Once we’re in the car and I’m pulling away from the house, I glance at Evie.
“You want to talk about it?”
When we went to get our bags from Rhett’s room, we walked in on him and a girl. I need to bleach my eyes after seeing her breasts bouncing all over the place.
Evie stares out the window, and I can see that she’s fighting back the tears that are threatening to fall.
“Do you want to talk about what happened between you and Marcus?” she counters me with her own question. “I saw you talking outside.”
“Yeah, about that,” I say as I let out a heavy breath. “I’m not sure what that was. It was confusing, to say the least.”
She sighs and looks at me. “That makes two of us. I have no idea what’s going on between Rhett and I. One second he’s flirting with me and getting my hopes up, and the next he’s fucking some sleaze.”
“Why are you even friends with the guys?”
Yes, they’re off the charts hot, but that doesn’t mean I’d be friends with them. Tonight just proved what kind of men they are. Womanizing bastards.
“It’s a long story.” When the silence stretches between us, I start to think that Evie’s done talking, but then she says, “They’re not as bad as I’ve made them out to be. I wouldn’t want you dating any of them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good friends. They were there for me when I had no one else.”
I steer the car the short distance home, and as I park in front of our apartment building, I ask, “What do you mean by you had no one else?”
Grabbing our bags, we get out of the car and only when I close the front door behind us, does Evie continue.
“I have no family. After spending years going from one foster family to another, I figured living on the street would be much safer for me. I was literally starving when I finally got a job cleaning houses.”
I make us some coffee as Evie sits down on the couch. When I’m done, I take the cups to the living room and sit down next to her.
She takes a sip before she whispers, “I’m not proud of what I did, but it was a job. When you’re dying of hunger, you stop thinking about what’s right and what’s wrong.”
“Cleaning houses is nothing to be ashamed of,” I say as I place my hand on her knee.
“I did it topless,” she whispers so softly, I almost miss the words.
“You did what topless?” I ask, not sure I’m hearing her right.
“I used to work for a cleaning company where the uniform was a g-string and heels. The clientele were all men who expected you to clean their dicks with your mouth while you’re at it.”
“Oh.”
I can’t picture Evie doing something like that. Not knowing what to say, I go with keeping quiet and absorbing what I’ve just learned from her.
“After one of the parties, Rhett made use of the company. I was a part of the group of girls who were sent to his house.”
“Now I really don’t like Rhett,” I mumble under my breath.
Evie shakes her head. “It’s not like that. It was the only time he used that service, and it was meant as a practical joke on the other guys. The guys were more uncomfortable than we were.”
“That’s hard to believe,” I say as I drink some coffee.
“Really. Logan left the second the first girl took off her jacket and started cleaning. Carter was glaring daggers at Rhett. To be honest, Marcus and Jaxson were too busy eating to care about the half-naked girls walking around them. I didn’t even get as far as taking off my jacket. Rhett took one look at me, and the joke was over.”
“Over? How? What did he do?” I’m so engrossed with what Evie’s telling me that I totally forget about the coffee in my hands.
“Rhett paid us and told us to leave. Before I could walk out of the house, he took hold of my arm and held me back. He asked me how old I was.”
“Shit. How old were you, Evie?” I asked shocked. I thought this happened last year.
“I had just turned eighteen. Age means nothing when you’re living on the street.”