watch her and make sure she was safe.
Now I’ve been laying here watching her sleep for hours, and I can’t stop myself from moving the hair off her face when she turns. She’s been restless, but she hasn’t woken up since she rolled over and threw up in the trash can I put next to the bed. I felt better when she did, knowing she was getting rid of whatever was in her system. She passed right back out after that, so I cleaned her up and continued watching over her.
I don’t think the others slept either, it sounded like they were up pacing most of the night, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave her. Now the sun is rising, and it sounds like someone is in the kitchen cooking, so I make myself get up to get her something cold to drink, and something for the headache I’m sure she’ll have.
Evelyn never has more than one or two drinks, I highly doubt she would have changed that when she was there without the others. I’d like to knock their heads together for letting her stay there alone, but it wouldn’t do any good, and knowing them they’re all beating themselves up right now anyway.
In the kitchen they all look as rough as I feel. Coffee is brewing and Gunnar is pulling biscuits out of the oven, while the other two sit at the bar with their heads on the countertop.
“Is she awake?” Gunnar asks, alerting the other two to my presence.
I shake my head. “No, she’s still out but I wanted to make sure I had a drink and some pain killers ready for her.”
Moving from his stool Beck busies himself putting together a tray for her so I steal his seat and look around the room. She has all of us twisted up.
“Can you explain what the fuck happened last night now? Showing up with our unconscious girlfriend, and then insisting on her staying with you, kind of left us with a lot of questions and the rumors flying around from the party are all over the place.”
I get that Maddox is mad, they all are, but so am I.
“There’s only so much I can tell, the rest we’ll have to get from her when she wakes up. After the three of you left the gym last night she called me, but she didn’t sound right and she wasn’t making any sense, so I rushed over to the fraternity house since I was the closest. When I got there, I found that George guy trying to get her down the hall towards the rooms. She was completely out of it. I doubt she even knew he was the one walking her around.” My hands ball up into fists on the counter at the memory.
“I grabbed her from him and was able to land a few hits, but my main priority was to get her out of there, so I told him to watch his back and got her back here as fast as I could. I’ll be taking care of him later today. For now, I want to make sure she wakes up ok and see what she has to say. She’s never gotten drunk at a party, so I have a strong suspicion she was drugged. Not too long after we got back here she threw up so whatever it was didn’t stay in her system for too long which is good, but I’m sure she’s going to feel like shit when she wakes up.”
Rage fills all their faces and I know exactly how they feel. They want to kill him, the violence is in our blood, that’s why we fight, but we have to be smart about this. Too many people saw what happened last night and would link him disappearing to us, we can’t have that kind of attention. There’s more than one way to destroy someone though, he hasn’t seen the last of me.
When we hear the door to my room open, we all look down the hall and see Evelyn shuffle towards us. She’s always beautiful, but she looks like she had a rough night and I hate seeing her like this. Beck hands her the drink he made and some pain killers, while Gunnar starts preparing a biscuit for her. She’s wincing under the lights in here so she must have one hell of a headache but she stays and starts questioning us anyway.
“Can any of you tell me what happened last night?” She sounds concerned that she doesn’t remember, and I don’t blame her at all. Fury fills me again at the thought of what could have happened to her if I had gotten there even just a few minutes later.
“We were hoping you could help us piece it together princess. How about you tell us what you remember, and I’ll try to fill in the blanks with what I know.”
She sighs and nods her head, the reality of last night weighing on her. Starting with the moment Maddox left, she goes over what she remembers at the party, which isn’t much, and when things start to get fuzzy, she only has bits and pieces until she remembers me getting there and that’s the last memory she has.
My heart tightens when she says she remembers seeing me, knowing that I would take care of her. She knew she was safe with me, and she was right, I would do anything to protect her. The fact that she knew that even in her inebriated state strikes something inside me, her trust in me is astounding.
When she gets to the part where she just woke up in my bed I add in my side of the story, telling her what I heard on the phone call and what I saw when I got there. The guys are just as mad as I am hearing the full story, she was obviously drugged and that bastard thought he was going to get away with it. He’s in for a rude awakening.
She’s fine now, though a little under the weather, and the guys are here with her. They can handle things from here, so I excuse myself to get dressed but before I can walk away Evelyn stops me.
