Free Hypnotized by Lacey Wolfe Page B

phone buzzed loudly on the coffee table, pulling me from my thoughts. I had a new text message.
    Can I come in?
    I sighed. It was Evan, and I’d been avoiding him. I replied, Sure.
    He was probably nervous about tomorrow as well. We were friends, after all. I needed to be there for him the way he was for me.
    I opened the door and he stood there, grinning, with a paper bag in his hand. He came in and went straight to the couch, plopped down, and put his feet up on the coffee table.
    “Make yourself at home.” I rolled my eyes, but then joined him. I needed to get another chair in here besides the one couch. “What brings you by?”
    He opened the bag and handed me a brown bottle. “Figured you were freaked out about tomorrow, so I brought you a beer.”
    I held the cool bottle in my hand then set it down on the coffee table. “Thanks. How did you get this? You’re not twenty-one.”
    He shrugged. “It’s not that hard to get alcohol. Just have to know the right people.” He popped the lid off his and chugged half of it. “Anyway, drink.”
    Talk about pressure. Anytime I was around Evan lately, I felt pressured to do something. “I don’t know. My nerves are out of whack, it might make me sick.”
    “More for me.”
    “I’m worried about you,” I blurted out.
    He chuckled and stared at the bottle. “Why?”
    Let me think. You act weird. You drink a lot and who knows what else. “You’re not yourself.”
    He cocked an eyebrow and game a silly smirk. “Oh yeah? How have I changed?”
    I began to feel irritated, which was how I always felt around him now. “Well for one, you drink a lot. And two, Pete.”
    “I drink a lot?” He shook his head. “How the hell would you know, Pais? You don’t have anything to do with me anymore. It’s just Gabe .”
    His tone grated my nerves. “That’s not true.”
    “Please.” He took a long draw from the bottle.
    “I believe the last time I saw you, you were the one who walked away from me…a few weeks ago.” I crossed my arms.
    “Yeah, because you were being stupid and naive.”
    I stared at him. Had he just called me stupid along with the one word I was beginning to wish could be removed from the dictionary? “You’re a jerk.”
    “Apparently that’s the kind of guys you like.”
    I stood, needing space from him. “Quit bossing me around. You’re not my parents, and even they don’t treat me the way you do, thinking you can tell me what to do all the time. I’m an adult, and you can leave.”
    “I don’t want to.” I heard the beer bottle meet the coffee table. “I’m sorry.”
    I kept my back to him. Whatever was going on with him was affecting our friendship. I hated it. The idea of Evan and I not being friends just didn’t seem possible. I’d hung out with him almost every day of my life until he moved out first, and now he was like a stranger to me.
    Finally, I spun back around. “Let’s just put this behind us.” I smiled, trying to appear sincere. “I’m sure we’re both worried tomorrow.”
    He patted the couch for me to sit and I did. “Will you sit with me in math?”
    “Of course.”
    Evan surprised me by putting an arm around me. “I’m always here for you. I’m not going anywhere. I just hope you don’t get too hurt by this Gabe guy.”
    “I may, or may not. But this is my life. So if I do, I’ll pick up the pieces and move on.”
    His mouth was close to my ear. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
    My neck felt cool where his breath had been. I could feel him staring hard at me, almost willing me with his mind to turn and look at him. But I knew if I did, he’d kiss me, and there was no way I could go down that road with Evan.
    Instead, I reached forward and grabbed the beer, opening it.
    Evan laughed and picked his up, too. “Need that drink after all?”
    I nodded as I took several big gulps; anything to break the tension between Evan and me. He wanted to push us into a new realm of our relationship. Why did I