Page 35 of Chance
“Peaches, please.”I moved toward her, needing to touch her, fix what I’d unintentionally broken.She backed away from me, as if she couldn’t stand the thought of my hands on her, crushing my heart all over again.“Evie,fuck, please!”
“Goodbye, Chance.”She said it with such finality, I couldn’t catch my breath.And then she walked away, so damn calmly, slamming the bedroom door behind her.
“No,” I denied, the world stopping around me.“No, she didn’t say that.It’s not goodbye.I just found her.I’m not losing her.”
Reid moved to block me from following her, keeping me from her.The image of breaking his neck popped into my head.Abrupt.Intrusive.Pure impulse.I quickly locked it away, but only because I knew it would upset Evie.“I don’t know what went down today, but give her a minute.She’s upset over what Rory said to her.”
“They didn’t even talk,” I tried to explain, fear strangling me, making me desperate to get to my girl.He wouldn’t move, kept getting in my way.I shoved him back, but he wouldn’t let me pass.“Reid, man, get out of my way.I need to fix this.”
“I can’t let you in there, cuz.She wants a moment.”
Stepping back, I faked going right, but he caught me, tackling me to the floor, trapping me in place.“Let me up, motherfucker!”I roared, enraged, past the point of reason.I needed to get to Evie.My peaches.
Everly appeared over us.“She’s not going to listen to anything you have to say right now.Evie’s hurting.Today was a lot for her.Give her a little time to digest everything that happened.”
Reid shifted over me but didn’t let me go.Everly crossed to the bedroom.“Evie, it’s me,” she called, knocking and opening the door.The clicking of the lock echoed in my head, another wall between my girl and me.
A little out of breath, Reid stood and offered me his hand.I slapped it away and got up on my own.
“She has to listen to me.”Frustration eating at me, I raked my fingers through my hair.“And what the fuck did she mean about the whole…”
I couldn’t say the words aloud.If I did, I might puke.No, just…no.
“Dude, you know her better than me.Ev hasn’t given me many details about her sister, or her life in general, other than that they were separated for most of their childhood.This is all as new to me as it is to you.We haven’t had much time together to get to know each other yet.”
It was hard to believe that I’d only met Evie the day before.She already consumed every aspect of my life, filling my every thought.I needed her now like I needed oxygen.She’d become a necessity, vital to my existence.
Groaning, I rubbed my hands down my face and started to pace.“Mom went to WomanLand today.I guess she thought Everly was Evie.Things got heated.Your girl attacked my mom.”
“Unprovoked?”he asked.
“According to Mom, it was unprovoked.From what Sammy, Jos, and Mila all said, Everly showed restraint.”And I believed them.Mila more than the other two, but yeah, I believed them.
“Damn,” Reid muttered.
I dropped down onto the couch, blocking out the memories I’d made with Evie on it only hours before.Her scent was everywhere in the apartment, tantalizing and haunting.Fuck, I missed her already, and she was just in the next room.
“Ma keeps saying she’s going to file assault charges.She showed me the bald spot on the back of her head that Everly caused.”As pissed as I was at her for putting her hands on my mom, I’d been kind of impressed with how dirty she’d fought.Ma had a large chunk of hair missing, and the skin had been broken.
“What are you going to do about that?”my cousin questioned as he walked into the kitchen.Picking up Evie’s discarded knife, he started chopping again, working to put a few sandwiches together.My stomach rumbled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten all day.
“I’ve already told her to chill out.She’s got all the women in a tizzy.Mila told her she’s not allowed back in the boutique until she apologizes to Everly.On top of that, Mom and Jos are arguing, but that’s nothing new.They never could get along.”I remembered my dad’s texts from earlier, how upset he was with my mom.He didn’t normally choose sides, but he might this time.I wasn’t confident it would be Ma’s.“Only this time, my dad doesn’t have Mom’s back.He’s just as pissed at her over what she was saying and the way she acted as everyone else.”
Reid gave me a sharp look.“That tells you right there that she’s in the wrong on this, Chance.Matt worships Rory, but if she fucks up, he tells it to her straight.”
“Everly shouldn’t have put her hands on my mom, Reid.”It was the only argument I had.
He shrugged, admiring his sandwich-crafting skills.“Sammy saying she used restraint is one thing.Her moral compass is broken.Mila is a completely other thing.If that girl says Everly felt like she was in a position where she needed to protect herself in any shape or form, I’m not going to question that.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Regardless of whether she should or shouldn’t have, I stand with Ev.”
“Blind loyalty?”
He picked up a plate loaded with sandwiches and veggie sticks.“There’s nothing blind about it.If you understood that, your woman wouldn’t be in the other room crying right now.”
That was when I heard it.
