CHAPTER 28
Phoebe
I pour myself another mug of whisky slush. Pour is not the right word, since only liquids can be poured. What I’m doing is holding the bottle upside down and waiting until a glob drops in, eventually followed by another glob.
It takes a while.
The whole time, I’m fuming. And Evander is seated on the floor with his back to the fire, watching me. He’s gone right back to his silent routine. It’s been a challenge to get any information from him.
“I should go back up to the roof,” he says, looking worriedly at the ceiling.
I safely set the bottle on the table before I double over with laughter, clutching the blanket to my body as the guffaws roll through me. In my mind, I see the woodshop and the garage and it’s just so freaking funny that I can’t stand it.
It takes me a minute, but soon I straighten and turn to Evander.
“No roof for you, sailor.” I point at him.
“You’re going to sit right there and we’re going to talk this out, put everything on the table like the adults we are.
I don’t know how long this storm is going to last, but if we can’t be honest with each other, it’s gonna get real ugly in here, real fast.”
I tip the mug to my lips and wait for the icy concoction to make its way into my mouth. Eventually, I crunch it down.
“You might want to pace yourself, Phoebe.”
“It’s not like I have to drive anywhere, Evan.”
One of his thick, black brows hikes up on his forehead. I am well aware that he doesn’t allow nicknames. I remember him yelling down the hospital hallway, “Not Ev! Not Van! Not Der!”
I chuckle again.
I return to my spot on the couch and tuck my feet under me. I wince when I do so, because my stiches sting. The wind howls.
Evander pulls up his knees and loosely wraps his arms around his shins. When he tips his head and blinks at me, a lock of his black hair falls over one eye. I wish he wasn’t so insanely hot. It's so much easier to be furious with an average-looking man.
I resume my questioning. “It was Jake, wasn’t it?”
“Uh, no. Not Jake, not Bo or Mason or Ryder or… who am I missing? The MMA fighter? Kyle?”
“Kyle’s the quarterback.”
“Well it wasn’t him, either. I told you. I haven’t spoken to any of your brothers in years. And if I had, I don’t think the topic of your virginity would have come up in casual conversation.”
“Ha! I wouldn’t bet money on that. Then how did you reach your conclusion?”
“I made an assumption, and I was wrong. That’s on me. I apologize.”
“Because no one would ever want to look at my butt?”
Evander squints at me and exhales. “I am never going to live that down, am I?”
“No, you most certainly are not.” I crunch another mouthful of whisky.
It’s quiet for a few moments, except for the creaking walls and shuddering window glass. And my crunching.
“Why did you assume that, Evander?”
He nods. “It’s a good question. This is where we get to the honesty part, isn’t it?”
“Yup.” I nibble down another mouthful.
“I’ve always known you as the girl from the next ranch over, the baby sister of the ass—Travis boys, our high school rivals. By the time I left for the Navy, you were still a kid.”
“Okay. How about after you’d already moved back to
Yosemite and I came home last year?”
“I barely saw you before I was injured.”
“All right. Let’s start there. You were injured. I took care of you. Did you watch me hang your IV and think to yourself, ‘now that’s a virgin if I’ve ever seen one’!”
“Not exactly, Phoebe. I noticed you in the hospital, and it surprised me.”
“What did?”
“That you’d grown up.”
“Uh-huh.” I suck down another slushy mouthful.
“I noticed that you were incredibly beautiful. And always positive and kind, even in difficult situations. I was so impressed by your competence and energy. You made me laugh. You really blew me away.”
“That’s sweet of you to say, Evander. But you should know that there’s a whole world of us non-virginal women who happen to be kind and competent. We even have our own support group.”
He laughs and shakes his head. I know I’m busting his balls, but he deserves it. I watch as he stretches out on his side in front of the fire, straightening his long legs and propping up on his elbow. He raises his eyes to mine.
“It made things simpler for me, all right? You stayed untouchable. Off limits. It was easier to compartmentalize chaste little Phoebe Travis if I didn’t see the truth of who you are.”
I stop chewing. I go still. Finally, we’re getting somewhere. “That’s pretty honest.”
“Because my focus right now is StellarR Tech, helping Cal run the ranch, and representing our business interests as attorney.”
“And there’s no room for anything else?”
“Exactly.”
“So what changed? When did you see who I am?”
He gives me a cocky smile. If I were wearing panties, they’d be damp. It’s awfully hard to be furious with an insanely attractive man, especially if his smile melts the places on your body where your panties should be.
“Yesterday. In your gerbil outfit.”
“My…?” I sit up straighter. “I was a flap-jacking reindeer!”
“A very pretty one, too. But you can use actual cuss words around me.”
“I’ve tried not to develop that bad habit.”
“I can respect that.”
“So wait…” I retrace my thoughts. “All I had to do was wear a costume for you to see the real me?”
He laughs hard at that. “Here’s how it happened. I saw you standing there on the sidewalk, and I thought, wait a minute. I know Phoebe is cute and generous. But how is it that I’m just now noticing that she’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous?”
I like where this is headed.
“It stopped me in my tracks. I took the time to take in the gold of your eyes and all the complicated colors in your hair. And I couldn’t stop thinking about you when I got home.
About how good you’ve always been to me.
And then, well, I pulled you out of the lake and it’s been impossible to think of anything but you ever since. ”
Suddenly, I don’t feel so snarky anymore. I stare at him in disbelief. He holds my gaze.
“But Phoebe, since we’re being truthful, I should probably tell you something upfront.”
“All right.”
“I’m not a virgin.”
“And yet you’re so competent!”
He laughs again. “So, enough about me. Let’s talk about you, and the huge, honking crush you have on me. Tell me what’s going on with that.” Evander shoots me a stunning grin.
He’s the sexiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on. The sexiest man on the planet. And I’m about to spill my guts to him.
I’m kind of bummed out that I’m not wearing my red dress for this. I’m not wearing anything, really, aside from these ratty old wool blankets. My hair is a tangled mess. I haven’t shaved my legs. This is all unfolding in the wrong order, not at all like I imagined it would.
But it is unfolding.
I set the mug on the floor. “I’ll tell you, but it’s a long story. How much time you got?”
“I couldn’t go anywhere even if I wanted to. Bring it on, Miss Travis.”