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“I’m parked down the street.”
We walked in silence to his Impala, and I almost jumped out of my skin again when a stray cat toppled over a trash can, my nerves still on edge from Evan startling me. He chuckled beside me. I jabbed him in the stomach. “Not funny,” I muttered, my heart still racing.
“It was kind of funny.”
“I hate this place.” The words spilled out, and I clapped a hand over my mouth.
“Thanks,” he clipped out.
“Evan, I—”
He pulled out his keys and the Impala bleeped to life. “Come on.”
With a resigned sigh, I climbed inside and buckled up. For the last hour, I’d obsessed over piecing together the Evan-Kendall link, but now that he was here and able to answer my questions, I couldn’t find it in me to ask. My suspicions told me it involved Ami. She seemed at the heart of the whole group and their beef with Kendall. But Scarlett insisted nothing ever happened between Ami and Evan… so had something happened between Kendall and Evan?
Just the thought of it made my skin crawl in the worst kind of way.
“What’s going on in there?” Evan’s hand paused, key in the ignition, and he searched my eyes. “Talk to me.”
With a heavy sigh, I flopped back against the seat. “Honestly, I don’t even know where to start.”
“I’ll go first. Is Kendall still on your back?”
My eyes widened. Did he know something? Apart from her public attacks, I had kept everything else to myself.
“No more than usual. Why do you ask?”
His eyes narrowed slightly, and he said, “No reason,” before gunning the engine and pulling out onto the road.
Why couldn’t I be honest with him? It was the perfect opportunity to ’fess up, but I didn’t want him to fight my battles for me. It was bad enough that Scarlett, Lilly, and the guys had to take Kendall’s crap for me. But I wasn’t the only one keeping things to myself. I saw it in his eyes.
Only, I didn’t know what to do about it.
“You want to go straight home?” There was a question in there somewhere. In the slight tremble in Evan’s voice. I looked over at him, and he took his eyes off the road, only for a second. The storm had calmed, replaced with lust.
“What did you have in mind?”
A slight smile played on his mouth. “I know a place.”
After everything, why did those four words spark such excitement in me?
* * *
“Pretty awesome, huh?”
Dad had said San Francisco Bay was a sight to behold, but I hadn’t been interested then. Here, now, with Evan, I understood. City lights sparkled in all directions, reflecting off the vast pool of water in front of us. Evan had driven us as close to the water’s edge as possible. The narrow strip of land seemed to jut out onto the water, giving us a panoramic view.
“It really is something.” The cool breeze whipped my hair around my face, but the fresh air was invigorating. Being in the car with Evan was always so intense, but being out here was different. I felt lighter somehow. Freer.
“I come out here when I need to get away.” Evan rubbed soothing circles over my skin. At some point, he’d dragged my hand into his. I didn’t stop him because his touch calmed me.
Thinking back, it always had.
“Who’s watching Eli?”
“Mom. She’s home and sober, but Mellie, our neighbor, keeps an eye on them.”
“That’s good.” I couldn’t even imagine what Evan had to deal with.
