Seeing Evelynn’s face right now, so full of rage, brings back memories of the night I ruined everything.
If I ever had doubts about Evie’s true feelings for me, it was all revealed to me by her reaction when she found me in her sister’s bed.
She didn’t react with anger like she is right now.
She was absolutely bereft and inconsolable, which was worse than if she’d flown into a fit of rage and hit me and cursed me as I deserved.
If she had no feelings for me at all, I wouldn’t have had to witness her break down, falling to her knees and muffling her own uncontrollable sobbing with her hands.
The sight tore my heart in two, and there was nothing I could do to take it back, to make it better.
Crystal cried too that night and begged for Evie’s forgiveness, giving me the impression that she had known Evie’s true feelings all along.
In that moment, I hated Crystal with everything in me, and there was only one person I hated even more. Myself.
I never got the chance to ask Crystal about what she did and knew.
I left Granny Mabel’s the very next morning with the intent of never returning. Less than a year later, before my anger had cooled enough to speak to her again, Crystal died in a car accident.
So, here I am, staring in the eyes of the only woman I’ve ever loved, and all I can see in her eyes is hate…and possibly fear? I must be mistaken.
Before I can get a better look, Evie turns on her heels and storms off in the direction of what I can only assume is the ladies' room.
A tall woman with sun-kissed skin and vibrant blue eyes looks at the three of us in confusion and then hurries after Evie.
I see Tony’s eyes following the tall girl to the restroom. “Damn! Did you see that girl? She’s easily the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
“She could pass for Zooey Deschanel if it weren’t for the gorgeous bronze tone to her skin,” Tony comments, rubbing his hands together in glee.
Leave it to Tony to only notice a beautiful girl sitting on the sidelines when an entire drama is unfolding before his eyes. Trevor eyes Tony, smiles, and shakes his head.
“That’s Gina, one of my sister’s best friends so that makes her practically family. Catch my drift?” he asks, eyebrow raised, his voice low with a warning.
“Only honorable intentions, got it,” Tony answers with a thumbs up and a smile.
Oh God, Oh God, this can’t be happening.
I’m in the bathroom fanning my face with my hands because I’m flushed and I feel like I’m hyperventilating. Gina walks into the bathroom a second later, rushing over to me and putting her arms around my shoulders.
“It’s okay, sweetie, just breathe,” she tells me in a soothing voice. With her arms still wrapped around me, she walks me over to the sink where she dampens some paper towels and gently blots my face with them.
I sigh because the cool towels feel like heaven against my flushed skin. Before I can control them, the tears start to fall and I’m sobbing into her shoulder.
“I can’t do it, Gina. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…” I say repeatedly in her shirt while the tears continue to roll down my cheeks.
I know that I’ve got to get a hold of myself.
I’m never one to cry or show this much emotion, so I know I’ve got to be scaring the crap out of Gina right now. Hell, I’m scaring myself. This sudden rush of emotions is overwhelming, to say the least.
I never imagined I’d see Hunter again and especially so unexpectedly like this. When I first laid eyes on him, I felt the hurt come back to me, but the wrath in me quickly took over.
I can’t deny that underneath the surface of the rage and the hurt lingers desire, and that pisses me off most of all.
How can I still desire the man who completely shattered not only my trust in him but my love for him as well?
And all it took was one look at him.
I’m ashamed of myself. I’m stronger than that. Damn it, I’m better than that!
“Okay, I’m done,” I say and hug Gina.
I lean over the sink to clean myself up and get it together. I assess the damage, and I’m glad I don’t wear a ton of makeup because it could’ve been a helluva lot worse.
Before I can walk out the door, Gina puts her hand on my shoulder to stop me.
“Give me a sec. Let me see if I’ve got this straight. That beefy blond guy with the piercing gray eyes is none other than your first love Hunter Douglas?”
I nod my head and she continues, “And he’s the guy your brother suggested stay with you until he gets a place of his own?”
Another nod from me.
“And you harbor complete and total animalistic rage for him. Um, why?”
I smile a little at her phrasing. “Animalistic? Really? I wasn’t that bad, was I?”
She smiles back at me. “For a normal person, no. For our cool-as-a-cucumber Evelynn Rae Woods, definitely.
