Page 80 of Sugar Coated Lies
“Knew what?”
“I knew you two were going to hook up. It was so obvious that night at the dock how much you wanted her.”
“It was?” I sit on the edge of the desk, trying to recall what gave me away to Easton.
“Bro, yeah. Even Tennie could see it. The chemistry was fire. Like, legit fire between you two.”
“Huh.” And here I thought I was doing well at hiding it.
“So, are you going to marry her?”
“What?” My voice raises five octaves. How does he know this shit?
“That would be a yes.”
“Easton.”
“Daire.” He makes a dramatic face. “I’ve never seen you act the way you do around her. You tiptoe around her, making sure she has everything she needs, but to everyone else you’re like a guard dog, marking your territory and scaring off predators. It’s different.”
“How do you know this?”
“I pay attention. And I’m here all the time. I talk to people, listen, notice you sneaking around, spying on her when she’s working. The way you look at her says it all. No one at the farm will be surprised if you marry her, I guarantee.”
When did I become so obvious and oblivious to my own actions and surroundings?
“It’s not a bad thing.” Easton stands. “You need something to ground you. I’ve watched shit come easy to you my whole life. I envied it. It’s kind of why I act like I don’t care. Because my caring will never be good enough to match the prodigal son. I’m just the spare. But with Everleigh, you had to work for it. I imagine you still are and always will. That’s what you were missing. And now you have that too. I want to be bitter, but I can’t. She’s really sweet and great for you. You’re not as self-centered.”
“I was never self-centered. I always had all this to worry about.” I gesture to the office and the farm. “I had to be perfect, the best. It was expected of me.”
“And you delivered. You still do, you’re just less of a dick.” He grins and drops back onto the chair.
“When was I ever a dick?”
“Every time you hang out with Benedict.”
Damn. I don’t know if I can argue with that. Benedict has a way of bringing out the asshole in everyone.
“Point taken. And Benedict is old news.”
“What? No way. We’ve known him forever. He’s a royal piece of shit, but he’s also like family.”
“Yeah, well, there’s a problem with that now.”
He straightens in the chair, sitting upright instead of haphazardly. “What kind of problem?”
Easton is a lot of things, but on this I can trust him, and honestly, I need someone to tell. “He has a past with Everleigh that isn’t good.”
“No way.” He shakes his head and repeats himself with more vigor. “No way. She’d never stoop to that level.”
Funny how he doesn’t question why Benedict would hit on Everleigh like I did at first. Iwasadick. I explain the story to Easton, and what I know from the PI and Everleigh’s story of her time with Benedict.
“That fucking asshole.” He clenches his fists. “I had no idea it was Everleigh, but that had to have been who he meant. He was going off about this girl he dated and how she screwed him—or—did the opposite.”
“Wait—what?” I stand and run my fingers through my hair, my heart pounding. “How do you know about this?”
“It was in Augusta last summer when we—me, Dad, and Mom—stayed at his family’s estate.”
“Where was I?” I sit on the chair beside him.
