Chapter 24: Chapter 24

For the last several weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time at Flora’s in order to avoid Evans as much as possible. I’ve been polite with him, but distant, though I know I’ll have to face him eventually. Flora didn’t question why I was spending so much time at her place, but I decided that it was time to tell her the truth.

“You didn’t!”

I’m scared that Flora's eyes are going to pop out of her head. I roll my eyes. “I did.”

I thought I was ready for her reaction. Clearly, I wasn’t.

“Oh. My. God.” She covers her mouth. “I can’t believe you told him you wanted to have sex with him and that you actually had sex with him!”

“Shhh!” I hiss since Williams is in their room. He doesn’t need to know about my humiliation.

She laughs, shaking her head. “I just—I can’t believe you actually did it. And you are not stupid. I mean, you didn’t choose a random guy. You did it with Evans Leonard. She looks at me mischievously. “How was it?”

I contemplate lying to her but realize the reason I came here was to talk. I can’t lie to her. “It was…it was the best night of my life.”

She probably didn’t expect me to say that because for the first time in a long time, my best friend is speechless. She stares at me, bug-eyed.

“I know I’m pathetic,” I roll my eyes, looking down at my lap and playing with my fingers. “But I don’t care. It just felt so good. Why didn’t you tell me how good sex feels?”

She smiles. “Yeah, the first time is unforgettable.”

“Yeah, well now I kind of wish I would have done it earlier in high school or something. I don’t need Evans to have more power over me—it’s annoying.”

She frowns. “What do you mean?”

“I asked for this, Flora's. It’s impossible not to have feelings after—after a night like that. Except it was only impossible for me, apparently. I mean, I don’t know what I was expecting. He was being so sweet, and he called me beautiful, and I thought that maybe he liked me. Then he goes and brings a woman home.” I sigh. “Whatever. It would have never worked—I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You’re falling in love with him.” Flora suddenly said.

“I like to think of it more like a little crush.”

She laughs. “Little? Really?” she sighs then reaches for my hand. “As much as I would like to disagree with you and tell you that you’re wrong, that he does want a relationship with you—I can’t.”

I frown. “This is the one time I was counting on you to disagree with me.”

“I do think that Evans likes you.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I don’t think he wants the whole relationship thing. You don’t know this because you never read the magazines, but he hasn’t been in a relationship since his wedding—I think he has issues.”

“That’s an understatement,” I murmur.

She smiles. “I think you’ll be better off sticking to the original plan. Have his baby and take a long vacation.” She looks at me. “Are you, by the way?”

“Am I what?”

Flora rolls her eyes. “Pregnant. That was the whole point of this, right?”

“Right. I haven’t taken a test. Isn’t it too early?”

She sighs, standing. “Haven’t you ever heard of first response?” she asks from the bathroom. I follow her and watch as she searches through her cabinets. “I’ve had a few scares,” she explains when she places the box in my hand. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

I sigh, feeling déjà vu as I open the box and take out the stick. Thankfully, I don’t pee all over myself this time. After I’m done, I wash my hands and head out. I’m not about to wait in there all alone again. Flora is in the kitchen making some food and I sit on a chair and wait.

“Tomorrow we’re going cake tasting,” Flora comments. “You should come with us.”

I smile, embarrassed. “Actually, I was going to ask you if I could stay here again tonight.”

“Of course. You can stay here for as long as you need. We can go cake tasting tomorrow and go to the movies or something after.”

“Thank you,” I say, finally looking down at the pee-stick.

“What does it say?” Flora asks, walking toward me.

“Positive.”

“That’s good, right? At least it was worth it.”

I nod. “Yes...”

I know she’s right—I’m going to be able to pay him back. At least it was worth it…but I don’t feel any better. Why did I have to grow feelings for him? It’s going to make all of this more difficult. Besides, Flora is probably right—Evans doesn’t want a relationship. He wants a baby and I don’t. Even if we did try out a relationship, I don’t want to be a mom. There are already a lot of things that keep us from working out and we aren’t even trying…it’s best that I keep my distance.

I stand. “I’ll help you cook.”

Flora does her best to distract me with her wedding plans and to my surprise, it really does help. I promise to help her more now since I’ll have time.

I sleep on the couch again that night. Evans calls me twice, but I don’t answer, turning off my phone instead. The next day—Friday—I join Flora and Williams for their cake tasting, which I love. When do you ever have the chance to try a bunch of delicious cakes? We go to the movies after, then we go eat. At the end of the day, Flora insists I stay there again, but I don’t want to keep being the third wheel and I know I have to go face Evans—I can’t ignore him forever. We make plans to hang out on Sunday since I want to help her more with wedding planning.

When I get to the condo, it’s around ten. It’s dark so I assume Evan’s out working. I open the fridge and reach for a water bottle, but freeze when I hear him walk out of his room.

“Ciara”

I turn around and look at him. He’s standing there with his arms crossed, looking even more intimidating than usual. “Hello, Evans,” I say casually.

“Any particular reason why you think it’s okay to not answer my phone calls?” he demands, obviously angry.

“No.”

“No? Do I need to remind you about the contract?”

The contract. I hadn’t thought about it in so long—it’s almost disappointing that he brought it up. Like nothing happened. “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

His face softens. “Listen,Ciara, I think we need to talk about…us.”

I nod. “Okay.”

“I’m sorry if I gave you any indication that we could be something more.”

Was it just me that imagined you being cute the morning after, then? “You didn’t,” I say, wanting to crawl under the table. This is humiliating. God, I’m so stupid for falling for him.

“Then why are you angry with me?”

“I’m not.”

He frowns. “Then why did you leave for weeks?”

I take a deep breath. “I needed to get out of here. I wasn’t angry with you Evans—I was angry with myself.”

“You regret it.”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t. And you know what? I’m done talking about this. Whatever happened, happened, and I think it’s best for us if we just go on how we were before. There’s no need to make this more complicated than it already is.”

He nods slowly. “I agree.”

I look at the ground for a moment, then up at him again. “It’s what’s best for us…and the baby.”

“The baby?” He smiles. “You don’t mean…?”

I nod with a smile. “I’m pregnant. Hopefully we’re able to get along for the next nine months and then I’ll be out of your hair.”

He stares at me for a moment before nodding once. “Okay.”

I smile, walking toward my room—which means I’m walking towards him because he’s standing in the way of the hallway, blocking me. “Great. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m exhausted. Goodnight.”

He looks down at me and there is a glint in his blue eyes, making it impossible for me to look away.

“Goodnight, Ciara.