I was only thinking about how hard it would be for me.
Base comes out of the stock room, and he immediately spots her. “Holy fuck! Evie Taylor!” He charges at her like a bull and sweeps her up off her feet.
My body stiffens, and I have the sudden urge to take his head off his shoulders. I don’t care how big he is.
“Grady said you were back, and you’d be coming in today. But I wasn’t believing that shit until I saw you, and here you are,” Base says to her.
His face is right in hers, his hands still on her. I can feel my muscles bunching up.
“Yep. Here I am.” She gives him a weak smile.
“You here to stay?”
She shakes her head. “Just the weekend. But I only live fifty minutes away, up in Culver City, so I can visit anytime.”
Visit him without me. Over my dead body.
I don’t mind Base. He’s a cool guy, but I won’t hesitate in busting up his face if he doesn’t stop touching what’s mine.
Mine?
But that’s just it. Evie isn’t mine, and she hasn’t been for a long time.
“Fucking A!” Base yells, hugging her again.
I swear to God, mine or not, if he doesn’t get his fucking hands off her, I’m going to—
“How are you doing over here?” Grady steps up beside me.
“I’m good,” I answer through gritted teeth.
“So, you’re sleeping with Evie again,” he says in a lowered voice.
What the hell?
My eyes flick to his. I hold his stare for a long moment, mine challenging him, but he doesn’t back down.
I look away and let out a sigh. “Yeah, I am.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“No, not really.”
“Look, I don’t want to interfere because that’s not my bag, but you’ve become like a son to me over the years, and I love Evie a whole lot. I don’t want either of you getting hurt. I know how bad things were for you after she left. I don’t want you going back there. And things like this usually end up going only one way—south.”
My chest is tight again. It happens every time Grady calls me son. It’s the same when Richard calls me it, too.
I’ve either got serious daddy issues, or I’m heading for a heart attack. And the way I’ve been feeling around Evie lately, I’m thinking it might be the latter.
“Neither do I.” I meet his eyes. Then, I look back at Evie. “So, how did you know that I was sleeping with her, old man?” Subtly has never been my specialty, but I didn’t think I was doing anything outwardly obvious.
He lets out a laugh. “I might be old, but I’m not fucking blind. You haven’t taken your eyes off her since you walked through the door, and right now, you look like you’re about to rip Base’s head off at any second.”
“Yeah, well, he’s being a handsy motherfucker, and he needs to be taught some manners.” I scowl over at Base.
He’s finally taken his hands off Evie, but he’s got her attention, talking to her about something that requires him to move his hands a lot, and she’s laughing at whatever it is he’s saying.
She’s laughing.
My chest starts to ache again.
I haven’t heard her laugh once since she came back. Now that I think about it, I definitely haven’t seen a real smile from her. I’ve seen plenty of forced smiles, fake smiles…and sad smiles but not the real thing.
And right now, she’s smiling and laughing with him, and I’m jealous.
Yeah, I’m that guy.
Because I want to be the one to make her laugh and smile.
But then I’d actually have to be a human being to her to get her to even smile at me, and being human around Evie feels like a huge task that I don’t know I can manage.
I know if I want that from her, then something has to change. And I have to be the one to make that change.
I just don’t know if I can—or if it’s even a good idea.
“Take it easy, son. He hasn’t seen her in a long time, and he’s just happy to see her. That’s all. And I can’t have you fighting in my store. My insurance won’t cover it.”
“I have my checkbook with me.” I give him a slow grin.
“Funny. Now, come on, let’s pry your girl away from Base, so I can take you both to lunch.”
We take our seats at Plate—me next to Evie, Grady sitting across from her. I was surprised when Grady said we were eating here. He’s more of a pizza-and-beer kind of guy than healthy organic food.
“So, you going healthy on me, old man?” I say, grinning over my menu at him.
“No, you’re paying, and this place is pretty pricey. I always wanted to try it.” He smirks at me. “And the doc did tell me to cut back on the fatty foods, so I figured that spending your money and eating healthy is a win-win for me.”
“Doctor?” My alert goes up a notch. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, kid. Just a checkup. The doc has been telling me to lay off the fatty food and beer for years. I haven’t, and I’m still good, still out surfing every day.”
I stare at him for a long moment. Nerves twisting in my gut.
“So, what can I get everyone to drink?” the waitress asks, appearing out of nowhere.
“Beer for me,” Grady says.
I raise a brow at him.
“I said, cutting back, not giving up.”
“Sparkling water for me,” Evie says.
“Same for me,” I say.
“So, Evie Girl”—Grady leans over the table toward Evie and takes her hand as he looks her in the eyes—“I want to hear all about what you’ve been doing since I last saw you. How are your dad and young Casey?”
“She’s not young Casey anymore. She’s eighteen now and about to start UCLA. She wants to be a nurse.”
I watch the pride in her eyes as she talks about Casey, and it pulls in my gut.
And that’s how lunch goes. I sit there, mostly listening to them catch up on the last ten years. I don’t miss how she’s cagey about certain things, but Grady’s careful and only asks the right kind of questions.
