Embracing Series Box Set #1-6 Page 7

  “He was cheating on me and I caught him in the act!” I say.

  She has this really pissed off look on her face. “That dirty fucker, I never trusted him after what he—well anyway, I was only nice to him because he’s Addison’s brother. Did Eric beat the crap out of him?”

  “No. I asked him not to get involved, considering they are good friends, but Liam did. Nik, what ever happened with you and Ashton at camp that year? I know you were upset, but you never told us.”

  She has another sad look on her face. “I can’t believe him! Since you didn’t give in to him, he went elsewhere? What did you say? Liam kicked his ass?” she asks, avoiding my question.

  “Yep,” I say, looking down at my hands. “Nikki, I slept with Liam.”

  “You did what? Who? The cousin of your ex? The one who kicked your ex’s ass?” she says.

  “Yes, that guy,” I say, placing my hand over my face. “He’s leaving in a few days. He joined the army.”

  “Did you sleep with him because he's going to serve our country?” she asks, looking serious.

  “No, silly, because I really like him. Actually, I love him. He's great; I don’t know why I didn’t realize it before now.”

  “You love him already? This must be serious because you don’t say that word unless you mean it. What does Addison say about all this?”

  “I haven’t told her. I think she knows, but I haven’t said anything. She's been so busy with Eric…”

  “I knew they would end up together. Damn Addison, I always told Eric he was going to marry me,” she teases. “Let me see that tattoo. I can’t believe you bitches went without me.”

  “Oh, it hurt! I’ll go with you if you want to get one, but I’m not getting another one—well, not anytime soon at least.” I laugh.

  “I’ll think about it. I’m a chicken. I would probably freak out.”

  “Okay, Nicole Paige, what happened with you and Ashton?” I ask.

  With tears in her eyes, she says, “It was him. The guy who screwed me and took my virginity, then just left me lying there as he walked away. The next day, I overheard a couple girls talking and one of them said she had slept with Ashton the night before. I never told anyone who I had sex with. I didn’t want you or Ads mad. I knew you liked him and I felt bad for doing what I did.”

  “Oh, Nik, that fucking dickwad. I can’t stand him either. You could’ve told me, doll. I would’ve never been mad at you. I was with Will at the time anyway.”

  “Let’s go get lunch. I’m starved!” she says, rubbing her stomach. “Pizza or Mexican?”

  “I think I could go for pizza,” I say.

  We walk a few blocks down, passing a row of small restaurants. We talk and laugh. I’m so glad she's here. I was worried about being here all alone; now I have one of my best friends with me.

  After looking at the different places, we choose Pizza Shack. When we walk into the restaurant, we see two hot guys sitting in the corner.

  I’m trying not to look, since I know they're staring at us. They don’t look like they're New Yorkers. Something about the taller one catches my eye. He’s very attractive. He smiles at me and I blush as I flash him a smile back. We place our order, then sit down to eat and talk.

  “So, how was it?”

  “How was what?” I ask, shoving a piece of pineapple in my mouth.

  “Sex! I know you’ve been waiting to do it forever. Was it everything you thought it would be?” she asks, making duck lips.

  “Oh, it was amazing!”

  “Should’ve figured. Out of the three of us, of course you would be the one to have the romantic fireworks, flowers and shit your first time. What a great experience.”

  “I’m sorry, Nikki. We don’t have to talk about it.”

  “Don’t be silly. Of course I want to hear all the details. Just because the first two I slept with sucked donkey balls doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear about your amazing lover boy. How is his package? And his kisses? Did you climax?” She has the biggest smile on her face.

  “Oh my God, it's huge and his kisses are amazing! And yes, about twenty times.”

  “Ugh bitch, you’re so lucky.”

  I laugh. It's wonderful being with one of my best friends again.

  I forgot about the guys until the waiter tells us that the gentlemen in the corner are paying our tab. I look over and smile. They both come to our table.

  “Hi, ladies, are you new to the area?”

