Chapter 28 Evan
EVAN
Nate: Ev can you pick me up from the station?
Evan: Sure I’ll be there.
Nora: I’ll have dinner ready for the three of us.
Nate: We need to talk.
Evan: Everything okay?
Istare at my phone, but nothing appears.
No reply or dancing dots. Just that last line sitting there like a loaded gun.
The screen times out and goes dark. I unlock it again to make sure I didn’t imagine it.
Maybe my brain filled in the words on its own.
Like maybe Nate actually wrote see you soon or cheers, mate, or literally anything else.
But no. The text glares at me like a neon sign. We need to talk.
I shove the phone into my pocket harder than necessary and drag a hand through my hair. The Lakehouse Grill smells like fresh paint and sawdust, the aftermath of a long day’s refit. “I’m heading off now, lads. I think we’re about done here.”
The refit contractors wave me off and continue talking about football while packing tools away and sweeping up.
Outside, the late afternoon air hits my skin. I climb into the work van and sit there with my hands on the steering wheel, just breathing. We need to talk is never a good sentence. It’s never followed by anything nice.
I pull out of the car park and head down the motorway towards our hometown, my mind racing faster than the traffic. Every red light is like a warning. Every second ticking closer to 5:15 is like a countdown to something I don’t want to face.
Did I fuck this up?
The question keeps ringing in my head
Maybe I overstepped.
Maybe I stayed when I shouldn’t have.
Maybe sleeping in his bed crossed some invisible line I didn’t see until it was too late.
Pressure builds in my chest.
Nate must have woke up this morning and hated the idea of me there?
Things always hit harder in daylight. I grip the wheel tighter, jaw clenched.
I won’t come between them. He must know this.
I didn’t touch her this morning. Didn’t even kiss her properly.
But I wanted to. I wanted to roll back into her warmth, to feel her skin under my hands, to forget for a moment that this was borrowed time.
But it didn’t feel right. Not without Nate there to see it, to be part of it.
Traffic slows to a crawl. A bus pulls out in front of me and I bite back a curse. My phone vibrates in my pocket and my heart jumps so high it’s embarrassing.
I pull it out at the next light, holding my breath.
A text from my mother.
Nate’s pissed.
He’s setting boundaries.
This is the end of whatever last night was.
I replay everything in my head as if I’m revisiting a crime scene.
Nate on the screen. His permission. His eyes watching. Stop overthinking. I want to watch you pleasure my wife. He sounded so sure, like he meant it. Now he regrets it.
The station comes into view and my stomach drops.
I pull into a space and cut the engine, my leg bouncing as I check my phone again, thumb hovering over the screen as if I can will something to appear.
I swallow hard and shove the phone back into my pocket.
Whatever this talk is, it’s coming whether I’m ready or not.
All I can do now is show up, keep my mouth shut, and brace myself for the possibility that last night was the closest I’ll ever get to the life I didn’t know I wanted until now.
Nate marches out of the station, his overnight bag slung over his broad shoulder.
I wipe my clammy palms over my work cargo trousers and crack my knuckles.
Nate opens the van door, shoves his bags between the gap in the seats and buckles his seatbelt. “How’d the refit go?”
I eyeball him. “You just gonna act like nothing’s going on and expect me to talk to you about work?”
He scans our surroundings, then lands back on me. “What are you talking about?”
“What are you talking about? You said we need to talk. Sounded serious.”
His eyes search mine. “Fuck.” He reaches up and grips my shoulder, massaging the tension there that’s been eating away at me the entire drive. “I just wanted to talk about what you’re comfortable telling people.”
“About what?” I gawk at him, trying to make sense of what he’s saying.
“About what we’re doing.”
“That’s it?” I huff. “I texted you back. You never replied.”
“Did you? Sorry, I fell asleep on the train. I don’t sleep well in hotel rooms. I didn’t mean to send you into a spiral.”
“I’m not spiralling.”
He raises an eyebrow. He knows me better than I know myself. “I just meant I don’t want to keep this a dirty secret.”
“You want people to know I fucked your wife?” I gulp, hairs prickling on the back of neck, and I crack another finger.
Nate chuckles. “Maybe we keep that to ourselves for now, but I want our kid to know you’re its dad.” He rubs at the back of my neck like he did the other week in the alley and I relax under his touch.
I stare at the steering wheel. He doesn’t want to keep me a secret. He wants me to be part of the kid’s life. I open my mouth, then close it again, unable to form any words.
“Only if you’re good with that.” He leans forward and dips his head.
I nod. “Sure. We should talk about it with Nora.”
He pats my thigh and buckles his seatbelt. “We can talk after.”
I turn the engine and pull onto the road. “After what?”
He tilts his head, a smile in the corner of his mouth. “I watched you kiss my wife last night, taste her, fuck her.” He pats my thigh again. “Tonight it’s my turn.”
A small laugh huffs out of me. “You want me to fuck you too?” I shake my head with a grin. “I hope you’ve lubed up cos I’m not sure it’ll fit.”
A laugh rumbles from his chest. “When did you get so funny?”
“Probably since I started hanging out with you. One of us has to have a sense of humour.”
His smile faltering, he removes his hand from my thigh. “You’re hard right now aren’t you?”
I shuffle in my seat, but there’s no hiding it. “You talk about last night and expect me not to react?”
“Relax.” Nate adjusts himself. “Just get us home as quick as you can. I’m ready to have some fun. Are you?”
My mouth dries up, but a weight’s lifted from my chest. I’m allowed to want this. I grip the steering wheel tighter and press my foot harder against the accelerator. “Yeah. I’m more than ready.”