“And you.” She poked Evan in the chest. “Be a good role model.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Evan gave her a mock salute. “You’d have made a good Marine.”
She smiled, and Evan got a stupid look on his face.
Oh brother.
“See you at home.” She left, and the rain that had turned back into a light drizzle finally stopped.
Evan sighed. “Of course it stops. Now that we’re leaving.” He dug in the back of his car and fished out two towels. “Unless you want to ride on the roof, towel off.” He wiped the muck off his face and stripped off his shirt.
Daniel tried not to stare, but Evan had surprising muscle on his frame. In his clothes, the guy looked tall and streamlined, but without a shirt, his pecs and biceps looked huge.
But not to be a gazer, Daniel dried off as best he could and didn’t look back at Evan until he put on a clean sweatshirt.
“Okay, towels on the seats. And before you tell me I’m being anal-retentive about my car, I know. But can you blame me?”
Daniel agreed. “No problem on my end. If I had a car this nice, no way I’d let it get dirty.”
“Good man.”
The praise was a platitude, but it still made Daniel feel proud to have earned it.
As they drove back to his house, Daniel watched Evan handle the car. Assured, confident, manly. Yeah, Evan was a guy’s guy without being all macho. And he didn’t have a weak chin. Bryce had had a weak chin. Not good.
“So you and my sister…”
Evan sighed. “Go ahead and ask your questions.”
“I just did.”
“That’s not a question.”
Daniel spaced out each word. “Are you having sex with my sister?” He didn’t get the awkward reaction he’d anticipated.
Evan laughed. “This is my punishment for cussing on the field. Your sister made sure you’d harass me all the way to your place.”
Daniel started to disagree then realized Kenzie had been awfully easy about letting Daniel drive off with Evan in his killer sports car. “Hmm. You may be right. But you still didn’t answer the question.”
“I like your sister a lot. But she’s a tough nut to crack. I’m on my best behavior, so don’t go getting me in trouble at your house.”
“Hey, I’m no narc.”
“Good to know.” Evan turned and gave the car some gas. Nice. “So what’s the deal with your house?”
Not what Daniel had been expecting. He’d been waiting for Evan to ask him for dirt on Kenzie. And if the guy knew Kenzie as well as Daniel thought he did, for dirt on Bryce. “The house?”
Evan nodded. “Your sister seems to think there’s a lot wrong with it. Tell me what you think. You’re the man of the house.”
Daniel shot him a sharp look, but Evan didn’t seem to be poking fun at him. And technically, he was right. Danielwasthe man of the house.
Feeling okay about that, Daniel answered, “Well, you helped fix up the water heater. So that’s good now. But the garbage disposal keeps breaking, so we just dump all the food in the trash. A few of our overhead lights in the kitchen don’t work. The bathroom tile is cracked. If water flows over onto the counter, it spills behind the cabinets. But I think Kenzie said that was easy to fix with chalking.”
“Caulking,” Evan corrected. “I bet you need sealant.”
Daniel shrugged. “And I think the vacuum is clogged.”
“Huh. That’s a lot of problems. How old’s the house?”
