Chapter Twenty-Seven
Nick
I’d finished with my third client of the day when Evie walked in, an armload of takeout in one hand and balancing a drink holder in the other.
“Hey, little bird.” I came around the counter, taking everything from her and setting it down behind me. “Am I a pussy if I say I missed you?” I picked her up, kissing her lips as she wrapped her thighs around my waist. All at once, work was the last fucking thing on my mind.
“Yes. You’re a giant fucking pussy.” Bleu was digging through the food on the counter, a sarcastic grin on his face. “Is there enough for me?”
I sat Evie on the counter. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure what everyone liked so I ordered a bunch of different stuff.” She pulled one of the drinks from the egg carton-looking holder and then shifted her legs over the counter.
“Well. That’s because you two barely know each other, tiny falcon.” Bleu bit into a burrito, dripping refried beans down his chin.
She smiled at him sweetly. “You’re welcome for lunch, fucker.” Evie was wearing some tiny cutoff shorts, her bare legs swinging as she gave Bleu a hard time right back. She looked phenomenal, and I wanted to take her into my office and bang her on top of all my bills.
Bleu took another bite, talking around it. “Hey, speaking of fuckers, would you two want to come be my buffers on this terrible blind date I have to go on next week?”
I said no the same time Evie said depends on when. I looked at her, shaking my head adamantly. “Why in the hell would we want to spend our time watching Bleu tried to get laid by a girl he just met?”
“Uh, exsqueeze me? I’m pretty sure we spent about six years of time doing that exact thing together.” He bobbed his head with attitude. “You think because you’ve got on-demand ass now you’re too good to watch me get mine? Rude.”
Bleu hated blind dates, and he only wanted us to come with so he’d have an excuse to ignore the chick. His mom was constantly setting him up, and Bleu would do anything to make his mom happy. Including going out with chicks completely wrong for him.
Evie snorted and then started to cough. “It’ll be fun, Nicky.”
“It will not be fun, Evie.” I stepped between her thighs, simply because I was unable to help myself at this point. “You don’t even like Bleu.”
He let out a dramatic gasp.
“What? I love Bleu. What made you think I didn’t?”
When she went to pop another tortilla chip in her mouth, I took it from her and handed her a flour tortilla instead. She needed to eat. “He called you Girl Interrupted last night while he was on speakerphone and then you proceeded to ask him if his STDs were a health code violation at the shop.”
“That was a good one, mini magpie.” He held his hand up and Evie high-fived it. “We have a love-hate relationship.”
“He’s like the little brother I never had…although I do have a bunch of little brothers, figuratively speaking…” Evie shoved the rest of the tortilla in her mouth, looking pointedly at me. “Which means, we would love to come with you on your blind date. Watching you crash and burn would give me material for the next two weeks.”
“Score.” Bleu did a ‘90s fist pump into the air.
I picked Evie up, putting my hands under her ass. I’d held out as long as I could. I needed to fuck her now. “As long as your date isn’t on Tuesday. I have plans that night.”
“Crap. Looks like I’m blind dating solo.” He hung his head like a sad puppy dog.
I sat her back down, confused. “What plans?” She and I didn’t have plans. And she hated all her friends, except for maybe Maykin. Who the hell was she hanging out with?
“I told you, I have that officers’ dinner I can’t get out of.” She shrugged like this was something we’d already discussed.
“Who plans fancy douche conventions in the middle of the week?” Bleu took a sip out of his large white Styrofoam cup.
Evie shrugged, talking to Bleu like my head wasn’t over here about to explode. “Tuesdays are the nights sororities and frats usually hold their weekly meetings, so the inductions always take place that same night. Tradition and all that shit.”
“Wait. With Collin? You aren’t still going to that, are you?” What I really wanted to say was, you aren’t still going to that. Period. But I didn’t want her to throw her drink at my head and make a big mess in the lobby. She was weaning off her Adderall, but her mood swings could still get mildly destructive. Last night she’d snapped her chopsticks in half because her hands were shaking too bad to use them.
She nodded. “I have to go, Nicky.”
“Why?” Did she want to see him again? The way she talked about him, I seriously doubted that. “All that’s waiting there for you is a chance to get more pills.” I regretted the words the instant I said them.
“You know what, I’m gonna take my burrito and bounce.” Bleu moonwalked down the hall, burrito in hand.
“I’m going to the dinner, Nick.” She hopped off the counter, shoving past me and heading toward the door.
“Why are you leaving?” I hated the mocking angry tone of my voice, but I couldn’t seem to control it. “Running again?”
Evie stopped and turned around slowly, almost scary slow. Like a serial killer in a horror movie. “No. I’m going to therapy, asshole.”
“Shit.” I raced to catch up to her before she could walk out. “Evie, I’m so fucking sorry.” I took her hands in mine. “I’m acting like a jealous prick. I’m worried about you. I hate the thought of you being around all your old triggers without me.” I hung my head, completely pissed at myself for being so mean to her. “I’m sorry.”
“I’ve got to go, I don’t want to be late for my first appointment.” She kissed my cheek and then left without another look back.
“Damn, son.” I turned around to find Bleu with a quesadilla in his hand, shaking his head. “That was rough.”
I sat down on the black leather couch we had in the waiting area, groaning into my hands. “I know. I feel like shit.”
“You should.” He came and sat beside me, handing me some food. “But only to an extent.” He leaned back, stretching his feet out on the coffee table. “You have every right to be worried about her, to be scared that she’ll mess up again. The thing is, though, that fear will only start to fade when you start to trust her. How is she supposed to get stronger if you keep her away from all the situations that can prove her strength?”
I was pretty sure my jaw was on the floor. “Where did that come from?” Bleu liked jokes and veiled insults, he was rarely if ever, serious. “That was insightful as fuck, man.”
He shrugged. “I picked up a book on addiction the other day, seemed like a good read.”
He’d gone to the bookstore, found a book on addiction, and read it. All within a couple of days? Seemed like a good read? I highly doubted that. He’d done it for me. He’d done it for Evie, because he cared. “You really do love-hate her, don’t you?”
“My best friend in the whole world love-loves her, so yeah, of course I do.” He got up, going back to the food like he hadn’t said something completely sweet and caring.
We were dudes; we didn’t talk all that much about our feelings. So this conversation with Bleu had basically been heartfelt. Maybe if Evie had more real people in her life, she wouldn’t feel so out of sorts all the time.
I should have applauded her for wanting to face all her fears. But I was so terrified that she’d slip, and that I’d lose her.
What if she never came back?