Chapter 13-The Morning After
Rolling to my side, my eyes snapped open when my hand touched heated skin. I let my eyes travel over Evan’s naked skin. My breathing hitching in my throat when I noticed the red marks across his bare chest. I couldn’t remember it getting so wild last night, but as I shifted I noticed the ache between my legs. A soft whine left my lips causing Evan to stir. He rolled to his back, his eyes still closed, his breathing still even and deep. I was still safe, I could observe him a little longer. I let my eyes travel down his visible arm, noticing scratch marks running down the length. My god, I did a number on him last night and I couldn’t remember most of it. If there were no marks nor the dull ache between my legs I would have assumed it was just a dream I had. Rolling away from Evan I scanned the room. The room was light so I figured I slept through the morning. I didn’t know if Evan had plans, but if he did he was probably missing out on them. I didn’t have the heart to wake him so I quietly sneaked out of bed, reached for Evan’s dress shirt and walked into the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind me. As I approached the mirror I took a minute to observe myself. I hadn’t buttoned up the shirt so I could see all the red marks Evan left all over my neck and chest. Thankfully I brought my concealer and foundation so I could cover those up. My hair was a bloody mess, it was tangled and all over the place. As I scanned my face I noticed how tired I looked, my make-up could cover that up as well. There was nothing I could do about my swollen lips, we just had to deal with that. Turning around I adjusted the water to the right temperature and let Evan’s shirt drop to the floor. I shampooed and conditioned my hair and got out of the shower once I was all cleaned up. Drying my body I wrapped myself up in a white fluffy towel and pinned my wet hair up. Leaving the bathroom I quietly entered the bedroom to see Evan sitting on the edge of the bed, only wearing his boxers.
“Morning.” He greeted.
“Morning.” I greeted back, unsure of how to approach him.
The embarrassment slowly crept up on me, making me cross my arms in front of my chest as I somehow tried to cover up. I didn’t know what Evan remembered, but I’m sure he saw it all. When I narrowed my eyes on him I could tell he looked rather amused, he remembered it all, alright.
“I have to get ready.” He told me.
“Okay?”
He got up and scanned the room for his clothes, “I’m having breakfast with the guys this morning.” He found his pants and headed the bathroom, knowing I used his shirt, “You should join us.”
Spinning around I faced Evan who had his pants on but unzipped and opened. His shirt was also unbuttoned and opened, he was showing a lot of skin. It wasn’t like he had a long way to go, his apartment was right across mine. The full hit of seeing him with my marks did weird things to my body. I wanted to reach over, push my hand in his boxers and get him ready to have another go. The intent must have been clear in my eyes because he licked his lips, running a hand down his chest. He was tempted, I could tell. My breathing picked up when he stepped closer to me, his hand resting upon my shoulder as he leaned in, brushing his lips lightly against mine.
“You joining us?’
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
He kissed me more firmly and released me, letting his fingers brush over my marks across my chest. The heath in his eyes intense as he bit his lower lip. He definitely wanted to stay but he couldn’t. So instead of giving in I slightly pushed him away, my eyes dancing with amusement.
“We’ll have to get ready.”
“I know.”
“When are you meeting the guys?”
“In half an hour at the hotel.”
That worried me, “Okay, I need to get ready like now!” Rushing past Evan I opened the closet and started putting together an outfit, “I need to cover up some marks and dry my hair. Get my makeup done-”
“Okay, I’ll grab a quick shower.”
While Evan took a quick shower at his apartment I got ready as fast as possible. I dressed in a plain white t-shirt, skinny jeans, and black flats. I blow dried my hair as fast as I could, leaving it slightly damped. Collecting my make-up I headed into the bathroom and covered the marks up as best as I could. I brightened the dark circles under my eyes and looked a lot better. Grabbing my purse I made sure I had everything I needed and placed it on the coffee table while I cleaned up my room. Things looked slightly better when Evan strode in.
“Ready?”
“Yes.”
We met his friends at the restaurant of the hotel they were staying in and joined them. Their eyes wandered from Evan to me. They were all bright enough to put one and one together. They didn’t comment on it but I noticed the mischievous glistering in their eyes. Daniel especially.
“Have you seen the response you got on your blog?” Daniel asked, pulling me into the conversation, “It’s intense and people are blowing it up. I feel like a real celeb now.”
“I didn’t have time to analyze things.” I reached for my phone but frowned when I noticed the missed calls and texts I had.
Most of them from my parents, but the one that interests me was Laurel’s. I quickly checked her text, smiling as I realized she was going to pay me a visit very soon, like next Friday soon. I had to prepare things. I wanted her to stay with me at the apartment, I had space.
“You look awfully happy,” Daniel remarked.
“Oh, I’m just catching up with a friend. I didn’t check the blog, but seeing the amount of missed calls I have from my father things might not be so good.”
I felt Evan’s gaze on me, he knew how I felt about my father and how my father felt about this whole Japan situation. He wasn’t happy and he always contacted me whenever a picture got uploaded on the blog and my social media.
“You checked them?” He asked me quietly.
I shook my head, “I don’t think I should, it will only make me feel bad about myself.”
He held his hand out, “Let me check.”
Handing Evan my phone I let him scan the messages, as long as I didn’t read them I wouldn’t get hurt. Evan would protect me, I didn’t know where we were standing right now, but I did know he cared about me. While Evan went through my messages the guys entertained me with their stories about our wild night out last night. Ryan had an amazing time which was what mattered. They were having a quiet night in today. Roaming around the city after breakfast and then dinner at the sushi place Evan took me to a few days ago. The guys needed their quality time so I declined their offer.
“I have a lot of cleaning to do and I also want to nap a bit.”
Daniel’s lips curled up to a smirk, “Our boy tired you out last night?”
“Daniel,” Ryan warned him.
Evan didn’t respond at all his eyes fixed on my screen, his jaw clenched while he scrolled through the messages. Whatever my father messaged me was something he didn’t like to see.
“What? Am I wrong, Zoey?” Daniel asked me, snapping my attention back to him.
I could pretend nothing happened and let them talk about it behind my back or be open about it, Evan beside me didn’t say a thing so I assumed he didn’t care either way. If he did care he’d let me know, he’d all of us know so I took my chances.
“You’re not wrong.”
The guys quietened down letting their eyes go back and forth between Evan and I. Evan looked up from my phone and handed it back to me, “When we’re home we’ll talk about it.” He told me and faced the boys again, “Zoey and I had a fun night together, we’re not going to talk about it with you guys. It’s personal. So yeah we fucked and no we’re not talking about.”
Straight to the point, everyone seemed to appreciate it. Breakfast after that went by so fast. I liked Evan’s friends, they were kind and seemed to really like me too. They either patted my shoulder or gave me a hug as they left the hotel to roam around the city. Evan was the last one to leave, saying goodbye to me first.
“Tomorrow morning we’ll discuss how to handle your dad.” He glanced over his shoulder, “I have to hang around with the boys today.”
“I understand.” I told him, not feeling offended at all, “Have fun.”
Smiling Evan leaned in and gave me a quick kiss, “See you tomorrow morning.”
Evan left the hotel together with his boys while I took a cab back to the apartment. At home, I made myself lunch and sat down on the floor and watched a movie. I didn’t understand much of it, but it was enough to distract me. I didn’t wonder about my relationship with Evan and my dad wasn’t on my mind either. Today I was taking a break from all the bullshit, tomorrow morning I’d be facing everything. Evan would tell me about my father’s messages and I was sure Emily and Nick would arrive, I couldn’t wait to meet them. I was sure Evan felt the same way.