  “Yes,” Nikki replies. “I’m Nicole Lassiter, but you can call me Nikki, and this is Lila Carls.”

  The tall guy says, “My name is Evan Martin. This is my buddy, Brody Lewis.”

  Evan is really tall. He has dark hair, kind of messy on top. He's tan, muscular, and attractive. I can see a tattoo on Evan’s arm, but I can't see what, exactly, it is. There’s also a tattoo peeking out of the tight NYU T-shirt he has on with a pair of tight jeans and cowboy boots. He’s definitely a country guy.

  Brody has blondish-brown hair and is kind of short. He’s cute, definitely Nikki’s type. I can tell she’s already drooling over him. They look nothing like Cali guys.

  “Do you guys go to NYU?” I ask.

  “Yes, we do. We’re both studying law and are in our second year,” Evan says.

  “That’s terrific. Nikki and I are studying law as well.”

  “What are you ladies doing tonight? There's a party around the corner. You ladies want to meet up there?” Evan asks. I look at Nikki. She smiles and nods.

  “Great, we will see you around eight o’clock,” Brody says.

  As soon as they leave, Nikki clips her hands and says, “Holy moly, they're cute as hell. We're going to party with college guys. I’m so excited!”

  I laugh. I wish I could party with my Liam.

  “Let’s go get a new outfit for tonight,” Nikki says, slapping my arm.

  I roll my eyes. “I knew that was coming.”

  “Oh come on, you know you’ve missed shopping with me.” I smile. She's right; I have missed shopping with her.

  We head to the nearest mall. I get a pair of jeans and a cute shirt. Nikki gets a dress and a new coach purse. We decide to get manicures and pedicures while we're there. Then we get our hair done.

  I get my hair trimmed and styled. Though Nikki has gorgeous hair already, she gets her hair trimmed and styled as well. She and Addison have no problem with their hair. I, on the other hand, have a frizz head.

  I check my phone and see three texts. Holy crap, I had no idea my phone was on vibrate.

  Mom: Okay pumpkin, how is everything? Was Nikki there when you arrived? Love Mom.

  Addison: Lila Rae, you bitch. I miss you already. Call me <3

  Liam: Hey beautiful, I hope you are settled in. I miss your smile, your face and well, every inch of that body.

  Before I can call anyone back, Liam calls. He’s worried about me because no one has heard from me. I tell him about my childhood friend being my roommate and that we went to lunch and shopped. He says he's leaving in ten hours and just wanted to hear my voice. I can’t stop smiling.

  As we hang up, I say, “I love you, Liam.”

  “I knew it! I love you more, though.”

  Finally, Addie calls and tells me she's worried and that she already knew about Nikki because Eric had told her. With excitement in her voice, she says she wants to come see us soon.

  After all my calls, I finally finish getting ready.

  Chapter Nine

  Lila

  I feel very uncomfortable being at this party. We don’t know anyone. Finally, we see Evan and Brody. Evan hugs me, which makes me feel even more awkward. I think he notices because he apologizes.

  “It’s okay, Evan.” I smile.

  “You look beautiful, darlin’.”

  I know he sees me blush. I want to yell, “I have a boyfriend,” but I just say “Thank you.”

  Nikki is all over Brody. I can't help but laugh at her.

  Brody and Evan seem like really ni
ce guys. Me and Evan have a lot in common, which I think is great.

  Nikki says, “I’m going to walk outside with Brody. I’ll be fine.”

  I shoot her a what the fuck look. This bitch had better not leave me with these strangers.

  Evan and I talk and laugh before I realize that I haven’t seen Nikki or Brody in over an hour. Evan says he thinks they left. I text Nikki. She tells me I should go back to the dorms, that she's fine.

  I see a tall, auburn haired girl staring me down. I’m not sure why she’s looking at me like that. I smile at her and wave.

  Evan gives me a ride and wants to know if he can call me. I give him my number. I feel bad afterward. What if Liam isn't okay with it?

  I know he doesn't care if I have male friends, but, after what Ashton put me through, I don't want any secrets between Liam and me.

