Текст книги "The Absence of Olivia"
Автор книги: Anie Michaels
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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
Chapter Nine
Summer between Sophomore and
Junior Year of College
“So, when you decided to get an apartment on the third floor, was it always your master plan to make me do all the heavy lifting?” Elliot’s voice rang out through the semi-empty apartment, and I smiled automatically as I always did around him.
“Well, first of all, it wasn’t my plan to get an apartment on the third floor, that’s just what was available. But, yeah,” I said, turning and leaning my backside up against the kitchen counter, “I kinda knew you wouldn’t let me haul my stuff up two flights of stairs.” I watched, a little breathless, as he dropped a box full of textbooks on the floor of my soon-to-be living room, then turned toward me. His t-shirt was beginning to stick to his body, just slightly damp from working up a sweat carrying boxes upstairs. I knew from personal experience what the landscape of his chest looked like, but something about it being covered in cloth but still visible had my heart rate pounding.
I’d found over the last year of dating Elliot that you could grow to love someone, grow to trust them, build something with them. We’d started out a little rocky, mostly my insecurity and wariness to start a relationship at all, but Elliot had been a steady and constant presence in my life, and made being with him easy, made loving him easy. He was one of the best people I’d ever known.
He was also terribly handsome and sexy, as demonstrated in that moment as he strode toward me with determination and heat in his eyes.
“Every time I have to haul your belongings up those stairs, I’m going to take a kiss from you,” he said, trying to sound threatening, but the idea was anything but unpleasant.
“That will surely add time to the move,” I said, trying to sound as if I couldn’t care less, as if giving in to him was a nuisance rather than a thrill. I turned to put a cup in the new place I’d just deemed my “cup place,” and felt the tingles shoot up my spine as he came closer.
“What if I told you,” he said, his body coming to press up against mine, deliciously warm and firm, his hand brushing my blonde hair off my shoulder, “that every time I kiss you.” His breath was warm on my neck as my breath stalled in my lungs. “I’ll kiss you in a different place?” His lips pressed against my neck, just barely, but then he added pressure and a hint of tongue, and my knees went weak. I gripped the countertop, both trying to hold myself up but also because I simply needed to hold on to something.
I swallowed thickly, and then took in a sharp breath at the feeling of his teeth nipping at me. “I’d tell you,” I rasped, not able to hide the arousal in my voice, “that there are a lot of boxes to be moved.”
“You think I can’t find enough places on your body to put my mouth?”
My hand reached behind me and found its natural place at the nape of his neck. “I think you’d do just fine.” With that, he spun me around, quickly fitting his mouth over mine, hands gripping my backside. I loved kissing Elliot. He was an expert kisser, always passionate. He didn’t kiss as a means to an end, he genuinely enjoyed kissing and therefore, so did I. When his fingers found the hem of my tank top and slid up my back toward the clasp of my bra, I knew if I didn’t stop him, we’d add a half hour to our moving time.
“Hey now, no one said anything about second base,” I said as I gently pushed him away, my hands on his chest. He gave me a smirk, but then backed away, making his way to my front door.
“We’ll see what you have to say about bases after about twenty boxes,” he said with a wink.
“Keep talking, Elliot. I don’t see any more boxes making their way up the stairs on their own.”
He clutched his chest, mimicking pain. “You wound me. I knew you only wanted me for my brute strength.” I raised his arm and kissed his, admittedly, impressive biceps.
“Get out of here,” I said through a happy laugh. He winked again, but then disappeared out through my door. I turned back to the work of unpacking my kitchen. I was still smiling a minute later when my door burst open again, only this time I didn’t hear Elliot’s beautiful voice, I heard Olivia’s melodic one.
“Look at this awesome bachelorette pad!” Her voice was soft and friendly. I leaned back from the counter to see her turning circles in my living room, taking in my new and mostly empty apartment. She dropped her purse on the floor against the wall, and then joined me in the kitchen.
“Hey you,” I said, smiling even harder because she was there. “I didn’t know you were coming over. I’m glad to see you.”
“Devon and I got all our stuff moved in yesterday and then this morning we were just sitting around, twiddling our thumbs, and realized that living together wasn’t much different than what we were doing. So, I wanted to come see your place.”
