Chapter 82 - Answers and Plans - Part 1

Lola hadn't broached the topic on her own, though Evan had expected her to, so he wondered if he should start it or leave it at that. On the one hand, he was glad that Lola had met the Saunders', but on the other, he was afraid that there would be a misunderstanding. Which was why he had to figure out how to start this conversation himself.

"Aren't you going to ask me anything?" he blurted out involuntarily during a break after the first period. Lola clearly wasn't expecting it, as she looked surprised, but her expression quickly turned into a smile.

"I thought you didn't want me to ask. It's better to wait until someone wants to talk," she replied, and he knew that answer didn't just apply to this conversation. Lola always chose to trust her friends until she was convinced otherwise. Evan knew that best of all.

"I guess I'm worried," he admitted with a sigh. "You're all used to seeing me with Kieran, and after the way things went down between us..."

"One bad breakup doesn't mean you're supposed to be single forever," Lola looked mildly amused, and the smile on her face was simply contagious, so Evan soon found himself smiling as well.

"You always know what to say," he accused her, smiling.

"It's a blessing and a curse at the same time," she joked.

"So," she began this time in a more serious tone, "If you're going to divulge tidbits of your relationship to me, I'm all ears. How did you two get together?" The blue-haired girl leaned a little closer to him and nudged his shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"Remember how I told you I didn't want to celebrate my birthday? I told him the same thing, but he wasn't to be persuaded. He took me out and I kissed him," he revealed, leaving out the detail of how that evening ultimately ended.

"So it's still fresh?" she asked, and Evan immediately understood where she was going with this.

"Yeah," he confirmed right away, not hesitating for a second. "I wouldn't have cheated on Kieran, and I wouldn't have hooked up with Ryan if I was still in love with Kie."

"Okay," Lola conceded, not even trying to pretend she didn't want to hear exactly that.

"At least I finally know what that hoodie was," she surprised him with the announcement right afterward, and Evan, caught off guard, couldn't control his expression for a moment. His blushing cheeks betrayed him once again.

"Up until now, I thought he just gave you his hoodie..." she didn't finish, but of course, they were both thinking the same thing.

"Yeah, we had sex," he admitted, and Lola seemed thrilled by the information.

"I'll finally have someone to talk to about sex."

"I'm sure you have enough female friends for that," he replied immediately, not even wanting to imagine what those conversations would look like. Although he was no longer a virgin, he hadn't talked out loud about sex with anyone yet. Before, when his friends talked about it, he didn't engage because he didn't have many opinions, and now, conversely, he had opinions, but no friends to talk about it with.

"Angie's still a virgin, Clara and I don't talk much about sex because those conversations end up being about Jacob and that's never good, and Millie did have sex, but she doesn't like to talk about it. Not that that's a bad thing, it's nice that she knows where her boundaries are and takes it as part of her private life, but it means I really don't have anyone to talk about it with," she explained.

"So you're going to talk about sex with me because I'm having sex with the same gender as you?" Evan didn't like that explanation very much, but at the same time, he understood it. Plus, he knew that Lola was the last person who would mean it offensively.

"Well..." She was obviously taken aback by his wording and thought for a moment. "I didn't mean it in a bad way, though I can see why it might have come off that way. Rather, is it that I don't have anyone else close to me to talk to on the subject? After all, it's something intimate. Especially when you're having sex with someone, you're in a relationship with and not just a random one-nighter."

"I could talk to Kieran or Josh, but they'll never bring up the topic and I don't want to ask them if they happened to have slept with anyone over the weekend," she added, and Evan frowned. With him being in a relationship with someone, he hadn't realised that Kieran might also be seeing someone. Not that the thought made him jealous, it was just strange to hear. After all, they had been together for a year and before they hadn't been together, Evan hadn't seen him with anyone else. So in no way had he ever had any reason to imagine him with anyone other than himself.

"Do you think he is seeing someone?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Kieran?" Lola asked just to be sure, though it was obvious from his expression that he couldn't mean anyone else.