I learn more about what Evie’s been doing all this time than I have in the last few weeks since she’s been back.
And that gaping hole in my chest widens, making me feel lost.
Then, lunch is over, and we’re dropping Grady off back at the Shack.
I watch as he and Evie say their good-byes, and she promises to come back and see him soon.
He comes around to my side of the car. “I’m guessing you won’t be out surfing in the morning. So, I’ll see you next weekend.” He pats my arm, which is resting on the door. “See you soon, Evie Girl, and not in another ten years, okay?”
“Okay.” She smiles at him.
I watch him go into the Shack, and then I pull away from the curb. “So, what do you want to do now?” I ask her.
I didn’t really think this through, that I would be left with all this time with her after Grady had to get back to work. He couldn’t leave the store all day.
She turns her head, resting it against the headrest, and looks at me. “I was thinking…well, I brought a sketchpad with me. I was thinking I might go to the beach and try to draw, see if anything comes to me. I did most of my best pictures on that beach.”
“Yeah, you did.”
I decide to go surfing even though the tide is low while Evie sketches. It’s either that or sit and watch her drawing up on her old rock.
That’s a sight I can go without seeing at the moment.
It’s hard enough to see when I come out with my board, and she is already up there, sketchpad in hand with her face tilted up to the sky, her hair blowing in the breeze.
It’s another flashback to my youth, reminding me of the way I loved her back then, how much I loved her, probably from the moment I had seen her sitting up there.
After I’ve finished surfing, she’s still up there, sketching. I know she said she didn’t draw anymore, but she see
ms to have her mojo back—or whatever it is that artists have—and I don’t want to interrupt, so I leave her out there and go inside to take a shower.
When I’m showered and dressed, I head out of my room to see if she’s ready for dinner. I was thinking we could order something in.
I walk out of my bedroom, and something makes me look to the left. That’s when I see my old bedroom door ajar.
I always have that door locked. I don’t want to risk anyone going in there and realizing what a fucking freak I am.
I was in there last weekend, just looking at stuff. I must have forgotten to lock it.
Fuck!
My feet are moving toward the door, my heart pumping in my chest. I have to know if she’s in there or if it just opened somehow. It definitely wasn’t open earlier. I would have seen it.
But if she’s in there, then…she’ll have seen it. And she’ll know that I’m not over her, that I never got over her.
With a shaking hand, I grab the handle and push the door the rest of the way open.
She’s here, standing in the middle of the room, with her wedding dress in her hands, her eyes on it.
She looks up at me, startled.
There are tears in her eyes along with a look of confusion mixed with shock.
I feel like I’ve just caught her reading my diary.
Anger bubbles in my veins. My heart burns. My stomach roils. My hands shake. My head starts to pound. Embarrassment and humiliation stain my skin.
I literally don’t know what to do.
So, I do the only thing I can.
I turn and walk out of the room, slamming the door behind me.
We drove to Vegas in my rental truck, leaving at six this morning, and we arrived at lunchtime. We checked in at our hotel and then went in search of a chapel. We found one close by the hotel, so we booked with them.
We’re getting married at six p.m.
Then, we went shopping.
We bought wedding rings. I wanted to buy Evie an engagement ring, but she wouldn’t let me. She said we weren’t technically engaged since we’d just decided to get married only yesterday, and now, we were here today to do just that. She said she wanted a wedding ring. I knew it was more about not spending my money.
It bothers her, especially since it’s technically my parents’ money. It bothers me to a certain degree, but it’s the least my so-called parents can do, seeing as they pretty much made my childhood miserable, have given me nothing but grief all my life, and will no doubt cut me off after I tell them that Evie and I are married and that I’m not going to Harvard or going to work for Eric at the studio. So, I can justify their money paying for my wedding.
So, there was no engagement ring, but she couldn’t argue with a wedding ring. We picked matching platinum bands. Evie’s has diamonds set in it. I pushed for that. She would have gone with the plainest and cheapest one, if I had let her.
The jeweler said we could add an inscription on them, if we wanted, as part of the purchase price. That was something we both agreed on.
I asked Evie what we should have, and she came up with the perfect inscription.
HE IS MINE, AND I AM HIS.
So, I had the same to match. Of course, it’s worded a little differently.
SHE IS MINE, AND I AM HERS.
And the rings are now in their box, tucked safely in the inside pocket of my tuxedo, while I impatiently wait for Evie to finish getting ready in the bathroom.
I forced her to buy a wedding dress, which I haven’t seen yet.
She’d suggested getting married in a white dress that she already had. I wouldn’t have that, so I pushed her into a bridal store, after giving her one of my credit cards, while I went into the suit store across the street to buy my tux.
I’m getting married.
It might sound crazy to some, considering I’m only nineteen and Evie’s eighteen, but I don’t care. I’ve never been this happy in my whole life. From the first moment I met Evie, I knew that she was the one.
Max doesn’t know where I am. Well, I didn’t sneak off or anything. I just told him that Evie and I were going camping for a few days. It’s not a total lie, not if you think that staying in a Vegas hotel is similar to camping.