Liv and I had lived on campus for our sophomore year. We’d gotten a dorm room which we shared with two other girls that had a private bathroom. It was sort of like an apartment, but came with a meal plan and was within walking distance of all our classes. I loved living there and building friendships with the other two girls, but as Devon and Liv grew closer, she had wanted to take their relationship to the next level.
Devon had been good for Liv, but he’d also been good to Liv. He’d been nothing but steady and reliable and, eventually, once she’d finally realized he wasn’t going to rip her heart to shreds as it had been in the past, she calmed down. She stopped drinking excessively, stopped partying often, and became the Liv I’d known all along. She was back to being the sweet, funny, caring friend I’d had for years. When she’d told me they had decided to move in together, I was happy for her, but a little disappointed. I’d imagined living with her throughout our college experience. Not to mention that since I’d been dating Elliot for the same amount of time they’d been together, I’d felt the pressure to make the same move with him.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” I said sincerely. “Where’s Devon?” I tried to ignore the familiar nervousness that shot through me like the crack of a gunshot whenever I said his name. I was always afraid that when I said his name she’d be able to hear it in my voice, hear the way I said his name and know. Know that, of everyone I’d ever met in my whole life, I felt more connected to him, felt more like we were always trying to ignore the pull that existed between us. Because of that, I tried desperately to never say his name aloud. But sometimes it was necessary.
“Someone say my name?”
The panic I felt letting his name pass through my lips was immediately smothered by the low and thick roll of electricity that moved like a wave through me with the sound of his voice. His eyes met mine and we shared our usual moment of unified uncomfortableness. We both felt it and we both acknowledged it, but we never spoke of it. It was the strangest relationship I had with anyone, but possibly the most important.
“Hey,” I said with a genuine smile. It was weird to be around him, to feel the pull to him that I did, knowing he was the love of my best friend’s life, but none of that changed the fact that he was genuinely a nice guy. It was natural to be nice to him, as he was nice to everyone.
“Hey,” he replied with an equally friendly smile, carefully setting the box in his hands down on the floor. “I would have come and helped Elliot move in your stuff, Evie. You should have asked.”
I shrugged. “You guys have your own things going on.”
He let out a small chuckle. “It took twenty minutes to move Liv in, since most of her belongings came in suitcases with wheels.” We all laughed because it was true. Liv had more clothes than anything else. Moving in to Devon’s apartment had been more like switching bedrooms. She didn’t have an apartment to furnish whereas I’d been collecting belongings over the last few months in anticipation of living on my own.
“Well, thank you. I’m sure Elliot would appreciate some help.” He smiled at me then turned and walked out of the door, passing Elliot as he came in with another box. He dropped it on the floor and then walked straight toward me, not stopping until his lips were on mine, kissing me again until I was breathless. When he finally pulled away, after succeeding in making me forget anyone else was in the room with us, he tucked a lock of hair behind my ear.
“That was for all the kisses I can’t give you now that we’ve got company.”
“Oh,” I said, still a little off kilter.
Then he unceremoniously slapped my ass and walked out the door again.
“Something tells me Devon and I might have interrupted a terrifically sexy game you had going on with your boyfriend.”
“Yeah, well, something tells me that he’ll find a way to make up for it later.”
“My goodness, Evie. I never knew you had it in you.”
I looked at her for a beat and we both lost our composure in a fit of laughter at her unintended euphemism.
A minute later, both guys came back with boxes and just stared at the two of us as we lay giggling on the living room floor.
“They’re doing that weird girl thing again,” Elliot said, his voice teasing and friendly.
“Yeah, we better just keep moving heavy boxes so we don’t catch it.”
Their remarks only made us laugh harder and soon enough we’d laughed until tears had sprung from our eyes and the guys had moved all my boxes. I allowed Liv to boss the boys around and arrange my furniture in the living room as I kept chipping away at organizing my kitchen. When my love seat, coffee table, lamp, and TV stand with small television were all arranged, the boys started grumbling about food.
“I could have pizza delivered,” I called out.
“Pizza is the moving food of choice,” Elliot remarked.
“But if we have it delivered, it will take so long. Plus, they can’t deliver beer. Boys,” she said, turning her pretty face toward them, batting her eyelashes, “won’t you please go get beer and pizza for us?”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Elliot said loudly, waving a hand in the air, “you want the people who did all the moving to be the ones to go get the reward-for-helping-her-move food? That makes no sense.”
