Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Evie wasn’t joining them for dinner.
That was the text he had gotten a little while ago and he was curious why.
He’d gone to Milo’s office to ask her himself, but he noticed his friend and Reece going in there and decided to hang out in the lobby until they were done.
But when he spotted Evie slinking her way across the space—in the complete opposite direction of the exit or restaurant—he got curious and followed her.
“What the hell, Slater?” she hissed quietly. “You scared me.”
“I wasn’t trying to. I was just curious why you were hiding out over here and heard you talking about visiting some town. I didn’t know you were going anywhere.”
Her head lolled back for a moment, her blonde ponytail swinging, before she looked at him again.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she told him. “I didn’t want to go up and have dinner with everyone tonight, so I was going to movie night where they’re playing Beauty and the Beast. The small provincial town is…”
“Yeah, I know. Belle sings it in the beginning of the movie,” he said easily and laughed at the surprised look on her face. “What? I enjoy Disney movies just as much as the next person.”
“Interesting. I would have pegged you for more of an action-adventure movie guy.”
“I was a kid once too, you know.”
All she did was nod.
“So…why don’t you want to eat with everyone?”
She stepped in close, and for a second he thought it was for sexy reasons, but instead she looked angry. “Because everyone is talking about us,” she said sternly. “Maisie commented on it when she came to see me earlier, and she said she and Axel noticed…”
“A vibe?”
Her eyes went wide. “Yes! How did you…?”
“Axel mentioned it to me too.”
“Dammit. And Lexi noticed too.”
“Seriously? Axel didn’t mention that.”
“She apparently said something to Maisie.”
“Which means Connor knows.”
“Oh, come on! Really?” She stomped her foot, and he knew she thought she looked tough, but he thought she looked adorable. It was sort of like Tinkerbell was having a fit.
“I don’t know about everyone else,” he said, hoping to calm her down. “I mean, Walker and Harlow aren’t here so I doubt anyone’s said anything to them, but I don’t know if Lexi or Maisie said anything to Nora.”
“I haven’t seen her at all today, and I just saw Milo and he didn’t mention anything, but…” She paused.
“But…?”
“But Reece was with him so maybe he didn’t want to bring it up in front of him.”
“Maybe. Still, I don’t know.” He pulled out his phone to see if there was anything in the group text, but it was suspiciously quiet.
Those gossipy bastards are probably chatting without me.
“I get that you’re all close,” she said, “but I am wildly uncomfortable being the source of all this attention and speculation. I hate it.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I do too, but it’s out there now and we can’t take it back. They’re going to talk about it whether we want them to or not. And you not showing up for dinner is just going to add fuel to the fire.”
“I don’t care. There’s no way I can be comfortable eating with everyone. It’ll feel like everyone’s watching us and…” She shook her head. “I’m just not going.”
“Okay.”
Her eyes went a little wide. “Okay? That’s it? You’re not going to tell me I’m wrong?”
“Nope.”
“Oh, well…good.” Her chin lifted, and she stood a little taller. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
He stared down at her. “You’re not…I mean…we’re not…”
Evie let out a soft sigh, which seemed to match her expression. “This is all kind of getting a little out of control and maybe we should just quit while we’re ahead.”
He didn’t say a word. There was plenty that he actually wanted to say, but he wanted to hear her out before he tried to change her mind.
“We originally said it was just going to be a kiss, then it was just one night, then it was the weekend, I mean…where does it end? Could we keep hooking up until I go back to Seattle? Sure. But now that everyone’s watching and you know I don’t want Milo to find out…
” She groaned again. “I’m not cut out for this kind of thing.
This is why I’ve never been in a casual relationship.
I thought I could be okay with the sneaking around, but I can’t. ”
“You know Milo’s not going to care, right? And if he has anything to say about it, I’ll take care of it.”
Her smile was sad. “Don’t you get it? I don’t want you to take care of anything.
I don’t want you fighting with one of your best friends over a relationship that’s kind of a non-relationship.
Milo and I have worked together for several years; he knows me almost better than some of my closest friends.
He knows I don’t do things like this. You might think he isn’t going to care, but I can guarantee you that he will. ”
“Oh.” Well, shit. What was he going to say to that?
“Once this weather clears up, you’ll be busy working with your hikes and tours and whatnot; Milo and I will spend most of our days at the office in town.
