"Crystal Furlong," he muttered, cheeks flushing red. "She saw you get lunch a few times and said you talk and hug a lot."
"Ah. Crystal. Because she hasn't been blatantly hitting on you for years." Evie shook her head. "Every time Aaron and I have gotten lunch, I’ve texted you and told you that you were welcome to join us. Aaron wanted to get to know you. And yes, we’ve hugged. Usually, after he talks about his dead wife or about how his best friend lost his whole family in a house fire just before Christmas while he was deployed in Iraq. He hugs me and thanks me for being there for him."
"Evie, please, I'm sorry!" He reached for her hand again, desperate. "I made a mistake. I'll do better. I swear."
"I'm sorry, Alex, but if we’re honest, we’ve been dragging this out way longer than we should have." She left the apartment, got into the elevator, and hit the button for Thorn’s without looking back. Happiness she hadn’t felt in almost a year settled over her, light and dizzying.
**********
There you are." Thorn grinned as he opened the door and let her in. "I was starting to think you changed your mind."
"No, I was breaking up with Alex, sorry." Evie smiled as he wrapped her in his arms, breathing in the faint scent of sandalwood that always clung to him.
"I am sorry to hear that, Little One." He held her tight and kissed the top of her head.
"I'm not. We've been together for three years, and I feel free for the first time in a long time." She stepped back and grinned at him. "So we have two things to celebrate. Break out thesljivovica, and let's start on thegibanica."
A couple of hours and more than a couple glasses of sljivovica later, Evie was properly drunk. She giggled as Thorntold her about his last job, even acting out parts of the story. When he finished, he smiled and dropped onto the couch beside her.
"Cole was right," Thorn said.
"About what?" Evie smiled as she climbed up behind him and began braiding his hair. "You needing a haircut?"
He chuckled and closed his eyes, leaning slightly into her touch.
"No. He said Alex made you dull. He was correct. You are much sparklier."
Evie hummed and undid the braid, running her fingers through his hair before wrapping her arms around his neck from behind.
Want to read the outline for my novel?"
"I would love to." He stood up in one smooth motion, taking her with him as she clung to his shoulders. She squealed with laughter as he reached back, caught her legs, and wrapped them around his waist like she weighed nothing. Then he gave her a piggyback ride to the island where she had left her laptop. He turned and set her on the counter, then pulled one of his huge, reinforced stools over and sat. He opened her computer and typed in her PIN.
"It’s in my documents. A folder called Storms and Shadows. There’s an outline of the whole series, and then Dark Mist is the first novel." Evie leaned over and grabbed another piece ofgibanica. "I was working on it for the rest of the afternoon." She grinned and leaned closer. "Don’t tell Tommy."
"Mališa." He shook his head with a quiet laugh. "Did you get your work done?"
"Of course."
"Then why would I tell Tommy?" He reached out and tapped her nose. "Now hush and let me read."
Evie rolled her eyes and ate hergibanicawhile he scrolled. When he was finished, he looked up at her with a huge smile.
"I cannot wait to read the entire thing. My Evie is going to be famous."
“I don’t know about famous, but I will get to add Published Author to my resume.” She smiled at him as he stood up and closed her laptop. He lifted her down off the island and led her back over to the sofa and queued up the Trolls movie.
Thorn smiled as she cuddled into his side, pulling her hair from its bun and running his fingers through it. “So, what happened that made you decide to end things with Alex tonight?”
Evie rolled her eyes, leaning forward to pick her glass of sljivovica up off the coffee table and taking a long sip. “He’s been a pill for like two months and finally decides to tell me why when I got home this evening.” She looked up at Thorn, her earlier annoyance at Alex coming back.
“Apparently, “someone” told him I’ve been spending a lot of time with Aaron.” She took another drink. “Of course, that particular someone has been trying to sit on Alex’s dick for years, but why would she lie, right?”
Thorn raised his eyebrows, looking amused by her drunken rant. “Why indeed?”
“But what really did it was, get this, he’s been spying on me using the security system.” Evie flopped back on the couch. “Dumbass walk right into my trap.” She grinned smugly. “I asked him what his surveillance told him, and he said, “Nothing, but I don’t have access to the cameras…” And then he realized Itrapped him.” She snatched her hand in the air, making a fist like she had caught something, and giggling madly. “Idiot.”
Thorn
