TWENTY-TWO.
Ever
——————————
We can’t be friends.
I tap my phone against my palm, hesitating, while Marissa huffs in frustration beside me. “Just call him already!”
“It’s his day off,” I protest weakly. “I hate bothering him.”
“Then I’ll get a ride to the airport,” she counters, crossing her arms. “I can’t miss this flight.”
I groan and glance at the time glowing on my screen.
She’s right—if we don’t leave soon, she’ll be cutting it dangerously close.
I’ve already wasted too much time trying to convince Gladys into starting, but she’s being stubborn today, sputtering like she’s decided she’s done working for the weekend.
I don’t want to drag Tobias into this, but I also don’t want Marissa to miss her plane.
“Call him!” she insists, louder this time. I unlock my phone with a resigned sigh, pull up his contact, and stare at his name until the letters blur.
“Ever,” Marissa says, softer now but still firm. “This man will drop anything he’s doing to come do whatever you ask him to do. If he was a horse, you hold the reins. You’re in control.”
“I know,” I mutter, “but that’s what makes it worse. I don’t want to take advantage of that.”
She rolls her eyes dramatically and snatches the phone from my hand before I can stop her. I lunge to grab it back, but she’s already pressed call. “Seriously?”
She tosses it back to me.
I lift the phone to my ear, heart thudding while it rings. Part of me hopes he doesn’t pick up—lets me off the hook—but the bigger part knows Marissa can’t afford to miss her flight.
“Hey,” he answers casually, like he’s been expecting me.
“Hello,” I say, hesitant, pressing my fingers to my eyes as if that’ll steady me. “Are you busy?”
There’s a long pause on his end, long enough that my cheeks start to heat. “I need to know what kind of call this is,” he says quickly, a teasing edge to his voice that makes my flush deepen.
I turn away from Marissa so she can’t see how red my face must be, but she immediately circles around, peering at me with open curiosity.
“It’s not like that,” I say in a rush, hoping I don’t accidentally lead him on.
Though—God—would that really be so bad? “Gladys isn’t starting.
I was wondering if you could take us to the airport. ”
“Both of you? Where’re you goin’?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I clarify quickly. “I just want to see her off.”
He hums low in his chest. “What about Mandy?”
“She’s fine. I just… I’ve never driven her out of town before. I’m nervous about taking her all the way to the airport.”
“When do you need to go?”
“Right now,” I say, wincing at how urgent it sounds. “At this point she might miss her flight.”
“Alright,” he says without hesitation. “I’ll be there in a sec.”
I flash Marissa a thumbs-up, and she clasps her hands in a quick, silent prayer before whispering a thank-you toward the ceiling.
“Thank you so much,” I tell him.
He lets out a short “Mhm” and ends the call.
I lower the phone, hoping he wasn’t in the middle of something. On Sundays he’s usually the only one who swings by to handle small things around the ranch, so I’m sure he’ll have to call in a favor from Jesse or Caden to cover.
“We should get your things outside so we can just hop in when he gets here,” I say.
Marissa nods and we haul her suitcase out to the porch. I lock the door behind us, then catch her standing still, staring across the rolling land—the green hills, the barns, the horses wandering lazily in the pasture. She draws in a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
“I get why you like it here,” she says quietly. “It’s peaceful. And not in the middle-of-nowhere creepy way.”
I smile. “I told you you’d like it.”
She turns to face me, and I realize this might be our last conversation alone before Tobias arrives. The thought makes my chest tighten. Yet, I can’t help but feel a flutter of nervous anticipation at the sound of tires on gravel in the distance.
“Also,” she says, dropping her voice. “I’m saying this in the nicest way possible, because you’re my friend and I know it’s been a while since you’ve been laid, but Tobias is one hundred percent a man sculpted by the gods.
And if you don’t let him pound into you at least a few times before calling it quits, I don’t think we can be friends. ”
I laugh out loud, and Marissa joins me almost instantly, our giggles bubbling up until we’re both doubled over, hands pressed to our faces to muffle the sound. “Why is he so good-looking?” I manage between breaths.
“It’s honestly offensive,” she says, wiping at her eyes. “It doesn’t make sense.”
I press the heels of my palms into my eyes, trying to stop the tears that are threatening to spill from sheer laughter. “It should be illegal to be that handsome,” she declares, dead serious, which only sends us into another round of helpless cackling.
“But luckily for you,” she continues, catching her breath, “he’s not as big of an asshole as we first thought. He’s actually sweet. Charismatic. The whole package.”
