Page 37 of Our Lips Are Sealed
“Mind?”
Scrunching up against the driver’s side door, Evie tried to escape Jamison’s attack. “We’re on the interstate, moving at a very high speed!”
Jamison slammed her hands down on the seat, jostling the multicolored packages surrounding her into the air. “How could you let him convince you not to use one?”
“He didn’t need to convince me. I haven’t been with anyone since Brett, and he hasn’t had sex in over a year.”
Jamison’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t really believe he hasn’t slept with Gretchen, do you?” she asked flatly. “She’s so hot, I would fuck her.”
“Damn it, Jamison, what don’t you understand?” Frustrated, Evie hit the steering wheel with the palm of her hand. “This thing between Samuel and me isn’t something that’s going to end overnight.”
Her sister’s upper lip curled in revulsion. “And the next woman in his bed will think the same thing.”
Evie flinched. She hated to admit that in the back of her mind, she’d already begun to wonder if Samuel’s usual ninety-day relationship countdown clock had started for them. Her heart argued that it simply wasn’t true, but it was hard to forget what had happened the last time she’d listened to it.
“That’s low, Jamison.”
“Not as low as becoming just another female doormat for Samuel to walk over.”
“He asked me to move in with him.” Evie tried to hold her head high. “He told me to have my bag packed and ready to go when he returned from the interview.”
Jamison howled with laughter. “You might be older than me, but you can be so naïve. Samuel wasn’t inviting you to live with him. He just likes to keep his women around a few nights a week,” she said. “You’re forgetting I’ve spent time with him when you’re not around. I’ve seen the women that come, and invariably go, in his life.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Until he’s done playing with you, and when that happens, you’ll get the honor of being tossed into his discarded pile of Barbies.”
Ready to pull her sister’s hair out, Evie opened her mouth to say something just as horrible, but her phone rang, and the dashboard screen flashed with the caller’s name.
Simone.
“Don’t answer it,” Jamison whispered, their argument forgotten. “If she can’t get you, she’ll call Annabeth.”
Evie debated on what to do. “But if she knows we’re gone and we don’t answer, she’ll send a SWAT team to find us.”
Jamison checked the skies for police helicopters. “Shit, shit, shit. What do we do?”
There was no winning solution on how to get out of talking to Simone, and Evie hit the answer call button like it was a detonation device. “Hey, how are things at Selah’s?”
“Cut the shit. Where are you?”
Neither of them spoke, completely scared stupid for a few seconds. Simone’s heavy sigh filled the car. “Jamison, we’ve raised you to be independent and never tapped down that strong will of yours, but today you went too far.”
“I’m sorry,” Jamison said weakly. “But you understand why I need to do this?”
Simone made a noise low in her throat. “And Evie, how could you let Jamison lure you into this plan with some false promise of support? This is going to take time. You are her half-sister. Samuel is her half-brother. The two of you were once going to be stepsiblings. I think it’s wonderful that you both have finally gotten your heads out of your asses and come together, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a messed up situation. Jamison’s approval is not something she can turn on with a flip of a switch.”
“I’m learning that.”
“Look, all I’m saying is that you think you’re special to him, but it’s not true,” Jamison huffed. “And I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Simone’s laughter rumbled around them, shaking the car speakers. “If anyone is going to get hurt if things go wrong, it’s Samuel. Trust me on that one,” she said. “Jamison, baby, there is so much history between those two that if you knew it all, it would make your head hurt.”
Side eyeing her phone screen for new messages, Evie asked Simone if Samuel was aware that they had left.
“No,” Simone replied. “But if you don’t turn that car around right now, I’m calling Ben.”
Jamison leaned across and pressed the hang-up button on the steering wheel.
