74

I kept twisting the ring on my finger as they talked around me. I felt Kai sit next to me, keeping room between us. He grabbed my hand and turned it over, placing a glass of bourbon in it. I gripped the glass tighter and pulled it between my hands.

I expected to snap out of this bad mood I've been in for the past week, but it feels impossible. Every time he crosses my mind, I sink lower into the pit of depression. Kai was able to convince me to try and get out, so now we're here at the boarding house.

I didn't expect to stay around him the entire time, but as it turns out, he actually helps. Although he is the reason I'm in this mess in the first place.

"It just doesn't make sense."

I looked at Caroline. "What?"

She moved to the edge of the couch. "Why would he leave you at that moment? What did he say?"

The moment flashed through my head. I've explained everything ten times now, but I've omitted the part about Kai.

"Where did he even go," Elena asked.

I shook my head, "Away from me." I looked down at the glass in my hands again.

"And you haven't tried talking to him?"

I looked at Caroline again. "I don't see why I should. If he wanted to talk to me, he would."

My phone started ringing. I looked at it sitting on the coffee table. Oliver's name made my heart jump. I wanted to answer it, but talking to him would go against my better judgment.

Caroline reached across the coffee table and grabbed my phone, answering the call from him before I could stop her.

"What do you want?"

I was getting a headache from thinking about this for so long.

"No, you can't talk to her. Especially not over the phone!"

I got up and walked into the kitchen to refill the glass in my hands, even though I could've done it in the living room.

I drank what I poured and then sat the glass on the counter before walking out of the kitchen. I froze seeing Oliver standing in the living room. I could feel the tension through the quiet, encircling the room.

I walked closer. "What are you doing here?"

He turned to look at me. "I want to talk to you, Evelyn."

I tilted my head, "We have nothing to talk about."

"Yes, we do. You know we do."

"No, you pretty much said it all."

"So I was right?"

"You're unbelievable," I rolled my eyes as I started to turn away.

He grabbed my arm, making me turn to face him. "Evelyn, please. Just hear me out. You owe me that much."

"I don't owe you anything, especially not after what you did."

"What I did was express my concerns and stop you from making a mistake. And you proved me right considering where you went after!"

"Maybe you two want to do this privately," Caroline suggested.

I tilted my head, "We're not doing this at all. I'm leaving."

"With him, no doubt."

"You were right about one thing. You can never do what he can, which is actually give me what I need."

"And what exactly did he give you?"

"You're smart. You can figure it out."

I could see the anger forming in his eyes. "You know, you can blame me all you want for how unhappy you are right now, but nothing will ever change the fact that I was right about not being with you."

"No, you weren't!"

"Then why did you go to him, Evelyn? You could've found me instead and worked things out, but you went to him! What was I supposed to do? I'd be surprised if you weren't doing things with him already."

"I wouldn't do that to you."

"You obviously were considering how close you were."

"There was nothing going on between us!"

"So you don't feel anything for him?!"

Lying to him isn't something I do. "Oliver."

"Were you sleeping with him?"

"No."

He tilted his head, "Why don't I believe you?"

"Because you don't want to."

He shook his head. "Because I'm right."

I felt like I was losing my mind. "There was nothing going on between us."

"Prove it."

I furrowed my brows. "How am I supposed to prove it?"

"Show me that there wasn't anything between you two."

"You don't want that."

"Kiss him, Evelyn."

I tilted my head, "What?"

"Prove that there was nothing going on and that there's nothing now. Kiss him."

I rolled my eyes. "You're an idiot." I walked over to Kai.

I put my hands at the sides of his face and leaned into him as I pushed onto my toes to kiss him. After the initial shock, his hands found my waist, pulling me against him. He started to kiss back. Stars danced in my vision, pulling me deeper into the kiss.

The feeling of his hands holding me firmly against him seeped into my skin, sending chills down my spine. The images of what used to happen between us danced across my vision. I could feel the touch of his hands pushing my thighs apart, as his hot breath fanned my neck. All those soft praising words he once whispered in my ear were now all I could think about.

