25

Lexi's POV:

The Following Week

"I told you at the start of the semester that there is no extra credit being offered. You should have done the work when it was assigned." I shrug as a student complains about their failing grades due to not completing assignments.

"But-" the student stops making excuses when my glare (which Evan has helped me perfect) lands on them.

They sigh and give an eye roll as they walk away from my desk. I glance up and see a figure in the doorway.

"Well, you've got the 'being a bitch' part of teaching down pat." Evan laughs.

I let out a soft groan, "ugh. Was that too mean?" I ask.

She shakes her head and wanders into my room, smiling. "No, I'm just teasing you. You did good."

A gentle smile appears on my lips. "Why are you here harassing me? Shouldn't you be grading exams?"

"All I have to do is run the thing through a machine, Lex. It'll take half an hour max." She sighs, making herself comfortable in one of the empty desks.

I scrunch my nose, "maybe I should have taken the advice about scantron exams. I underestimated how much of a pain it would be to grade essays." I toss one of the essays on my desk and Evan laughs.

"I'd offer to help you grade, but quite frankly, I do not want to." She shrugs.

"Wow, you're so good to me." I grin, sarcastically of course.

She winks and glances back at the door, making sure we're still alone. "speaking of me being good... am I still helping you pack tonight?" She asks.

"That is entirely up to you." I tell her, knowing that she is under no obligation to move my shit out of my apartment- which is still being shared with Mia.

"I'll rephrase, do you want me to help?" She asks, brows raising.

I laugh a little and flip a ball-point pen between my fingers. "I'm not saying you have to, but it would be nice to have help. I know you're a busy woman though."

"As long as Mia won't be there you know I'll help you." She says.

I nod, "and she won't be. She's going to visit her friends or some shit."

Evan nods and stands up from the desk. "Great. I'll meet you there around four then." She grabs a handful of the ungraded essays and starts to walk out, "you're lucky I like you."

I smirk and my eyes track her swaying hips out of the room, "I'll email you the grading rubric!"

* * *

Evan's POV:

I knock softly on the apartment door, and I hear Lexi yell inside.

I walk in and see that it is in a similar state to when I first saw it. Boxes scattered, but this time being packed instead of unpacked.

"Looks like you've made some decent progress." I say, clutching a coffee in my right hand.

"Ha, right. You think I did that? All of this is stuff Mia has declared hers, even though we paid for it together." Lexi's eyes roll and she tapes the bottom of a box together.

"Mm, I see." I nod. "Sounds kinda like me in the divorce, only Scott paid for most of it, I jsut took it to be a spiteful bitch. It was the least he could give me."

Lexi laughs and shakes her head, "remind me to never divorce you then."

"That'd require you to marry me first, and I don't think you're quite that stupid." I grin.

She looks my face over carefully and shakes her head, giving me no verbal response, which I expected.

"You didn't change first?" Lexi asks, taking notice of my outfit: a pair of tight black jeans, leopard print booties, and a black turtleneck sweater.

"I didn't think packing would be too strenuous, was I wrong to make that assumption?" I laugh, putting my things down and grabbing a box of my own.

"No, you just look too good and it distracts me." Lexi laughs.

I shake my head and pull my hand over her face as I walk by her. "Shut up. I'll go pack your closet up."

Lexi leaves me to do that while she handles the kitchen area. Going though her stuff is fun. I'm a nosy person anyway, so getting to go through every little thing in her closet is exciting for me.

I finish two boxes of clothes and shoes before I make it to a tall jewelry box. I immediately recognize the necklace that she used to constantly wear five years ago. I don't quite know why she doesn't wear it anymore.

I pull the chain off the hook where it hangs and Lexi's voice startles me. "How's it going?"

I glance up at her from the floor where I'm kneeling and she bites her cheek, knowing what I'm thinking.

"I don't like to think about it as much." She says, reaching out for the necklace.

