Page 25 of Home Sweet Home

“Farthest I’ve been away from home is King’s Island,” Evie said, shifting on the bench. Her mom had taken them to the water park for Josh’s seventh birthday. “I got water up my nose from the wave pool and apparently whined the whole ride home.”

“You? Whine?” West said. “Never.”

Evie glared at him, but it only seemed to make his smile wider.

“Look at that. We had a normal conversation. This mean I’m back on your good side?”

Evie rolled her eyes, sinking lower on the bench and crossing one leg over the other. “I don’t have a bad side, and you were never on it.”

“How is your ass not burning up?” West asked, and Evie hardly had a second to wonder why he was commenting on her ass before he added, one brow tilted up, a grin playing at his lips, “Because your pants are on fire.”

It was suddenly too warm, even in the shade, and his smile was like the sun itself, hard to look at without hurting, so she looked away and picked a piece of lint off her shorts. “Where’s Rich?”

“Went back to LA. Got business there.”

“What’d he think of Creek Water?” Evie asked.

“The two hours straight of nothing but corn on the way down from O’Hare might have shocked him a little. And he grew up in New York, so he’s not easily shocked.”

Evie hid her smile behind her hand. “What about the sign?”

“Ah,” West said. “Creek Water. Population 1,782. He saw it. I remember because he scoffed and said more people lived in his apartment complex.”

“It’s actually 1,677 now,” Evie said. “And did you see they added, ‘Birthplace of West Hawthorne’ in big block letters? Those puppies are visible from space.”

There was cockiness all over his face as he shook his head in false modesty.

She gave him a look. “Don’t let your head get too big. It was either you or that dude who was Secretary of Agriculture like seventy years ago. You only won because baseball is sexier than farming.”

West leaned back, his hands tucked behind his head, patches of hair peeking out from the sleeves of his T-shirt. “So you think baseball is sexy?”

His eyes met hers, not looking away. Evie was suddenly aware of the tag of her shirt tickling her back and the beads of sweat on her hairline. Despite the heat, goose bumps prickled her arms.

“I—” Discomfort settled in her stomach, but before she could finish her sentence, Oliver came into the dugout, sweat dripping from his armpits, brown hair glued to his forehead. He grabbed a cup of water, chugged it down, and refilled it two more times.

Evie glanced at her phone. “We’re done in fifteen.”

West nodded, made his way out to the field, and cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone. “That’s enough for today.”

The boys dragged themselves off the field, and West clapped each one on the shoulder as they stepped into the cool shade of the dugout. Evie watched him, picking apart the goose bumps, wondering where they’d come from. She’d fallen back into a familiar rhythm, the same one they’d always had, but it was a trap. She knew that now.

If she was going to make it through the summer, she needed to be more careful.

CHAPTERNINE

“What’s good?”the man asked as he looked up from the menu Evie had just handed him.

A very cute man, Evie thought. He had dark wavy hair, eyes so icy blue he could have passed for a White Walker, and nice teeth. He was wearing an AC/DC T-shirt, which was fine because at least it wasn’t country music.

“Depends,” Evie said. “What are you in the mood for?”

He had the kind of smile that reached his eyes. “Surprise me.”

Evie snapped up his menu. “One burger coming right up.”

“You have to try the cherry pie,” Kayla called from the counter. “One slice left. The baker is extremely talented. And hot. And single.”

The guy laughed. “Sold.”

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