up with me again? It seemed to be his MO. I drove through town, heading back to Portland. My work was done. I needed to get home and get back to my actual work. My boss was going to fire my ass if I didn’t stop calling in every damn week.
No one except Nelle knew about my trip. It was our little secret.
Chapter 65
Xander
I was back. It wasn’t intentional. I told myself it was because my boat was here. That was all. I wasn’t back in Oregon because I felt drawn to the place. It was just the boat.
Running away from home was not all it was cracked up to be. I missed Evie. I missed my house. I missed San Diego. I was a mess. I knew that. I was hot and cold, up and down, and everything in between.
My head was a mess. I wanted Evie. I wanted her more than I wanted anything else. I just couldn’t bring myself to commit to living there. Being away from home had given me a sense of freedom I didn’t know I was missing. My life had been so focused for so long, I didn’t realize I wasn’t really living. Everything with Kade and Evie made me rethink everything I had ever believed.
I debated opening a beer. It was early afternoon, but I was on vacation. At least that was what I was telling myself. I was on an indefinite vacation. I heard my phone ringing and ignored it. But what if it was Evie? I scrambled into the little kitchen and snatched it off the counter.
“What the fuck?” It was my father’s number. Why in the hell would he call me?
I considered ignoring it but the chance there was another family crisis made me answer the call.
“Hello?” I answered. There was a small part of me that feared it would be someone else on the other end. A doctor or paramedic calling to tell me my father dropped dead from a heart attack or something.
“Xander,” my father’s voice came through strong and clear.
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, Dad.”
“Where are you?”
“Why?”
“Are you in town?” he asked.
“How do you know that?”
“Are you or not?” he asked in his usual gruff tone.
“Yes, I am. I’m not here to bother you.”
“Why don’t you come by the house?”
I blinked and pulled the phone away from my ear to make sure I was talking to the right person. “Your house?”
“Yes. Don’t be an idiot. My house. I’ll be home all day.”
It wasn’t what I ever would have guessed was going to happen when I opened my eyes this morning. “I’ll be there,” I heard myself say.
I ended the call and stared at the phone in my hand. “Well that was unexpected,” I murmured.
I changed into jeans and a shirt without any fraying or holes. My dad hated when anyone left their house looking anything but put together. I wasn’t sure what was coming next, but I figured it was best to get it over with.
I pulled up to the house. He let me in, leading me out back to his modest patio, and handed me a cold beer without saying a word. It did not bode well. I didn’t think there was anything he could say or do that would mess with my life, but one just never knew.
“What’s going on?” I asked when he sat down.
“Your little girlfriend paid me a visit,” he started.
I almost choked on my beer. “What?”
“Your girlfriend, who is apparently not your girlfriend this week, paid me a little visit last week.”
“Are you talking about Evie?” I asked. She was the only one I could think of.
“Yes, Evie. Shit, son, how many girlfriends do you have?”
I smirked. “None.”
“She’s sassy. A little too bossy for my liking and very pushy.”
“She is a woman who says what’s on her mind,” I replied. “I would think you could appreciate that.”
“I do,” he said with a smile that actually reached his eyes. “She’s a firecracker.”
“Why was she here?”
“You haven’t talked to her?”
I slowly shook my head. “No, we—well, I don’t think we are seeing each other anymore.”
“So you fucked that up.”
That was the dad I knew and expected. “I suppose I did. Is that why you called me over here? Did you want to rub salt in the wound a bit more?”
“Don’t get pissy,” he warned. “That’s not why I called you.”
“What did Evie say to you?”
“She said a lot. Mostly, I think she called me an asshole.”