We don’t really have to see each other. And then I’m leaving in two weeks.
” She paused. “I’ll be back in Seattle for a week before I leave for Costa Rica for my brother’s wedding.
And by the time I get back to my regularly scheduled life, this will all just be a distant memory.
A very special one, but I’d rather we get to end it like this rather than in a blaze of embarrassing stories and us not liking each other very much. ”
“That’s never going to happen, Evie. There’s nothing you could possibly do or say that would make me not like you.”
Her smile grew, but barely. “You’re sweet, Slater. And I can’t imagine ever not liking you, but I don’t like this situation and sneaking around.”
“Okay, but…”
She held up her hand to stop him. “I know you well enough to know that we already had a very limited shelf life. You were never going to change your mind about the way you viewed romantic relationships and suddenly fall so in love with me that you wanted a forever thing.”
He saw unshed tears brimming in those big brown eyes, and it gutted him.
“I knew that going in,” she went on. “And I would never ask you to change who you are because you’re pretty damn awesome.”
“Evie…”
“I’m good, Slater. I promise. I have to work with these people for the next few weeks, and I’d rather stay under the radar.”
He knew this about her, knew how much she hated all the attention and yet, because he was a selfish bastard who couldn’t stay away, she was now going to isolate herself.
“This is my fault,” he said gruffly. “And it’s not fair that you have to eat dinner alone and miss out on having a good time with people who genuinely care about and like you.”
“It’s my choice,” she said quietly. “Please go and have a good time, but don’t tell anyone about the movie. I told Milo I had a headache, so…”
“He won’t hear it from me.”
“Thanks.”
They stood there staring at each other for several long moments before she was the one to speak.
“I should go. I’m gonna grab a sandwich and eat in the theater so I can snag a seat before the crowds come in. Since it’s a rainy night, I’m sure it’s going to be crowded.”
Sliding his hands into his pockets, he nodded. “The heavy-duty umbrella is in my office. If it’s still raining when you’re ready to leave, just grab it.”
“I’ll be fine, Slater. But thanks.”
Neither made any attempt to move away, but when someone bumped into Slater from behind, the spell was broken.
“Enjoy your movie, Evie, and I guess I’ll see you…tomorrow.”
“Yup. Have a good night.” She stepped around him and walked away, and he watched her go, hating every second of it.
And that was reason enough for him to sit down in one of the overstuffed chairs.
Why? Why was he hating it? This was usually what he wanted—a fun weekend, no commitments, and everyone walked away happy and satisfied.
But Evie wasn’t walking away happy. If anything, she looked miserable. Sure, he’d like to think that she had been satisfied—that he’d satisfied her—but that was physical. Emotionally, the situation had taken all of the sparkle out of her eyes.
Leaning back, he let out a long breath.
Because I’m just like my old man…
The thought came out of nowhere, and it pissed him off. Not only because pretty much every thought about his father pissed him off, but because it hammered the point home that he would bring nothing but pain to a genuinely amazing woman.
Just as his father had done to his mother.
A myriad of emotions battled within him, but anger stayed at the top of the list. Now he didn’t feel like eating dinner with his friends either.
They were partly to blame for this whole debacle.
Honestly, he didn’t care if they thought they felt a vibe or whatever, but if they had just kept it to their damn selves, he’d be looking at a relaxing night and enjoying a good meal, and then going back to his cabin and enjoying having Evie back in his bed.
That was clearly not going to happen now.
Shit.
His phone vibrated in his hand, and he reluctantly looked at it.
Axel: Hey! Where are you at? Everyone’s here.
Axel: This storm is looking to get worse, so we might be looking at a wild night.
Axel: Would love to get your input on what you think we may need to be doing.
Well, double shit. Now he had to go up to the damn suite.
Sighing, he tapped out his reply.
Slater: On my way. See you in five.
The theater was only half full, mostly families and a few couples tucked into the back row.
Had she known it was going to be like this, she could have enjoyed eating at the restaurant or at least someplace with a table.
Still, Evie had chosen a seat near the aisle but far enough down that maybe no one would sit beside her.
Now the movie was playing and she was happily reciting all the lines in her head along with the movie. The only thing missing was popcorn. She thought she wouldn’t want anything since she’d just eaten dinner, but what fun was watching a movie in a theater without popcorn?
Guess I just make bad decisions all the time now…