I hand it to her and she looks at it for a second, then back to me. "Just put it with the rest. Most of that's Mia's. Just the stuff on the hooks belongs to me." She explains.

I nod my head and do as she says. "After this, closet is done. Where to next?"

"Living room decor is mine, so that can be packed too." Lexi says, grabbing one of the full boxes.

I finish up there and head to the living room, and Lexi is already getting started. I help, mostly in silence, and she lets the silence be for several minutes.

"Hey, Ev?" Her voice breaks the tense silence and I look over at her, waiting for her to speak. "I- it isn't you. I just- sometimes I don't like to think about stuff and be reminded of it constantly."

I nod, "I get that, Lex."

She chews her lip for a second and then smiles, "I love you."

I grin at the statement and she pulls my lips to hers and kisses me slowly.

In the middle of the tender kiss, another voice enters the room and it catches both of us off guard.

Lexi pulls away from me and we both see Mia standing in the doorway, talking on the phone.

Mia's eyes connect with mine instantly and my heart speeds up. The one thing I wanted to avoid...

"Oh, I didn't think you'd be here." Mia says, shifting her eyes over to Lexi.

I look away, biting down on my lip nervously. I can't help but feel like a little bit of a home-wrecker here. I mean, I know Lex and I's relationship didn't progress into what it is now until after they split, but I can't help but feel guilty that I have Lexi such a short time after Mia lost her, or let her go, I guess.

"Just packing some stuff up. You said you'd be gone." Lexi retorts.

Mia just stands there for a second, speechless. "I- yeah. I won't be here long I guess then."

She comes into the apartment and walks to the bedroom, away from me and Lexi.

The moment I hear the door shut I smack Lexi in the back of the head. "Are you fucking serious?" I hiss.

She holds her hand where I just hit her, "ow! I didn't know! She said she was going out!"

I shake my head and stand up from the couch, walking over to my phone and keys, "I'm going to go. I didn't sign up for-"

"Please, don't leave. It doesn't have to be weird, Ev." Lexi begs, rushing over to me and grabbing my hands.

"Oh, really?! Did you forget the part where she invited me to fuck both of you? Or the part where she called you out on being in love with me?! Lexi, it's going to be weird for me regardless. I feel bad for the girl."

"Please?" She pouts.

I sigh hard and tap my foot. My eyes keep glancing to the closed bedroom door. "Fine. I'm leaving if it gets too tense though. Jesus."

Lexi grins at me and kisses my cheek, "it'll be fine."

I reluctantly start packing again, and Mia doesn't come back from the bedroom for a while. It gives us plenty of time to pack up most of Lexi's stuff, which is great because that means I won't have to come back here.

When Mia finally shows her face, it instantly makes me wish I would have left earlier.

"Lexi, where do you want me to put this?" She asks, holding a box.

Lexi's brows furrow, "well what is it?"

It is very quiet for several seconds, but Mia's eyes shift to mine and she speaks confidently. "Our sex toys."

There are no words to explain how uncomfortable I become in that instant. My cheeks flush red and I clear my throat and avert my eyes down.

"Just toss them! Jesus, Mia." Lexi growls, realizing her ex probably did that on purpose.

Mia throws the box at Lexi's feet and one of the contents fall out, making me blush even harder. Why do these things happen to me?

"Oh, Evan..." Mia says, forcing me to look at her again. "I meant to ask, how was your fuck the other night?"

I don't even know what to say. I'm blindsided by the question.

"Mia, cut it out." Lexi hisses, knowing how awkward it makes me feel to have Mia asking intrusive questions.

"What? Does me being here make her uncomfortable? It didn't seem to be a problem when she was around you and it was making me uncomfortable." Mia scoffs, clearly more hurt about the situation than she led on initially.

"I'm going to go home." I say, standing up and walking towards the door.

As I pass by Mia she puts her hand on my waist and whispers in my ear, "next time you're horny just come over. The threesome is still a viable option as far as I'm concerned."

