Promises Forgotten
Chapter 26

I moved my head and looked her in the eyes. Her eyes dancing with a mischievous light; one that sucked me in and made we want to follow her no matter where she went. For a moment, I wondered if I should. I wondered if I should walk away now and go back to Jason. Find some other random woman I could easily take to bed. This woman seemed dangerous, and this pull I felt toward her gave me a red alert. Jump ship now, my brain kept saying over and over again, but looking at her in the eyes, my heart couldn’t let her go.

“Lead the way.”

She smiled and took my hand. This time, we wove through the crowd together. She stopped and leaned in to Angelica, who was at the bar ordering drinks. Turning to look at me, Angelica smirked and leaned back in to Evie’s ear. Whatever she said made her shake her head, but Evie looked back at me with a blush on her face.

“Follow me.”

Evie pulled me away and headed toward the entrance of the club. The bouncer opened up the door and we walked through. The weather was warm, even in the middle of May, and was comfortable for the two of us. She turned, walking backward down the sidewalk.

“You sure you want to trust me, Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Brooding?”

Laughing, I closed my hand around hers. “Z. My friends call me Z.”

“They call you the last letter of the alphabet? What? Afraid people will forget your name?” She laughed and turned away from me.

Smiling, I took a couple of wide steps to catch up with her. “Your friend said your name was Evie.”

“That’s right. I figured she said something. Your kind doesn’t really mess with me.”

“My kind?” I raised my eyebrow and looked down at her.

She was smiling though, almost skipping in her heels. “Yes. You want an easy one and done. Onto the next when the sun comes up. Ones you can throw money at for a night to impress them and then they don’t feel bad when you kick them out the next day.”

I tipped my head. “So, you’re not one of those girls?”

Her eyes met mine and that damn smirk found its way back on her face. “Of course not. I promise you though, you won’t regret it.”

She suddenly walked to the edge of the sidewalk and looked both ways before jaywalking across the street. I followed, but our grasp was broken. Her almost skipping down the sidewalk made me walk faster, but she turned down an alley that I don’t think even a motorcycle would fit down.

“Are you trying to murder me?”

Her laughter filled the alley. “Here? Not even. There are far better places to kill people than here. You obviously don’t know the Vegas area outside the strip.”

“Oh, and you do?”

She turned to look at me. “I used to live here with my dad. I moved to LA a few years ago.” Her pace didn’t slow as she exited the alley and turned to the right, walking down the street.

Popping out of the alley, I jogged to follow her as she was already crossing the street. The area we were now in was not one I would normally find myself in. She started to go down another alley and I reached out to her, when I heard music filtering through buildings. Turning, she winked at me and took my hand again. She started pulling me through the alley and we popped out in front of a park. The park was lit up with tiki torches and lanterns. There were food tucks that lined all four roads surrounding the park. You could hear loud music playing in the park with laughter and people yelling.

“I told you that you wouldn’t regret it.”

Her eyes sparkled and her pace slowed as she looked over each of the food trucks. My hand slipped around her waist and I walked with her. Pointing out different items on the menus and asking questions, my Spanish was rusty at best and most of the signs were in Spanish. The Latin music filled the whole area and I wondered if anyone ever called the police for the noise.

“No. F*****g. Way. Mira lo que arrastró ese gato.” [Look what the cat dragged in.]

A man leaned out of a food truck and I watched as Evie stopped, flipping the chef off.

“Jódete papá. Te pones más feo cada vez que te veo.” [F**k you, Dad. You get uglier every time I see you.]

“¿Quién te enseñó español?” [Who taught you Spanish?] The man laughed and motioned us forward. “It’s good to see you, mija.” [It’s good to see you, daughter.]

Evie smiled and nodded. “You too. I will be in town for a week. We can catch up with the kids and the family later.”

“The wife would like that! Ella ha estado en mi culo últimamente.” [She’s been on my a*s lately.] He sighed.

“Not pregnant again, right?”

He laughed, but you could hear the edge in his voice. “Let’s hope not. The usual?”

She nodded. “Double it. My friend here hasn’t lived yet. So, he’ll need extra.”

“Sounds good, mija.” [Sound good, daughter.]

He disappeared into the truck, and I looked down at her. “Honestly, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

Evie looked up at me and smiled, but her face was red. “My dad wasn’t rich. We lived where we could when we could. Sometimes moving around because they raised rent or were going to remodel and charge more. We ended up in some…interesting areas to say the least.” She chuckled. “My dad, though, never viewed the area as good or bad when choosing a new place. It was always, ‘was it a neighborhood?’ We stayed in this area the longest. A few of the families pitched in to help us when he…” Her voice trailed off and she looked back up at me. “…when we needed it.”

“Is that how you learned Spanish?”

She laughed. “That’s how I learned to get away with cussing.”

“Tu orden, mija.” [Your order, daughter.]

“Gracias, pendejo.” [Thanks, a*****e.]

