Aspen hated the way Eve’s shoulders rounded as she shared, making her seem smaller and beaten down. She waited for Eveto look back at her and, when it didn’t happen, knelt in front of her to get her attention. She put as much warmth into her gaze as she could when sad blue eyes lifted to look at her and took Eve’s hands into her own. “Art is the least inconsequential thing in the world.” She ran her thumbs over Eve’s in a gentle caress. “Art is the most human endeavor there is. What is life without creation? What is the point of anything if you don’t stop to appreciate beauty when you see it?”
“I think so, too,” Eve whispered. “But I’m afraid they don’t see things that way.”
“Well, they’re wrong,” Aspen said flatly. “And my offer to kick their asses still stands. Just say the word.”
Eve smiled weakly. “My hero.”
Aspen’s heart ached to reassure Eve that she was perfect, just as she was, but that was a heavy emotion for people who’ve just met, and she didn’t know how to convey it without making Eve uncomfortable. So, instead, she simply promised, “For as long as you need me to be.”
She’d never meant anything more.
Eve gaped at Aspen. They’d hit the road again as soon as Aspen had finished packing, and Aspen had spent the drive regaling her with stories of hers and Michael’s misspent youth. “You seriously snuck out of a wedding, stole golf carts, and took them for a joyride?”
“Yup.” Aspen grinned, looking adorably proud of the mischief they’d gotten into. “Tore up the entire eighteenth fairway spinning donuts. But that’s not the best part.”
Eve arched a brow. That sounded ominous, but in an absolutely hilarious kind of way. “What’s the best part?”
“Michael crashed his into the water on sixteen.” Aspen sniggered. “It wasfantastic.”She made a whooshing motion with her right hand. “He caught so much air.”
“Oh my god.”
“Right?” Aspen replied, her beautiful face positively alight with glee.
Eve shook her head. She’d have been grounded for the rest of her life if she pulled a stunt like that. “Did you get caught?”
“Well, I mean, yeah.” Aspen glanced at her phone as the GPS directed her to take a left at the coming intersection and flicked on her blinker. “But not because anyone saw us or anything; security cameras weren’t so ubiquitous back then. Michael was fucking soaked. And kind of bleeding from a minor headwound,” she added with a wry grimace.
“A minor head wound…” Eve echoed.
“Super minor,” Aspen emphasized as she turned onto the two-lane road that would take them to Eve’s parents’ house. “It only needed like three stitches.”
Eve’s pulse stumbled into a familiar trot as they started up the mountain road. They were almost there. “So, what happened?” she asked, fighting to hold onto this slice of normality for as long as possible.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever seen him in action, but Michael is a fucking amazing bullshitter,” Aspen shared as she took a curve at speed. “I mean, I’m good, but he’s just…” She finished the thought with an impressed sounding whistle. “Anyway, we totally pulled a story out of our asses about how we decided to go for a walk around the course and a deer sprinted right up to us and knocked Michael into one of the water hazards.”
“And they believed you?”
“I mean, eh?” Aspen pulled a face. “But our parents were long-standing members, and we really did a killer job selling it. And Michael was bleeding, like, everywhere, because head wounds do that, so they just shook their heads, muttered something about the two of us being trouble together, and hustled him off to the emergency room to get his head looked at.”
“That’s…” Eve’s voice trailed off as Aspen slowed to turn into a long, sweeping driveway that led up a steep incline. Because it was the dead of winter and the trees were bare, they had a nearly unobstructed view of the sprawling eleven-bedroom estate at the end of the drive.
“Oh damn,” Aspen muttered.
“Right?” Eve squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose as she focused on her breathing, slowing each inhale to a count of four beats, holding for seven, and exhaling overeight. It helped as much as it ever did—which was minimally—but even a little relief was better than nothing.
You can do this,she told herself.You’re strong, and you’re not alone. Aspen’s here. She’s capable. And she’s on your side.
“Eve?” Aspen’s voice sounded like it was coming from a distance much further than the seat beside hers.
Eve gritted her teeth and doubled down on her breathing exercises as her awareness shrank to the tightness in her chest and the way her pulse pounded deafeningly in her ears. Aspen’s stories had been helping stem the anxiety that was her constant companion whenever her parents were near, but that reprieve had clearly run its course.
Shit.
Eve wanted to cry. God, she fucking hated this. She was almost thirty, for fuck’s sake. She wasn’t a kid anymore—why wasn’t it getting better?
Breathe in, two, three, four. Hold. Hold. Hold. Hold. Come on. Just a little longer. There. And out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, again. In…
It didn’t help. She couldn’t breathe. Goddamn it all, she couldn’t fucking breathe.
