Page 43 of Chance
“Do you call me baby and peaches because it’s easier than remembering my name?”
Her question was so far from what we’d just been arguing about that it left me speechless.
Which was definitely not the right response.
Evie’s laugh cracked, all the pain she’d denied me access to only moments before flooding out of her, blasting into me with the force of a nuke.“Of course that’s why,” she answered her own question, shaking her head self-deprecatingly, silent tears spilling down her cheeks.“Why did I think for a single minute that I was special?”
“You’re killing me here, Evie.What do I even say to any of that?I’ve never called anyone ‘peaches’ before.I don’t do endearments or nicknames with anyone else.I am not the guy who sweet-talks a random woman before, during, or after a hookup.There was never any need.They didn’t mean anything to me.No one ever mattered before.”I raked my hands through my hair, trying to stay rational when it was the last thing I felt.I was pissed off and scared.
Fucking terrified.
She held all the power.All of it.My heart was in her hands.Our lives, our future, they were hers to control.And that was fine.I willingly gave it to her.
All I wanted in return was her.
“Don’t you get it yet, baby?Everything I do, say—fucking am—is different with you.Because, for whatever reason, you changed something inside me.You woke up a part of me that wasn’t there before.You.No one but you.”
She gazed up at me, her tears still flowing, but she started to smile.Not that heartbreaking, wobbly smile that destroyed me every time I saw it, but the one that made me feel whole in a way nothing else could.Relief bubbled up.She was listening.She knew I was giving her all of my truth.
“What are you shouting about, Chance?”
Evie’s smile fell as my mother appeared in front of my truck.Dad stood behind her, brows lifted, arms folded over his chest, sizing me up.I hadn’t been shouting, but maybe I was talking louder than I should have been.Losing control like I just had was new for me.I had a hot temper, one that Max liked to rile up, but this was different.
“Nothing.It’s nothing, Ma.”My voice was like gravel, making Evie flinch again.Clearing my throat, I stepped back.Dropping my hands, I balled them into fists so I didn’t reach for her again.“We’re leaving.See you two later.”
“Be at Church tomorrow night,” Dad said as I walked around the front of the truck, his jaw flexing.“We’ve got a lot to talk about, boy.”
Mom gave me a quick hug.“I’m meeting Casey tomorrow to get our nails done.Maybe we’ll get coffee after.”
“You do your nails on Saturdays,” Dad said coolly, flicking a glance at the passenger seat.
“Well, we couldn’t this past Saturday, and Casey has time for me tomorrow.”
I didn’t care when she did her thing or with whom.She had my bank card that I insisted she use so I didn’t feel shitty when holidays rolled around.That way, she couldn’t throw it in my face that I only thought about her or bought her something nice on her birthday and Mother’s Day.“Have a nice time, Ma.I’ll see you later,” I repeated.
“Night, honey.Love you.”
“Yeah, love you,” I called, getting in behind the wheel.
Starting the truck, I shifted gears and reached for Evie’s hand.Her fingers were like ice.“Baby, you’re shivering.”
“It’s nothing,” she muttered, turning her head to look out the window.
Swallowing the lump that filled my throat, I drove us home.I didn’t know what to say after everything I’d just admitted, and even if I did, I wasn’t sure my voice would work.Evie stayed silent, letting me entwine our fingers, giving me a taste of hope.
As soon as I parked outside our building, she was reaching for her door.“Let me get it, peaches.”
“It’s nothing,” she said again, getting out without waiting.
I met her at the front of my truck.“Evie.”
“It’s nothing,” she repeated, her blank eyes meeting mine without blinking.Those eyes never failed to cut through me.“We’re nothing, just like you told your mom.You said it, Chance.We are nothing.And that’s how it will stay.”
“That wasn’t what I said,” I rasped, reaching for her, but she was already walking away.“I didn’t call us nothing.We’re not nothing, peaches.”
“Tell that to your mother.”
Evie
