31. Evie Wilder
Chapter thirty-one
Evie Wilder
“I don’t know,” I say to Drew in a teasing tone, holding my phone to my ear. “You haven’t sent me a single dad joke since I moved back here.”
I swing my foot out as Maverick walks by, poking his leg with my bare foot. He’s making us breakfast–a morning tradition I’ve come to love–while I sit on the counter and watch him. Beckham sits in his bouncer nearby. I offered to help, but…we’re both aware of my lack of cooking skills.
In the midst of me admiring Maverick cooking, Drew called to invite us over to his house for dinner tonight. I know that we’ll go, but I like messing with him. It’s the duty of a little sister.
“I’ll prepare an entire dad joke stand-up as an apology for slacking,” he says and I laugh .
When Maverick walks back over to the stove I try to poke him again. This time he catches my foot and lifts it, making me squeal. He kisses the top of my foot while I squirm, then lets my leg go.
“Could you not make out with my best friend while we’re on the phone?”
“I’m not making out with him.”
Maverick smirks, leaning against the counter opposite me. Something in his expression adds right now to the end of my words for me. My face heats.
“I already regret using my incredible matchmaking skills on you two.”
I roll my eyes. “You had nothing to do with us getting together.”
“Oh, please, I had everything to do with it. Even from the very beginning. Without Mav and I becoming friends, you two would have never met.”
“I think we would have,” I say with a soft smile on my lips.
The connection I have with Maverick goes beyond chance or coincidence. It’s the kind of destiny found in fairy tales. No matter how you spin our story, it’s always us in the end. I would have found him or he would have found me. I’m certain of it.
“Please spare me your romantic delusions. Can you come tonight or do I have to tell Kayla you don’t love her?”
“She wouldn’t believe you.”
“Then I’ll tell Archie. He’d believe me.”
“Only because he doesn’t know any better. If you turn my nephew against me, I’ll turn yours against you,” I say, making Maverick chuckle.
“Touché. I won’t tell him you hate him, but I will tell him you couldn’t come, which will feel like the same thing to him. ”
I heave a sigh. “We’ll be there. Should we bring something?”
“You’re a we now, huh?” His tone is teasing, but there’s a warmth in it that lets me know he’s happy for us.
“Yeah, we are.”
Maverick has turned back to the stove to sauté vegetables for our omelets, so he can’t see the lovesick smile I’m wearing.
“Well, since Mav is half of your we , then y’all can bring dessert. If it was just you, I’d say to bring drinks.”
My expression flattens. “Funny.”
“Aren’t I?” he says cheerfully. “See you at six! Love you, sis.”
“Love you too,” I say in my most sassy grumble.
Maverick laughs, knowing this is my normal tone when it comes to Drew. I hang up with a dramatic sigh. He turns around, his expression warm.
“They want us to bring dessert,” I say and he smiles, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners.
He steps in between my legs, placing his hands on my hips. “ Us . I love the sound of that word on your lips.” He gives me a soft kiss that melts me like ice cream on hot apple pie.
“Us, we, ours,” I murmur. He kisses me between each word.
“You’re missing two words I’m quite fond of.” He brushes the tip of his nose up my jaw. “Mine,” he whispers, nipping at my earlobe and making me shiver.
“Yours,” I finish his thought with a rasp, then feel his smile against my skin.
“I’m going to burn breakfast if we keep this up,” he says, then begins pressing featherlight kisses along my jawline.
“We can have cereal,” I say, breathless.
“My self-control disappears when it comes to you, Wilder. ”
“Who needs self-control anyway?”
His warm laugh is cut off by me pulling his lips to mine. We ended up eating cereal on the couch a little while later, the faint scent of burnt vegetables in the air.
I watch the trees blur out the window with a smile on my face. Orange, brown, and red leaves swirl through the air. The sun peeks through the canopy above us. Soon enough, the trees will be bare, but for now, they put on a lovely display of fiery tones.
