If he had, we wouldn’t be talking about him anymore.
She flicked her eyes to the ceiling. “I’m not going to dump him the first time he overreacts.”
I hated that it was her life, and I couldn’t tell her what to do. It reminded me too much of my mom putting up with some guy’s bullshit for too long. “You’re not going to just give him a pass, I hope.”
“There is such a thing as a middle ground. I’m not a doormat, Chelsea. I’ll kick him to the curb before I let him walk all over me.”
I heaved in a deep breath. To me, he’d already proved himself unworthy, but that was probably why I never had a boyfriend.
We left my house together, and as we pulled into the driveway, Bas and Evan came out to meet us, complete with a backpack presumably loaded with weird and interesting hiking snacks, Elizabeth emerged from the car and did in fact announce, “Crabtree Falls is too far away.”
Evan’s dour expression almost made my entire day. I nearly pointed at him and shouted, “In your face, Spurlock.”
But Elizabeth added, “Carter Mountain is much closer. Let’s go get some apple cider doughnuts, then take a leisurely hike up to Monticello. Evan, have you been there since they installed the wooden paths? It’s lovely.”
Fuck, that was well-played. She’d give Evan the hike, but it wouldn’t cost her much. That hike was a cake walk. Or a doughnut walk, in this case. We turned toward Evan to see ifhe’d bite.
He sucked on his teeth, slouched against the brick wall like he was just loitering and not the central player in this drama.
I leaned against Basil’s car and heckled him. “You weren’t kidding about that cold front, weatherman.”
Evan scanned the sky for a second before he caught the double meaning and rolled his eyes.
Bas took up a position next to Evan and winked at me. “You sure about that? I’m detecting a lot of hot air.”
He’d changed into a navy commando sweater, the kind with shoulder patches, and it should have made him look like a British naval officer, but somehow Bas in a sweater conjured visions of hot cocoa and roaring fires, our feet peeking out the edge of a throw blanket.
I shook my head to chase away the image and volleyed back to Bas. “So much atmospheric tension.”
Evan peeled himself from the wall and approached Elizabeth. Bas teased, “Oh, look, the barometric pressure is dropping.”
“Stop,” Evan said, laughing despite himself.
“Oh, he speaks,” I said.
Elizabeth stepped closer to him, not laughing. “Is everything okay?”
He sighed and took her hand. “Yeah. I’m embarrassed by my reaction. And sorry.”
I stood there gobsmacked by his reversal. I’d never had Evan calming the fuck down on my Bingo card. Maybe Elizabeth’s forbearance wasn’t as naive as I’d presumed. Was her faith in him the result of growing up with loving parents who modeled nonviolent communication? It was certainly relationship goals, if I ever had the folly to plunge into a real one.
Elizabeth smiled with a short nod. “Come on. We can talk while we hike. Bas and Chelsea will come, too.” She glanced at me. “Right?”
“Nooo.” My role here was done. I’d stick around long enough for Bas to feed me waffles or beignets or eggs Benedict or whatever he had in mind, but then I needed to spend my day alone. Away from his lopsided smiles and gravity-defying hair. For both our sakes.
Or we could stay here in his bed all day.
But Elizabeth roped me in with a lasso. “Picking fruit is on the list.”
Dammit. That wasn’t fair.
It wasn’t worth having my poison pen missive mailed to my dad. Maybe one day I’d want to send that letter, make my dad deal with some consequences, but right now, I wanted him to forget I existed.
“My breakfast. My delicious breakfast,” I whined. I could feel it blipping out of my grasp.
Bas laid a hand on my forearm and whispered, “Hot apple cider doughnuts.”
His voice was so incredibly sexy. I pretended the moan escaping my throat was over the thought of cinnamon-dusted dough melting in my mouth. Okay, the second groan was over the thought of the food.