“Well, Evie and I aren’t old enough to buy beer yet,” she replied, fluttering her eyelashes even more. She was right, we were both a few months from being legal. “Besides, I’m sure she’ll give you your reward for helping her move later,” she said, adding a wink. He groaned in annoyance.
“Come on, man. Let’s just go,” Devon said, grabbing Elliot’s arm. “They won’t stop whining until we relent anyway.”
“Ah, the wise words of a man who’s learned the hard way,” Liv joked. Devon walked to her and bent down to kiss her.
“Stop being annoying,” he said the words with a smile so I knew he was kidding. Then he kissed her again, quickly, before turning toward the door. “Any special requests?”
“None. But let me give you some money,” I reached for my purse, but Elliot snagged it from me before I could open it, then grabbed my wrist and hauled me into his chest.
“You’re not paying for pizza and beer, babe.” His words were said quietly, his mouth hovering barely above mine.
“But you moved all my stuff,” I said, confused but also a little breathless from all the grabbing.
“And I’ll take my payment from you later.” And with that, he brushed his lips against mine so softly and slowly, completely in opposition to the harshness his words promised. When he pulled away, he left me dazed, but I watched the two guys leave my apartment, not missing the way Devon’s eyes stayed on me until the very last second possible. I stood in place for a few moments, trying to piece together what Elliot had said, how he’d handled me, and what he’d meant by his words.
“Sounds like you’re in for it tonight.” Liv’s voice pulled me from my thoughts and I turned to see her sitting on my love seat.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I’m not sure how I feel about it though.”
“Well, I don’t want to miss an opportunity to evaluate your relationship, but we’ve only got a small window of boy-less time, and I kind of need your help with something.”
“Okay,” I said instantly, not missing the way her voice, which had been happy and carefree since she’d arrived, was now serious and sullen.
She reached into her purse and pulled out a small paper sack. She didn’t even have to open it for me to know what was inside. There were only two reasons a girl in college had anything in a small paper sack, and this wasn’t an occasion for condoms.
“You think you’re pregnant?”
“I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant. This test is a formality, really.” She said those words with not one bit of emotion, which was worrisome. If I thought I was pregnant, with any semblance of conviction, you could bet I would be hysterical.
“How late are you?”
“About four weeks.”
“You’re a month late?”
She nodded. I moved to sit next to her on the love seat. “Why haven’t you told me? Or taken the test sooner? If you’re four weeks late, that means you’re eight weeks pregnant, Liv. That’s, like, really pregnant.”
“I know. I guess I was just hoping… ugh, this sounds terrible. I was hoping that I would become unpregnant.” I thought about her words for a moment and completely sympathized with her. “I didn’t, like, do anything to try and end the pregnancy, I guess I was just hoping it would go away on its own.”
I reached up and rubbed my hand down her back.
“I’m guessing you haven’t told Devon?”
“Nope.”
I wanted to ask her why not, but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that she truly believed she was pregnant with his baby. “Well, do you want to get it over with?”
She let out the longest and loudest sigh I’d ever heard, but then popped up off the couch and headed toward the bathroom.
“Do you want me to come with you?” I wasn’t sure what best friend protocol was in this situation. Was I supposed to be in the room with her? Hold the stick? Hold her hair back? I didn’t know, but I’d do anything she wanted.
“I can pee by myself, but if you could just be here when I come out, that’d be great.”
“Of course.”
Minutes ticked by and I was about ready to beat the door down when, finally, it opened. She came out, holding a little white stick in her hand any woman over the age of sixteen could identify from twenty feet away. She was only two feet out of the door when she lifted her eyes and found mine across the room, a depressingly sad smile across her face, as if she were trying to appear like she was happy.
“Can my kid call you Auntie?”
I rushed to her just in time to feel her body start to shake with sobs. We stood in my new apartment, a pee stick between us, and I held her as she came to realize her life would never be the same.
Thankfully, the guys made the longest beer and pizza run known to man, and by the time they returned, Liv was able to put on a good game face. She didn’t know when or how she was going to tell Devon, and I couldn’t offer her any advice. Had not one word of encouragement. I knew if I was pregnant, I would be completely broken. Devon and Liv had only been together a year, and now, a baby. We ate pizza, I declined beer as a sign of solidarity with Liv, and after we’d watched a movie, Liv and Devon left.
