Chapter Twenty
“Stop sulking, it’s getting pathetic,” Kai snarks, tossing some take-out sushi at me. “Do you know how far I had to drive out of town to get lunch for you?”
“You didn’t have to do anything,” I remind him. “I was perfectly fine making my own meal.”
“Yeah, well, now you have the finest spicy tuna roll Western Maine has to offer. Sent you the request on Venmo to pay me back, but no rush.”
I roll my eyes. So subtle. How generous.
I’m not even that hungry, since I spent most of this morning wallowing in self-pity pie. I ate three of them, I’m afraid to admit. They were delicious at the time, but did little to help settle the hurt over the fact that I’m pretty sure Evan’s just… gone.
I pull up the app and pay Kai back for the darned sushi anyway. I don’t even bother looking at the comment he made. I’m sure it’s just something immature and dumb, curated to get a rise out of me.
“You know what always helps me after I’ve been ghosted?” Kai asks me, clicking his chopsticks together and licking his lips. “Sex with someone else,” he says, without waiting for an answer, and following that up by popping a roll into his mouth. “When I do, it’s usually with you.”
“Perfect. Nothing helps quite like hearing how you’re someone’s rebound piece,” I reply dryly.
He smirks wickedly. “Yet you never hesitate to dress all pretty and get on your knees for me,” he teases.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. “At what point do I file a missing persons report on a grown man?” I ask Kai, ignoring the jab.
He stops chewing and looks up at me, something about his expression doesn’t sit right.
His jaw is firmly set. He’s grinding his molars.
His pupils are blown out, and his eyes are bloodshot.
I can’t tell if it's anger, or something else. Either way, his sudden demeanor change throws me off. “You don’t. You said it yourself, he’s a grown ass man. You texted him, right?”
“Of course. Multiple times. Nothing.”
He shrugs, his demeanor changes abruptly yet again, and he pops another roll into his mouth.
Something I used to find sexy, since I know just how much he can take in that mouth—but now I just find it sloppy and distasteful.
“Think you have your answer, babe. Are you a haunted house, because girrrrl—you’ve been ghosted. ”
I scoff, his attitude fluctuations leaving me befuddled. “That’s lame, even by your standards,” I remark.
“What’s not lame is you getting your bussy eaten out tonight,” he says with a wink, his voice low and smooth. “Seriously, you should try it sometime. That’ll cheer you up. Always does for me.”
“Why are you like this? What about me right now says I want you to dress me up and take me to bed tonight, hmm?” I’m starting to get annoyed at this point.
He sets down his chopsticks and leans forward with his forearms on the table. “Brooks, I’m going to be real honest with you. I’m really here this summer, because I think I’m finally ready to see if we can work things out and get back together, babe.”
“You… what?” I hiss at him, rearing back in my chair.
“Yeah, I think I’d like to rekindle things,” he replies nonchalantly.
As in, not a single chalant to be had.
As in, he thinks this is how he can win me back.
Well pardon my language, but fuck that.
I push up from the table and shake my head. “I’m sorry you wasted your time coming here, then. That’s not what I want.” I start to head for the stairs, ready to shut myself in my room and wallow in peace.
“Oh, give me a break,” Kai whines, having the audacity to look stunned that he didn’t get the answer he thought he was going to get.
He stands up and cuts in front of me, blocking my way upstairs.
“The guy gives you one—probably beginner sloppy—blowjob, and you’re all ‘I’ve found the one’ over him? I call bullshit.”
“Kai,” I sigh, “now here’s the thing you don’t seem to get.
I’m not invested in Evan just for the sex.
Sure, I told him to use me, but he never did that.
He worshiped me, Kai—worshiped. He took his time to make sure that I was pleasured, without expecting payback.
He slept with me in his arms that whole night.
He took me out on a freakin’ date the next day, even though I protested it every step of the way!
“He’s gotten so much done around camp, it’s unreal.
The eight years we’ve been running this place, and this is the best shape the facilities have ever been in.
He goes to bat against you for me. He’s got a vested interest in my dream here, and he even said himself he wants something deep and meaningful.
He is considerate, helpful, kind, and just—ugh…
I’m worried about him! What if something happened to him? ”
I try to step around him, but Kai stops me by aggressively putting his hands on my waist.
“Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me.” I growl.
