I smile. “Pretty sure he is.”
“And you wear those shorts around him?” she asks, laughing at me openly.
“Every chance I get,” I say, arching my eyebrow at her.
“Then you are playing with fire, my man.” She pats my arm as her face becomes thoughtful. “Just… Roly was telling me the other day that it sounds like Elijah doesn’t have a lot, and he might be in a not-so-great place. So, yeah, definitely not one-night stand material, and probably… take-it-slow material.”
“Yeah, if I’m going to make a move, I’m gonna wait a bit more. I think he’s got a shit ton of roommates where he’s living now, and he hates it, so maybe I’ll wait till he gets into a better living situation and feels more stable in general and then see how I feel.”
“Yeah, that makes the most sense. From everything I’ve seen, he’s a really great guy. And Nick?” she says, again brushing my stubborn hair off my forehead. “You deserve a great guy. So, don’t eff it up.”
I stand up tall and square my shoulders. “You know me. I’ve got it all under control.”
She smiles, a little too knowingly. “Oh yeah, that’s Nick Martinez for you. The man who’s in control of everything.”
On that note she leaves the rather large stack of pies on the counter in the entryway and walks out the door, like a lavender-haired sprite.
She wasn’t born into my family, but I like to think she got here as quickly as she could.
* * *
Elijah
I walk in as Evie is walking out, and she sidelines me with a huge hug. Her smile is as bright as the sun, and there’s a mischievous look in her eyes. I check my clothes. I’m wearing my Wrecked T-shirt and the regulation gym pants and the Sehenes that Roly so generously gave me. “What? Is something wrong with what I’m wearing?”
She pats my cheek and smiles while shaking her head. “Elijah, honey. There is nothing wrong with you. You are ridiculously handsome. The gray in that T-shirt brings out the blue in your eyes so beautifully. You’re a gorgeous man, and don’t you forget it.”
I’m not quite sure what I’ve done to deserve that kind of a compliment, but coming from Evie, it means a bit more. She leans in and gives me a warm hug and then leaves in her gold Chevy Nova. There are days when she comes around, sprinkling sunshine, and I wonder whether or not she’s real.
Still smiling, I walk in the door and am immediately hit with the smell of Evie’s delicious pizza.Yes.Better yet, I can smell the peach-and-rosemary pizza in the box on top, and I go straight for it. I pop open the lid and discover that I am not the only one who enjoys this weird, heavenly concoction. At least three slices are missing, so I take my three with the provided paper plates and walk into the open area. Nobody’s in yet, so I decide to go to the kitchen and hoard my goods like a dragon… or a guy who didn’t eat breakfast. As I approach the tiny space, sounds are coming from the kitchen that sound downright… pornographic.
It’s Nick, and he’s saying stuff along the lines of, “Oh my god, oh my god, this is the best I’ve ever had. So good, so good.”
I’m surprised that the door is open, and if I were a better person, I would keep my eyes to myself, but I have to see what is going on.I must.I sneak over and peek through the slightly open door, catching Nick in the act. He sees me see him, and his eyes open comically wide.
“Busted.” I grin, as red marinara sauce drips down his chin.
“You can’t tell anyone,” he says, his face absolutely serious.
I can’t help it; I crack up. I laugh and laugh andlaugh. Actually, I point and laugh quite a bit in there as well and then plop my ass down on the seat across from him and go to town on my slices. “That woman is a mad genius,” I say. “Who puts peaches on a pizza?”
“Only Evie,” he says, his mouth around the pizza crust, infinitely more profane and slightly less intimidating with his eyes lit up. It’s a good look on him, one I fear business ownership doesn’t allow for all that frequently.
“Well then, your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell anyone that you are an absolute cheat and liar when it comes to your stance on carbohydrates.”
He has the temerity to look sheepish, as he dunks the rest of his pizza crust into the ranch he’d stolen from the refrigerator. God, this is amazing. I crack up again as I finish the first slice and motor toward the second.
After a few minutes the table looks like postwar Kosovo, and we both are leaning back in our chairs, patting our bellies, entirely satisfied with our debauchery.
“So, what led to this heretofore unseen bout of rebellion? I’ve seen you eat. You preplan your meals a week out, and it never deviates. So, this is big. Either something really great happened, or something really terrible happened. And you don’t seem to be cryin’, so give me good news,” I say, rubbing my belly.
He thinks about it for a moment. “I dunno, I guess I just… don’t feel like I have to controleverymorsel of food every second of the day, and it’s okay to let loose every once in a while. But then again, Evie is my dealer. She likes to bring me pies on the sly.”
I reach across the small table and swipe the ranch for my own crusts. “How both enlightened and very cloak-and-dagger of you. And I am not surprised in the slightest that Evie is your dealer. She’s kind of hard to resist that way.”
He grimaces. “You got that right. Sometimes I think I’m the unmovable object, and she’s the unstoppable force, but I’m not going to let her move me off of my opinion…”
“Except…”