I exhaled loudly as I rested my back against the door. I felt terrible for Liv, but couldn’t help but be thankful it wasn’t me. And that thought proved me to be a horrible friend.
“Okay, what’s going on?” Elliot asked, still sitting on the couch, one ankle resting on his other knee.
“What do you mean?” I replied, standing up straight and walking past him into the kitchen.
“I mean,” he said as he stood, following me, “the two of you were acting weird ever since we got back. What’s up?”
I was torn. I wasn’t used to keeping secrets from Elliot, but this was huge and not just normal gossip. “I don’t think I can tell you yet.” I picked up a dishtowel and started worrying it between my hands.
“Babe, you can definitely tell me. Whatever is wrong, I’ll help you however I can.”
His concern was evident and that only made me feel even guiltier for worrying him. “It’s not me; it’s Liv.”
He frowned and his brow furrowed, and I knew he’d figure it out. When he did, I saw the shock come over his face. “She’s not…”
“Yeah. Pregnant. Took the test while you guys were out getting pizza,” I sighed and tossed the dishtowel on the counter, dropping my head into my hands and massaging my temples. When I felt his body right in front of mine, I instinctively leaned into him, resting my forehead on his chest. His fingers found a soothing rhythm up and down my arms. I gripped his shirt and tipped my head up to look him in the eyes. “You cannot tell anyone, especially Devon. Promise.”
“Of course,” he said before kissing my forehead. “Are you all right? This changes pretty much everything.”
“I’m trying not to think about that.”
He was quiet for a moment, steadily running his hands along my skin. “How did they even let this happen? Didn’t they use protection?”
I steeled a little at his question, my best friend defense system kicking on, but then I realized that it was a valid question. “She missed a few days of her pill.”
“And they weren’t using anything else?”
I shook my head.
“Damn,” he whispered.
“What do you think Devon will do?”
Elliot was quiet for a few moments, and then he sighed. “Honestly? I think he’ll marry her.”
The ground dropped out from beneath me. The air simply vanished from my lungs. Every part of my body froze in panic. Never had five words ever caused so much of a physical reaction in me before. “Marry her?” The panic in my voice matched that of my body.
“Whoa, babe, calm down.”
I couldn’t breathe. “He can’t marry her.”
“Hey,” he said as his hands gripped the sides of my face, bringing our eyes to the same level. “Breathe, Evie. Breathe.”
I did breathe, but only because I started to cry. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me while I cried, and little by little, I could feel everything about my life unraveling. Eventually, after I’d completely broken down and tried to put myself back together, he took me into my bedroom and put my sheets on my mattress that was resting on the floor while I took a shower. When I lay down, he lay down with me, but I couldn’t touch him. He didn’t kiss every part of me like he’d promised, and I didn’t turn to him either.
Chapter Ten
Present Day
I opened the door to the house and was surprised to hear voices coming from the kitchen. Usually, when I came in the mornings, the house was quiet because the children were still asleep. But from what I could hear, they were definitely awake.
Laughter floated through the foyer along with the unmistakable scent of pancakes and bacon. When I stepped into the kitchen, I couldn’t help the surprised look on my face. The kids were dressed and sitting at the table. Devon was at the stove cooking. I stood there for just a moment, taking it all in, soaking in the sight of Devon with his children, all happy and smiling, together. It was a sight I hadn’t seen since before Olivia passed.
Eventually, Ruby noticed my presence and alerted the other two.
“Auntie Evie! Daddy’s making pancakes!”
“I can see that,” I said, trying to force a smile on my face. When Devon turned to look at me, I saw the surprise come over his face too. Apparently, we were both caught off guard by each other that morning.
“Evie,” he said, sounding as if he was seeing me after years of being gone.
“You know how to make pancakes?” I couldn’t remember a time when he’d made a breakfast besides cereal or toast.
“I never have before,” he said carefully, and I could see he was trying to figure out what to say next. “I didn’t expect you here today. Didn’t think you’d come. So I got the kids up and decided to try my hand at a real breakfast.”
I knew why he didn’t expect me. Hell, when I woke up that morning I didn’t think I was going over there either. But then the guilt showed up and I imagined the kids’ faces when they realized I wasn’t there, and I decided any uncomfortableness I faced would be worth it if it saved the kids some sadness. Besides, I’d been pretending for nine years that everything was fine between Devon and me, why should that day be any different?
