Page 64 of The Challenge

“How the fuck?” Evan rubbed his head.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Be careful. There are shards of glass.”

“I’m having déjà vu,” I said as I quickly stepped out of the closet. Thankfully, I had thick socks on, and Evan was wearing shoes.

He stood there scratching his head as he looked down at the mess. I cracked up as I gathered my clothes.

Then the doorknob to my bedroom moved. I froze.

“I heard a crash,” Effie said from behind the door. “And Daddy’s not in his room.”

“One second, Effie!” Evan called. “Everything’s fine. I’m in here.” He ran a hand through his messed-up hair.

I got dressed as fast as humanly possible and positioned myself nonchalantly on the edge of the bed.

Out of breath, Evan opened the door. “It’s okay, honey. The light fixture in Chloe’s closet fell, and I ran out of my room fast because I thought it was a burglar.”

“I got scared.” Her little chest heaved.

“I’m sorry, baby.” He caressed her hair. “There’s no reason to be scared.”

“How come the door was locked?”

“I…didn’t want you to come in with bare feet,” Evan answered without missing a beat.

“Oh.”

“Everything’s okay now. Go back to bed, baby.”

“Okay, Daddy.” She looked over at me. “’Night, Chloe.”

“’Night, sweet girl. Sorry to wake you. Get some sleep.”

Evan watched from the doorway as she headed back to her room.

When he finally turned to me, I felt my cheeks burn.

He closed the door slowly. “I’m sorry I lost control like that,” he said in a low voice.

“I’m only sorry I didn’t have a chance to reciprocate,” I whispered.

Evan rubbed his head. “The only thing that went down on me tonight was the light.”

I snorted. “Oh my God.”

“I’ll clean it up in the morning. Just don’t walk over there, okay?” He winked. “I closed the door for you.”

“Okay.” I swung my legs playfully as I sat at the edge of the bed, feeling like I was on cloud nine.

“I’d better go.” His brown eyes burned into mine one last time before he walked out of the room.

I stared up at the ceiling, dumbfounded and euphoric. I just came on Evan Ricci’s face.

A few minutes later, I heard the shower running. Knowing he’d already taken one tonight, I slid under my blankets with a silly grin.

Chapter 25