“I know,” I groan, shaking my head. “I hate it.”
“It’s literally the worst,” she agrees, and we dissolve again, shoulders shaking, barely able to breathe. That’s when the low rumble of Tobias’s truck rolls into the driveway. Marissa glances toward it, but keeps going. “He just keeps getting better the longer you know him. It’s not fair.”
“Okay, you have to stop now,” I say, waving my hands in surrender, but she throws her head back in one last loud laugh just as Tobias steps out of the truck and pauses, his eyebrow arched at the sight of us.
“Are we having a mental breakdown, or what?” he asks, voice dry but amused. “Is this laughing or crying?”
“It’s both, Tobias,” Marissa answers without missing a beat. “And yes. This is a full mental breakdown.”
I shove her shoulder playfully and grab her suitcase. I pull it over to the back of the truck, but Tobias is already there, taking it from my hands before I can lift it fully. He pops open the gate to his covered truck bed, slides the bag in with easy strength, then opens the back door for us.
Marissa pats his chest a couple of times as she slips past him and climbs in. I dart in after her, sliding onto the seat beside her. Tobias gives me a quick, questioning look, but he just closes the door and circles around to the driver’s side.
“He might actually be the perfect man.”
“Shh,” I hiss, and we both clamp our mouths shut, pressing our lips together to stifle fresh giggles as his door opens and he slides behind the wheel.
He rests a hand on the steering wheel and turns to look at us over his shoulder. “Are you two okay?”
All we can manage is another burst of muffled laughter, leaning into each other like guilty teenagers. He studies us for a second, then shakes his head, turns forward, and starts the engine.
I let my head drop onto Marissa’s shoulder as we pull out of the driveway and start down the road.
The laughter fades gradually, replaced by a quieter, heavier feeling that settles over us both.
The house behind us, once filled with her voice and our shared jokes and late-night talks, will soon be silent again. Just me.
The thought is bittersweet. The ranch will feel bigger, emptier without her energy filling the space. I squeeze her arm gently, and she rests her cheek against the top of my head, both of us watching the landscape roll by in comfortable, wordless quiet.
— ∞ —
Marissa clings to me like she’s afraid I’ll disappear if she lets go, and I hold her just as tightly, our arms wrapped around each other as we rock back and forth. Tears streak down both our faces until she finally pulls back and cups my cheeks in her hands, thumbs brushing away the dampness.
“Do not forget what I told you,” she says seriously. “We cannot be friends.”
“I know, I know,” I say, swatting her hands away with a laugh. We burst into giggles again. “I’m going to miss you so much. I’ll try to come visit everyone sometime. Maybe for the holidays.”
“Yes. Please do. Thanksgiving won’t be the same without your peach pie,” she says. She extends the handle of her suitcase, rolling it to the side before turning to Tobias and pointing straight at him. “Stop being so handsome. It’s not fair. You put these other guys to shame.”
“Excuse me?” he asks, eyebrows lifting in confusion, but when he sees us both giggling, a slow grin spreads across his face. “I really think I’m missing something here.”
Marissa straightens, suddenly serious. “If you hurt her, I hurt you.”
He nods once. “I understand that one.” I shake my head at the two of them. “Ever is safe here,” he continues, looking straight at her. “I won’t let anything bad happen to her. You have my word.”
“Okay,” she says, eyes narrowed in mock suspicion. “If you say so.”
Tobias shoots me a quick glance, silently asking what the hell is happening, but all I can do is shrug.
“Text me when you land, okay?” I tell her.
“I will,” she says softly. Her whole demeanor shifts as she takes a step back—shoulders dropping, eyes glistening again.
She gives one last wave, wipes her cheek with the back of her hand, and turns toward the terminal. I press my lips together hard to keep from breaking down completely. She’s my sister in every way that matters, and saying goodbye feels like losing a part of myself.
Tobias doesn’t say a word. He just opens the passenger door of the truck and waits while I climb in, then closes it gently behind me.
He’s a blur through my tear-streaked vision as he rounds the front and slides into the driver’s seat.
For a long moment he just looks at me in the quiet, letting the silence settle between us.
“I’m glad I got to meet her,” he says, voice low and sweet.
The first thing that flashes through my mind is what Marissa would say if she were here—stop being so perfect, damn it—and the thought pulls a small laugh out of me.
“Me too,” I manage, rubbing my eyes before reaching for the seat belt and pulling it across my chest.
“The two of you are very strange, though,” he adds as he clicks his own belt into place.