Evangeline
Ring.
I flipped over my phone, and a thread of panic wove through my gut. It was my mom, and other than Kevin, she was the last person I wanted to talk to right now. I’d successfully avoided her since I moved in with Gian, but she wouldn’t let it continue much longer.
Ring.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Well, thank God, I was beginning to think you were dead.”
I slumped against the kitchen counter, the sharp edge digging into my lower back. “Not dead, just busy.”
“So how are things going?”
“Good. Good.” I traced the rim of my coffee mug. “I started dancing again.”
“Really? How is your ankle holding up?”
I glanced out the window above the kitchen sink. The sun had started to come up, and it was an impressive mixture of reds and oranges competing for attention with the crowded skyline. Sometimes I missed the sunrises and sunsets of my hometown. They stretched as far as I could see, uninterrupted by buildings and smog. They were swirls of color, dancing above the swaying cornfields.
I swiped a hand down the side of my face. “It hasn’t been bothering me much at all. During the first couple of minutes of my routine, it feels a little tight, but other than that, it’s good as new, and my physical therapist released me from rehab yesterday. I guess taking the year off wasn’t such a bad thing after all.”
Gian padded into the kitchen, sidling up next me and opening an upper cabinet for a mug. My mom’s words blurred together, and all I could see and hear was him.
A lopsided grin spilt his face when he caught me staring at him. “Who are you talking to?”
I cupped my hand over the lower half of my phone. “My mom.”
He lifted the carafe and poured coffee into his mug. “Is that a good or a bad thing?”
I shrugged. “A little of both, but I couldn’t avoid her forever, or she might hop on a plane and come looking for me.”
His hands framed the sides of my face, and he studied me carefully. “You look stressed.”
“I haven’t told her I moved in with you.” I swallowed. “She thinks I’m living with Carmela.”
“Ah.” He kissed the top of my head. “You don’t have to say anything.”
My mom’s shrill voice echoed through the phone, drawing my attention back to her.
“Evangeline, are you listening to me? Did you hear a word of what I said?”
I pulled my hand away from the speaker and grabbed my cup of coffee off the counter. “No. Sorry. The reception sucks here.”
She blew out a breath that conveyed her frustration better than words ever could. “I said your dad contacted me yesterday.”
“What?” My heart lurched into my throat, and the mug slipped from my hands, exploding on the hardwood.
I stared at the blue shards mixed with liquid on the floor for several breaths. I didn’t know how to respond. He had disappeared from our life so long ago, I barely thought about him anymore. He seemed more like a myth than a real person.
“I talked to your dad,” she repeated.
“He called you? Why? I don’t get it. He hasn’t bothered with any of us in over a decade.” She didn’t answer me. “Hello, Mom? Are you still there?”
“He calls now and then. Not regularly, but he hasn’t disappeared.”
I lifted my head, and my eyes met Gian’s. His brows were scrunched together, and his mouth was pressed into a tight line. “Are you okay?” he mouthed.
I nodded, and he crouched down to pick up the broken shards of ceramic.
“Why didn’t you tell me you still talked to him?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. It didn’t seem important.”
Anger and frustration bubbled inside my chest. “What the fuck, Mom? That makes no sense. Of course, it’s important. He’s my dad. What are you hiding?”
“Look, Evangeline, I can’t get into this over the phone. He couldn’t be a part of our lives. That’s the end of the story.”
“Seriously? That’s your explanation for lying to me about my father for the majority of my life?”
“It’s what he wanted.”
“Great. Just fucking great.” I slashed my hand through the air, nearly hitting Gian in the chest. He snagged my wrist, and his strong arms curled around me, pulling me against his chest. I melted into his embrace, my heartbeat slowing fractionally and my legs weak. Like a vampire, I drank in his warmth, and I breathed in his unequaled scent.
He pressed his lips to my forehead. “I’m here.”
“I can’t talk about this right now, Mom. I’ll call you later.”
“Wait,” my mom said, her voice high-pitched.
“What?”
“He wants to meet with you.”
“Why the hell would he care about seeing me now? He hasn’t made any effort to see me for years.”
“He checks in on you from time to time to make sure you’re doing okay.”
“In New York?”
“Yes. He lives near the city.”
“Great. My father stalks me rather than talking to me. That’s exactly what every girl wants to hear.”
“Evieee…” She drew out my name. “I know this sounds strange—”
“Strange doesn’t begin to describe what you’re telling me. None of this makes sense. You kind of blindsided me here.”
“I know. I know. He’s got it into his head that you’re hanging around the wrong kind of people. He wouldn’t go into the details, so I can’t really offer you any more than that.”
