Page 34 of Theirs to Take

“Mutual friend?” Rod asked.

“Yep—Tyler,” Alex said. Rod suddenly felt a little bit sick.

“Oh, he’s a great guy,” Rod said.

“Yeah,” Alex said. “He told me he invited you to game night. I asked him why he had to invite you and why you wouldn’t just come with Evie.” Shit—this was what he had worried about. He wouldn’t lie to his brother; it just wasn’t in him.

“Yeah, about that,” Rod said. “I might have told a little white lie to Nova about Evie and me being together” he admitted. “I just didn’t want her to try to keep putting us together since Evie works for me now, so I came up with the plan to lie to Nova and dragged Evie into it with me.”

“What the fuck, man?” Alex asked. “I can’t believe that you lied to my wife like that. You know that I won’t lie to her, right?”

“I know, and I wouldn’t ask you to,” Rod said.

“I’m guessing that you won’t be at game night then?” Alex asked.

“Why wouldn’t I come to game night? Tyler asked me to be there, and I think that it sounds like fun.”

“Bullshit,” Alex shouted. “You want to be there to make Evie squirm. You like her, don’t you?” he asked. They had been working together for five days now and he had to admit, the more time he spent with her, the more he liked her.

“I do,” Rod admitted. “But it’s not as easy as me just liking her.” He wasn’t about to tell his brother that Evie was a twenty-two-year-old virgin. That wasn’t his business.

“Right, she’d have to like you back and from the angry scowl she wears around you, I’m guessing that she doesn’t feel the same way about you as you feel about her,” Alex assessed.

“Shut up, man,” Rod grumbled. “I don’t know what to do. This all started as a way to get Nova off of our backs. If she didn’t push us into the blind date, we wouldn’t have to lie to her.”

“Wait—you’re not blaming my wife for your lies, are you? Because that’s probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. I’m pretty sure that once Nova finds out that you weren’t truthful with her, she’ll kick your ass,” Alex warned.

“I figured,” Rod said. “But I can’t go back and change things now. Listen, do me a favor, don’t tell Nova unless she asks.” Alex looked like he wanted to protest, and Rod held up his hands. “I’m not asking you to lie. I’d never ask you to lie to your wife for me but give me some time to figure this all out. I need to figure out how I feel about Evie, and I won’t get that chance if Nova finds out about our lie. If Evie feels like she’s off the hook, she won’t give me a chance.”

“So, lie by omission?” Alex asked.

“If you need to label it, sure, but just don’t tell her about it, unless she outright asks,” Rod said.

Alex ran his hand down his face and groaned. “I really hate this shit, man,” he growled. “But if it means that you might end up with Evie, then I promise to keep your little deception to myself—unless Nova flat out asks me about it.”

“Thanks, Alex,” Rod said. “I appreciate you doing this for me.”

“So, we’ll see you on game night then?” Alex asked.

“Yep, I’ll be there,” Rod said.

“What happens if Evie doesn’t want you there?” Alex asked.

“Well, Tyler was the one who invited me, and it would be rude to tell him no. I’m betting that even if Evie doesn’t want me there, she won’t say anything. She wouldn’t chance Nova finding out about our lie and she’d never make Tyler feel bad about inviting me. She’s sweet like that, you know?” Rod thought that she was the nicest person that he had ever met. He was beginning to look forward to going to work every morning, just so he’d be able to see her beautiful face behind her desk.

“She is,” Alex agreed. “She’s also very innocent. Don’t hurt her, Rod.” He knew exactly how innocent Evie was and that was part of the reason why he didn’t just ask her out again. He knew that if he did—if he admitted to having feelings for her, things could progress, and then what? Could he take her virginity? He had never been with a virgin in his life, not even when he was one. And if he was able to get past her being a virgin, and they had sex, what would happen afterward? He wasn’t sure if he wanted a relationship and that wouldn’t be fair to her. Evie deserved better from him. Hell, she deserved better than him, but he just wasn’t ready to tell her that yet. Instead, he needed for their charade to continue until he could figure his shit out. Then, he’d decide what to do about Evie and her whole virginity issue.

Evie

Evie had slept in late that Saturday morning and loved being able to lay in bed until her cat insisted that she get her ass out of bed to feed him. Toby was a real jerk when he was hungry, but she couldn’t blame him. It was almost eight in the morning when she rolled out of bed to give him his breakfast.

While Toby ate his kibble, she brewed herself some coffee and sat at her kitchen table. She was excited about game night, but more than that, she was excited to see Tyler and Doug’s new place. They had bought their first house together just after Nova and Alex’s wedding, but she hadn’t had a chance to run over to see it yet.

Evie spent the rest of the day vegging in front of the television, watching sappy rom-com movies, and eating popcorn and ice cream until it was time for her to get ready for game night. She decided to go with a casual look tonight and donned her favorite jeans and sweater. Tyler would never let her live it down if she showed up in sweatpants again. She had made that mistake last month and she’d never do that again. They were merciless with their teasing.

Evie checked her reflection and decided that it was as good as it was going to get, grabbing her keys and purse, and slipping on her shoes, she opened her front door and walked right into Rod, his hand up ready to knock.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

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