Once I realized what I was doing, I stopped. My eyes found his as they opened. "Sorry," I mumbled.

"No, that's..." His gaze shifted to my lips for a second before returning to mine, "fine." He looked dazed and caught up in the moment.

I slid my hands to his chest as I pulled away from him. His hold on my waist loosened as I pulled away. I turned to Oliver again, walking over to him. I pulled the ring off my finger and grabbed his hand, placing it in his palm. I closed his hand around the ring and pushed his fist against his chest, "Was that enough proof for you?"

I walked past him, walking back into the kitchen. I filled the glass again. I sat the bottle down, hearing the front door shut. I breathed out slowly before taking a drink of what I poured. I heard the door open, but I didn't look up.

"That was brutal," Damon muttered as he sat across from me. He reached for the glass in my hand.

I looked at him as he took a drink. "He deserved it."

He handed the glass back to me. "He deserved to have his heart ripped out, but you're not ready for that conversation."

I placed my hands flat against the counter. "Damon -"

"No. Don't 'Damon' me. He's a dick, Evelyn. If he wanted to break up with you, he should've done it before everything was set up for the wedding. If I wasn't so concerned about you, I would've killed the guy. And the way he was talking to you is unacceptable. Never let anyone talk to you like that."

I tilted my head, "You talk to me like that."

He pointed his finger, "Because you let me."

I sighed as I looked away from him. "What's your point, Damon," I looked at him.

"My point is that you didn't deserve that anyway. If he was so jealous of your relationship with Kai, then maybe he had control issues." He tilted his head. "You don't deserve to have someone who tells you what to do or who to be around. I think eventually it would've gotten to that point, and I hate that for you. I saw how happy you were with him, and I wish it could've worked out for you. Not for him, though. He should be suffocating on a di-"

I laughed, "Okay! I get it." I leaned into the counter. "I deserve better."

He nodded, "Great, now that you understand that, we can talk about the other thing."

I furrowed my brows, "The other..." I sighed. "The other thing." I shook my head, "We don't need to talk about the other thing."

"Sure we do," he exclaimed. "That was some kiss, wouldn't you say?"

"Damon." I took a drink to prolong my answer. "This is not a topic up for discussion."

"Then why are we discussing it?" He folded his hands together on the counter. "See what I'm confused about is the point you were trying to make, because it seemed to me that you wanted him to rip your clothes off, not that there wasn't anything happening between the two of you."

I tilted my head, "We had a moment going, you know, and then you just said something so... bewildering."

He smiled, "That's what I'm here for."

I pushed off the counter. "Maybe you should look into changing that."

He nodded, "Good luck with that."

I smiled as I walked away from him, leaving the kitchen. He followed me after a moment.

Elena walked over to him. I resumed my seat on the couch next to Kai. I looked at Damon as he and Elena left. I sat back and looked at the coffee table. Caroline put my phone back.

"So you're just... going to act like nothing happened?"

I looked at Caroline. "Pretty much."

"I mean," she looked at Kai, "you're not going to talk about it?" She looked at me.

I took a breath before looking at Kai. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He smiled. "And ruin the moment? No, thanks."

I smiled and looked at Caroline, "No. We're not."

She seemed dumbfounded. "Seriously?"

Kai sat the glass he was holding on the coffee table and then looked at me. "I'm leaving before this gets worse. Have fun."

I smiled, "I will." His smile widened as he got up. I watched as he walked to the door. I moved to the edge of the couch and looked at her again. "What?"

She furrowed her brows. "You just kissed him like you've been together for ten years and then acted like it meant nothing? When you really haven't even seen him for three years and you kind of hate him?"

I tilted my head, "I don't hate him."

She lifted her brows as her eyes widened, "Are you..." She sighed in frustration as she rose to her feet. "Whatever. Let's go." I laughed to myself as I stood up.