“All right,” I said absently. “I don’t know where to go with that. I’ve known Carmela the entire time I lived here.”
“Maybe he’s talking about something else. Maybe he’s overacting. I don’t have a clue. Just put a little thought into moving home. Okay? I think you’d be safer here with me. We could expand the dance studio, offer more classes, maybe summer camps.”
“I have an audition in a couple of weeks, and if it doesn’t go well, I’ll start thinking about my next move, but I can’t promise anything. Even if I can’t make this work, it doesn’t mean I’ll move back to Nebraska.”
“Okay,” she said after a long moment of silence. “I’m sorry for pushing. I’m just worried about you. I’ve tried to give you space for the past few weeks so you can sort out your breakup and your future without interference. If you’re not ready, I’ll let it go for the time being. I understand.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’ll call you next week.” I disconnected the call, feeling way too tired for a person who woke up an hour ago. I buried my face in Gian’s shirt.
“Talk to me,” he said. “What happened?”
I closed my eyes momentarily. “I can’t. Not yet.”
He frowned. “Why not?”
“Because…” I struggled to find adequate words to explain the emotions swirling in my gut with the force of a Cat-5 hurricane. “I don’t know where to start, but here it goes. Apparently, my dad never really dropped out of the picture, which means my mom spent the majority of my life lying to me. He lives in the New York area and keeps tabs on me. Oh, and he wants to meet with me because I’m hanging around bad people.”
I spun out of his hold and snagged my dance bag from the table. “I have to get going. I’m late, and I have less than two weeks to prepare for this audition.”
“Wait.” He clamped his hand around my wrist.
Sucking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes for a second. My life was a complete and total mess. I couldn’t fathom how far I’d fallen. How I had managed to make a string of bad decisions, and now my life was a virtual house of cards ready to collapse at any given second.
“I didn’t mean to lash out at you, but just when I’m getting my life in order, someone lobs another bomb in my direction. I can’t handle much more. I want it all to go away until I can get my head in the right place. My ankle. The implosion of my career. Kevin. My dad.” I sucked in a breath. “You.”
The second the word left my lips, I regretted it. He took two steps backward, his eyes carefully trained anywhere besides on me, his nostrils flaring, and his lips twisted. My stomach bottomed out. A hollow ache burrowed beneath my breastbone, and I wanted to kick my own ass. I didn’t want to fight with him. He meant too much to me. Somehow, he’d snuck into my life, and now I couldn’t picture living without him.
“Unbelievable.” He laughed, only it wasn’t kind. It was brittle. Dark. “I’m on the list of things you want to disappear. The same fucking list as your piece of shit ex?”
He grabbed his car keys off the countertop and stuffed them into his pocket. “After last night, I thought we had moved past this.” When I reached for him, he dodged my hand. “No. Fuck it. I can’t talk to you right now. We’re both late. I have a shitload of work today, and I have to deal with Kevin.”
“Gian, I didn’t mean it.” I cupped his face with my hands, desperate for him to look at me and see what was inside of my heart. “You’re right. You’re not on that list. Not even close. You’re the only thing good to come out of the last year. I’m being an idiot. I am an idiot.”
I untucked his shirt, and my hands dove underneath the starchy material, seeking out the now familiar connection that drew us together. My hands explored the hard planes of his chest, and I peppered his pursed lips with kisses, whispering apologies.
“Gian, I’m sorry. I feel like an ass. What can I do to—?”
Groaning, he dipped his head, and his lips fastened onto the side of my neck, sucking hard on my skin. Without a doubt, I knew he’d left a mark, and I didn’t care. He licked a line along my collarbone, and the hair lifted on my arms. I arched my pelvis into him as his hands drifted up my ribcage, only stopping to cup my breasts. He pinched my nipples hard through my leotard, his teeth nipping my ear. Lust licked at my nerve endings.
“Sweetheart, you taste so good.”
“Mmm,” I hummed, rubbing my hand down his hard length.
With a sharp grunt, he thrust his hips against me. His hardness rubbed against my lower stomach. On fire and burning for him, I yanked on his belt buckle.
“Evie, we need to stop. We’re going to be late.” He dropped his hands to my hips and forced a few inches of space between us. “You matter to me. I meant it when I said it last night, and I mean it now. We’re in this together, so stop throwing shit in my face and questioning everything. Take a deep breath and enjoy the ride.”
“For how long?”
“For as long as we want. There aren’t any rules.”
“I like that.” Somewhere deep inside of my heart, the bitterness eating me up for the last month or so withered and died. “Do you mind giving me a ride to the studio?”
He brushed a kiss across my lips then knitted our fingers together. “C’mon. Let’s get going.”