“Don’t get me wrong, I know there’s a little spitfire inside of you, but unlike Megan, you usually tend to bite your tongue in order to keep the peace,” Gina explains.
Wow, I’m taken aback at how well she knows me.
That makes me feel good.
I have a really great friend in Regina Santos. I know that I owe her the full story, but the restroom of Shay’s Bar & Grill is not the time nor the place to unburden my sorrows.
“Here’s the edited version, and I promise to tell you and Megan full details later. The night of my senior prom in high school, I walked in on Hunter screwing Crystal, my half sister, in my bedroom.
“He left the very next morning and I haven’t spoken to him since.”
Looking at her face, I can tell that she truly is one of my best friends. Her blue eyes are narrow slits and her forehead is scrunched into a scowl.
I can tell she wants to get her claws into Hunter now too, and it makes me feel just a little bit better to have my feelings validated.
“All right then, let’s go out there and face the bastard.”
I walk back to the booth as if nothing is wrong, with Gina trailing behind me. Tony and Hunter are on one side of the booth, with Megan across the table from them, while Trevor has pulled up a chair to the side of the table.
I can tell that Megan has been chatting the guys up and keeping them entertained by their laughter and her animated facial gestures as we walk up.
I let Gina slide into the booth next to Megan so that I can be on the outside in case I need to make another quick getaway.
“You all right, baby girl?” Trevor asks me, rubbing my shoulder.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just don’t think Hunter staying with me is going to work. I wish you had told me who it was you were referring to before you brought him all the way down here,” I say pointedly.
“Honestly, Evie, I didn’t tell you on purpose.
“Whatever this shit is between you two has got to be fixed. You’re my baby sister, and Hunter is like a brother to me. I’m tired of excuses for why you two can’t be in the same vicinity without any explanation.
“So, either you guys come clean, or you hash this shit out,” he says, smacking his hand on the table for emphasis.
One look at Hunter and I can tell he’s holding his breath, waiting for my response.
If I lay everything out on the table right now, Trevor may lose his best friend. I just can’t do that to Trevor.
Hunter really is like a brother to him, and after losing Crystal to a drunk driver five years ago, our small family has become even smaller and more important to us. So, I sit here and say nothing.
“Looks like I have my answer,” Trevor says with a satisfied smile.
“So, should we head over to your apartment and get Hunter situated, or do you have to stop by Granny Mabel’s to get McKinley?” he asks me as he’s getting up out of his chair.
“Not tonight. She’s sleeping over Granny’s,” I reply, and thank goodness for that because I don’t know how I could have explained just showing up at the apartment with Hunter unannounced.
At least, this way, I can explain it to her before she meets him.
I start to shuffle my way out of the booth, expecting Tony and Hunter to do the same, but Hunter seems glued to the seat with a perplexed look on his face.
“Excuse me, but who’s McKinley?”
Surprised at the question, I glance at Trevor, giving him a look. Are you kidding me right now? He just shrugs his shoulders at me.
Of course he didn’t tell Hunter; that would be asking for way too much.
“McKinley is my daughter.”
I look between Evie and Trevor.
I know my mouth has got to be hanging open, but they continue to get up and collect their things as if Evelynn didn’t just drop a fucking bomb in my lap.
I open my mouth then close it, open then close, open then close. Yep, straight-up guppy style, but I can’t seem to get my lips to form the words that I need to convey my total and utter disbelief.
When did this happen? Who’s the father? And more importantly, why the hell didn’t anyone tell me?
As I mentally pick myself up by my bootstraps, I realize that there will be plenty of time for questions later. After all, Evie and I will be living under the same roof soon, oh, and McKinley too apparently.
Evie turns to her friends. “Hey ladies, please don’t leave on my account. Enjoy the rest of your night out, I’ll catch up with you guys later.
“Oh, and the first drink is on me,” she kindly says to them as she lays some money down on the table.
“Are you sure you don’t need some backup, Evie?” the redhead asks, thumbing her nose in jest.
The tall girl, Gina, is quiet, but her eyes are shooting daggers at me, so I can only guess that Evie told her what went down between the two of us. I can’t be mad, though. That’s how true friends should be.
If anything happened to Trevor, I’d have his back in a heartbeat, and it looks like Gina and Megan have got Evie’s back.
And now that I know that, I know that I have more than one woman’s heart to win over in my battle for redemption.
