Red

Extracurricular Activities

The drive back to my mom's from his condo was actually shorter than I expected. It had been so long since I was home that they did a lot of construction in my time away. The condo where he lived was a newer building that was finished only a few months ago. I'd learned that he was the one that actually came up with the blueprints for the project as well as the renovations to the old hotel that he apparently owned.

"So, do you have a permanent room at the hotel as well?" I couldn't help my curiosity. Well, it was seeding from my jealousy, the fact that he may always have a room there irked me considering the way we met. Does he always bring girls up there?

He had already parked in front of my mom's ten minutes before we started talking but neither of us wanted the night to end. The clock on the dashboard said it was two-thirty in the morning, so mom and Patrick were most likely asleep already, they wouldn't notice us out here.

"I don't have a room; I have a penthouse on the top floor. You were just too distracted to look around. That's why it took so long to get to my floor in the elevator. You were so impatient."

My face turned red at the memory, I felt embarrassed at the way I had thrown myself at him in the elevator, as if I would die if I didn't have him in that moment.

He chuckled but changed the subject. "By the way, I have you to thank for my dad thinking I'm seeing someone now." He gestured to his neck where my marks resided. "Now, I have to find someone to take to the wedding as a plus one."

I didn't like the sound of that. The ugly green monster inside of me stirred awake but I was able to keep her at bay. "Oh."

He turned to me, eyes locking on mine. "Yeah, oh." His eyes studied me, searching for some kind of reaction, but I wouldn't give him one. He let out a breath in a rush, "You can keep that if you want." His head gestured to the t-shirt I was still wearing; my dress was balled up in my hands.

I looked down at the shirt and sighed, "I just hope nobody is awake to see me come in with it on."

His gaze turned to the dark house that seemed frozen in time, "It looks like they're in bed. Besides, if I know my dad, he's dragged Amy off to bed hours ago."

"That is a gross topic and, on that note," I turned to my door, hearing him chuckle as he jumped out and rounded to my side and helped me get out. With his hands still resting on my hips, I could feel his head dipping lower as if he wanted to kiss me, but I stopped him with a hand pressed to his lips. "No, Evan. There could be people watching."

"At this hour? You're really paranoid, Red."

"Hey, small town gossip is the real deal here and it wouldn't be long until our family got word of our ... extracurricular activities."

He rolled his eyes and just placed a kiss on top of my head before saying goodnight and watching me hobble into the house. I heard the sound of the truck come to life just as I opened the front door to quietly creep upstairs. I ended up having to sit on the steps and hoist myself to the next one, but I managed to get into my room without much hassle and without waking anyone up.

Once in bed, I plugged my phone into the charger and checked the time once more only to notice an unread text message. Thinking it was Evan already missing me, I opened the message and felt all the blood drain from my face. There was an attached photo of Evan and I standing outside of his truck just minutes ago. I was wearing his shirt and he was kissing the top of my head with his arms wrapped around me.

Under the photo, there was a message:

Unknown: Looks like someone's been busy. Let's hope no one finds out about those 'extracurricular activities'.