Page 66 of The Challenge

“Evan, this is Brendan Simmons. We graduated from high school together.”

Brendan nodded. “Hey. I recognize you from around town.”

“Mmm...” Evan acknowledged coldly.

After a moment of tense silence, I turned to Evan. “I’ll have tequila with soda water and lime.”

Evan gave Brendan one last stare before going over to the bar.

“Is that your boyfriend?”

“No, actually. He’s a family friend who’s performing here tonight. I’m…renting a room from him while I’m in town. We’re here with his eight-year-old daughter.” I looked over toward where Effie was sitting. “I should get back to her.”

“Okay. Well, if you want to hang out while you’re in Dry River, I’d love to catch up.”

I didn’t see the harm in that. Evan had given me no formal reason to say no, especially with how quiet he’d been since the closet encounter. Was he having regrets?

“Maybe.” I bit my lip and thought better of that answer. “Actually, sure.”

“Can we exchange numbers?” He grinned.

“Sure.”

I took out my phone and let him enter his contact information. Then I sent him a text.

“Well, cool, then.” He put his phone back in his pocket. “Hopefully I’ll see you soon.”

“Sure…” I smiled and walked over to join Evan and Effie at their corner table.

Evan gave me a look, and I decided to poke at him as I sat down.

I spoke in his ear. “You sure stepped into that conversation fast.”

“Are we not here together?” he asked, looking pissed.

“I don’t know.” I glared. “Are we?”

Effie looked between us. “Daddy, where’s my Coke?”

Evan closed his eyes. “Sorry, baby. I knew I forgot something. Let me go back and get it.”

Evan seemed flustered, but I warned myself not to get too excited about the prospect of his jealousy. Even if he was a little territorial, that didn’t matter if he continued to rule out something real happening between us. Sneaking me into a closet and mauling me hardly counted as a step in the right direction, even if I’d enjoyed every last second of it and longed for an encore.

Soon after Evan returned with Effie’s Coke, a couple of his friends arrived. The two men occupied the remaining seats at our table.

Evan gestured to a short, balding guy in a plaid shirt. “Chloe, this is Owen.”

“Great to meet you.” Owen nodded, flashing an adorable smile.

He pointed to the other guy, a muscular ginger. “And that’s Freddy.”

“Where you been hiding her?” Freddy smirked.

“Pipe down,” Evan warned.

While I liked this side of Evan, I’d have liked it a lot better if I could reap some of the benefits of his anger. Instead, tonight we’d likely go home and retreat to our separate rooms as always.

I took a sip of my drink. “So, how did you guys start performing together?”