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Everything was great.
Everything was not great. As my thick head lifted a little, the events of the night before weighed down on me.
Someone had drugged me.
It couldn’t have been Kendall—she was out of town—which meant it was someone else. I wasn’t stupid. I knew the night could have ended much differently if Scarlett, Lilly, and the guys hadn’t been watching out for me. How Evan figured into the equation, I still didn’t know, but I was glad he did.
I slipped out of Evan’s room and into the small bathroom across the hall. It was clean and tidy but sparse, like his room. After scrubbing the makeup stains off my face and gurgling a blob of toothpaste around my mouth, I went in search of Evan and Eli. It wasn’t difficult to find them—all I had to do was follow the giggles. Eli was sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by toys, eating marshmallows from a bowl while Evan sat on a small couch.
“Hey.” I entered the room, a small living space with a kitchenette off to the side. Separating the two was a breakfast counter with two stools.
“Hey.”
Eli seemed oblivious to the sudden awkwardness that had descended over me and Evan. His head twisted around, and he grinned. “Hey, Becca. You want to play Paw Patrol? You can be Marshall. I’m always Chase, he’s the bestest.”
“I think Becca’s hungry, buddy. How about you finish watching this episode, and I make Becca some toast, and then we can play?”
He shrugged, stuffing another marshmallow into his mouth. “Kay.”
Evan nodded toward the kitchenette, and I followed him to the counter, hopping up onto a stool.
“How do you feel now?”
“A little better, thank you.”
“Good, that’s good.” He ran a brisk hand over his head. “Do you want toast?”
My hand rubbed my stomach. “I’m not sure it’s ready for food yet.”
“Coffee then?”
I nodded. “He’s your brother?”
“Yeah.” Evan avoided my eyes, looking everywhere but at me. “He’s almost four.”
“He’s cute.”
“He’s a pain in my ass.” He laughed softly, looking over at Eli. “Here. You want sugar?”
“No, this is good. Thanks.” I slid my hands around the mug. “It’s just the three of you?”
Evan leaned back against the counter still staring out at his brother. “Yeah. Mom is…” His expression hardened, and his walls slammed back up. I wanted him to let me in, to give me a piece of him, no matter how small, but I wouldn’t push.
“So were you really just passing by last night?”
His eyes flickered to mine, the storm swirling. Deep down, I knew there was more to Evan’s motivations than he was willing to admit. He was resistant to me. To us. Always watching me from afar but never getting too close.
“What do you think?” He stalked forward, sliding his hands over the side of the stool, spinning me until he was standing in front of me.
“I—”
“Lilly texted me.”
“Lilly?” My head craned up to look up at him. I could just make out the hazel flecks in his eyes.
“She’s a good friend.”
“She is.”