  I put my pajamas on and lie on my bed, thinking about everything that's going on. I look at the clock. It's two o’clock in the morning and Nik still hasn't ventured in.

  ***

  I hear Nikki walking in, so I get up and say, “Where the hell have you been, Nik?”

  She laughs and says, “I’m fine. Brody is a great guy.”

  “So great you had to spend the night with him?”

  “No, we sat at the café all night! We just talked. Then we went and got coffee this morning. I brought you a vanilla bean frappe with caramel drizzle just the way you like it.”

  She's lucky that’s my favorite.

  “Just because you brought me Starbucks doesn’t mean I’m not mad at you.” I try to hide my smile.

  “Oh L, he’s amazing. He's from Utah, and he's here studying to be a criminal lawyer. He comes from a great family and I think I want to know more about him. He and Evan have been friends just as long as we have.”

  “That’s great, but next time don’t make me worry about you all damn night,” I say, rolling my eyes.

  “Yes, ma’am, I won’t do it again,” she says, saluting me.

  “Okay, smart ass, just let me know when you'll be out all night.”

  I can’t stop laughing at her. She’s smiling from ear to ear.

  “I need to shower and go to sleep. I haven’t slept in almost two days,” she says.

  “I slept pretty well, other than worrying about your bitch ass.”

  “Oh, Lila, I’ll be fine.” She hugs me, then heads to the shower. My phone starts beeping. It’s a text from Evan.

  “Is that Liam?” Nikki yells from the other room.

  “No, actually it’s Evan.”

  “I knew he liked you!” she screams.

  “I kind of like him,” I say to myself, but am I wrong for hanging out with him? I’ll tell Liam as soon as I talk to him.

  I reply to Evan. Then he tells me he would like to take me to see the city.

  ***

  We go to this little café for brunch. We laugh and talk for an hour, then we go to Central Park, where we walk for hours. Evan is from a small city and is a country boy with big dreams. He plans on staying in New York and starting his own practice.

  He’s very open about his family and background. He tells me he's an only child and that his father is an English professor at the State University and his mother is a kindergarten teacher at the town’s only elementary school. He'd worked at a coffee shop all through high school and received scholarships to help with school. He’s a football player—the moment I met him, I could tell he plays football or wrestles because of his muscles. He doesn’t look like the lawyer type, but he seems like a very smart man. There’s something about him that intrigues me. I want to know as much as possible about him.

  I talk about my parents, my brother, my friends, Addison, Ashton, and Liam—the Liam I’ve fallen in love with, who is off getting ready to fight for our country while I’m here chitchatting with this fine ass man.

  I fail to mention Liam is also my boyfriend. I just don’t want Evan to get scared and walk away. There’s so much more I want to learn about him.

  Evan drives me back to the dorm. He has a nice car, an older beige Camaro.

  “How long have you had this car?”

  “My father gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday. It was his when he was a teenager. She's my ol’ lady.”

  “Nice.” I laugh.

  When we get back to my dorm and I open the door, Brody’s naked ass is standing in the doorway with nothing on but a cowboy hat.

  “Holy crap!” I yell.

  “Lila, wait,” Nikki says.

  “No, Nik, I’ll be back later.” I’m almost in tears from laughing. I can't look at either of them right now.

  I close the door. “Evan, I umm…I don’t think we should go in there.”

  “What did you see?”

  “Brody’s ass!”

  “Oh damn, that’s a horrible sight.”

  We go to Chipotle for dinner and a movie. He’s so sweet; he won’t let me pay for anything. He doesn’t even ask if I have a boyfriend. Maybe he’s waiting for me to tell him.

  He drives me back to the dorms and hugs me when he walks me to the door. Brody must already be gone. I don’t see him anywhere.

  “Hey, Lila. So um, what you saw earlier wasn’t what you think.”

  “Nik, you don’t have to explain your sex life to me, although I wasn’t prepared to see Brody’s ass.”

  “We didn’t have sex. We were playing strip poker.”

