Page 82 of The Challenge

“You were really still thinking about me after that stupid letter I sent you?”

“Like I’ve said, I knew you didn’t mean those words. You were hurt. In fact, the letter showed me for the first time just how much I’d hurt you. Even though I suspected you were drunk, sometimes alcohol brings out the pain. And yes, I did still think about you and imagine what my life might’ve been like had I not let you go.”

I choked back tears. “You were never happy with Katerina?”

“There were happy times, but I don’t think I told you that Katerina and I broke up before I found out she was pregnant with Effie…”

Wow. I shook my head. “No, you never told me that.”

“When she found out about the pregnancy, we got back together. Things were good for a while. I really tried to make it work. I wanted to give my daughter the kind of life I never had, one with two parents. I guess you could say I wanted to give her an upbringing like yours. But in the end, all I did was inadvertently walk Effie right into the same kind of childhood I had, with one loving parent and another who was MIA.”

“Do you think you would’ve stayed married to Katerina forever if she hadn’t left you?”

“I probably would’ve, yeah. For Effie. That’s how badly I wanted Effie to have a stable family life. But I made the mistake of admitting once to my ex-wife that I didn’t feel fulfilled. That was the beginning of the end. I was willing to keep working on things. But my honesty gave her an excuse to start bowing out of the marriage, even though I never cheated. I can’t blame her, though. I can only blame her for not sticking around for Effie after the divorce.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I didn’t intend for us to talk about Katerina tonight.”

“What did you intend?”

“I think I’d convinced myself that we should talk tonight, but actually…” He rubbed his thumb along my cheek. “What I really want to do is fuck you.”

A jolt of arousal shot through my body as I stood there, stunned into silence.

“I just don’t want to hurt you, Chloe.” He let out a long breath that I felt on my chest. “But I really want to fuck you.”

“Evan?”

“Yeah?”

“I won’t break if you let go. I promise. No matter what happens, I’ll be okay. And I won’t regret it.”

He shook his head. “I’m barely hanging on by a thread. It won’t take much. You have no fucking idea how easy it would be for me to let go right now.”

“I sort of need you to because I’m ready to lose my mind.”

He nodded before he walked over to one of the drawers and opened it.

What is he doing?

He took out one of the neon pink notes, followed by a black Sharpie. He wrote something down before coming back over to me. “I believe it’s my turn,” he said, sticking it to my chest, right in the middle of my cleavage.

I looked down at what he’d written. It was the same challenge I’d given him all those years ago.

Have sex with me.

Chapter 31

CHLOE

“For the record, this doesn’t say Chex.” Evan flashed a crooked smile.

When I placed my hand on his chest again, I could feel how fast his heart was beating. Despite him mauling my face in Drew’s bedroom earlier, this was the last thing I’d expected tonight, though I was so very ready for it.

Rather than say anything, I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed him hard, pushing my tongue into his mouth.

That was apparently all the permission Evan needed. He lifted me off the ground and carried me to his room. With my arms around his neck, enveloped in his warmth, I felt light as a feather.

The bedroom was dark, the house so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I was grateful for this opportunity to finally be alone with him for an entire night.

He placed me gently on the bed and peered down. “I want to do everything to you. But tell me what you need from me first.”