Oral Care

Chapter 13: Friends with Benefits?

*** Evelyn's POV ***

He makes me nervous in the best possible way. He's bold and unapologetic. His love for his family and the way he shows off a corner of his city is charming. He is masterfully drawing me in and although I'm trying to resist, I may need to sin tonight and ask for forgiveness in the morning.

We are at dinner, having just finished the salad course. I rub my belly through my jumpsuit. "Whew, I'm stuffed."

"Oh come on. I thought you were voracious?" The way he drops his tone and purrs the word has me squeezing my thighs together. He is sexy without effort, but when he turns it on, everyone pays attention.

I swirl my wine. "Explain yourself and we'll see if I regain my appetite."

"I want to start with my backstory with Tara if you'll entertain it." He gambles, placing the ball in my court. I sip my wine and give a quick nod.

Entertain is the right word. It is the type of relationship that once it soured, there was no reviving it. The type of relationship that would make you yell at the TV because it is unfathomable why these people would stay in a relationship. I feel bad for Rafael because I can see that he tried to accept her for who she is. He loved her in spite of her flaws.

"The stunt with Marlee's wedding was a real breaking point." He states as the waiter appears with our entrées and tops off our wine.

"That was your breaking point?! Not the fifteen episodes before?" I exclaim incredulously.

He smirks. "What can I say? When I commit, I commit."

He explains how he tried to coax her, but ultimately she stood him up or so he thought. He takes a few bites of his food before continuing, checking in before he does. "Everything tasting okay?"

"Everything but your relationship. She's foul." I let slip.

"She has her good traits, but now you know why her nickname was Terror." He notes and continues. "So onto the night I left you. She was in my room when I entered. She was naked and tried to play like she hadn't just skipped my sister's wedding."

My stomach flip-flops and I set my fork down. He takes notice of my discomfort and quickly adds. "I told her to get dressed and then I had words with her. She pulled out every excuse in the book. She cried. She begged. Eventually she shut up only because she fell asleep. I moved to the couch, but felt awful about standing you up. I was going to ask you for your number to stay in touch. I wished like hell that I had asked earlier, but...I didn't want to scare you off and ruin our time together."

"Lo and behold, Terror did that for us anyway." I grumble and try not to notice that my pulse sped up with his confession of wanting to stay in touch before he even knew that I was relocating so close to him.

"I came to your room. It had to be around five-ish. You were gone. And while I would like to say I handled that differently, that's when I went back to the room and slept with Tara." He cringes as he confesses it.

"Why?" I demand to know.

He sighs and sits back in his seat, looking around like the answer is hidden in this lovely Italian restaurant. But the truth is ugly, and I am making him face it despite our surroundings.

"For all the wrong reasons. Guilt, regret, self-pity. I felt like I let someone wonderful slip away and that I was getting what I deserved with Tara. I instantly hated that I did it. Even opened myself up to some ridicule from Christian and Kevin because I wanted to feel worse." He admits.