Chapter 7 Evie
Evie
Turning my head, I spotted Chance walking through the crowd.
He had on one of the leather vests like a good portion of the other men in the bar wore.
My breath stalled in my lungs, my body momentarily forgetting how to breathe.
I’d convinced myself that my reaction to him earlier was something I’d made up.
No way I’d been so instantly…everything. But I was wrong. So, so wrong.
Without so much as glancing my way, he walked straight toward the bar, his focus locked on someone.
Instinct told me it was Evy. I bit my lip, wondering if he thought she was me.
Or if he would even care one way or another.
A face was a face; a body was a body. In the few months since Evy and I had been reunited, most men reacted a certain way when they saw us.
If Chance was like that, I wanted to know now.
He stopped a short distance from my sister, and she turned, her drink and a jug of margaritas in her hands, nearly crashing into him.
He steadied her, his head dipping. They were too far away that I wasn’t sure I could have heard anything they said, even if the place had been empty.
With the noise of the bar like a barrier between us, I had to watch their body movements to figure out what was happening between them.
Evy looked up at him and tensed, her nose scrunching up in that way that told me she was annoyed.
She said something, and his head snapped up.
His back was turned to me, making it impossible to see his face, but whatever was going on between him and my sister had the people nearest them cutting off their conversations.
Like a wave, the volume of the noise began to lower while the tension grew and grew, all eyes going to the two of them as they had an obvious argument.
Over what, I still had no idea because I couldn’t hear anything they said.
From Evy’s facial expressions alone, however, I knew she was getting angrier and angrier with each passing moment.
Heart pounding, mind racing, I debated bolting out the door. Fresh air, feeling the breeze on my skin, looking up at the night sky, that was what I needed. Evy would understand. She would come find me when she realized I was gone.
Only, I was stuck, trapped in my head, eyes glued to Evy’s face and Chance’s back.
He rubbed the back of his head then down to his neck, squeezing hard as he answered whatever question my twin had thrown at him.
I suspected he knew we were twins now and she was scolding him.
Evy wasn’t timid. She didn’t go looking for confrontations, but she didn’t back away from them either.
Whereas I would hide from them, either by walking away or disappearing inside myself.
Something Chance said caused Evy to throw her drink in his face. I heard gasps from the other women at our table, a few snorts and giggles while I sat there, unable to even blink.
What the hell just happened?
It wasn’t until two loud laughs boomed around the room that I realized just how quiet the bar had gone. Even the music seemed muted compared to the loudness around us.
“Tell me someone took pictures. Please, tell me you fuckers got that on camera. I gotta send it to Rory or she won’t believe me.” I couldn’t tear my gaze off Chance’s back to look for the man who spoke, his voice loaded with amusement that I didn’t understand.
What was so funny about this situation?
“I got it, Matt. Almost start to finish. His momma is gonna whoop his ass.”
I flinched at the second voice, still unable to look away from the man who had captivated me that morning.
Beside me, a few of the women shifted, shaking their heads.
“Not likely. Freaking momma’s boy,” Mila huffed half under her breath, so quietly I wasn’t even sure she’d said it. It could have been Monroe. They sounded so similar when they talked. They just had different tones. Monroe was softer, Mila more flamboyant. I liked that about them.
“I have pictures. Who wants a copy?” Some guy not in a leather vest called out, which got him a chorus of “Me!” from over a dozen patrons.
Chance made a loud, growly noise that was like a shot of lightning straight to my center.
Evy rolled her eyes and brushed past him, her eyes on me as she quickly made her way back to the table.
It was safer to keep my eyes on my twin, easier.
My heart didn’t hurt when I looked at her.
That jealousy that had been clawing at me all afternoon wasn’t as intense.
Yet I couldn’t stop myself from flicking a glance back to the man across the room. I tried so hard not to focus on him, but each time I forced myself to look away, my eyes shot back to him.
Beside me, Abi touched my arm. “You okay?”
Was I?
No one wants you, Evelyn.
You’re nothing.
Why would a man like Chance even look twice at you when he could have anyone?
He could have your sister, and he wouldn’t even care.
It’s not you he wanted earlier.
It was your body.
Broken.
Your mind is in shreds. All he wants is a body.
Not you.
Never you.
Because you’re nothing.
William’s voice echoed inside my head, driving me deeper into the dark abyss.
It felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. Nothing made sense.
Rationally, I knew it wasn’t anyone’s fault.
Not Evy’s, and definitely not Chance’s. I hadn’t explained to him that I had a twin when I met him.
He couldn’t have known, and I shouldn’t have expected him to instantly know Evy wasn’t me if they met by accident.
That wasn’t fair to anyone. No one was aware that seeing Evy dressed exactly like me, being able to touch the real live version of the person who was my mirror image, was a coping mechanism for me.
Evy’s entire face was full of apology when she reached the table, setting down her empty glass and the full container of margaritas. “Evie—”
“Peaches, it was an honest mistake.”
Hearing his voice unlocked me from all the chaos inside my head, shutting out William’s haunting voice and pulling me from that scary void where nothing and no one could reach me. For the first time in a very long time, I felt truly safe from the ghost of my father.
I felt safe from myself.
His blue eyes met mine, and I couldn’t look away. All I saw was him. All I could hear was him. How his entire body seemed to shudder with each labored breath he took. How his eyes were dilated in a wild sort of way that beckoned, pleaded with me.
“I swear, I thought she was you. But then I couldn’t smell you, and I instantly realized something was off. Tell me you believe me. Please, peaches.”
Around me, everyone else was muffled, their laughter, their voices. Everything that wasn’t him no longer mattered.
“Quit your shit, Riv,” Chance growled, swatting away the straw she was using to poke him.
I jolted, not just from his annoyed, frustrated tone, but from how the rest of the world came back into focus once again.
When he saw my flinch, his eyes became wilder.
With a groan, he crouched down in front of me, his huge, warm hands grasping mine.
“Don’t do that. Don’t be scared. I’m sorry, peaches. ”
“Holy shit. Did he just say sorry?” No longer amused, the man from earlier now sounded bewildered. “Rory is never going to believe any of this. She’s gonna think I made it all up.”
There was that name again. Rory. Was she important to Chance?
“Who is Rory?” I asked, greedy for every last detail of this man who had become someone important to me.
He shrugged. “My mom.”
“Oh.” Biting my lip, I tried hard not to smile.
He had a mom. Of course he did. Not everyone’s family was as messed up as mine. But maybe…
Maybe I could be a part of his family now.
I wanted that so badly.