Page 38 of When Alec Met Evie
“Oh, oops,” I say. “Sorry. I’m talking about Alec. The internet tells me he’s dating a woman named Riley.”
“What? Really?”
“According to her Instagram.” I give Megan Riley’s Instagram handle, which I not-so-weirdly remember considering how much time I spent stalking her profile, then wait while she pulls up the account.
“Ohhh, I love Flex clothes,” she says after a few seconds. “Alec brought me all kinds of free stuff after he signed his branding deal with them.”
Sothat’show Alec knows her. I guess it makes sense.
I make another turn, my GPS telling me I’m less than ten minutes away from the restaurant.
“But you don’t know about Riley?” I ask. “He hasn’t said anything about her?”
“Not that I’ve heard,” Megan says. “Can we talk about why you’re asking about a woman Alec might be dating?”
The question takes me by surprise, even though it absolutely shouldn’t. Did I really expect to call Megan, of all people, asking questions about her brother, without her getting suspicious?
“No reason,” I say after too many seconds of silence. “I was just curious.”
Megan must not believe me, because she answers with a longsuffering sigh. “Evie,” she says.
“Don’t Evie me,” I shoot back. “It was just a question. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“You’re sure? Your crush hasn’t returned even a little?”
I think about the baby clothes Alec brought home from the Summit last night.
I could keep lying. Dismiss Megan’s concern. But she knows me too well. And honestly, now that we’re having the conversation, it might be nice to have her input.
“Okay fine, maybe a little,” I say. “But he’s not playing fair. He’s making me food and holding Juno until she falls asleep, and the other day he folded an entire load of Juno’s laundry while we watched a movie. Plus, he brought home an Appies jersey for me from his game, and he’s talking to me like I’m a real person and not just a frumpy, exhausted dairy cow. He’s being so nice, Megan. Thoughtful in ways that are literally the exact opposite of Devon.”
I turn into the restaurant parking lot and pull into an empty spot under an enormous oak tree, its leaves a rich, fall red. I shift into park, then turn to check on Juno through the mirror hooked on the back of her rear-facing car seat, and right now she looks peacefully,gratefullyasleep. Still, I leave the car running, hoping the steady hum of the engine will help keep her that way.
Megan lets out a little laugh. “Alec actuallyheldJuno? He told me he doesn’t do babies.”
“He told me the same thing,” I say. “But he did great. Carried her upstairs to put her to bed and everything. The whole thing was pretty adorable.”
“Thatdoessound adorable,” Megan says. “Okay, so…I’m scrolling through her profile, and I don’t think Alecisdating this woman. I mean, maybe? But she’s not on his profile at all, and all these pictures that she’s posted look like they were taken on the same day.”
“Not all of them,” I say, because I noticed (and studied) the same thing.
“Okay, butmostof them,” she amends. “Also, the trees in the one pinned at the top of her profile look super green, like they were taken in the middle of summer. If they’re still dating, wouldn’t she have more recent photos?”
“Is this how far we’ve fallen? That we’re studying the color of the leaves in her photos?”
“You started it,” Megan says. “It’s only creepy stalking if we start searching for her Mom’s Facebook account so we can see pictures of her as a kid.”
“Please tell me you’ve never actually done that,” I say.
“We aren’t talking aboutme,Evie,” Megan says cheekily. “Why don’t you just ask Alec? He’d probably tell you. And just because Alec hasn’t settled down doesn’t mean he’s a player. He wouldn’t flirt and lead you on if he were dating someone else.”
“You really think?” I’m not sure if what Alec is doingisflirting. Nothing has been so bold that I couldn’t just be reading into things. But it does make me feel better to hear Megan’s opinion.
“I totally think,” she says. “Do you want me to talk to him for you?”
“For real? You, who initially warned him he’d better not try towoome, are now volunteering to speed things along?”
“He’s the one who folded your laundry for you. My hands are tied! Besides, I said from the beginning I loved the idea of you guys together. But only if it’s going to last forever and no one will ever get hurt. Because so help me, Evie, I am not choosing between the two of you.”
