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"And you weren't here ten seconds ago," Julian counters, quickly washing the baster so he can get back to the task at hand.
"Sorry. I had precious cargo to pick up on my way over." Julian lifts his brow when Brady doesn't continue. "Rolls. You asked me to pick up dinner rolls."
"I ask you to do a lot of things, and you forget."
"Yes, but I love bread. You can't eat mashed potatoes without gravy, and you can't have gravy if you don't have bread to soak it up with."
I like his logic. A lot. So does my stomach, growling at the mention of food.
"So where are these magic rolls then?" Julian asks, staring at Brady's empty hands.
"Right here." Her voice is like music to my ears. The sweetest sound on the darkest of days.
Slowly turning to face my angel, I'm struck by how gorgeous she is the instant I lay eyes on her.
Short white cotton dress, hitting just above her knees. Her golden-brown locks are down, falling in long waves over each shoulder. But it's her eyes that capture my attention and hold it. Her cobalt blues are shimmering in the light, standing out against her dark lashes.
And she's staring at me.
Waiting for me to speak.
But I don't want to. I'm afraid if I do, she'll disappear. A figment of my imagination. I can't even bring myself to blink.
"Go get your girl," Julian whispers at the same moment Brady nudges me with his shoulder.
Rounding the island, my eyes never leaving hers, I come to a stop in front of her, reaching out and taking her hand in mine. When she doesn't pull away, I let out the breath I was holding, my eyes closing for a brief moment. When I open them again, Evie's still smiling up at me, but standing just inside the entrance from the hall is Max.
And he's not smiling.
Nope.
Not even close.
His jaw is clenched. His eyes trained on where our hands are clasped. And if it were possible, there would be smoke coming out of his ears.
I watch out of the corner of my eye as he takes a step toward us, Evie's voice stopping him before he can get too close.
"Max." There's an edge of warning in her voice I've never heard before. It's both startling and arousing. The sultry yet dark tone. My dick twitches before I can push the thoughts away. "This isn't about you."
"The hell it's not." His growl captures the attention of everyone in the room, all eyes bouncing back and forth between Max and where Evie and I are standing. "I warned—"
"Warn all you want. You don't get a say."
"Evie—"
But she's not giving him a chance to speak. Turning to face her brother, Evie releases my hand, holding one up to keep Max from continuing. "I'm a big girl, Max. You don't have to accept that ,but it's the truth. I'm going to do what I want. Date who I want. And you're going to stop trying to parent me because you're not my dad."
Max's swift intake of breath is audible, but it doesn't faze Evie. She takes a step toward her brother, continuing.
"You're my brother. That entitles you to a lot of things, but deciding how I run my life isn't one of them. I get it, you want to protect me, the same way you have always protected me. The same way you tried to protect Lo from Finn. But look how that turned out. You almost screwed it up for them."
"They did that all on their own," he mutters, his eyes shifting to the floor as he kicks imaginary dust with the toe of his shoe.
"No, you did that. You pushed and pushed, tried to manipulate the situation to whatever fit your needs. First you kept them apart, then you tried to push them together. It backfired on you. Want to know why?"
He shakes his head, but Evie, my sweet angel, doesn't hesitate to tell him what he already knows.
"You're not part of their relationship, that's why. You can't control how people feel about each other. You can't decide when and where people can be together. Or if they should or shouldn't. Your love life is the only one you can control."
