Page 47 of Me Three
He grabs the coffee jug and pours a cup, sitting next to me, smiling.
“What’s up, Ev?” I ask.
His smile widens, and he takes a generous gulp of his drink.
“Are you going to creepily stare at me for the rest of the morning?” I ask him.
Everett shrugs.
“Ass,” he mumbles. “I just wanted to say… I’m glad you decided to give us a chance.” He brushes my cheek with his thumb, and for the first time in six years, I don’t shy away from his touch.
A fact which he takes advantage of by cupping my entire cheek and using his other hand to brush my hair.
Fuck! There’s a reason why I set the rule about PDA with him, but I can’t remember it now. The fact that I’ve denied myself this is crime enough.
And that’s exactly why, isn’t it? Because I can get used to this feeling. Hell, I’m already used to it. And that can only mean a spiral I don’t want to go through again.
Wanting him all my life and not being able to have him is hard enough as it is. I don’t need his affections to make the craving for him even worse.
Although I guess I’m to blame for this. If I’d been strong enough to resist him, we wouldn’t have had the whole benefits thing going on and I might not still be hung up on him.
“Well…” I say and pull away from his touch before I give my feelings away and finding myself in need of a distraction—a reason for pulling away—I go back to the coffee maker. “I’d be an idiot to say no to that piece of ass.”
Way to sound like an absolute idiot, Carter. Well done. Job well done.
“I was thinking…” I say before Ev has a chance to respond. “It’s Valentine’s day in two weeks Saturday. Maybe we should plan something for Tru.”
When I turn around, I find Ev gawking at me. In fact, he gawks so much I have to check myself to make sure I haven’t spilled coffee on my T-shirt or got a boogie hanging off my nose or something.
“Really?” he asks.
“No, I’m just throwing empty words in the air to see what sticks. Yes, really,” I reply and sit back down. “I was thinking of, like, a fun-filled day, but…”
“But what?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I don’t know what they like. Other than painting and fucking, that is.”
Ev brings the cup to his mouth, and his eyes get lost in his coffee for a moment.
“Why not keep it simple? Go out for some dinner and then come back here and watch a movie or something?” he says.
“You’re right. We’ve only just started dating after all. Wouldn’t want to go big so soon,” I say.
“Yeah,” Ev mumbles and looks into his cup again.
What is going on with him? Is it starting already? The competition? The withdrawal? The rift between us?
“Hey,” I say to him despite everything inside me telling me to shut up. “I wouldn’t want Tru to come between us.”
“You wouldn’t?” he asks, looking up at me.
“No. Of course not. You’re my best friend. If you want Tru, you can have them. I can step aside—”
“Fuck, Carter. You’re an idiot,” he huffs and walks away with his coffee, retreating back into his room.
What the hell just happened? What did I say?
I try to ignore it. To let him calm down from whatever is going on with him. I look down at my stack of quizzes waiting to be assessed, but all I can think about is how Everett stormed off. It seems impossible to even add up 1+1, let alone assess solutions to the problems I put on the quiz.
