He steadied himself, then brushed his hands down his chest, eyes thinned on Everett before he flashed me that crooked smile. “You know where to find me, Petal.”
“The fuck did he just call you?” Everett headed for Aiden’s retreating back.
“Everett, stop.” I forced as much as I could into the words. “Please.”
They were still evenly matched in height and weight. But even though Aiden was likely fitter, stronger, Everett knew how to throw his weight around and fight dirty.
Thankfully, he stopped, shoulders tense, and watched Aiden zoom down the street in his Audi.
Hardly daring to breathe, I waited for him to turn around.
Crickets pierced the air, the warm breeze doing nothing to wash away the cold icing my skin.
With his back to me, Everett’s question hit my ears, a threatening but soft cadence. “Do you still love him?”
Chills swept up my arms and wrapped around my vocal cords.
No sound came out of me, even as I opened my mouth to… what? Try to reassure him in some way? I didn’t want to lie, but I didn’t want to admit the heart-searing truth we’d skated over these past few months either.
A self-deprecating laugh rumbled out, and he turned, pinning me where I stood with a glacial fog filming his green eyes. “You can’t even lie to me, can you? Just once.” He lowered his head, his hand sinking into his hair. “Fuck, Stevie.”
Panic forced my feet into action when he took off, rounding the corner. “You said you wouldn’t leave.”
He stopped but didn’t look at me. “I’m not going anywhere, but I can’t be near you right now.”
Then he was gone, and me and my malfunctioning heart were on our own.
A whole day passed before I was finally able to breathe easier.
I rushed to pick up my phone. “Hello?”
The sound of guitars and laughter filled the background, and then his voice. “Clover. Tell me you love me.”
“I love you. I’ll always love you.”
His heavy exhale swamped my ear. “I’ll pick you up after we get done. You’re staying at my place tonight.”
He hung up, and I smiled, setting the phone down.
“I take it everything is right again in the world?” Adela asked, towel drying her hair in my doorway.
“Yeah,” I said, ignoring the prick that stabbed at my chest. “I think it is.”
She gave me a weak smile before walking away.
If Aiden was still in town, I didn’t know.
I hadn’t seen him since he’d shown up on my doorstep last week.
Everett and I were supposed to attend a sonogram appointment tomorrow, but he couldn’t get time away from the studio until the following Saturday, so even though he’d urged me not to, I’d rescheduled. So it’d happen a little later than it should, but it would be okay.
Everything was going to be okay.
The festering anger and hurt that lingered with my inability to let go of Aiden completely seemed to have faded. At least, I hoped it had. We were communicating, even if that mainly involved our bodies and our gazes. Everett was too tired to think straight most nights when we finally met up, let alone string a heartfelt sentence together.
Walking into Zoe’s, I glanced around the half-filled wood and brick interior, taking note of the young woman singing on the small stage. Zoe was the only one manning the bar, so I didn’t bother her with questions of Everett’s whereabouts and headed upstairs.
He’d given me a key to his apartment with the car, explaining that I could now drive over and wait for him to finish if I wanted to.
I wanted to. Especially tonight, seeing as I hadn’t heard from him all day. That wasn’t exactly uncommon, but he’d usually text one of his annoyingly blunt messages if he couldn’t talk.
I unlocked his door to the scent of Lysol and tobacco, and it shut behind me with a creaking thud. His bed sat unmade, a half empty pack of cigarettes laid open on his nightstand next to a bottle of Advil.
I dumped my purse on the crumpled gray sheets, then went in search of one of his shirts—my favorite thing to wear when I stayed over. He hadn’t done washing in a while. Opening and closing the drawers, I found precious few items. A glance at the basket by the door displayed a pile of clothes still waiting for attention.
There was a washer and dryer next to the bathroom right outside, and I decided I’d get to those after changing. My bra was starting to chafe, and most days,