Evan nodded silently, not taking his question away, and for a moment Lola looked like she was arguing with herself about whether it was a good idea to answer. "I don't know if he's dating anyone, but I think he's hooked up with someone."

Evan just nodded again, still somehow not knowing how to feel about it. He wasn't jealous, he was sure of that, but at the same time, he still felt somehow strange hearing it. It obviously showed on his face as Lola spoke up again," You each had your own way of dealing with your breakup. Kieran took it hard and I'm not saying that to make you feel bad. He obviously needed to get over you and this was his way. I'm not saying he slept with everyone who came his way, hell, I don't even know if he slept with more than two people, I'm just saying it definitely happened." Evan was silently nodding his head, listening to his friend's words, and not giving her a glance until she uttered the last sentence. "At least recently since his shirt barely covers his hickey today."

"Hickey?" he repeated, looking at her like she was crazy. He couldn't imagine Kieran with a hickey. Well, he could, but not like he had one in plain sight. Kieran was too polite and prudish for that. Apparently, that changed with sex, and Evan had no experience with that.

"Right where his collar ends. You'll notice it when you know what to look for," she confirmed.

Evan was sure it wasn't something he'd be looking for, but later when his eyes fell on the brunet, the first thing he noticed was his neck. Lola was right, when he knew exactly what he was looking for, he noticed the dark mark immediately.

An amused grin appeared on his face.

For some reason, the idea that Kieran hadn't been careful amused him. He knew Kieran wasn't the type to proudly wear marks on his neck to let everyone know he was having sex, so he had no doubt that he hoped no one would ask him about it.

Evan wasn't planning to do that, of course. In fact, he hadn't planned to broach the subject at all and was just glad Kieran had gotten over him. Although, it made him wonder if that meant it was the right time to speak to him.

In the end, Kieran sorted it out for him.

"Hey, E," he greeted, approaching him, and Evan took a few steps to meet him in the middle.

"Hey." Kieran was smiling, and so Evan threw on a small smile as well.

"How you been?" Kieran asked, and Evan decided not to think too much about the answer.

"Good. Pretty much everything the same." He knew that wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't the right opportunity to tell Kieran about Ryan. "What about you?"

"Same. But I guess I don't need much to be happy, as I'm glad it's finally warm outside again. We can all move into the garden again." He didn't even have to use a different tone, and Evan immediately understood what he was implying.

Evan couldn't control his expression. His eyebrows shot up and he parted his lips as if he wanted to say something but couldn't think of what. Kieran clearly wasn't going to sort this out for him as he waited for his reaction.

"Are you sure?" came out of his mouth at last.

"I know things still aren't the best between us, but I guess we could try being friends again?" His tone was cautious, but he certainly seemed serious.

"I want to ask again if you're sure..." Evan chuckled uncertainly and his hands came together in front of him, his fingers running over his knuckles.

Kieran sighed, letting it show for a moment that he'd obviously given it a lot of thought before saying it out loud.

"I know there's still a lot unspoken between us, but I'm tired of this splitting into groups," he explained, his tone exactly confirming his words. "Maybe it's selfish of me, but I'm about to graduate high school and I don't want to spend my last months here without my friends."

That made sense. Evan felt like laughing at hearing the word selfish in conjunction with Kieran. No one who really knew Kieran would ever label him selfish.

"Okay, we can give it a try. But the moment you feel uncomfortable, you have to tell me," Evan finally relented.

Kieran laughed shortly and, as if on cue, ran his hand over his neck in a nervous gesture. Although this conversation was supposed to be the first step in mending their relationship, like Kieran had said, there was still a lot left unsaid between them.

Evan had no idea how it would turn out the first time they met again in the schoolyard in full force, but fortunately, he wasn't going to find out today since they were past lunch and didn't meet for the few next breaks.

The only thing that has changed was that Kieran and Josh waved to him and Angie as they left for the bus stop and they waved back, and that was the end of Evan's school day.

Fortunately, all the stress he'd felt during the day fell off him the moment he stepped off the bus and ran into Ryan's arms.