Maverick’s thumb draws lazy circles on the outside of my thigh. The warmth of his hand burns through my jeans. We’re on our way to Drew’s townhouse. Beckham is in the back, happy as can be with the new fabric crinkle book Maverick bought him last week. It’s all about football, which made me smile. Since I know how important football is to the Carter family, it feels as though he’s already accepted Beckham as his own, just like he said he would.
In the seat next to Beckham is a plethora of baked goods we picked up from the bakery on our way over. I loved getting to see Maverick’s dream in person. It was easy to tell how proud he is of the place, and his employees clearly respect and love him as a boss. He let me sample different things, feeding them to me with a heat in his eyes that almost made me call and cancel on Drew. By time to leave, I was so full off of desserts that dinner did feel pointless, if not for spending time with family.
Maverick turns with one hand onto Drew’s road. I hide my lovestruck grin in the collar of the flannel I stole from him .
“Don’t think I can’t feel you staring, Wilder. You need to behave over there.”
My skin heats. “Or what, Carter?”
He glances over at me, his brown eyes dark with desire. “I’ll let you fill in the blanks.”
“A creative mind like mine can imagine a lot of different scenarios.”
He smirks as he parks behind Kayla’s SUV. “That’s what I’m counting on.”
He gets out of the truck before I can say anything more, which is for the best. If we keep going like this, I’m going to be so red that people will know I’m blushing from a mile away. The last thing I want is to endure my brother’s teasing.
I hop down out of the truck and go to get Beckham out of his car seat. He waves the book around, hitting me on the side of the head as I unbuckle him. I don’t mind the taps though, because every time I see the book I think of how much Maverick loves and cares for both of us. That thought is strengthened and multiplied when I see Maverick waiting in front of his truck with a diaper bag slung over his shoulder. It’s hard not to get choked up sometimes seeing him this way. I wish that he would have been the one I’d chosen first, but at least we’re here now.
Drew opens the door as we’re walking up the sidewalk.
“I weighed a rainbow the other day,” he says in lieu of a greeting. My brows scrunch together. “It was pretty light.”
I groan. “No, that one is so terrible.”
“Don’t worry, I have plenty more. A sweater I bought was picking up static electricity, so I returned it to the store. They gave me another one free of charge.”
He wraps Beckham and me in a hug while I laugh.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say any more.”
“Oh no, you asked for it. I’ll space them out throughout the rest of the evening for you.”
He ruffles my hair as he steps back. I roll my eyes behind his back while he hugs Maverick.
“I think they’re great,” Maverick says. I shoot him a glare.
“This will be good training for you. You’ll need some good ones in your arsenal.”
The implication of Drew’s words makes my stomach flip. He’s not the first person lately to hint at Maverick and I getting married. It’s not like I don’t see that for us in the future, but I doubt he wants to move so fast.
“Auntie Evieeee!” Archie yells as he barrels toward me.
Drew picks him up right before he can run into me, spinning him around in a circle before setting him down again. “Be gentle, Archie. Auntie Evie is holding your baby cousin.”
I smile and squat down to his level. “Would you like to meet him?”
Archie nods with wide brown eyes. Beckham looks at him with big eyes of his own. Without any prompting, Archie bends down and kisses Beckham’s forehead.
“That’s so sweet of you,” I say, my voice going high. I have to blink back tears. Will there ever come a day when I’m not so emotional?
Archie hugs me, then runs off toward the living room where I can see a bunch of toy trucks are on the floor.
“Okay, even I have to admit that was pretty cute,” Drew says as I stand back up. “If Kayla would have seen that she’d be a puddle of tears. ”
“I just might be soon,” I say with a sniff. Maverick places a hand on my back, smiling warmly down at me.
“Would telling another dad joke help?” Drew asks.
“No, then I’d cry tears of distress,” I say, making Maverick laugh.
“I’m going to look up more now just for that.”
I groan, but underneath it all I’m smiling. It feels good to be around my brother again without worrying that I’ll be a disappointment to him. Things are going so well right now. I’ll be able to tell him about the jobs I booked and I’m dating a man he clearly approves of. For the first time in a long time, I’m excited to share with him.
Tonight is going to be a great night.