Cy
I dropped Evie off at home and told her I'd be back later. I need a shower and a fresh set of clothes. I’m still in shock about the fact I have a girlfriend. A fucking girlfriend. I never thought the day would come when I would have someone who was my own. Someone I'd want to be mine, too. Not a one-night fuck but an actual relationship. I also never thought it would be Evie. Her heart is bigger than anyone’s I know. To be able to forgive me for four years of torment, and go on to say she wants to protect me and stand by my side baffles me. I should be the one watching out for her, not the other way around, and that's exactly what I intend to do. Evie is mine and as mine, I'll always be there for her.
Pulling up to the cabin, I shut my truck off and go inside. Parker is in the kitchen making himself lunch.
"Sandwich?" he asks, holding one up.
"Sure." I've only eaten half a danish in the last eighteen hours. I need food.
"You doing okay? You didn't come home last night."
I smile a huge fucking smile. "I'm doing great."
"Look at you all happy. You must have found some hot woman last night and had a hell of a time." He hands me the sandwich and starts to make another one.
I take a few bites to appease my stomach. "Hot woman, yes, and last night sucked, but this morning was great."
"Okay, I'm going to need a few more details."
"Something happened last night, and it fucked me up big time, so I left. I had to get out of here, and didn't know where I was going until I ended up there."
"Eve's." It's not a question. He knows I would go to her. There’s nowhere else. No one I’d trust outside of Parker and her.
I nod. "When I got there, she wasn't home, but I couldn't bring myself to leave. After about an hour of me sitting on the stairs in front of her door, I heard her. She wasn't alone. Her date was walking with her to her door."
He raises his eyebrows. "Her date? I didn't know she was dating anyone." Parker and Evie have been talking a lot. They've become close.
"Finn Bradley."
"No! Finn Fucking Bradley. I haven't seen him in months."
"Me, neither." I take another bite of the sandwich and find a glass to get some water. "Anyway, Evie trips as she's walking up the stairs and I catch her. She must have seen something on my face, because next thing I know, I'm in her apartment with the door shut while she gets rid of Finn."
"Poor Finn. He didn't stand a chance."
"You don't know that."
"C'mon, Cy. There is no competing with you. Not in Eve's eyes. It's you she wants. She’s always asking me about you, wanting to make sure you are doing okay." He never told me that.
"I didn't know."
"No, I did that on purpose. You didn't need her in your head more than she already was. After what happened that night when I was having dinner with her, and you showed up, I didn't like seeing you upset. You needed to get your head on straight after seeing her. Me talking about her all the time wouldn't have helped you.”
“We’re dating.”
He smiles wide. “Look at how far you've come in six weeks. You're with Eve, for fuck's sake."
"How far I've come? I'm still a fucking mess. I could be making a huge mistake by being with her, but I can't stay away anymore. If last night taught me anything, it's that I need her. I'm done pushing her away. She knows I'm fucked up, and she still wants me. I have no fucking clue why."
"Because she cares about you, douchebag. She sees something special in you, and no matter how many times she tried to get you out of her head, she couldn't. Same with you."
"Then why the hell did she go out with Finn?"
"Six weeks, Cy. You couldn't expect her to sit around forever. She is smoking hot, even if she doesn't realize it. Someone was bound to ask her out." I give him a hard look. He holds up his hands. "I have zero interest in her, outside of being her friend. Chill, dude."
"I know." I rake my hand through my hair. "I'm sorry. I get fucking crazy where she's concerned."
He feigns shock. "No!"
"Fuck you." I throw the last bit of my sandwich across the kitchen at him.
"Okay, go back to your story. We drifted off course."
"Right, so I crashed in her bed, but nothing happened. Well, we talked, we slept, and I had a nightmare, but she was in it this time." Parker is the only other person to know of my nightmares, outside of my doctors. I normally wouldn't have told him, but he's had the unfortunate task of waking me on multiple occasions, now that I live with him.
"Shit. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, so she woke me up, and then we left. We took my truck out to the falls and sat there to talk. One thing led to another and..."
"You fucked her in the river?"
"What? No! We talked, and I’m now in a committed relationship with her."
"Get the fuck out! You have a girlfriend?" I nod. "Holy hell, I never thought I’d see the day." He walks out to the deck, leaving the door open behind him. He cups his hands around his mouth and yells, "Look out world! Cy Revere has a girlfriend! Hell has officially begun to freeze over!"
"Would you get back in here, asshole?"
He comes inside, kicking the door shut behind him. Parker's hand claps me on the shoulder. "I'm happy for you. Truly. It's time you've had some good in your life. I'm just glad it's Eve."
"Thanks. I'm scared as hell, but for the first time since I left my mom's, I feel like there's hope for me."
"Of course, there is. You're a good guy, Cy. You wouldn't be my best friend if you weren't."
"I'm not a good guy."
He points at me. "Don't start with that bullshit that happened in high school. Eve's moved past it, it's time you do, too."
"I know. I'm trying." That’s a lie. I'm not. There's no way I could ever forget how I treated her, but from this day forward, I will only treat her with the utmost respect.
"Are you seeing her again today?"
"Yeah. I came home to shower and change."
"Have her come over for dinner. I'll cook." I raise an eyebrow at him. "Okay, I won't cook, but someone will. I'll order us the good takeout. Then I'll split, and you two can have the house to yourselves for the night."
"Are you sure?"
"Fuck, yeah. There's a hot redhead out there waiting for me."
"Who is she?"