Angie said goodbye to them right there in the parking lot, as her mom needed her help at home, so it was just the two of them. Evan decided to take a risk and invite him to his house even though he had no idea if his parents were home and Ryan agreed.

It seemed like life was kind to him today, and Evan was left delighted to find that he and Ryan had the house to themselves. He immediately gave Ryan a look to give him a hint as to how they could make use of it, and though Ryan rolled his eyes at first, the smile on his face betrayed that he liked Evan's plans.

"Wanna go upstairs?" he asked with a sweet smile.

"I'm not gonna say no to that." Evan didn't need to hear more and immediately took his hand and led him into his room, kissing him the moment they crossed the threshold.

Ryan's hands immediately fell to his waist as Evan pulled him closer to him by the back of his neck, his fingers playing with his hair. Evan felt a smile form on Ryan's lips and couldn't stop his own from forming on his lips. Being this close to Ryan instantly meant an endorphin rush and Evan couldn't and wouldn't fight it. He was defenceless in his arms, and instead of scaring him, the thought made him shiver in anticipation.

The kiss continued as Evan playfully nipped Ryan's bottom lip with his teeth and Ryan took advantage of that to thrust his tongue into his mouth deepening their kiss. His hands on Evan's waist slid down to the hem of his t-shirt and it didn't take long for Evan to feel his palms on his bare skin. He shivered, and a sound escaped through his lips that pretty accurately suggested what he thought of Ryan's action.

In one confident motion, Evan's hand moved from his boyfriend's neck to the belt loops of his jeans, which he used to pull him closer to him, and their pelvises bumped against each other. Evan immediately took advantage of that and rubbed his whole body against him.

"Fuck," Ryan breathed, his bottom lip quivering in urgency. "You don't hesitate."

"Never," Evan said almost breathlessly, but the smile on his face betrayed that he didn't mind the situation at all. Quite the opposite. His hand moved from Ryan's pants to the hem of his t-shirt and instead of slipping his hands underneath, he began to lift it up. His mate immediately understood what was required of him and took matters into his own hands. This gave Evan a momentary glimpse of his naked chest and he couldn't help but take a quick look at his perfect skin.

Of course, Ryan immediately decided to even the score and pulled Evan closer by his shirt, grabbing a handful right in the middle. It wasn't exactly a tender gesture, but Evan wasn't about to complain.

"Too many clothes," he assessed, quickly stripping off Evan's shirt while he obediently held his hands up to help him.

After that, neither of them hesitated. Their clothes began to fall to the ground, their breathing became faster and faster, and their saliva was everywhere but in their mouths. Some might find this disgusting, but to the wolves, it meant that their mate smelled like them. Wolves were territorial creatures and sex was no exception.

It wasn't long before they both found themselves naked in Evan's bed. Ryan sat on the blanket while Evan sat on top of him. Skin on skin, lips on lips.

Ryan's hands had long since moved down from Evan's waist and Evan lifted himself to give him better access. Without words, they agreed on the positions and were free to surrender to the passion without further thought. Ryan's lips moved to Evan's neck, and he tilted his head back to grant him better access. While Ryan worked on his upper body, Evan decided to occupy their lower parts. He rocked his hips and the friction it caused made them both moan.

It brought them both incredible pleasure to hear this and it spurred them on even more. There was nothing better than pleasing their partner and both were more than happy to know how to do it, despite not having much experience. Their instincts helped them to achieve the best result no matter what.

"Where's the lube?" Ryan muttered into his neck, loud enough for Evan to hear.

"We don't need it," Evan told him, his words causing Ryan to shift his attention from where he was trying to make a mark to Evan's face.

However, instead of answering his unspoken question with words, Evan took Ryan's palm from his ass and, holding his index and middle fingers, moved them into his mouth. And Ryan's eyes didn't leave this gesture for a second.

"You'll be the death of me," the dark-haired boy declared, his eyes still on Evan's mouth, which twisted into a smile after his declaration.