Chapter 17 Flo
Leo and I watch Evan from the stands in the stadium during practice. He runs with such grace, despite his size, powerful legs pushing him forward until his cleats hit the line, indicating a touchdown.
“Nice one, Evan!” Coach Darrell commends him, but he turns to Sam. “Defence team, come on! You let West run right past you! We do these mock games for a reason, guys!”
“Yes, Coach,” they all murmur together, grabbing their water bottles and dousing their faces in the liquid before jogging back out onto the field and running a drill.
Leo sits beside me with such pride in his eyes, latched onto every movement of his father. He won’t take his gaze off him.
As much as Evan doesn’t want his son to grow up to be a football player, I think he’s going to have a bit of trouble there because Leo is infatuated with it right now.
Or maybe he’s just infatuated with Evan.
He was desperate to come and watch him during practice today, and even though Evan seemed reluctant, I convinced him that we’d only stay for half an hour before heading to the rabbit rescue to visit Cheese, where she’s taken up permanent residence.
But Evan barely looked at me as I explained our plan for the day to him.
Instead, he focused on tying his shoes a little too tightly before thanking me and heading out the door.
It’s been three days since the kiss, and even though I had awoken the next day with the mindset of refusing to let things feel weird, it seems Evan didn’t get the memo.
It’s like I’m suddenly back with the old Evan, who didn’t want anything to do with me.
Yet, this new version forces smiles at me and even stopped by the shops to pick up another tub of my favourite matcha powder, restocking it without saying a word.
It’s giving me whiplash, and it’s getting fucking annoying.
My phone starts to vibrate on my lap, and I narrow my eyes to see that my sister, Megan, is calling me. It’s my niece’s birthday tomorrow, and I still haven’t worked out what I’m going to do about her gift. The clothes are ruined—they hadn’t survived, even after drying all night.
Mollie will be expecting a new outfit; something she can wear to the birthday party I know Megan will be throwing for her, probably with a magician and a giant five-tier cake, and she’ll be disappointed to discover that she’ll have to wear the same one I gifted her last year.
“Hi, Meg, I’m so sorry—” I say as I pick up the phone.
“You little witch.”
“What?”
“Oh, don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. I’ve just come home from my run, and the Super Sparkle dollhouse is sitting on my doorstep. How did you manage to afford that, sis? It’s expensive!”
I’m silent, the cogs turning in my head, but they’re rusty, shuddering against one another in perplexity.
“Seriously, Flo, I know you love Mollie, but you don’t need to spend that much on her.
” There’s the sound of cardboard being ripped open.
“I’ll wrap it for you. I just know she’s going to love this.
She was looking forward to one of your creations, but I’m not going to lie to you, she’ll be over the moon with this. It’s been on her wish list for ages!”
“Megan, wait… what dollhouse? What are you—?”
“Your name is literally on the order Flo, so don’t try to be modest. You’re the sweetest. I love you. Look, I really need to go, but I just wanted to call you and say it arrived safe and sound.”
“Um, okay…” Confusion envelops me.
“Speak to you soon, bye!” My sister’s cheery tone echoes in my ears before the line is cut, and I stare at the phone in bewilderment.
My eyes shift over to Evan, sly and suspicious. He glances up, our gazes caught in one another’s, and there’s a strong, silent current between us, before Evan throws the ball to Bennett and drops the contact between us.
I hadn’t told anyone else about the gift Mollie was desperate for, and for the next thirty minutes, I can’t shake the tugging deep inside my chest that I’m feeling towards this man, who right now, refuses to offer me anything other than polite, courteous smiles and simple head nods.
“Okay, you haven’t said a word for like twenty minutes, which for Flo McKenna, is probably a new record,” Mae says as we sit on a picnic blanket with Poppy, watching Leo on the slide—which he now has a newfound love for— in the park. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I’m just stressing going through my checklist for things I need to make sure I sort out before the trip.” I’m lying. I haven’t even made a checklist, and I haven’t responded to the organiser’s last few emails with all the information regarding it, either.
“Pull the list up. I’m sure there’s something we could help you with.” Mae leans over my shoulder and nods at my phone, but there’s nothing to pull up for them about my trip in my notes app.
“Fine. We kissed.” The words explode out of me like soda from a can that’s been shaken too much.
I’m not usually much of an overthinker when it comes to men, but Evan West is altering the way my brain thinks.
Ever since the kiss, things have been different between us—a type of difference that both angers and excites me.
Leo’s far enough away from us that he can’t hear, and I keep my eyes on him to make sure he’s safe as he plays.
“Oh shit!” Poppy exclaims, hands covering her beaming lips. “What kind of kiss are we talking about here? Like, was it a kiss, or was it a kiss?” She wiggles her blonde brows.
I rest my chin in my hands. “The last one.”
“I knew it.” Mae crosses her arms and leans back, a smug look on her face. “I knew all you had to do was get your tits out and he’d drop to his knees.”
“I didn’t even have my tits out, Mae. I was wearing his clothes, which were baggy and did nothing for me.”
Poppy’s mouth pops open. “That’s even better. You have that man whipped.”
“Barely. He leaves the house as soon as he can when I get up, and I can probably count the number of times he’s looked me in the eyes since.”
He might regret the kiss, but I don’t. He’s overanalysing it. I don’t expect him to get down on one knee and propose to me, so Evan needs to return to real life, because the reality is that we’re both consulting adults who find each other attractive and made out on his porch.
