Page 51 of Evan

“She showed up panicked about the contractors. She yelled and then we talked through it mostly. When she left, she said she was going to call the contractors.”

Everyone nodded, thinking. It was all he had to give them—that was everything that had happened, and he didn’t know what to do with the information.

“Maybe try the blind date chick again?” Cade said.

“Yeah. See if another date gets your mind off things,” Luke said.

“See? It was rational when Cade said it. When you say it, I wonder about the sanity of the idea,” Ryker joked.

“I don’t want to date anyone else,” Evan admitted.

It wasn’t a bad idea though. He’d had a connection with her in the app, but it felt like cheating on Kayla to text another woman.

“I say go for it. Even if Luke agrees. It might help you sort things out and make sure you want to keep waiting on Kayla to change her mind,” Cade said.

Evan shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll think about it.” He looked over at Jake who had been quiet. “Nothing to add?”

“Nope,” Jake said.

“It’s your date pick then?” Evan asked.

Jake shrugged. “What you do is entirely up to you.”

“Who is it?” Evan asked, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer.

“Also nope.”

“Worth a shot.”

They settled back into the game and everyone went back to laughing and joking again. Evan had refused to play another hand but sat at the table with everyone.

He ignored them as he debated what Cade had said. Did he need to talk to his blind date? Would it help him sort things out? He didn’t know.

What he did know was he couldn’t fix anything just sitting there drinking. “I’m going to head home.”

He slid away from the table and carried his empty bottles to the trash before heading out. Thankfully, he’d called a car here, planning to drink. He’d only had four but probably shouldn’t be driving as distracted as he was right now.

The car met him out front and he slid in. He pulled out his phone and opened the app. He hadn’t messaged K in a while, but she hadn’t messaged him either. It had probably fizzled out before it even began anyway.

The ride home was short. He thanked the driver as they pulled up and told him he was done for the night. He needed to go inside and take a shower and try to figure out what to do.

That was the plan anyway. Cade’s suggestion played in his head over and over as he debated what to do. He opened another beer and carried it with him to his room.

A quick shower had him feeling better, but his thoughts were still all over the place. He wanted to text Kayla, not some stranger. Which, if he were totally honest, said more than anything else.

He didn’t need a test to see what was happening in his head; he knew what he wanted. But maybe he needed to talk to K to make sure. Or to at least confirm what he already thought he knew.

Then, what if she wrote back? It wasn’t fair to her that he was more interested in someone else.

Torn again, he stretched out on his bed and stared at the app and the messages with K. They had gone so well in the beginning, but then their dates had been cancelled again and again. It wasn’t because of either of them, but surely that was a sign?

Now he was thinking about signs! He was more screwed up than he thought. Texting to check on Kayla was an option, likely one that wouldn’t be appreciated, though.

With a resigned sigh, he opened the app again and sent a message to K.

E:Sorry I’ve been MIA. I feel like we keep getting pulled apart.

There, he’d done it. Now he just needed to see if she wrote back.

---