I don’t like lying to Max, but if I’d told him we were coming to Vegas, he’d have guessed. He’s not stupid. What other reason would we come here for? It’s not like either of us is old enough to gamble or drink. I know Max would have tried to talk me out of it, and I didn’t want anyone talking me out of this.
I want this with Evie, badly, like I’ve never wanted anything before.
I know Evie’s mine, and I know that she loves me, but I just want to make her mine in name. I want the world to know she’s mine, that she belongs with me, that she’ll never leave me.
Evie told her dad the same as I’d told Max, that we were going camping. When we get back, I know we’ll have to tell everyone the truth, that we got married. Mick has only just come around to letting Evie spend the night with me at the beach house, so I’m trying not to think about how he will react when he hears the news. I’m just hoping he doesn’t own a shotgun.
I hear the lock turn on the bathroom door, instantly pulling my attention to it. I get to my feet.
The door opens, and then Evie’s here, standing in the doorway, and I can’t fucking breathe.
She looks sensational, beautiful, breathtaking.
There really aren’t enough adjectives to describe just how incredible she looks.
Evie’s beauty has always been unparalleled. And right now, that has never been truer.
Her gown is simple but stunning—strapless with a tulle skirt that stops at her feet. A pale pink sash is tied around her waist with a bow on her back. With a simple flower wreath on her head, her hair is down, flowing in its natural wave.
“Hey, handsome.” She puts the clutch in her hand on the desk as she gives me a smile that stops my heart.
“You’re beautiful,” I tell her.
“Yeah?” She touches a hand to her hair.
“Yeah.” I walk toward her, my heart in my throat. “You’re perfect, Evie. You’re just…” I’m struggling with my words. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. “Everything.”
A light shines in her eyes. She reaches out and places her hand against my chest, covering my heart. “You’re everything, too, Adam, more than I think you realize.” She reaches up on her toes and kisses me.
The gloss on her lips tastes like strawberries. But she smells like Evie, like the beach on a hot summer day.
I wrap my arms around her and take the kiss deeper.
She breaks away too soon for my liking. “I’m gonna have to do my lips again,” she says breathlessly, a smile on her face.
“You’re fine,” I tell her.
“You’re not.” She giggles, touching a finger to my now tacky lips. “I’ll grab you a tissue.”
She goes to the bathroom before returning a second later with a tissue in hand.
“Here.” She reaches up, wiping the gloss from my lips.
My gaze naturally falls down to her tits. They look amazing in this dress. Well, they always look amazing, but all trussed up in her wedding dress, they somehow look even better.
And my body very much appreciates the view, and of course, my cock wakes up and wants to come out to play.
I slide my hands to her hips, gripping with my fingers. “So…we have a little time before we have to be at the chapel. I was thinking that maybe we could use that time efficiently.”
She stops wiping my lips and lifts a brow. “And which efficient way were you thinking?”
“A bend-you-over-that-desk-hike-up-your-dress-and-fuck-you efficient way.” I waggle my brows as I press my erection against her.
She lets out a soft laugh, shaking her head at me. Then, she screws the tissue up in her hand and tosses it in the direction of the bin, hitting it.
Score. My girl has got skills.
“Uh-uh. Not
happening. I look damn good, and you’re not messing me up.”
“I’m hard because you look so good. I won’t mess you up, babe. I promise. I’ll be in and out. Real quick. No mess.”
“Wow.” She laughs. “You’re really selling this to me. But it’s still a no. We’re not having sex until you’ve made an honest woman of me.” She slips out of my arms and gets her clutch from the desk.
I follow behind and press my chest to her back, slipping my arms around her waist. I drag my lips over the skin on her neck, and she shivers.
“I’ll take you to that chapel and make an honest woman of you, all right,” I whisper in her ear. “Then, we’re coming straight back here, and I’m going to spend the rest of the night making a dirty woman of you. I’m fucking you until neither of us can walk.”
She glances back at me. I can see the desire igniting her eyes. “I’m holding you to that.”
“Do. Because it’s a promise, as serious as the one I’m about to make to you in that chapel.” I give a hard kiss to her lips and then slip my hand into hers. I grab our room key and my wallet from the desk and pocket them.
“You got everything you need?” I ask her.
She stares up at me for a long moment. The look in her eyes makes my chest tighten and my heart race.
“Yeah”—she smiles—“I got everything I need.”
Pure happiness, only the kind she can provide, spreads its warmth through me. “Me, too, babe.” I squeeze her hand. “Me, too.”
I push the door to the chapel open and stand aside, letting Evie through first.
Hand in hand, we walk up to the unattended reception desk. I press the bell on the desk, and “White Wedding” by Billy Idol starts to play loudly.
That’s…different.
I glance to Evie and then roll my eyes to the ceiling. She giggles softly.
Out of all the wedding songs there is, Idol’s seems to be a weird song choice to play at a chapel, considering Billy Idol’s talking about his little sister’s shotgun wedding—unless they fully promote shotgun weddings here.
I glance around, taking the place in a little more. When we came here earlier, I was still high on the excitement that Evie had agreed to marry me. It was the first chapel we’d seen, and we booked with them.