“Thank you, for coming for me,” she says. Her sincere eyes are breaking through my defenses. It’s getting harder and harder to keep her at arm's length. “If you hadn’t, I don’t know what would have happened.”
I want to keep my walls up, but she’s breaking them down at every turn. It’s almost impossible to remember why I’m holding back, but I can’t let myself forget. Someone is going to need to hold our group together when this inevitably goes south. “You don’t have to thank me princess, I’ll always come for you.”
This bastard is going to regret ever looking at her when I’m done with him. Just because I’m not letting myself be with her, doesn’t mean I don’t care about her, he fucked up when he chose her for whatever sick plans he had. After dressing in a smart suit, I make a last minute meeting with the dean of students and set my plan in motion. In this town there’s power in my last name and today is one of the days I will gladly use that to my advantage.
Our parents make frequent donations to the school, so it doesn’t take much on my part to convince the dean that George no longer has a place at this university. A quick threat of the bad publicity and loss of donations, and that piece of shit gets exactly what he deserves. In all honesty, it was even easier than I anticipated, the dean was more than happy to agree to my request as soon as I made myself clear about what would happen otherwise.
I’m not even surprised when I get a call from my parents before I even make it to the parking lot asking what my meeting was about. I’ve been avoiding their calls lately and letting Beck handle them, but there’s no getting out of this one. They like to have friends everywhere to keep an eye on things, but what I do is none of their business, which I quickly remind them. Talking to them does nothing to improve my mood, instead of going home I head to the gym to work out my frustrations there.
Between everything that happened last night and this morning I’m ready to blow a gasket, I hate that feeling of losing control. I need to reign myself in and the best place for that is the gym, all I need is a good punching bag and some space.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t help as much as I would like. My emotions are still all over the place as I land hit after hit, the more I try to push the thoughts out of my head the more I think about how much I liked having Evelyn in my bed last night. I can’t go there, but for some reason I can’t get the image of her chestnut hair splayed over my pillow out of my head. She looked so right there, where no other woman has been before. I never saw myself enjoying having someone in my space but it’s different with Evelyn, even though I know there won’t be a repeat. She doesn’t belong with me.
Frustrated with my emotions I abandon the punching bag I was using and go in search of something else to help me. A little justice is exactly what I need to get myself back on track and move past this, I need to make someone bleed and this bastard has it coming.
Thirty-Two
Evie
Knowing that Pierce and Beck come from a powerful family is one thing, but seeing that power in action is another. It didn’t take long for rumors to start circling. By lunch on Monday everyone knew Pierce had George kicked out of school for what he tried to do to me, and knowing Pierce I’m sure that wasn’t all he did. Over the weekend I had noticed how raw his knuckles were, but that’s not completely out of the norm for any of the guys. Now I’m thinking it wasn’t from a punching bag, but I’ll have to talk to the man himself to get that answer.
Considering I spent Friday night in his bed, and he spent the whole night taking care of me, you would think we would be a little closer now, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. When I walk into a room he can’t get out of it fast enough. He’s been avoiding me and I’m sick of it.
Apparently, what I want doesn’t matter though, because he successfully avoids me for days. I’m not sure what his problem is, but he’s pissing me off. The others tell me to let him work it out on his own and he’ll come around, but I hate waiting. I hate that there’s this wall between us and he’s holding himself back from me, but I can’t do anything about any of it if he won’t even look at me.
He even skipped out on our training session which is where I was going to corner him. Maybe he knew that’s when I would try to get him to talk to me, or maybe he really did think I needed more time to rest after what happened. I’m not sure... it could honestly have been a bit of both, but I’ll probably never know.
I try to go on with my days, but he’s always there in the back of my mind and I can’t help but wonder if he thinks about me too. The other guys have been great and I hate that I still feel like something is missing, but I can’t stop it. Pierce wiggled his way into my heart and not having him all in with us hurts.
For days everyone on campus has been talking about Alumni week which is apparently happening now. There’s some kind of function happening on campus tonight as a precursor to the bigger events this weekend, and the guys mentioned their parents are going to be there. Except Gunnar, but he doesn’t consider his mom his family anymore, not that the others are particularly close with their parents either. Maddox used to be but after his mom passed his dad basically checked out, and from what I’ve heard Pierce and Beck’s parents haven’t ever been the caring type, more the having children to pass on the family name type.