I instantly pull away from her, more so disgusted than anything because of her motive. "Get the hell off of me."

"Don't touch her, Mia. God." Lexi hisses, jumping up and pushing her way between Mia and myself.

I roll my eyes and collect my things, walking out the door with Lexi chasing behind me.

"Evan, please wait." She begs, diving into the closing elevator doors. "I'm sorry. I didn't think she'd be acting so-"

"Possessive? She's trying to assert dominance over you that she doesn't even have, Lexi." I laugh, finding the actions pathetic.

Lexi sighs and lets her head fall back, leaning against the wall.

"I'm the one who gets to assert her dominance now." I grin, stepping into Lexi and kissing her exposed neck.

"What the-" she stops talking when my lips touch her skin and her hand clutches the back of my head. I bet she wasn't expecting that one.

I retract my kiss and Lexi shakes her head, "I thought you were mad."

"I don't have a reason to be mad really. At the end of the day I know who you're sleeping with and who you're saying 'I love you' to." I shrug. "The girl in that apartment is still very much in love with you, and I can't blame her for that. I know how good you are, and letting you go isn't fun."

"Ev.." Lexi sighs, grabbing my hand.

"But, one thing I can be mad about is why the hell you feel the need to divulge the details of when we have sex to your ex." I growl, narrowing my eyes.

"I told you she wished me a good fuck the other night! I've learned my lesson about admitting to things." Lexi laughs.

"I thought you were kidding when you said that." I roll my eyes and the elevator dings and the door opens. Lexi walks me out to my car and opens my door, letting me climb inside.

"Be careful going home. I'll see you in the morning." Lexi nods, looking hard at my lips.

"Wait." I stop her and grab her hand. "I um- I just wanted to let you know that we got a court date."

Lexi's face changes from wearing a playful smile to one that is very serious. "What? Ev, why didn't you say something when you found out? When is it?"

I take a ragged breath, "I didn't say anything because I didn't want to think about it. I'm nervous, Lex. If things don't go my way..." my voice trails off a bit, but then picks back up. "It's next week."

"Ev, it'll be alright. Richard has you covered, you know that." Lexi assures me.

"That was before Scott figured out I'm seeing you, Lexi. I know I didn't admit to it, but he isn't stupid. He's going to have his lawyers bring it up and make it relevant somehow. I know him, Lexi. He gets what he wants."

Lexi's head shakes quickly, "there is no way he can bring that up, Evan. Who you go to bed with does not have any affect on your ability to parent. He'd be stupid to try to slip that in there. All it would do is make him look like he's desperately grasping for something to keep the kids."

My head falls back on the seat and my eyes close. "I'm just scared." I admit.

"Don't be. Be confident, Ev. Who cares what happened five years ago? There is no proof, and it was five fucking years ago." Lexi points out.

I know she's right, but it is still messes with my head.

"I'll come to court with you." Lexi says.

My eyes snap open and I grab her hand, "Lexi, no. I appreciate your support, but you being in that courtroom is a worse idea than you could even imagine."

Lexi sighs and rolls her eyes, "I don't want you going in there alone."

"I've been doing scary things alone for a while now, Lex. I can handle it." I assure her.

"You don't have to do it all by yourself anymore, Ev. You can lean on me as hard as you want. I just want to be her for you." Lexi says, stroking her thumb against my fingers.

My lips curl and I pull her into me, hugging her. "I don't deserve you."

She laughs pathetically, "I think that's the other way around."

I end the embrace and kiss her lips tenderly, "I wouldn't complain if you stayed with me Sunday night though."

She nods and pulls her finger over my lip, "of course."

I grin and bite my lip, thinking. "I'm gonna go."

She nods and slowly pulls away, "drive safe, and let me know when you make it home safe."

I nod, "I will. I love you." I tell her, touching her jaw carefully.

Lexi kisses me and closes the door one more time, departing for the evening.