Page 28 of Hard Lessons
My brows lifted. “She’s dating? Isn’t she too young?”
He shrugged as he kicked off his slides. “She’s fifteen. How old were you when you started dating?”
“I don’t know. I just figured your parents would be hard on her about dating and school and all that.”
He started unbuttoning his Hawaiian shirt to jump into the pool. “Well, Dad says she can’t date until she’s thirty-five.” He chuckled. “Mom said she can date as long as they meet the guy first.” He tossed his shirt onto the deck chair.
“So, who’s the guy?”
He dived into the pool. Once his head broke the surface, he said, “His name is Justin.” He smoothed his wet hair back and ran his hands over his face. “I guess he works at the food court in the mall or something. Total douchebag if you ask me, but whatever. It’s keeping her busy and out of my hair. Hey, turn some music on, will ya?”
I pulled my phone from my pocket and hooked it up to the wireless speaker. Music started to fill the air around us, but even with as loud as it was, we still heard the sound of someone slamming a car door.
“No! I told you to leave me alone! Just go!” Evelyn yelled.
My head popped up, and I looked over at Gabe. His brows were arched in surprise, and we both jumped into action at the same time. We started toward the gate, coming to a sudden stop when Eve walked through. I hadn’t seen her all summer, but she had grown a lot since the year before. Her hair had gotten longer, and her face had a light layer of makeup. She wasn’t into overalls anymore either. She was wearing a white sundress that showcased curves I didn’t know she had.
“What’s wrong?” Gabe asked his sister.
“Tell him to leave me alone.” She pointed toward the car in the driveway and the blond guy standing between it and the open driver’s side door.
Gabe immediately went after him while Eve pushed past me.
I looked at her, at Gabe, and back, wondering who I should follow, but from the looks of it, Gabe had things handled. He was twice the size of the kid he was going after. I turned and followed after Eve instead. I walked in the back door and found her in the kitchen, making herself something to drink.
I put my forearms on the countertop, leaning against the island. “Did he do something?”
She frowned. “Yeah, he made me mad.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Obviously.” I shook my head. “No, I mean… Did he hurt you? Did he touch you or try to force you to… You know?”
She shook her head. “It’s stupid. I’m dumb. Maybe I overreacted.”
“Evie, tell me what happened.” I used the nickname I’d given her.
“He was t-touching me. I didn’t like it. I mean, I did at first, but it was too fast. Too soon.”
I swallowed hard, bristling at her words. “Then what did he do?”
“I don’t want to say. It’s embarrassing.” She diverted her eyes to the floor in front of her.
“How bad could it be?”
Slowly, her eyes met mine. “You’ll tell my brother.”
“No, I won’t,” I promised, praying beyond anything I wouldn’t have to kill this little prick.
She put down her glass of water and rubbed her arms nervously.
“Evie?”
“Does it make me a whore if-if I let him touch me a little?” Her cheeks flamed red as the words tumbled out of her mouth.
My eyes widened at her question. I shook my head. “No, Evie, it doesn’t.”
“He said it does,” she whispered. She looked at me from beneath her lashes, her face red. “He said he was going to tell everyone I put out for him if I didn’t let him…”
