Page 69 of Home Sweet Home

“Hey,” West said, twisting his face so it was level with hers, trying to get her to look him in the eyes. “Don’t apologize. But it might make you feel better if you tell me what’s wrong.”

“You’ll think I’m a bad person,” Evie said.

“Not something I could ever think about you.”

“I miss her so much it hurts,” Evie said, her voice low. “Sometimes I’ll be sitting at that damn stoplight, and I’ll remember what happened, and it’s like my heart just stops.” She let out the breath she’d been holding then said the next part before she was able to talk herself out of it. “But other times… I get so angry at her. I know it’s not fair because she didn’t choose any of this for me. She never would have. It’s just… The last seven years have been hard. We barely made it through. And I know everyone thinks I’m this saint for everything with Josh, but if they got inside my head for one second, they’d know it wasn’t true.”

She wasn’t sure what gave her the courage to look at him, but she did, searching his face for the disgust she expected, for him to think what she’d said was the most horrible thing he’d ever heard. It was what had stopped her from admitting it to anyone, even Kayla.

But after what seemed like hours, he said, “Of course you’re angry.” It was just four words, very simple ones, but Evie felt lighter, like some of the weight she had been carrying had been lifted off her. “If you were blissfully happy with all the sacrifices you’ve had to make, I would be worried you weren’t actually a human.”

“You don’t think I’m a shitty daughter and sister?”

He took her hand and ran his thumb across her palm like he was reading it. His touch was so soft, it was almost a whisper. “You can love your mom and still be upset that her death made your life harder. It’s not a one-or-the-other type situation. They can both be true.”

Between West’s touch and his words, Evie felt a wave of calm wash over her, a level of peace that she hadn’t experienced maybe ever. She’d always hidden away her anger, worried that if she showed it to someone, they would realize she was a complete fraud, a bad person masquerading as a good one, but the empathy he’d showed had erased the guilt she’d carried around for a long time.

Evie smiled at West, her fingers reaching for his. “How do you always know exactly what to say to make me feel better?”

West grinned. “I’m glad you feel better. I don’t like seeing you cry. But I can’t take all the credit here. I talked to my therapist about this a lot.”

“After the injury?”

West shook his head. “After my dad died.”

When the words came out of his mouth, Evie realized they hadn’t really talked about it. They’d talked about how Rex wasn’t the greatest father, but West hadn’t ever mentioned his death.

“I was so damn happy when I got drafted to LA,” West said. “It was the right amount of distance between him and me. But once I got there, he kept trying to call me up and let him come to games. He even flew to LA once. Told me he just happened to be in town. I didn’t see him because I didn’t want to.” He paused, shaking his head. “End of last year, he called me. It was right after I got injured, so I wasn’t doing anything, just laying in bed and feeling sorry for myself. But I didn’t answer. I was still too mad. Few weeks later, my mom called to tell me he’d died. And despite everything that happened between us, sometimes I wonder what might have happened if I’d answered that call.”

He stopped for a second, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. “Point is, Peach, there’s a whole mess of feelings when people close to us die. And they aren’t always the good ones. And that’s okay.”

As Evie looked at West, it was like looking in a mirror, seeing herself but in another person. And for a second, it was too much, to be so understood by someone after having spent years feeling so alone.

A loud beep made them both jump, and it took Evie a moment to get her bearings and remember what they’d been doing before. She looked toward the oven, where the cake had risen to a soft mound inside the pan. “Let’s get it out to cool.”

CHAPTERTWENTY

“Wow,”West said as he looked over their masterpiece.

The cake sat on the table, slathered all over with white buttercream and dotted with light-pink rosettes. Evie had let West pick the colors, and he had surprisingly delicate taste.

“Now close your eyes,” West said.

Evie narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“Can’t make your birthday wish with your eyes open. Otherwise, it won’t come true.”

“We don’t have any candles,” Evie said.

One of West’s eyebrows ticked up. “Just do it.”

Evie snapped her eyelids shut, taking a deep breath. Even though she couldn’t see West, she sensed his presence as he moved behind her, his forearms resting on the top of the chair, raising goose bumps all over her as they grazed against the sides of her bare shoulders. His mouth hovered above her right ear like a bee buzzing on a flower. His words were hot against the soft skin there. “Make it a good one.”

She made her wish, and before she even opened her eyes, it came true.

West’s lips were on her neck, and her head tilted to the side to make room for him. As he kissed her, she realized the problem. She was still in the chair, facing the cake, and he was on the side of her, the angle all wrong. He must have been thinking the same thing, because he scooted the chair out, picked her up like she was a sack of flour, and sat her on the edge of the table.

When his mouth moved from her lips to her neck, she tangled her hands in his hair and tugged on a strand. His hair was soft, softer than her own. His hand reached under her shirt, unhooking her bra in one smooth motion, and she arched her back, desperate for him to feel her. When he did, his hand sliding up her stomach, he made a sound like the one he’d made a little while before, when he’d stuck a finger in the frosting to taste it.

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