My Dad's Bestfriend novel Chapter 70

Evelyn

I woke up in Jacob's arms. Oddly enough, this cursed, seemingly endless night had not yet come to an end. It was the only time I wished time would speed up, but the entire universe seemed to conspire against me.

Don't get me wrong; we weren't in some stupid cozy cuddling situation. To be clear, we were now nothing more than strangers. This man had just saved me from getting raped by some random dude and brought me back to my house. So, all I owed him was a simple thank you, or at least that's what my drunken, hazy, and scrambled memories told me. But I had already offered him that, so we were even.

As he carried me upstairs, I found myself unable to say anything, mainly because I had nothing left to say after the chaos of the night. I had zero energy left, but looking didn't consume any energy, right? At least that's what I assumed.

So, I stared at him like some sort of weirdo. Deep down, a small part of my super-drunk consciousness knew that I might not get this opportunity again. Enjoy it while it lasts— that's what I did.

I know I was crazy. Super foolish.

But one question nagged at me: Why was he helping me so much? Was it out of sheer humanity? I had my doubts; he didn't seem to possess much of that. He didn't have a heart, so humanity probably wasn't his possible motivation.

The peace and quiet I attempted to embrace didn't seem very appealing to my drunken mind. Eventually, I found myself breaking the silence. "Where are you taking me?" I swayed my legs, feeling somewhat like a child being carried by an elder. Well, he had carried me a few times when I was a kid.

"To your room, Evelyn."

"Well, you should have taken me to a bar instead of bringing me home," I mumbled as I buried my head into his neck, inhaling his scent— he still smelt as good as I could remember..

I felt his body stiffen, but he continued walking.

"Remember the time I fell and scraped my knee during a family picnic?" I asked, raising my head to look at him. "You rushed over, picked me up, and gave me a piggyback ride all the way back to the beach house to clean my wounds since Dad was out getting groceries for your and your friends' ridiculous cooking experiments?"

A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Yeah, I do."

I couldn't understand why he wouldn't look at me, but the mention of that event clearly brought him some happiness. I could sense it.

"And later that experiment failed, and we all ended up ordering pizza," a small laugh slipped past my lips, "While everyone else had made their way back to their rooms, you and Dad had the knack for watching movies. Dad passed out on the floor, munching on a packet of chips, and you dozed out on the couch, right beside me..." I exhaled a small sigh, and finally, his eyes shifted toward me. As our gazes locked, I found it increasingly difficult to speak. "That was the day... When I looked at your sleeping figure, instead of the weird, stupid car racing show playing on TV, I heard the sound of fireworks somewhere ... just somewhere within. I felt the sparks for the first time, and that thirteen-year-old crush I thought was stupid, Deep down, I knew I was always searching for your glimpse in every guy I came across. You are my first love, Jacob...you always will be."

I could tell he was taken aback, and to be honest, I was too. I had saved this confession for a special occasion, but it seemed there was no special occasion left for us except for this one. Once the wedding was over, we might be far away from each other, perhaps forever, and even though it would hurt, there would be nothing I could do.

He cleared his throat after a moment of just staring at my face. "Your... your room."

He gently let me down on my feet, straightening his posture as he opened the door. "Go and get some rest. I'll tell Clara to check on you."

"No need to tell her," I replied quietly, "She doesn't have to know how miserable I've become."