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EVAN
The near fight had been on my mind for the rest of the workout, and well into the afternoon.
There was no getting around it – part of me wished that Duncan would’ve gone through with it. I couldn’t put into words how satisfying it would’ve been to see my big brother cock his fist back and slam it hard right into Adam’s smug face, to send him ass-over-teakettle into the squat rack.
Sure, we would’ve gotten banned from the best gym in town, but it would’ve been worth it. More than that, it could’ve sent the message to Adam that he needed to stay far, far away from Dream.
I thought it all over during lunch at the Red Kettle, popping fries into my mouth one after another, wishing I could do something to make it easier for Dream. But what the guys and I had decided was right – this was her decision to make. We would be there to support her, but that was the best we could do.
I hated it. I was sure Duncan and Jay were feeling the same as I was ? we wanted to solvethe problem. I wanted to set Adam’s smug ass straight, to make it so Dream didn’t have to worry about a damn thing. I pondered it all as I chomped through my bacon cheeseburger.
“Doing alright, Ev?”
I glanced up to see Melody, the manager, standing at my tableside with a fresh glass of Sprite.
“Just girl stuff,” I said. “You ever get in one of those situations where you want to do something for someone else, but know you can’t?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said, taking my empty glass and replacing it with the new one. “That’s what growing up is all about – finding out that sometimes the best thing to do is to let go, realizing that it’s not your responsibility to make sure everything works out.”
“I hate it,” I said. “I joined the service to do things, you know? And now…”
She smiled. “The other part of it is trusting people, giving them the space to make their own decisions. You’ll find that sometimes they surprise you in the best ways.”
Her words mellowed me out.
“Yeah, you’re right.” I glanced down at my plate, which was empty aside from a few fries. “Mind putting another one of those in?”
Melody chuckled. “See? If you’ve got your appetite things can’t be that bad. And you’ve always had an appetite. I’ll throw on some extra bacon this time.”
She was off with a smile and the moment I was alone again, my phone lit up with a text from Dream.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw her name on the screen.
Hey! What’s up?
I grinned and typed my response.
Not much. Just about to start on round two with a burger at Red Kettle. You?
A smiling emoji started the sentence. I wanted to send out some text invites for the Christmas party we’re having at Clarissa’s. You in?
You kidding? Of course I’ll be there!I followed this up with some fire emojis.
Nice. I figured you’d be down. But I wanted to make sure I got your RSVP all the same.
Speaking of plans, I typed out. What’re you doing tonight?
Tonight? Working now, but nothing later.
Let’s get some dinner. This awesome Ethiopian place opened up near downtown that I’ve been dying to try.
The three dots that meant a text in progress appeared. Then they disappeared. Then they appeared again.
I couldn’t help but laugh. No doubt she was unsure of how to handle me asking her out when she’d already hooked up with Duncan and Jay. Part of me wanted to tell her that I knew and didn’t care. If anything, I was happy for the guys. But I wasn’t about to overwhelm her too much.
That sounds nice, actually. Work’s kind of annoying today and it’d give me something to look forward to.
I wanted to pump my fist with excitement, but I kept myself in check.
