Careful What You Wish For

Chapter Eighteen

At two-thirty on the dot Evan de Santo is waiting outside Delilah's to pick her up. He has been home and showered, and is dressed in fitted tan shorts and a white polo, both of which set off his dark hair and athletic body. Sophie's body and brain war against each other to determine who will guide her decisions for the rest of the day.

Here he is. Here is the boy she's been waiting for. The boy with the disarming smile and the intense eyes, the awesome confidence, and the overpowering passion for life. The boy who swept her so completely off her feet that she didn't touch the ground again for five months.

Sophie sighs. Here is the boy who broke her heart.

~

It takes Sophie longer than she would admit to work out that Evan isn't taking her home. As they leave the university behind, Sophie knows she should ask where they are going but she doesn't bother. Evan always has his own plan in his head. His own agenda. She couldn't remember him ever asking her permission before and she was too mentally exhausted to bother now.

Evan talks to her about his run this morning with Jonas, his anatomy assignment that he appears especially proud of, and his plans for a coastal road trip with his crew. Sophie lapses into silence and simply listens. She is enjoying it, the comfortable familiarity. Perhaps a little too much. It's too easy to slip back into old habits, and that feeling of security and safety that Evan's presence promises.

A few suburbs over and Evan pulls into a familiar car park.

Sophie has been here with Evan before.

He cocks his head toward her and she recognises a knowing smile on his face. She rolls her eyes at him. "Seriously?"

He grins. "So you remember this place then?"

Sophie feels her heart flutter and dutifully ignores it. "Of course. Our first date."

"Our first date," Evans echoes.

He looks at her with just that right mixture of cheekiness and innocence that he's so good at. It's his hook. One of them. Despite herself, Sophie can't help but smile back. She looks at the long nondescript building with the big neon sign. Broken heart or not, this could be exactly what she needed. Some highly processed hotdogs, beer, funny shoes, and ten-pin bowling.

Evan opens the door for her and places his hand on the small of her back. Such a familiar sensation. The noise of the bowling alley erupts around her, falling pins, overlapping conversations, cheers, and balls rolling the length of the lane. She can smell stale beer, foot odour, and popcorn. Her date with Evan returns to her in a swirling haze of sensations and emotions. She remembers the feel of his hand on her arm, the excitement of a new relationship, the nerves, the taste of beer, and real happiness when she got that first strike and his eyes lit up.

They grab shoes and a lane, and Evan leaves her to go and fetch some drinks. The place is only half full at this time of day, with at least six lanes free and plenty of spare tables.

Why oh why would Evan bring her here? Sophie wonders, glancing around distractedly at the patrons, the staff, and the blinking neon lights across the lanes. The girl behind the bar is batting her eyes at Evan as he no doubt says something charming to make her smile. That feels familiar too.

It could be a tactic to help take her mind off things. But if she didn't know better, this felt like a play.

Just as she's thinking this, Evan looks over his shoulder, catches her eye, and winks. Sophie's heart skips a beat. Was this a play?

She isn't sure how she feels about that. Thrilled? Excited? Scared? Angry? The swirl of emotions feels like all of the above. There's no time to delve into it, Evan is headed back toward her.

Despite the dangerous undertow of the reasons behind this afternoon, Sophie really enjoys her afternoon with Evan. He always did know how to have fun. It was something about his carelessness or his confidence in every move he made. He drew people in, strangers too, engaging with the people in the lanes on either side with smiles and friendly banter. Sophie remembers this as being one of the things that drew her to him. However now as she thinks about it, and actively observes the people around them, she notices that it's mostly the women responding to Evan.

Beating Sophie in their first game by only two points, Evan then proceeds to up his game and win by 15 points the next game. Sophie never used to mind losing to Evan, but she is just now remembering how much Evan dislikes losing, and for the first time it irks her.

She sighs quietly. Even though he didn't like to lose, it didn't matter, because he never lost. He was good at everything. Except long-term relationships.

"Did you decide on a major yet?" Sophie asks him, thinking about his commitment issues as she waits for her ball to return.

Evan gives her a sly smile like he knows what she's thinking. "Physiotherapy."

Sophie nods slowly, thinking. "Why?" She asks.

He doesn't seem to understand her question. "Why not?"

"I thought you wanted to do sports management?"

He shrugs, like it's no big deal. "This is a better option for me." But he breaks their eye contact, and Sophie wonders if this wasn't his father's idea. Evan's father was a physiotherapist.

She can easily imagine Evan in the business world, particularly the business of sport. Anywhere he could talk, control, plan and lead would be the place for Evan.

"What about you?" He asks her.

Her ball returns with a click and a loud thump. "You don't remember my major?" She turns to glance at him over her shoulder, hoping she looks amusingly annoyed and not genuinely offended.

Evan smiles easily. "Of course, I remember," he says. His eyes twinkle momentarily. "It's not every day you meet a girl who wants to design buildings."

Sophie turns before he can see the pleasure flood into her cheeks. She keeps her eyes trained firmly on the lane and smiles softly to herself. Oh, Sophie. Don't do it to yourself again.

Regaining her cool, she sends the ball perfectly down the lane and picks up the spare. When she finally turns back to Evan, he's giving her that smile. That smile designed specifically to catch flies.

Oh no. She was in trouble. She couldn't go down this road again with Evan.

After she loses the third game, they return their shoes and play some air hockey before heading back to the car. A momentary twinge of panic sets Sophie on edge when she realises how late it is. The sun has vanished behind the houses in the hilly suburb and the car park is covered in shadows.

Walking on wooden legs across the length of the car park, Sophie finds herself looking into all the shadows, searching for lurking figures. She tries not to flinch when someone slams a car door behind her. By the time she is safely tucked into the front seat of Evan's car with the door locked, her heart is hammering in her chest. She tries to regain control of her breathing before Evan notices. The last thing she needs right now is more attention from Evan. She needn't have bothered though; he doesn't notice anything amiss at all.

The drive back to the university is much the same as the drive to the bowling alley. Evan talks about his degree now, about his classes and teachers and his success in winning over the hard-to-please psychology professor. Had he always talked this much about himself? Regardless, it suited Sophie to sit in silence again and mull over her adverse reaction to nightfall and the car park. With her hands tucked firmly beneath her thighs, she can almost pretend they are no longer trembling.

Much to her relief, Evan doesn't try and walk her to Brianne's room. He drops her at the front of the residence and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek. As she turns to shut her door he smiles his flycatcher smile again, and for the first time, Sophie realises that that smile never quite reaches his eyes.