“So go and kiss someone else. See how many times he’ll look at you, then,” Poppy suggests, pointing to her head. “It’s psychology, and trust me, when it comes to men, it’s pretty simple. They can’t think of too many things at once, but jealousy always gets them.”
A laugh rips from my throat. Poppy has to be one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her not smiling. She’s a ray of sunshine and always sticks her nose into other people’s business, with good intentions, of course.
“Doesn’t feel simple. That man is confusing as fuck.”
“Well, tell him to stop being a little bitch.” Mae bites into one of the turkey-club sandwiches I packed for everyone, and after spotting the food, Leo bounds over, grabs one, and returns to the play area.
“No chewing and running, Leo!” I call after him, and he immediately slows his pace, stifling a little giggle. I think I’m now more paranoid about him choking than Evan is.
“Evan doesn’t kiss just anyone, so he must feel something if he’s letting you anywhere near him.” Mae rolls her shoulders, shrugging.
“I feel like we’ve taken a million steps forward, but a million and one steps back. And men say we’re the dramatic ones.”
However, Flo McKenna doesn’t mope around when men are involved, so I’ll tell him to get his head out of his ass and put his big boy panties on the next time he shoots me one of those silly little polite smiles—the same ones he gives fans as he passes.
“Flo, please push me on the swing!” Leo calls as he slides down the slide once more, grinning at me as he plops himself down on the blanket in front of me, setting his sandwich aside.
“Sure, go ahead, bud. I’ll be right there.”
He grins and rushes off.
After packing up my half-eaten sandwich so it doesn’t attract wasps, I make my way across the park, heading for Leo, who’s sitting on the stationary swing.
But just as I’m halfway, I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I’m surprised to be met with a short, blonde woman wearing a pair of giant sunglasses and a hood. In this weather? It’s sweltering.
“Um, hi?”
“Flo? Flo McKenna?” the woman questions in disbelief, pulling her hood down and removing her glasses, revealing her sparkling green eyes, freckled face and perfectly blow-dried hair.
I stare in shock. Ella Baxter—famous pop singer and hottie that every woman dreams of looking like. She was one of my clients when I worked for Starbound, and God, was she a nightmare.
“Ella?”
She giggles and pulls me in for a hug, the perfume she’s wearing—that I’m sure costs more than I used to make in a month—wafting up my nose, nearly choking me.
“What are you doing in a children’s playground?”
She slips her sunglasses back on, eyes darting to the parents around who couldn’t give less of a fuck who she is.
“I was just on my soul-centering walk.” She gestures to her security guard, who waits outside the playground gate, dressed in all black, wearing a glum expression.
“But I thought it was you I saw in here and had to check. You left Starbound so suddenly, and I miss your organisational skills… do you know who I’ve been given as my agent now? ”
Of course, I’m given no time to actually even attempt to answer.
“Matthew. He’s absolutely useless, Flo. Get this, you’ll find it hilarious, I ordered cantaloupe melon as a snack while on my new album’s cover photo shoot, and guess what he shows up with?”
Is she about to hit me with a joke? I can’t tell, so instead, I blink. “I don’t know. What did he show up with?”
“Honeydew! Honeydew melon, for crying out loud! I was furious.” Ella relaxes with a loud laugh of disbelief, shaking her head, and then tilting her lips. “You never would have made a mistake like that.”
Oh, she’s not joking.
I stare at her, dumbfounded by how out of touch she is. Matthew was probably doing her a favour, because cantaloupe melon is nasty, anyway. “Wow, that must have been so traumatising.”
“Honestly, it ruined the entire day. Why did you leave? Alexander said you gave no warning. You just never came back. He was pissed.”
Of course Alexander would have painted me as the bad guy in the situation. He wouldn’t dare mention how he promised me a promotion and strung me along before giving it to his nephew instead.
I hike my shoulders up in a shrug, realising I can’t say what I want to, which is Alexander and every celebrity signed to Starbound is a pretentious snob who rubs me the complete wrong way, so I had to get out before I lost my sanity, so instead, I settle for, “Just needed a change of direction.”
Ella looks at me, her eyes searching for something before they dart around. “So… you have a kid? I didn’t know.”
“Oh, no, I’m nannying for a little while before I head out on that trip I always talked about. He’s not mine.”
Her face is stunned, blinking before she releases a throaty laugh.
“You’re nannying? Oh my gosh, Flo, that is hilarious.
You left Starbound to work with kids?” She places a condescending hand on my shoulder, but I shrug it off.
“Wow, I hope it’s not something you’re thinking of doing full-time, because there is absolutely no money in that.
” Ella smiles at me, a sad, pitiful one. “You’re better than that, Flo.”
“I’m better than what? Having to deal with you and your melon melodrama?”
Or melo-n-drama. I laugh at my own joke.
Ella’s perfectly plucked brows fly into her hairline. “Wow, since when did you develop such an attitude?”
Is she actually serious?
“About the same time my patience for people like you and Alexander ran out,” I quip back, spinning on my heel and joining Leo at the swings, pretending Ella Baxter isn’t staring at me with a mouth so wide it looks like she’s about to dislocate her jaw.
Sure, she has a voice like velvet and a face that’s perfect without a brush of makeup, but talent will only get you so far when you’re an unlikeable person.
Ella is buried under layers of arrogance and entitlement, and as I smile down at Leo, who’s squealing with excitement while I push him on the swing, I realise I didn’t fail when I quit my job at Starbound.
I escaped.
That wasn’t me. This feels like me. And I’m sad that soon, it’ll be coming to an end.