Page 10 of When Alec Met Evie
I’m still so scared. Completely overwhelmed.
But for the first time today, I’m feeling a little more certain that things are going to be okay.
CHAPTER 4
ALEC
The woman standingin front of me can’t be Evie Thomas.
She’s got the same blue eyes, the same wavy hair falling over her shoulders. But everything else I’m noticing—it’s breaking my brain.
Dark lashes, full, pink lips, creamy skin, subtle curves.
Logically, I know I shouldn’t be surprised. Megan warned me. Reminded me that Evie is in her twenties now. She’s been married, had a baby, experienced parts of life I haven’t even started to think about. But in my head, she’s always been my kid sister’s best friend, cheering from the stands at my college hockey games. This version of Evie doesn’t fit in that box.
She’s all grown up, and she’sgorgeous.
Still Megan’s best friend, and still too young for me. But gorgeous.
Beside me, Camden digs an elbow into my ribs, and I realize I’ve been staring. I said hello, called Evie a nerd, then she smiled, and I apparently lost my ability to speak.
Luckily, Evie fills the silence for me. “I amnevergoing to live that down, am I? It wasonegame.”
I glance over my shoulder at my teammates. “She brought a textbook to one of my college playoff games.”
“I had a really important history exam,” she counters.
“Sounds like a logical choice to me,” Felix says from just over my right shoulder.
“Especially if the alternative was watchingyouplay,” Nathan adds.
The insult doesn’t hold an ounce of water coming from Nathan, who has been my defensive partner for the past four seasons. We’re rarely on the ice without the other, so if I play well, he usually does too, and vice versa.
But then Camden adds, “Without Nathan next to you to make you look good, watching had to be painful.”
My teammates chuckle, and Evie’s eyes dance as she looks us over, like she finds them dogging on me highly entertaining.
I roll my eyes and step to the side, waving a hand toward my friends. “If it wasn’t obvious, these idiots are a few of my teammates, and they’ve clearly forgotten how to respect their captain. Evie, meet Nathan, Camden, and Felix.”
I introduce Evie and Malik’s aunt, whom I met the other day when I was fixing Evie’s front step, and the guys take turns stepping forward to shake hands with them both. When they finish, I look at Evie. “Want to point us in the right direction? It shouldn’t take long with all four of us working.”
Despite their teasing, considering what Megan told me about Evie, I’m glad it’s these three teammates who are with me. Camden is the only one who is single, but he’s still hung up on a woman he met over the summer while visiting his family in Savannah. He hasn’t said much about it, but he’s clearly still licking his wounds over what happened when he left. Felix got married at the end of the off-season, and Nathan is in a committed relationship. Even if they weren’t, I’d trust all threeof these guys to be respectful in any circumstance, but it feels particularly important this time.
If Evie’s ex-husband walked out on her, leaving her pregnant and alone, she probably doesn’t have the highest opinion of men. Maybe that’s what Megan meant when she said Evie was fragile.
“Yes. Definitely,” Evie says, a beat of worry crossing over her expression. “But there’s been a slight change of plans.”
After Ruth agrees to keep an eye on Juno, who must be sleeping somewhere, Evie leads the way, and we head down the sidewalk to her house. As we walk, she explains the flooding she found when she first opened her front door, then details her desire to just move everything into the garage instead. I hear and process her words, but I’m admittedly distracted by this more mature version of Evie’s voice, by the way she moves her hands as she talks as if to punctuate her words.
Did she do that before? I can’t remember, but I like that she does it now.
“And you still haven’t gotten through to your landlord?” I ask as we turn and head up her driveway.
“Not yet. But he did warn me he’d be hard to reach for the next week or so. He’s backpacking in Yosemite. Either way, there’s no way I can sleep here tonight, so moving stuff into the garage will have to do.”
I frown. “If you aren’t going to sleep here, where are you going to go?”
She shrugs. “A hotel, probably.”