  “Ah, that explains the cowboy hat!”

  “I can’t believe you thought I screwed him already,” she says, a hurt look on her face.

  “I’m sorry doll, it just looked that way.” I laugh.

  Smacking my arm, she says, “You’re such a bitch, L.”

  Chapter Ten

  Classes are starting today and I’m a little nervous. Nikki and I only have a couple classes together. As I walk into the room of my first class, I see Evan. He smiles when I sit next to him.

  After class, I see a tall, auburn haired girl standing by the door. It looks like the bitch from the party.

  “Hey, Evan!” she yells.

  “What do you want, Alyssa?”

  “Who’s your friend?” I ask.

  “Lila, this is Alyssa, my ex.”

  She doesn’t shake my hand when I reach out to her; she just turns and walks away. I can hear her talking to some friends—about me, of course—on the other side of the hall.

  Evan and I eat lunch together and then go to our other classes. I meet up with Nikki after classes so we can go out for burritos.

  All I find myself doing is thinking about how great Evan is. Nikki keeps talking about Brody and how they have almost every class together. He really does seem like a great guy. He seems really shy and Nikki isn’t, so they make a perfect pair.

  “Are you listening to me?” Nikki asks.

  “Of course! Why would you think I wasn’t?”

  “You just seemed lost in thought, that’s all.”

  “Oh, I’m confused. I love Liam, but I like Evan.”

  Crap, what is a girl to do?

  ***

  Over the next couple of weeks, I hear nothing from Liam. I don’t want to ask Addie, but she figured out I was worried as soon as I called.

  “I know about you and my cousin, Lila Rae Carls!”

  “What?” I reply.

  “He loves you. He told me everything.”

  “Addie, I wanted to tell you, I just didn’t know how. I slept with him the last night at the beach house. Well, and a couple other times.” I giggle.

  “Bitch, he didn’t tell me that. You damn horny toad. I’m your best friend. I’m supposed to know these things.”

  “I know. I should have told you, but I didn’t know how you would react.”

  “You're like a sister to me. I love you and trust you with my life. I wouldn’t be mad at you for fucking my cousin all over California.”

  I laugh at her. “Speaking of secrets, why are you and my little brother always together?”

  She giggles
. “I guess I’ll tell you. We've been dating for a while now. We didn’t know how you would feel about it.”

  “Nice. I don’t care, just don’t break each other’s hearts. I can’t believe I had to ask you! I’ve known for months. I was just waiting on you to tell me.”

  She laughs at my words.

  “We’ll see you next month, doll. We love you.”

  “I love you both.”

  I smile at the thought of them together—they're perfect.

  The next few weeks fly by. I spend most of my time with Evan; he always makes me smile and laugh. He's taken me all around the city and given me a tour of campus. He even showed me all the great law firms I could apply for internships at.

  ***

  I’m waiting for Evan to pick me up when a letter comes from Liam. I want to read it so bad, but I wait until I get back to read it.

  My sweet L,

  I’ve missed your beautiful face. Sorry it has taken so long to write. I’ve been really busy here. I can’t tell you my location. I’ll be home for Thanksgiving and I can’t wait to put my arms around you and kiss those sexy lips of yours. I hope you are doing well and staying away from those college boys. I love you, beautiful. I’ll write soon, my love.

  Always,

  Liam

  As I sit and hold the letter, crying for Liam, I feel so much love for him. Even so, I find myself thinking of how great Evan is. I fall asleep, thinking about the two wonderful men that have become part of my life.

  “Hey, Lila,” Evan says as he reaches down and kisses my cheek. He has to be at least six foot two, definitely taller than Liam.

  “What do you want to do today, darlin’?” What is up with guys and these damn nicknames?

  “Maybe Central Park again?”

  “Sounds great, pretty lady. I've wanted to take you there since the last time. Maybe that hot dog stand I told you about will be open today.”

  He has a little twang in his voice, which is pretty damn sexy. “Evan, have you lived anywhere other than Utah?”