Evin's Fight (Southern Charmers 3)

She lifts her hand, tracing her thumb over my lips. “The feeling is mutual. What I don’t understand is why you always shut it down.”

I clasp her hand and gently draw her close. “I was trying to save this conversation, but after what you said in the truck and what just happened, it’s unavoidable.”

Her expression fills with confusion. I try to think of how to say what I want without sounding like a total asshole. She reads my hesitation, placing her hand on my chest. “Why don’t you spill what’s bothering you?” She steals my words from earlier.

“You’re right, I am a man with a lot of experience. Lost my virginity at seventeen. Casual sex has never been an issue or a problem for me. I picked up early on that wasn’t the case with you.”

She tenses, her eyes swelling with embarrassment. “No, that’s not the case with me.”

“Don’t be embarrassed, baby, that’s a beautiful thing.”

She takes a deep breath, shaking her head and clutching my shirt. “You don’t understand. It’s not a problem with casual sex. I’ve never—”

“I know,” I cut her off, curling my arm around her shoulders.

“You know? How?” The embarrassment transforms into dread and her head hits my chest. “Oh my God, you must think I’m a total square.”

“You’re wrong. That’s the furthest thing from my thoughts. I don’t know why you saved that part of yourself, but there is no judgment. And not to be a dick, but it fucking thrills me.”

Her head pops up, and she scrunches her nose. “It thrills you you’ve hooked up with the oldest virgin known to man?”

“There’s the drama again.”

“No, seriously, Evin. I don’t know one person over the age of twenty that’s never had sex. Even some older girls in that class today have steady boyfriends, and it’s obvious they’re sleeping together. Do you know how it feels to know that I teach girls with more experience than me?”

I bite back my laughter at the ridiculousness of her question. “Do you know how many of them will regret giving up something so special to boys that most likely do not know what they are doing?”

“You were a boy.”

“Yeah, and that’s how I know.”

She purses her lips and scans my face, the curiosity returning. “If you know this about me, why do you always shut things down when they get heated?”

“Because there’s a reason you’ve held on to something this important. I want to know that reason. And if things go the way I hope, I’m not fucking you on a sofa in the heat of the moment.”

“But you’re leaving tomorrow.”

The reminder sends a sharp pain to my chest. “That’s another reason. I’m not the dickhead to get something so precious and fly out the next day.”

“So, tonight is not about that?”

Her question slams into me with such force that I jerk back. “Hell no.”

“What if I’m ready?”

“Baby, trust me on this.”

“What happens when you go home?”

Fuckin’ A, she’s scared. “Poppy, there’s no one else and there will not be. You haven’t dated in over a year, but I’ve got you beat. As much as it sucks to say this to you, and it makes me a dickhead, I don’t date in the traditional sense. Haven’t had a girlfriend in a hell of a long time.”

“Are you saying I’m your girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend isn’t the right term. You’re a lot more than that.”

Everything about her settles, and she gives me the smile that lights my world on fire. The mood in the air shifts, all her apprehension vanishing. “Tonight is going to be the best first date in the history of first dates. It will be so epic that we’ll be able to last the next three weeks.”

She gives me a quick kiss, jumps off my lap, and goes back to the bed to look through her options.

I watch her, deciding that there will be no waiting three weeks. I’m a fucking executive for a reason. My work can be remote to an extent.

I’ll handle my family, handle my shit in the office, and come right back to her.

Chapter 8

Poppy

I hold tight, savoring the feel of his arms around me. Similar to the first night, we sway to the music in our own world, him setting our rhythm. Since we met, Evin’s been openly affectionate, but tonight there’s an aura of comfort and intimacy between us. Lingering kisses, thoughtful glances, soft touches, all of it meaning much more.

After our talk, a tremendous weight lifted.

No expectations, no pressure, no judgment. The awkwardness of my secret is no longer a burden.

‘Somehow I've fallen… Under your spell… And somehow I'm feeling… It's up that I fell.’

All the breath leaves my lungs as his smooth voice sings some of the most beautiful lyrics ever written in my ear.

The man behind the baby grand piano isn’t singing, which means Evin has to know this song.