THE ART OF DESIRE, michael crist

07. Miss Palmer

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the present _ now

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I finally walk towards Delcour after an, well let's just say, interesting first day at college.

I walk inside the building and greet Mr. Patterson and walk towards the elevator, seeing none other than Alex waiting for the elevator.

"Well, hello there Miss Palmer." I greet her playfully and she smirks back.
"It's nice to see you again, Evelyn." Alex replies, dragging my name out with a flirty undertone.
"Didn't expect to see you that soon. Do you live here?"
"Yes, I do. I live on the sixteenth floor. You?"
"Twenty-first."
"Good to know." Alex says with a smirk just as the doors to the elevator open and we step inside.

"How was your first day at Trinity college?"
"It was rather interesting. I met two strange boys who are friends with an old friend of mine." I reply, keeping my answer vague.
"You mean Michael?" She asks and my head snaps towards her, of course they would know each other, I mean they live in the same building and they must have crossed paths one day.

"Don't worry, I didn't sleep with him."
"I didn't -"
"Your killer look said otherwise." Alex interrupts me and I just now realize that I put on my bitch face and glared at her.

What the fuck? It's just Michael, you couldn't give fuck about him.

"Well, do you know his friends?" I ask, I mean I heard some things about them from Michael but that was three years ago, they definitely have changed in prison.

"Well, I know that there are Damon, Will and Kai."
"Yeah, that much I gathered." I reply with a frown.

"You know I see lots of men. Women, too." She adds, sounding a little bit cocky and I smirk, turning my body completely to her.

"Why don't you give me your number? I mean, when we will see each other more often at college, or here..." I trail off and she picks out a card from her bag, holding it towards me.

"Here is my number, call me if you need help with stuff at college or other things." Alex says. The doors open and she steps out, calling over her shoulder in a taunting voice, "See you, Miss Carter."

"Wait!" I call out and grab her wrist before she can leave.
"Do you might have time today? I'm supposed to go to Michael's apartment to have a 'friendly' meeting and I want to know if you would like to come with me? You don't have to if you have other plans."
"I would love to come. Text me the time and I'll be there." Alex replies and with that she disappears down the hall, the doors closing behind her.

I smile and take out my phone from my bag to save her number. I want to put it away but my best friend calls.
"Izzy, hey!" I greet her, my voice laced with excitement. I feel like I haven't seen my best friend in years, even when it only had been three months but still. It feels like an eternity.

"It's so great to hear your voice again. Eve. How have you been? Do you still need help with moving in?"
"Oh don't worry about that, my boxes from Paris won't arrive till next week so you can come and help me next week if you want to. Than we can go to a bar and you can tell me what I missed."
"That would be great! What about next week on Friday?"
"Yes, that would work. I missed you Isabel."
"I missed you to Evelyn but I have to go to the ice rink now and go training."
"Have fun, Izzy."
"I will, good bye!"
"Bye!" I reply and with that I hang up. I love Isabel with my whole heart, she's like a sister I never had and she's the most amazing figure skater I've ever seen, she's truly a ice princess.

I step out of the elevator and towards my apartment, seeing a little black box with a bow on top of it, in front of my door. I look down at in confusion.

What is this?

I take it and walk inside, locking the door behind me. I place my bag on the couch and the little box on my kitchen island.

I narrow my eyes at it. Could it be a bomb? Ehhh, no it would have already exploded.
What if it's a spider waiting to jump straight into your face?
Okay now I'm getting a little bit paranoid because I know damn well that I didn't order anything recently.

I take a knife out of the kitchen, clutching it tightly in my hand. I remove the bow and slowly open the top. As it completely opens, I see a red bikini in it.

What the fuck? Wait is that-

My phone starts rings and I see a familiar number popping up on my screen and now I know from who this little package is.

"Hello, darling." I say, keeping my voice low and seductive.
"Did you enjoy my present, little hunter?" I hear Michael say, having the same deep voice.
I only hum in response and look closer at the bikini and

"I see you like it."
"How are you-"
"Look out of the windows and than look up." He orders and I do as told and I scowl.
There he is standing, in all his glory, with some sport trucks and a shirt sticking to his body, he's covered in sweat, probably he just trained with his friends.

He really thought that I'm so dumb to forget that my penthouse has some privacy windows? Oh Michael I could feel your gaze the second I stepped into my kitchen.

"Any particular reason you decided to gift me a bikini?" I ask, putting on my smirk again.
"Don't you remember?" Michael replies in a taunting voice and I look at him in confusion, looking back at the bikini and now loser to it. Suddenly realization hits me, this isn't just any bikini, this is mine.

"We quite had some time three years ago."
I can feel blood rush into my cheeks, it's maroon but I quickly put on a face that looks like I have no idea what he's talking about.
"Yeah, no. I don't remember anything from three years ago, it probably wasn't so spectacular to remember." I say, now I'm the one taunting him and I see his hand turn into a fist but his lips turn into a devilish smirk.

"Oh don't worry, Evelyn. We will refresh your memory on Friday with a game and wear that bikini I gave you, red suits you."
"What is on Friday?" I ask with a frown, not trying to show him how much I will enjoy this.
"A pool party, hosted by some of my friends and you will come. But all you need to know, is that you can't tap out." Michael answers and I smirk.
"Good that I never tap out, darling." I reply, whispering the last word and I see his jaw clench but before he can say anything else, I hang up and turn on the privacy screen, so he isn't able to see me.

What lingers in my mind is that he said we instead of I, hopefully this won't end in a disaster because what I know is that he might think I'm playing his game, but he played my game this entire time.

Maybe I wasn't aware at first that he could see me yesterday but after I felt someone staring at me, I saw the penthouse above me and put two and two together, maybe I did put on a little show with me wiggling my ass in the air, knowing damn well that I was wearing a red thong.

What can I say? Red isn't only Michael's favorite color but mine as well. I love the passion and the danger, maybe someday the love as well.

I walk towards my living room and take out my iPad and some books. For now I will try to do my assignments and forget about the entire conversation I just had. Dreading the time I have left before I enter the lion's den tonight.

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Author's note:

I feel like Evelyn should just hookup with Alex and than Alex rubbing it into Michael's face that she got his girl haha
Well, now I can officially tell you that the second book in THE ARTS SERIES is now published, so go check out Kai Mori's book.
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