She reached up and grabbed four bags of food from him. You could see the grease already seeping into the paper bags.

“Z! Grab the drinks!” My body jolted as she said my name for the first time. I came forward and took the two styrofoam cups from the chef. He winked at me and I smiled. Turning, I followed her bounding figure to the park until she planted down on a park bench near the music.

Sitting down next to her, I placed the drinks on the table and she set two bags in front of me.

“Let me guess, Mr. Rich here hasn’t eaten from a food truck before?”

I scoffed. “I’ve eaten from a food truck before.”

“Not one that wasn’t called to cater a function?”

My retort died in my mouth, and she threw her head back, laughing. I started to laugh as well.

“F**k. I’m starving. I don’t care whose f*****g wedding it is. Just because you don’t want to eat before you get married doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t want to eat.” Evie took a bag and tore it open and laid it out flat. There was a fork in the bag and looking at the contents of the bag, I could tell there was meat, cheese, onions, and some kind of thick fried chip, but it was tossed together.

“I’ve had f*****g salads for three days. I’m not a rabbit. If I get hit by a car in an hour, my last meal will not be a f*****g Cesar salad with no dressing because ‘dressing is too fattening’.” She mocked the last couple of words and I snickered.

Leaning over, she tore open a bag for me and set it in front of me. Taking her own fork, she stabbed at the meat and grabbed a chip with her other hand, putting both in her mouth at the same time. She m****d and threw back her head as she chewed. The action had my d**k pressing against my slacks painfully and I had to look away. Discreetly, I adjusted myself and looked at the food in front of me. Taking the fork, I did the same and popped the food in my mouth.

For a moment, I froze. The meat was so tender and juicy and the crunch of the fried whatever-it-was balanced out perfectly. The onions and cheese and cilantro, maybe even a bit of lime juice, cut through the fattiness of the meat and the greasy chip. I had been to Mexico and Spain. Stayed in the nicest hotels and ate at the so-called best restaurants. Never in my life had I tasted something this good.

I realized Evie was staring at me, that smirk on her face as she watched me try to comprehend what I was eating. She didn’t say anything, but grabbed her drink and took a sip. Turning back, she had another bite as she watched the band play.

“Do you like music?” I asked before reaching out and taking a drink. I started to cough when I realized there was vodka in the drink, and I was not expecting it.

She laughed. “You could say that. It’s Fanta and vodka. Watch out though, he uses the cheap stuff and if you don’t mix it, a straight vodka sip will burn your f*****g throat.”

I nodded, feeling like I did just that.

“What about you? What’s a guy like you doing in Vegas?”

Raising my eyebrows, I eyed her questioningly. I was used to people recognizing me from the tabloids at least. Most of the girls who came up to me or even spoke to me were aware of who I was. Even if I pursued them first, I unfortunately had a recognizable face.

“A guy like me?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Don’t they have clubs where you are? What? LA? New York? Its got to be one of those.”

“New York, actually. My dad’s business is there. You could say I’m running.”

“Ah yes, the silver spoon gets shoved in your face and the first thing you want to do is run from it.” She chuckled, but there wasn’t bitterness or judgement in her words. More amusement than anything. “So, what does daddy dearest want you to do?”

I took a couple bites of food, watching the traditional dancing happening on the dance floor. “Wants me to grow up and take over.”

“Well f**k that!”

I laughed and looked back at her. “You aren’t going to tell me that it’s my responsibility as the first born to step up and I should be an adult?”

Shaking her head, she grabbed her drink, shaking it slightly before taking a couple sips. “Growing up and being an adult is overrated. Once you make that decision, you can’t go back. That’s it. If he still is allowing you to leave, which I’m sure he absolutely could stop you, then you might as well take advantage of it.”

There was a wistful look that crossed her face. She didn’t look at me, her eyes glued to the dancers. “Don’t let anyone force you to grow up, Z. The world isn’t kind to adults.”

“You sound like you already went through it.” I smirked and she turned to me, smiling.

“Maybe I know what I’m talking about. You should listen to your elders.”

I coughed. “Elders? No way in hell you’re older than I am.”

“Maybe not. But I’ve been an adult doing adult things for years. If you’re still not there yet, that makes me your elder.” She winked and reached out, tearing open the second bag and chowing down.

Rolling my eyes, I wanted to take another bite but realized the bag I was working on was also empty.

“See. This is why you get a double.”

I looked over at her, the light from a nearby tiki torch reflecting in her eyes. My heart started to hammer in my chest. Her smile, her energy and her glow. I realized I was falling for her; hard and fast. I don’t know how she did it, but she took my heart and dragged me into the unknown. Taking me out of every comfort until all that was left was just a boy, sitting next to a pretty girl at a park bench at midnight. A smile snuck on my face and I nodded. She broke eye contact but I still took in her beauty. She clapped and whistled as the song ended and I turned away from her, also clapping.

What the hell was happening to me?