"I have no clue, but I'll know her when I see her." He winks. I shake my head and pull out my phone to text Evie about dinner.
****
I told Evie I'd pick her up. She protested and said she could drive over, but I insisted. I'm trying to be a good man for her and part of that is picking her up for dinner. Is it a date? I have no clue since I've never really dated. We're having dinner with Parker. I don't think that constitutes as a date. Fuck if I know, though.
Pulling into a spot at her apartment complex, I glance over and notice a black Mercedes coupe next to me. No one who lives here drives a car that nice, which leads me to only one person. Finn. I haven't seen Evie since this morning. How long has he been here, and does he have some fucking radar that lets him know when she’s alone?
I take the steps two at a time, wanting to get to her door as fast as possible. She wants to be with me, that much I’m sure of, but I can't help the jealousy racing through me. I don't knock when I reach the door; I turn the knob and push it open. Evie and Finn are hugging. They pull apart when the door bounces off the wall. I may have pushed it too hard.
My breath is coming fast, and I'm trying my best to rein in my temper. Seeing Finn's arms around her isn't helping. I walk to them and grip her arm to pull her away from him.
"Cy, what the hell?" she asks, as she stumbles to my side.
Finn, however, knows damn well what I'm heated over. "Nice to see you again."
"I'd say the same, but it would be a lie," I respond and take a step closer to him, keeping Evie at my back.
"I know you're with her. She told me a little bit ago. We were hugging goodbye."
I take another step, leaving us less than a foot apart. "You can go now."
"I don't think I will. Not until you calm yourself, at least." He's as tall as me, but I'm wider than him––more muscular.
"I would never hurt her," I seethe.
He cocks an eyebrow. "Never? That's rich coming from the guy who spent four years making it his personal mission to make her life miserable."
"I didn't see you sticking up for her. You were quite content to stay by my side."
"Fuck you, Revere. You're not good enough for her." Everything he's saying is hitting on my vulnerabilities, but I keep coming back at him.
"And you are?"
"Hell yes, I am. I've only shown her complete respect."
I'm about to open my mouth again, but Evie shoves herself between us. "Enough!" Her head whips back and forth between us as she places a palm on each of our chests. Instinctively, I reach up and cover her hand with my own. "Are you two done, or would you like to whip out your dicks and see whose is bigger?" she asks, her eyes full of irritation.
My free hand reaches out to her waist to draw her back to my chest. "There's no contest, baby. I'd win." I smile, but there's no friendliness in it.
Finn ignores me and focuses on Evie. "Are you okay? I won't leave if you don't want me to." I meant it when I said I'd never hurt her. There's no point in repeating myself, though. It won't do any good. He wants her; I have her, end of story.
She tries freeing herself, but I hold her tighter. "I'm fine,” she says, defeated, knowing I won’t let go of her. “Well, maybe some air would be good, so I can breathe." I relax slightly. "Cy wouldn't hurt me. Not anymore. He's not the same as he was back in high school."
Finn looks at me then back down to her. "He seems like the same possessive dick to me."
"Watch yourself," I warn through clenched teeth.
"I'm not afraid of you," Finn replies casually.
"You should be."
Evie spins in my arms. I look down and see the frustration in her eyes at being stuck between the two of us. Then they soften and there's no doubt in my mind who she wants to be with. "Will you please let me go so I can walk Finn out?" she asks. I open my mouth, but she places her finger over my parted lips. "You have to stay in here. Stop worrying and trust me." I nod, against my better judgment.
She eases out of my grip and motions for Finn to follow her. He does so, giving me a hard stare as he walks by. Then she shuts the door. It takes everything in me not to rip it open to make sure he's not trying to do something with her. Fuck. Me opening the door won't do any good. It will only piss Evie off more than she already is, and I don't want that. I could look through the tiny hole in the door to see what they’re doing, but I don't. Instead, I start fucking pacing the length of her small living room like a caged animal.
A minute later she comes back inside, shutting the door behind her. "Did you have to–"
I don't let her finish. I'm on her with my lips pressing down on hers. She melts in my arms, her body going lax against me. My arms are there to hold her up—to cradle her with a gentleness I never knew I possessed.
I'm the first to break the kiss. Her arms wind around my neck. "I'm sorry," I tell her sincerely. "The second I saw Finn’s car in the parking lot, it was like I only had one goal—to get you away from him."
She sighs. "That much was obvious." Her head is tipped back, her long hair tickling my arms where they press to her back. "You can't barge in here like a caveman because I’m talking to someone else."
"I told you I was territorial, and he had his hands on you."
"He was giving me a hug. A goodbye hug. Nothing more."
"Didn't seem like he wanted to leave."
She wiggles out of my arms. "He wanted me to give him another chance, but I told him no. That I was giving you a chance and couldn't be more than his friend."
"You didn't know he was coming over?"
"No." She shakes her head. "I texted him earlier and told him that, unfortunately, it wasn't going to work between us, and then he showed up. I didn't invite him over."
"I want you to stay with me tonight," I blurt out without thinking. I don't want to let her go. Now that she's become mine, I want to be with her all the time. I rush to continue. "We don't have to have sex or anything. I just want you to stay the night. I like having you in my arms."
Her lips tilt up. "Okay."
I'm unable to resist those lips and bend down to kiss her again. She's staying with me tonight. She wants to be with me, even after Finn made his declaration of still wanting to date her. She picked me. Yes, she did that earlier today, but telling another guy he's not who she wants is different. It means more to me.