Page 50 of When Alec Met Evie
I run a hand over my face. “Yeah, maybe.”
“If you want to start something with Evie, you need to talk to her,” Felix says. “Get her to stop posting. Because this reads like you’re still together.”
“You want to start something with Evie?”
I spin around to see Carter standing in the aisle of the bus.
I would cringe if not for the hopeful expression on his face. Despite his brother’s questionable attitude, Carter is a hard kid not to like.
“If he does, you won’t say anything about it,” Nathan says, and Carter quickly nods.
“No, definitely not.” He hovers for a moment, indecision crossing his expression like he can’t quite decide if he should stay or go. A few seats ahead, his twin is dead asleep, which makes it easier for me to motion him over with a slight tilt of my head. I trust Carter, at least, if not his brother. And it might be nice to have an ally in the house.
Eli clears his throat. “You should probably consider the possibility that Evie has seen Riley’s posts too.”
My stomach sinks at the thought. Evie was just talking about following me on Instagram. It wouldn’t be a stretch to assumeshe’s come across Riley’s profile, since Riley is still actively tagging me in her posts.
If Eviehasseen the photos and it hasn’t stopped her from texting me, maybe to her, the dynamic between us really is just friendly and I’m the one reading into things.
I swear under my breath. “What if Evie has seen them and she doesn’t care? What if this is all just friendship to her?”
“I know I don’t have the relationship experience you guys do,” Carter says, “but I don’t think Evie looks at you like she only wants to be your friend.”
I breathe out a sigh and drop back into my seat. “Why does this suddenly feel so complicated?”
“It doesn’t have to,” Camden says, his quiet voice cutting through my spiraling thoughts. “You just have to ask yourself some important questions before jumping in. When a kid is involved, you have to count the cost up front and make sure you’re willing to go the distance.” He frowns and runs a hand across his face. “If you make it that far.”
I really think about his question, wanting to be circumspect. But the answer clicks easily into place with little hesitation. “I don’t think Juno is a reason for me to walk,” I say.
Van reaches over and claps me on the back. “Then go for it, man.”
“Just maybe go slowly,” Nathan says. “She’s been through some stuff. You might need to play the long game.”
“Yeah, that’s probably true.”
“Evie plays violin, right?” Felix asks.
I nod. “She actually met Gracie the other night at a symphony concert.”
“Gracie told me,” he says. “So once we’re back home, bring her over for dinner at my place. I’ll cook and invite everyone. Low stakes. Lots of people around. But you’ll still get to spend time with her.”
“Yeah, that could be good,” I say.
“Do I get an invitation to dinner?” Carter asks. He looks around at each of us. “Don’t think we haven’t noticed there are team dinners and then there areDream Teamdinners.”
The guys joke and tease Carter about one day earning his spot on the invite list, but I zone out, falling into my own thoughts.
It feels good to own how I’ve been feeling about Evie. Saying it out loud makes it feel a little more real. But there’s one part of the equation my teammates haven’t mentioned, and it might throw a wrench into everything.
The only thing Evie and I haven’t talked about this week is Devon.
I know he’s still texting her. What I don’t know is how Evie feels about it or if she’s texting him back.
He’s Juno’s father, so he has every right to reach out. But he’s also Evie’sex.And where her heart is relative to him has to be something I consider.
CHAPTER 12
ALEC