“Don’t look in the trash though,” he said, his voice lighter, turning back to the stove. “It’s like a burnt pancake graveyard.”
“Daddy made icky, black ones,” Jax said from his chair, his mouth half full of what I assumed wasn’t an icky black pancake.
“Yeah, they smelled really bad,” Ruby added.
“Well, in your daddy’s defense, the first pancake always burns. That’s just the way of pancakes.”
“Yeah, but Daddy threw away, like, fifteen pancakes.”
“Icky, black ones,” Jax added.
“How’s the laundry room?” I asked, trying to avoid any conversation that would cause tension between us.
“Well, the floor’s ruined and I think the bottom portion of the walls too. I have to go to the hardware store soon and rent some industrial fans to try to dry the place out a little more. My insurance company is sending over a contractor to look at the damage.”
“Wow. You’ve accomplished a lot this morning,” I said, peeking down the hallway.
“I couldn’t really sleep,” he said, his voice thicker, full of meaning. I tamped down the urge I felt to turn and look at him, to see if his eyes were full of longing. It was a masochistic urge and I was done torturing myself. “The insurance company said I needed to take pictures of the damage. I was going to do it myself, but since you’re here and all, do you think you could?”
“Definitely.” Could I pick up a camera and use it as a shield against all my emotions? I was actually, very good at that.
“Actually, if you could get the kids ready for school, I could drop Jaxy off at preschool and run to the store to get the fan real quick before the contractor gets here.”
“I’m here to help,” I said, plastering a fake smile on my face.
“And my mom said I’d never use my visual arts degree,” I said to myself as I snapped pictures of Devon’s waterlogged walls. Everything was damp. The floor was soft and the entire area that had been flooded looked terrible. I moved out of the laundry room and down the hall, taking pictures of anything and everything that looked affected by the water. Minutes later, when the doorbell rang, I thought I’d gotten all the pictures I needed. I placed my camera on the kitchen island as I walked past and opened the door with a smile.
My smile froze a little when I saw the man standing on the porch.
“Hi, good morning,” he said, his voice deep. “I was sent here to look at some flooding damage.” He stood there, smiling at me, and I couldn’t find a way to make my mouth work. “Um, do I have the right house?” His smile broadened as if he were used to women being slack jawed around him. I managed to bring myself out of my stupor.
“Oh, yes. Please, come in.” I opened the door wider and stepped back, allowing him in to the foyer. Even though my mouth had started functioning, I couldn’t stop my eyes from taking him all in. It was almost unbelievable, the way he looked. Almost as if cheesy music was going to start playing and he would peel off his tool belt. He was, quite nearly, a perfect male specimen. I shook my head, trying to clear the images from my mind. I shut the door and tried to form a normal sentence. “The laundry room flooded yesterday. You can follow me.” I walked past him and started toward the kitchen, trying not to think about how hot the back of my neck felt with him behind me, how acutely aware I was of my body in that moment. I kept walking until I approached the laundry room door. I motioned into the room and he inched past me with a killer smile.
“I’m Nate, by the way,” he said as he passed me, holding out his hand. I took it, even though we were too close to actually shake hands comfortably. For a moment we stood, squeezed close to one another, just holding each other’s hand, smiling at each other. When he pulled away, I took my hand back and pushed it through my hair, trying to convince myself it hadn’t been a severely intense moment.
“My name’s Evelyn.”
“Evelyn, huh?” he asked as he knelt next to the washing machine, moving the handle of his hammer out of the way of his thigh like he did it one million times a day, without even looking. “Were you named after a relative or something?”
I laughed a little because it wasn’t the first time someone had insinuated I had an old-fashioned name. “Nope. My mom just thought it was pretty.”
“Well, she was right,” he said, reaching behind the machine, his smile making my face heat and heart flutter. “Looks like the line to your washer split.”
“Huh?” I asked, confused, then I caught on to the change of subject, now blushing from embarrassment. “Oh, yeah. Right. I came home and there was water spraying everywhere. It was a mess.”
