gone before she could meet them. Reid and Isaac, on the other hand, have a habit of bringing girls back who can’t get a clue and end up sitting and eating breakfast with us.
“I can’t wait to see him punch you,” Isaac chuckles.
“He won’t. He’ll be pissed, but this isn’t a quick fuck like Reid’s encounter. I like her. Plus, he has too much going on to worry about me.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Reid smugly announces, grabbing his drink off the table next to him.
“Yeah, don’t be so sure,” Jaxon snaps.
Fuck!
“I’m not arguing with you,” I tell him as I face the door where he’s standing, a brooding expression upon his face.
Lily looks between us, her eyebrows bunched together in confusion, before her gaze turns to the television. “Ohh, who’s winning?”
Isaac and Luke pat the seat between them, and she pushes forward, squeezing in the middle. “No one has scored yet.”
Jaxon jerks his head to the side, gesturing for me to follow him. I sigh, standing and ignore the sniggering behind me from the others.
“Jaxon, I swear to you that I won’t let this interfere with our work.”
“You were fucking her this morning,” he snaps. “At work.”
I scratch the back of my neck. “You heard?”
“I’m surprised Mum didn’t when she was feeding the pigs,” he barks. “We don’t need any more complications right now, Wyatt. You need to be in the right headspace.”
“I am in the right headspace. I like her, Jaxon, and you more than anyone should understand why I’m not going to let you push me away from her.”
“You don’t normally get serious with girls,” he mutters.
“Because there was nothing serious between me and the others. There’s a difference. From the day I met her I’ve wanted her. I never understood why you chased Lily the way you did until now. And yeah, you loved her before you had her, but I like Evie, Jaxon. She’s funny, incredibly smart, a little closed off but honest and caring. I don’t want there to be any awkwardness towards her. She’s going to be in my life, and I don’t give a fuck what you say.”
Jaxon holds his hands up, letting out a breath. “All right. But don’t fuck her over, Wyatt. You have to work with her. And if this ends badly, it will be you who stays away to make sure things don’t become awkward at work. She’s a hard worker, and right now we need that.”
A throat clears and we both turn to see Evie standing in the hallway, her face pale and her hands shaking around a bag of rubbish. “Your mum asked me to get you to take this out.”
Does she think she’s going to get fired? Is that why she looks like she’s going to be sick?
Jaxon steps forward, taking the bag out of her hands. “I’ll get it.”
“Thank you.”
When he leaves, I grin, pulling her into my arms. “I told you there was nothing to worry about.”
“Yeah,” she murmurs, seeming lost in thought again. Shaking her thoughts away, she forces a smile, leaning up on her toes to press a kiss to the corner of my lips. “I’d best go finish helping your mum.”
She leaves before I have a chance to speak. Later, when I get her alone, I’m going to get her to spill her secrets. Before or after I fuck her, I don’t know.
The woman drives me crazy.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
EVIE
Growing up, it was only me and my mum. Andrew never counted because even when he was there he was never there as a parent. He only ever wanted to get into my mum’s pants and make her feel worthless.
I don’t have siblings—Andrew’s kids don’t count. They don’t count me as one either. Mum was an only child and her parents died not long before I was born. I think that’s why Mum clung to Andrew so much. She felt lonely. So, it was just us two. It was quiet, and there was order and a routine in our day to day lives.
Here, it’s nothing but chaos and banter. The Hayes family has a bond tighter than a constrictor knot. It’s loud, boisterous, and the sense of home washes over me for being a part of that. Even for a night.
Many people would think it’s weird for a twenty-two-year-old guy to still live with their mum. I don’t. I’m twenty-three, and if things had been different between Mum and I, we would no doubt still be living together. But when I left for school,