“Babydoll, seriously. Can’t we just—” Kai insists, holding me tighter, as I try to fight my way out of his hold.
Then, he suddenly tenses. His eyes flit up to something over my shoulder, and his pupils widen even more.
His hands do release me, but then go up to a defensive position as he backs away slowly, almost tripping on the bottom tread of the stairs.
He doesn’t fall, however, because he’s caught by the shirt lapels and forcefully hauled back up.
“What the fuck, Kai?” Evan snarls, his hulking form stepping around me from behind. “Brooks should not have to tell you more than once to get your hands off of him.”
“H-he knows I didn’t mean it. Right?” Kai’s panic-stricken eyes dart back and forth from me to Evan, who still has Kai’s button-down shirt collar tight in his right fist.
I’m a little shocked to see Kai so petrified of Evan right now.
Kai spars at the gym often, so I’m a little surprised to see he’s not fighting back.
While I don’t condone physical altercations, it’s pretty telling that Kai doesn’t appear to find me worth fighting for, despite saying he wants me back.
Meanwhile, Evan is absolutely fuming. Like, I’m getting some serious touch him and die vibes.
“Let him go,” I tell Evan, fearing I may get slapped with a plastic surgeon’s bill for when Kai gets his jaw rearranged by Evan’s knuckles.
Evan shoves him back, releasing him with a flourish of his fingers.
Hot as heck, by the way—all possessive and rawr.
Kai bolts upstairs, slamming the door to Morgan’s room in a huff.
When Evan spins to me, checking to see if I’m okay, I notice he’s had something clutched in his left fist the entire time.
“Is that a bouquet of wildflowers?” I ask Evan, nodding at the small collection of some of my favorites.
Like the absolute adorable man he is, his face softens. His ocean blue eyes turn apologetic. He even goes so far as to nervously nibble his inner cheek.
It’s when I take stock of all this, though, that I notice his face, overall, looks… puffier?... than normal. His lips look noticeably poutier than usual too, now that I’m studying him with real concern. He’s even getting swollen around his eyes, and his skin is all mottled and red.
“I uh, stopped by that meadow your mom mentioned you like to go to,” he tells me, his voice strained—choked, almost. He hands me the flowers with a sheen of sweat forming on his visage.
Evan Waters—big brusque man that he is—just came waltzing onto my doorstep, wildflower bouquet in hand, looking like he just got maimed in a bar brawl.
“Thank you for these, but are you alright?” I ask him.
He shakes his head, wiping at some of the sweat with the back of his hand. “It would have been a bigger bunch, but I, uh—I’m allergic to bees.”
I gasp, reaching out and touching my fingertips to his swollen face. “Evan, oh my gosh!”
I scurry into Morgan’s bathroom and find some allergy meds and wet a washcloth for him.
Hauling him into the living room, I press him onto the couch—startling the daylight out of Snarf, who tears off upstairs—and fetch Evan a glass of water.
“Why the heck were you even out getting those if you’re allergic to bees? !”
“Same reason I hang out in your house with your cat,” he mumbles, swallowing the pill and pressing the cold cloth to his face. “You’re worth it.”
“You’re allergic to cats too? Jiminy Crickets, Evan,” I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Do I need to see if Sherri has an Epi-Pen?”
He shakes his head. “No, the pill should help, I think. I’ll be fine.”
I’m leery of believing him, as I stroke my hand down his cheek, threading my fingers into his beard. “So, wait—you’re not mad at me?” I ask him, after that ‘you’re worth it’ statement sinks in.
Evan looks gutted by that question. Ok, now I’m seriously confused. He definitely disappeared for three days after taking off annoyed, right? I didn’t imagine all that?
“I’m not mad at you. I don’t think I ever was. I was mad at myself and took it out on you. Sure, I was a little taken aback that you knew about Colton and didn’t tell me, but ultimately, that’s my own fault for not knowing my son better…”
“So you didn’t disappear because you were mad at me for withholding that information?” I double-check.
“No, I took off because I got a text from my brother that Dad didn’t come back to the harbor when expected.
I was driving around because the cell coverage here isn’t that great, and I was waiting for updates from Gannett.
I got a flat tire on my bike. Didn’t Kai tell you?
He gave me a ride into town, so I could get a new tire… ”
I glance up the stairs and glare at the shut door to Morg’s room. “That must have slipped his mind,” I mutter dryly.