The whole time, I’m fuming.And Evander is seated on the floor with his back to the fire, watching me.He’s gone right back to his silent routine.It’s been a challenge to get any information from him.
“I should go back up to the roof,” he says, looking worriedly at the ceiling.
I safely set the bottle on the table before I double over with laughter, clutching the blanket to my body as the guffaws roll through me.In my mind, I see the woodshop and the garage and it’s just so freaking funny that I can’t stand it.
It takes me a minute, but soon I straighten and turn to Evander.“No roof for you, sailor.”I point at him.“You’re going to sit right there and we’re going to talk this out, put everything on the table like the adults we are.I don’t know how long this storm is going to last, but if we can’t be honest with each other, it’s gonna get real ugly in here, real fast.”
I tip the mug to my lips and wait for the icy concoction to make its way into my mouth.Eventually, I crunch it down.
“You might want to pace yourself, Phoebe.”
“It’s not like I have to drive anywhere,Evan.”
One of his thick, black brows hikes up on his forehead.I am well aware that he doesn’t allow nicknames.I remember him yelling down the hospital hallway, “NotEv!Not Van!Not Der!”
I chuckle again.
I return to my spot on the couch and tuck my feet under me.I wince when I do so, because my stiches sting.The wind howls.
Evander pulls up his knees and loosely wraps his arms around his shins.When he tips his head and blinks at me, a lock of his black hair falls over one eye.I wish he wasn’t so insanely hot.It's so much easier to be furious with an average-looking man.
I resume my questioning.“It was Jake, wasn’t it?”
“Uh, no.Not Jake, not Bo or Mason or Ryder or…who am I missing?The MMA fighter?Kyle?”
“Kyle’s the quarterback.”
“Well it wasn’t him, either.I told you.I haven’t spoken to any of your brothers in years.And if I had, I don’t think the topic of your virginity would have come up in casual conversation.”
“Ha!I wouldn’t bet money on that.Then how did you reach your conclusion?”
“I made an assumption, and I was wrong.That’s on me.I apologize.”
“Because no one would ever want to look at my butt?”
Evander squints at me and exhales.“I am never going to live that down, am I?”
“No, you most certainly arenot.”I crunch another mouthful of whisky.
It’s quiet for a few moments, except for the creaking walls and shuddering window glass.And my crunching.
“Why did you assume that, Evander?”
He nods.“It’s a good question.This is where we get to the honesty part, isn’t it?”
“Yup.”I nibble down another mouthful.
“I’ve always known you as the girl from the next ranch over, the baby sister of the ass—Travis boys, our high school rivals.By the time I left for the Navy, you were still a kid.”
“Okay.How about after you’d already moved back to
Yosemite and I came home last year?”
“I barely saw you before I was injured.”
“All right.Let’s start there.You were injured.I took care of you.Did you watch me hang your IV and think to yourself, ‘now that’s a virgin if I’ve ever seen one’!”
“Not exactly, Phoebe.I noticed you in the hospital, and it surprised me.”
