Lust or Love?

Chapter 7

I awoke to find a slip of paper on the pillow next to me. Scrawled on the yellow sticky-note in his messy handwriting read:

-

Morning Evy,

Luke, Jai, and I have to go meet with our manager at 9 unfortunately, so I might be busy with that for a few hours. I'll call you when we're all done.

Love you babe x

-

Well damn. I was hoping I would wake up to his comforting face beside me. Oh well I suppose. I loved the nickname he called me, "Evy". It made me feel special to him. It was crazy how quickly we'd fallen in love with each other. I'd never truly been in love with someone before, and neither had he. Love was a scary feeling that made me vulnerable. I didn't like the fact that my emotions were in the palm of someone else's hands, where they could manipulate me so easily. But Beau--Beau was different. I wasn't afraid to be in love with him. I knew he wouldn't hurt me. He promised. And so I felt safe.

I checked my phone and decided to text my mate Ryan, who I realized I hadn't seen in ages. We had only known each other for a few years, but we were closer than a lot of my other friends. I loved Ryan, but he was strictly like a brother to me. Besides, I had heard he began seeing this girl Andrea lately, which made me happy that he was happy. Anyways, I arranged for us to hangout at the beach and grab some lunch since I had no idea how long Beau would be.

I threw on the new bathing suit I had just gotten: a peach strapless top and mint green scalloped cheeky bottoms. I pulled on a loose beach cardigan as a cover-up and some simple sunglasses and headed out the door.

I pulled up to beach and spotted Ryan by the dunes, casually laying out and getting some rays.

"Oi, Ryan!" He whipped his head around to face me and smiled.

"Hey Evelyn!" He waved, standing up and walking towards me. "It's been forever since I've seen you." He pulled me in for a big hug.

"So what have you been up to, hmm?" I grabbed his wrist and walked towards the water, stopping ankles-deep. "I heard you've been seeing a girl..." I giggled and looked up at him.

He avoided my stare for whatever reason, "Um..yeah..Andrea's alright." He gazed out towards the ocean.

I made a puzzled face. "Why so vague? Ryan, you don't have to hide whatever relationship you have from me," I turned to stand in front of him, forcing him to look at me. "I'm dating someone too, you know." I had no idea why he would want to keep Andrea on the down-low around me.

His eyes widened at what I told him last. "You're dating someone?!" He seemed almost annoyed, which confused me even further.

"What? Ryan-I-yes, I'm dating a guy named Beau. It's Jai and Luke's older brother." He knew who Jai and Luke were but had never grown close to them like I had. "Does that bother you or something? You seem angry..." I trailed off, searching his eyes for a reason that would explain his sudden change in attitude. Ryan was usually a happy and care-free guy.

"I-er-no, I mean you're certainly welcome to date whomever you like," he said, calming down and looking over my shoulder. "If he makes you happy Evelyn, then I'm happy."

I was still unsure of why he was hiding Andrea, however. "So wanna tell me who this Andrea girl is now?" I laughed and walked further into the water, now waist-high.

"She's just a friend, that's all," he said. "I don't like her like that, if that's what you're trying to get me to admit," he eyed me, suspicious of my intentions.

I didn't know why he was being so weird all of the sudden, but I decided to just drop the subject and focus on enjoying the day. "Let's just have fun, Ryan," I smiled at him and dragged him further into the water.

-

I got home from my beach day with Ryan and immediately went to shower. I had completely stripped down and noticed the thin coat of sand crystals that covered practically every inch of my body. I had forgotten how messy the beach was.

A quick shower was all I needed. I dressed in comfy sweats and an old tee, throwing my wet hair up in a messy ponytail and checking my phone. Beau hadn't texted me yet so I figured he was still busy with the meeting and what not. Ryan had also sent me a text. Hmm....

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From Ryan:
Hey Evelyn, sorry I was acting so weird at first around you... Tbh I'd like to just talk face to face about it if you wouldn't mind me stopping by your house for a few minutes tonight. It's important....

-

Oh no. Ryan had me worried now.