At one point, his parents had had Evan checked for any pituitary gland or potential other issues, thinking that was why he was freakishly tall.All the tests were fine as far as I was aware, although he saw a cardiologist every few years to monitor his heart.Hearts were a one-size-should-fit-all kind of organ.Being abnormal in height made extra work for an average-sized heart.No one ever talked about it, and it wasn’t any of my business.
Evan stood there, his expression half glower, half sneer.There was a pasty hue to his face, enhanced by a slight flush to his dimpled cheeks.Arms crossed over his chest, he lifted a brow at me.“She’s not here.”
“Good.”I stepped forward, causing Bentley to have to move into the house as well since he was still partially in front of me.
“Let’s talk,” Bentley suggested, keeping himself as a barrier between us while attempting to direct us away from the foyer.
Evan backed into the living room, smartly keeping his eyes locked on me.I was ready to claw through flesh and bone to get to that burning itch, it was so intense.Flexing my fingers at my sides, I fought the urge to start ripping out my hair.Ali was the only cure for my agony when it reached this level.
“I told you everything I know,” Evan said.
“You told Bentley.Now tell me.Everything.From the minute you walked into that locker room until you dropped Ali at her house.Don’t leave out a single detail.”
“Go ask your girlfriend,” he dismissed, his voice slightly cracking on the last word.
Stay calm.Don’t react.Killing him simply because he covets what is mine will only upset my daisy girl.
“I’m here, and I’m not asking.You will tell me, Evan.Everything that you personally witnessed.I want it all.”
“Or what?”he challenged.
Bentley lifted his hands to signal a time-out.“Let’s all take a deep breath here.There’s no need for things to get out of hand.All we want is more information, Ev.To help Ali.”
“Didn’t seem like Ali wanted help,” he muttered.
Fuck, that itch was going to drive me crazy.It was becoming too much.Every word, every look on Evan’s face, pushed me closer to the point of letting go of that invisible wall, dropping the ever-growing weight and allowing the other me out.
“She didn’t ask you for help?”I asked quietly, reining myself in with all the self-control I still possessed.“The word ‘help’ never once left her lips?”
Something shifted in his eyes.“Maybe.I…” He muttered something under his breath and took a step back.“I was scared and confused, and then I was mad.Nothing made sense, and she only confused me more.If she needed help, she should have come to me.If he was bothering her and she wanted him to stop, to leave her alone, all she had to do was speak up.”
He wanted her to come to him.That was what burned him the most.It had hurt him.Killed something inside him.I could see it as clear as day, and it almost made me smile.Finally, he was starting to understand and losing the hope he’d always held on to, the part of him that thought he had a chance.That one day, Ali might see and love him as more than a friend and brother.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” Bentley snarled, taking a step toward the taller guy.“She’s fifteen years old, practically a little girl still.And she has been harassed by a teacher.An adult, Evan.Someone in a position of power over her.You’re standing there telling me that youthinkshe wanted whatever that perv was doing?”
“I don’t know!”he shouted.“I didn’t hear her say no when he was touching her.”
One moment, I was standing there, struggling to hold up the wall.The next, it was slipping from my mental hold, and I had Evan on the floor.His much-longer body was easy to fold and roll into a submissive hold.I could have choked him out, broken his arm or one of his valuable legs.A single snap in the right place and his aspirations of pro ball would vanish in a puff of smoke.
Feeling the tap on my arm, his almost-immediate surrender, I released him on instinct.That was why jiu-jitsu had become such an asset for me.It became muscle memory, to release my prey when they tapped.
After unwrapping myself from the hold, I stayed on my knees, leaning over him.“That’s the difference between you and me, Evan.In her time of need, when she was at her most vulnerable, you doubted her.You questioned her.I don’t know all the details, and I don’t need them.I know her, I trust her, and I love her without exception.Until I take my last breath, there is nothing she can say or do that will ever make me question that she loves me too.Or that she was anything but terrified of that motherfucker.”
I stood, brushing off my clothes, gaining control of myself.For a little longer.“That’s why you’ll never have her heart the way I do.Your doubt, even if it was for a fleeting moment, makes you fucking unworthy.”
“Fuck you, Sixx,” he spat, breathing hard.
“No, fuck you, you weak-ass pussy.I would have already broken your neck if I didn’t think it would hurt Ali.Lucky for you, she cares about you.For now.”I gave him a smile that had Bentley grumbling a curse and positioning himself closer to us.
If it came down to it, my friend could break up a fight.It wouldn’t be easy.We’d all shed blood, but he had the skills to stop me from killing Evan.
“Although, that could easily change.”Tilting my head, I scanned his face, watching for any sign that would give me a plausible justification for snapping his neck.“Considering some of the things you’ve said about her and what happened, she might be questioning your friendship.You just said he touched her.And yet, you didn’t kill him?Didn’t even try to protect her?Is there any doubt now as to why she didn’t trust you with this?”
Regret and shame filled Evan’s face.I saw the moment he realized how badly he’d messed up with Ali, what he might have cost himself.Their friendship was special to Ali.It was something that she treasured.He was family to her.It would hurt her to lose that.
I put distance between us and sat on the arm of a comfortable chair adjacent to the couch, studying the overturned coffee table and the scattered, random objects that had been on it.
Oops.But also, not my fucking problem.
