Evan and Hector exchanged a look as Smith left to grab more from the house.
“Is he serious?” Hector asked and shifted a few things in the back of the open truck. This would make load number three to be dropped off. They’d spent the week packing and prepping to move the family. “This from the same man who’s been complaining twenty-four seven about Cash not being here? I think he misses the big guy.”
Honestly, Evan thought the same. “Yeah, I know.”
“So who’s this mystery woman that’s got your panties in a bunch?”
“Nice imagery.”
Hector grinned. “I try.”
Evan tried to put it into words that made sense. “I met this woman, and she’s… I… It’s weird. I can’t explain it. The first time I saw her, time seemed to stand still. It’s the damnedest thing.”
“Nice.” Hector bumped fists with him. “She got any friends?”
Evan laughed. “As a matter of fact, she—” His phone chimed, and his heart raced. Anytime he got a text, he wondered if it was from Kenzie. He kept praying she wouldn’t cancel their date. He’d been so blown over by their connection, he figured she’d be a little freaked out by it. Or at least, he hoped she was. Because he was seriously enamored, and that should have worried him.
Forcing himself to be slow about it, Evan checked his text and felt as if a rock had dropped in his stomach, landing hard and hurting.
Hector frowned. “What’s up?”
“I think she’s trying to ditch me.” He read the note. “She says she forgot she’d promised to go to a birthday dinner with her friend Lila. She’s really sorry but said I was invited if I wanted to come with them. Otherwise we can reschedule.” And why did he feel like her idea of rescheduling was a lot like getting blown off?
“Maybe it’s legit,” Hector offered.
“Maybe.” But Evan felt in his gut it wasn’t.
“Then again, who forgets a birthday dinner? They have cake and singing,” Hector joked.
“Yeah. But maybe it would be easier if she and I did ease back a little. Just being with her is intense, for sure.”
“This could also be a test, to see how you do with a little disappointment. Are you a man who can handle that? Or are you gonna throw a tantrum and show your true colors?”
“Huh. Dating is a lot more complex than it used to be.”
“What? You mean back in the nineteen hundreds when you last went out?”
“Screw you.”
Hector gave him a wide smile.
Evan’s reluctant laugh started his friend chuckling. And then he had a thought. “Hey, you want to do me a solid?”
Hector’s smile dimmed. “No. Nope. No favors.”
“Oh, come on. You asked if Kenzie had a friend.”
“I didn’t mean it.”
“Well, she does. Lila is funny, stacked, and fine.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Besides being a little neurotic? Nothing. I’d have asked her out if Kenzie hadn’t caught my eye.” Not a lie. Lila was pretty, just not as awe-inspiring as Kenzie. But Evan liked what he knew of Lila, and he thought Hector would too. And that had nothing to do with skin color and everything to do with Hector finding a woman who could handle him. Evan had a feeling nothing much scared Lila.
“So she’s high-maintenance, eh? What the hell. Not like I have anything better to do now that Lafayette is always too busy to hang, cozying up with his new boyfriend.”
Lafayette popped his head out from behind a large ceramic pot he’d hefted into the garage. “How many times do I have to tell you? Simon prefers being labeled my boy toy. Get it right, Bro.”