“I can imagine.” He stood and moved around the room, then came back into the hallway, looking at the floor, then kneeling low again to look at the walls. “You’re gonna need new floors and new drywall.” He looked back at me without standing up. “You’re lucky you caught it when you did. If the water had gotten into the kitchen, it could have hit electrical and then you’d really be in a mess. This shouldn’t take more than a few weeks to fix.”
“A few weeks? That’s a good estimate?” I asked, laughing a little. “That seems like a long time.”
“That’s kind of how it works. We gotta tear it all out before we put the new stuff in. But we have to dry it out first.”
“Oh, right! The fans. Devon is out getting fans right now.”
He stood at my words and a little bit of light was gone from his eyes. “Fans’ll be good. Once it’s all dried out, we can start working.”
With impeccable timing, I heard the front door open and turned my head to see Devon walking through the kitchen with two strange looking contraptions in his arms. The two men saw each other and a frost came over the room. I watched as Devon eyed Nate, and even though I couldn’t see him, I knew Nate was doing the same thing. It was tense and strange, and I was painfully uncomfortable.
“Devon, this is the contractor the insurance company sent over to look at the damage.”
“I gathered that,” he said, catching me off guard by his short and sharp words. He put the things that I assumed were fans down, and then reached his hand out toward Nate. “Thanks for coming out on such short notice,” he said, his tone not any nicer. Nate grabbed his hand and I winced watching their forearm muscles bulge. It was obvious they were both squeezing the hell out of the other’s hand.
“That’s my job,” Nate replied, smiling at Devon, but not the friendly smile I‘d gotten. No, he gave Devon a smirk. They shook hands for way too long, neither one of them seeming to want to give up first, but when they finally let each other go, it was with a sharp thrust. “As I was telling Evelyn here, you’ll need new flooring and new drywall. It’ll take a few weeks. I can probably start once everything is dried out.”
“Well, are those the fans you needed?” asked Devon, motioning toward the ones he’d brought in with him. They looked kind of like snails, rounded with a lip at the bottom. I’d imagined the kind of fans you’d use in your window on a hot day.
“Those’ll work, if it’s all you’ve got,” Nate said to Devon.
“I don’t usually keep a supply of industrial strength fans on hand,” he replied.
“Well, why would you?”
“Okay, boys, let’s calm down a little. Let’s get the fans set up, and get the drying process started. I’m sure we all have places to be.” I’d never had to defuse testosterone before. I reached for one of the fans, surprised by its weight.
“Here, Evelyn, let me do that.” Nate took the fan from me and turned to walk back to the laundry room.
“Her name’s Evie,” Devon said, the coldness of his words sending shivers down my back.
“Not what she told me,” Nate called from the laundry room.
“Devon, stop it,” I whispered, hoping Nate couldn’t hear me. “You’re acting like a child.”
Nate walked back into the kitchen, grabbed the other fan, and left again, his eyes darting back and forth between us. I kept staring at Devon, willing him to stop acting like an asshole. A moment later, the loudest fans I’d ever heard started up and I almost had to cover my ears. Nate came back in the kitchen and stopped just short of the dining table.
“Leave those fans on twenty-four-seven. I’ll come back in two days to check on the progress.”
“They’re really loud,” I said, still fighting the urge to cover my ears.
“Industrial,” Nate said in response.
“How are the kids supposed to sleep through that?”
“You’ve got kids?” he asked, his eyes boring into mine, and I could have sworn he sounded a little disappointed. Before I could clarify, Devon butted in.
“Two kids. Small ones. Need their sleep.” Great. Now he wasn’t even using complete sentences.
“You can turn it off when you’re sleeping if you need to, but it might take an extra day to dry in that case.” He looked at me, and then his eyes moved back to Devon, hardening. “I’ll be back Monday morning.” With that, he walked to the front door and left. I had an unfamiliar urge to stop him before he made it to the door, to explain everything that Devon had so conveniently left out, but it didn’t matter. I did, however, turn to Devon with daggers in my eyes.
“What the hell was that?” I asked, yelling partly because of the fans, but mostly because I was irritated by his behavior.
“What?” he answered, yelling back, obviously irritated as well.
“You totally made that guy think we had kids together!”
Devon rolled his eyes and walked out of the kitchen into the living room. He went to the front windows and pulled the curtains over, watching as a truck drove by that I assumed belonged to Nate. “I didn’t do anything of the sort, Evie. That guy was a douchebag.”
