So it goes... | Rafe Cameron x OC

chapter ten

Evelyn turned her head away from Rafe and towards the television.

"So is this your favourite movie because of soccer or Channing Tatum?" Rafe asked and raised his eyebrows. Evelyn almost spit out her wine from laughter.

"It's definitely the soccer and the strong female lead" she began explaining, waving her hands around. "But he does look good with a buzzcut."

Rafe smirked. "You think I could pull of a buzzcut?" He asked and ran his fingers trough his messy hair.

Evelyn tilted her head as if she was accessing the potential. "I think you could, but your hair is nice like that." She replied. "What about me, could I be bald?"

Rafe chuckled. "You would still be beautiful." He said and took a big bite of the pizza. Evelyn quickly looked down and began tracing her finger around the edge of the glass. "This is the best pizza I've ever had." Rafe continued, breaking the silence that had followed his compliment.

The two payed attention to the movie for a while. Rafe would sometimes make comments about how terrible soccer players everyone were. Evelyn just brushed it off, even if she agreed.

Rafe was quiet during the romantic scenes. Only at the very end of the movie he looked over at Evelyn, who was seated on the opposite side of the couch, and said: "Their like a true power couple, you know."

"So you were captain for your school team when you won state?" Evelyn asked. Rafe seemed to have been caught off guard by her question.

He cleared his throat. "I was" he replied, clearly wanting the conversation to end.

"Sarah told me you were offered several scholarships to go to college too." Evelyn continued.

"Yeah, one from NYU actually." Rafe said. Evelyns eyes widened.

"So, you and I could've gone to the same school?" She asked eagerly.

"I mean, yes but I quit soccer so-" he continued

"Why?"

"Stuff, also dad wanted me to stay home and learn about the family business."

"Stuff?" Evelyn frowned at his vague response.

"It's late, I should probably get home." Rafe said and stood up from the couch.

"Wait-" Evelyn stopped herself mid-sentence to think it through one more time. "Would you stay?" She continued and looked up at Rafe with hopeful eyes.

"You want me to stay?" He asked to confirm her question.

"The house gets so empty and besides, you can't leave all the dirty dishes to me." She explained. Rafe reached both of his hands out for her to grab them. She hesitated, but eventually placed her hands in his and he pulled her up on her feet.

Rafe reached out his hand and pushed her hair behind her ear.
"I'll do the dishes while you get ready for bed." He said calmly. Evelyn frowned at him. "It's the least I could do for you Ev."

Is this the same man that basically called her a prostitute earlier that same day?

Evelyn couldn't help but feel sceptical about Rafe's sudden kindness towards her. She had always felt he admired her since the first time they met, but the way he had treated her could very well mean that he only liked the way she looked, but didn't really respect her as a person. Anyway, she still took up on his offer to tidy up the kitchen.

"Yeah, you're right about that." Evelyn replied, after deciding not to let her guard down. She disappeared up the stairs and went straight to bed. There she laid for a while, listening to the sound of Rafe doing the dishes down stairs. It was nice to not be alone in the big house and Rafe was surprisingly pleasant company.

After a while, the sound of water running faded and Evelyn slowly fell asleep.

***

When Evelyn came down stairs the next day, Rafe was gone. The house showed no sign of their late night hangout, he had cleaned it up quite nicely.

Topper and Lily wasn't coming home before Friday that week, so she still had to spend several days alone.

She had to do something to take her mind off last night and decided to go shopping with Sarah. The two of them had become good friends despite the fact that Sarah had broke Toppers heart.

Evelyn drove over to Tannyhill to pick up Sarah. A part of her hoped to see Rafe, but his truck wasn't there.

"I have so much to tell you!" Sarah exclaimed eagerly when she got in the car.

"Go on, please. I feel like I haven't spoken to anyone in years!" Evelyn responded. Sarah went on to rant about John B, apparently him and Sarah had had a big fight last night, and now they weren't talking.

"He just can't seem to understand that it matters to me how he treats my family!"
Evelyn nodded in agreement, even though she didn't have any experience with boyfriends and family. She had been involved with boys back home, but usually she was tired of them before anything could hit the three month-mark.

Evelyn didn't know what being in love felt like.

"So I just told him that if he can't pull him self together, then we can't be together." Sarah burried her fist in her cheek. "You know who was always polite and nice to my family?" She continued.

Evelyn shook her head. Her mind had once again trailed off to her almost-sleepover with Sarah's brother. She had put her hair up in a bun that day to avoid being reminded of how he twirled it around in his fingers.

"Your brother! He was always so respectful toward dad and he cared about Wheezie. I mean, sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice."

Topper had called Ev the night him and Sarah broke up. He was devastated and also mad, considering that she had cheated on him with John B.

"I feel like i'm not the right person to give you advice on this, Sarah." Evelyn replied.

"You know what? Let's not talk about boys today." Sarah said as Evelyn parked the car outside the big mall.

"I'm good with that." She replied and they made their way into the mall.

After a while of trying on and looking at clothes, Evelyn and Sarah sat down on a bench to rest their feet.

"Hey girls!" Two girls, who seemed to know Sarah approached them. Evelyn recognized the brunette as Millie Baxter.

"Jane, Millie, how are you?" Sarah smiled at them. "This is Evelyn, she's Topper's sister. She's visiting from New York this summer"

"Hi, nice to meet you both." Evelyn gave them both a little side hug and smiled.

"We have actually met before." Mille said and looked Evelyn up and down. "At Toppers party, in the bathroom."

"Oh, you were with Rafe? I remember." Evelyn kept her fake smile, pretending not to notice the tense vibe between them.

"Yeah, I mean I am with him." Millie said and smirked confidently.

"You're his girlfriend now?" Sarah exclaimed.

"Basically." The brunette girl shrugged. «He came to see me early this morning actually."

Evelyn felt a rush of disappointment rush through her.

"That's great, Millie! We'll see you guys later, okay?" Sarah said, eager to end the conversation. She hooked her arm with Evelyn's and motioned for them to walk away.

"See ya!" Millie called after them. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Millie has really become unbearable since she hooked up with Rafe." She whispered.

"Was Rafe home when you woke up today?" Evelyn couldn't control her curiosity.

"He came home around 5am, and I heard him and dad arguing" she explained. "Then I heard his truck drive off."

Even though Evelyn was disappointed, this was the confirmation she needed that Rafes affection towards her wasn't real and it would be best to stay away from him.