Legal Bindings

14. Evan

Lunch with Colin,Minette, and Amara ran long—hours long, in fact—and it was nearly three o’clock by the time Evan left the restaurant, wishing he didn’t have to walk all the way home. His prayers were answered when Colin caught his arm with a smile.

“Need a ride?” he asked.

Grateful, Evan gave Colin brief directions then followed him to where his car—something small, swift, and sporty—was parked. Evan let out a low whistle. While he was by no means a car guy, he could appreciate the surge of testosterone that rose in him at the sight of all that sleek black metal.

“I know, I know, it’s ridiculous.” Colin went around to the driver’s side. The car needed no keys, only his presence, and the doors unlocked with ease. “I had Simon’s old car, and then he bought me this because—” He stopped talking abruptly, and his cheeks flushed pink. “Just because.”

Evan’s lips twitched, and he opened the passenger door. Whatever Colin had done to earn such a prize suggested something silly and sexy, which was cute. Evan was happy for him.

“It’s gorgeous,” he said, not quite changing the subject but dancing away from it. “Simon spoils you, huh?”

Colin shrugged as he started the car and reversed, the engine electric and whisper quiet. “He’d argue with that, but yeah. He does.”

“I don’t mean it as a bad thing.”

“No, I know you don’t.” Looking both ways, Colin eased forward and onto the main road, giving Minette and Amara—who were still standing in front of the restaurant, talking—a wave. “And I don’t take it for granted, what he gives me.”

“What about what you give him?”

“I don’t think he takes that for granted either,” Colin replied, a smile pulling at his lips. “But it’s not about the material stuff, you know? If we lost everything tomorrow, I’d still love him.”

Unused to such naked sentiment, Evan could only shrug. “I can’t relate.”

“Still single, then?”

“Perpetually. But it keeps things interesting, right?”

“Sure.” Colin fell silent as he navigated a thorny intersection, and the quiet lingered for a few more minutes until he coughed. “Hey, uh. This is going to get weirdly sentimental, but I don’t think I ever thanked you.”

“For what?”

“For hooking me up with Simon.”

“Oh, that?” Evan’s first instinct was to wave off the gratitude, which he did with a high flick of his wrist. “You needed a job, and I had one to give.”

“Sure, but Simon was your client. You didn’t have to—”

“I was putting all that behind me at the time.” That particular attempt at giving up escorting had been his second. It hadn’t stuck.

“Yeah, but then I heard that you got back in, so the fact that you didn’t come sniffing around Simon was…” Colin sighed. “Sorry, that sounded really bad.”

“A little bit,” said Evan, who was doing his best not to be offended.

“I just mean that you helped me out when I needed help, and it changed my whole life. So I’m grateful for that, and the fact that you’re a good person and I’m just some rambling asshole who’s inadvertently insulting you. Sorry.”

As apologies went, that one was pretty cute. Evan smiled as he pushed some hair behind his ear. “I knew you’d be good for Simon.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmm. I don’t know that I anticipated this whole… Cinderella thing, but like I said, I’m happy for you both. Oh, turn here. Sorry, it’s faster—they’re doing work on the other street.”

Colin made the turn, and Evan caught sight of Brin and Kim on their daily walk, so he raised his arm to wave. Brin squinted like she didn’t recognize him, but Kim waved back with a smile.

“Friends of yours?” Colin asked.

“Neighbors, yeah.”

“Cute neighborhood.”

“It’s not bad. You’re going to want to go left at the second stop sign, then it’s the third house on the right.”

“Sure,” Colin said, coming to a slow halt at the first stop sign so a woman with a stroller could cross the intersection. “I miss this.”

“Miss what?”

“Living in a place with people. Simon’s house is great and all, but it’s just this… fortress of solitude. I wouldn’t mind having real neighbors again.”

“Somehow I doubt you’ll get him out to suburbia.”

“Oh, God, no. I can hardly get him out to dinner.”

Evan laughed as they reached the second stop sign and Colin took the turn. “That’s it, right there. With the navy trim.”

Colin pulled the car into the curb and studied the house. “Ugh, jealous. You’re halfway to my dream of living in an old haunted Victorian.”

“What, like Practical Magic?”

Colin looked startled, and his cheeks turned pink, which told Evan he’d hit the nail on the head. “Maybe. I just think it’s a cool house. And—oh, hey, who’s that?”

Evan looked up, and there was Nick, stepping onto the front porch and squinting at the car like he expected someone to try to sell him something. Weird—it was the middle of the day. Why wasn’t he at work?

“That’s my roommate.”

“Oh. I thought maybe it was your—or no, obviously not. You said you were single. Anyway, he’s cute.”

Colin tossed off the compliment so casually that Evan thought he’d misheard him. Nick wasn’t—well, yes, Nick was cute if one was talking about physical attributes. And while Evan had been soured on his personality from the start, he had to admit that Nick taking care of him the night before—not to mention his helping out a kid like Sydney—made him slightly more appealing.

“He’s okay. But he’s sort of uptight.”

Colin shrugged. “Uptight can be fun. Take it from someone whose uptight weirdo just bought him this car.”

Evan snorted, searching for the door handle. “Trust me, Nick isn’t Simon, and there’s nothing happening, and… how the hell do I get out of this car?”

“It’s a button, not a handle. Here…” Colin reached over and pressed a button that blended in with the leather. “Ta-da.”

“Gorgeous. Love that they’re removing manual control from the door handles—it’d go well if you drove into a lake.”

Colin laughed. “I’ll take that into consideration. Anyway, I think there’s a manual override.”

“Oh, well, by all means, pull out the instruction manual when you’re drowning.”

Colin laughed again, and Evan stuck out his tongue before getting out. “Good to see you, Evan.”

“You too. Thanks for the ride.”

“You’re welcome for the ride. Say hi to your cute roommate for me.”

Evan smirked and shut the door then waved Colin off before heading for the house, where Nick was still hovering on the front porch. “Hi,” Evan said, choosing to ignore the slightly sour expression on his roommate’s face.

“Hey. Who was that?”

“Just a friend of mine. We got lunch.”

“Oh. Where?”

Bristling at the game of twenty questions Nick seemed intent on playing, Evan shrugged. “Why, are you hungry?”

“No. Just… the side door wasn’t locked. When you went out. You left it open.”

“Pretty sure I didn’t,” he replied.

“The dead bolt was on, but the handle wasn’t locked.”

Evan sighed. Clearly, Nick just wanted to have a fight, which was kind of frustrating considering how decent he had been the night before and that morning. The man ran hot and cold, and Evan was tired of the temperature fluctuations.

“If the dead bolt’s locked, why does the handle matter?”

“Because it does,” Nick said, which was not an actual answer.

“Okay, fine. I’ll make sure to lock all the locks next time I go out. What are you even doing here, anyway? Don’t you have work?”

Nick straightened to his full height, which allowed him to look down his nose. “I’m working from home.”

“Good for you.” Evan took a step closer to the door, but Nick didn’t move. “Excuse me.”

The slight furrow above Nick’s brow deepened. “Was that the same friend you went out with last night?”

“I don’t see why you’d care, but no. I actually have several friends.”

Nick’s nostrils flared, making him look like a skittish horse. “And I don’t?”

“I have no idea what you’ve got, Nick, and honestly, I don’t care. I’m also not having this fight—I have work to do.”

“We’re not fighting, I just—” Nick sniffed and rolled his eyes. “Please just lock the door next time.”

“Aye-aye, Captain,” Evan said with a mock salute before pushing past him and into the house.