Chapter 13 Flo #2
“No, I’m serious. I don’t know anyone who could make anything remotely like these. My mom’s tried her hand at knitting and sewing, and as much as I love the woman, frankly, she’s useless at it.”
My lips tug in a smile. “Well, if she ever comes to visit, I’ll give her a lesson.”
Evan blinks, as if my light-hearted comment just landed a little heavier than intended, and his expression shifts. “She’d like that.” He then begins cleaning the kitchen, clearing his throat. “You need something solid to eat. What do you want?”
I take note of the eye bags sitting heavy under his eyes. “You look tired, Evan. I can do it.”
“What do you want, Florence? An answer, please.”
Seems like I’m not getting away with this one.
“Some eggs and toast will do, thank you.” My cheeks flame.
I’ve always been an independent person, and accepting support isn’t something I’m used to doing.
I enjoy being the giver. The one who acts as the crutch, not the one who needs it.
But hey, if accepting Evan’s help means I’ll get a free plate of toast and eggs, then why not?
I mean, I'm not exactly in a state to be fussy right now.
Evan gets to work, cracking some eggs into a sizzling pan and testing the toaster.
I debate grabbing the broom to sweep up the old toast crumbs he’s just flung onto the floor by smacking the metal, but I have a feeling I’ll get a glare and an order to sit back down, so for tonight, I’ll let Evan do what he likes—taking care of people.
“And… yes, I am tired.” His back muscles tense with each movement he makes, and I stare. Now that I no longer have blurry vision, I can focus on how his tanned and smooth skin stretches over each muscle, solid and built from years out on the playing field.
“The fifty cups of coffee you drink don’t help?” I shuffle to sit on the edge of the bed.
“To some degree. I’m sure one day all the caffeine will catch up to me and I’ll have a freak heart attack on the field.” He releases a dry chuckle, but I shoot him a look.
“Don’t talk that into existence, Evan. Leo needs you.”
He’s quiet for a moment before muttering, “I know. I just can’t seem to function without it. I don’t get much sleep.”
“Because of the news reports?”
His entire body freezes at the question, but within a moment, he’s back to working the kitchen. “I guess, sometimes. Maybe. But mostly just… feeling like I’m going to fuck Leo up.”
“Evan, you could never fuck Leo up.”
We drift into silence, and I drag my bottom lip into my mouth, sucking on it.
I’m wrestling with my inner thoughts, unsure if I’d be overstepping a boundary by asking what I want to.
But I want to understand why Evan and Leo’s lives are the way they are.
I’m interested, not because I’m being nosy, but because I care.
“You don’t have to tell me, and if you do, I promise I’m not going to run and tell anyone, but… what happened to Leo’s mom? Why isn’t she in his life anymore?”
This isn’t something Evan publicly explains, and I’m probably an idiot for asking and thinking that he would treat me any differently. He doesn’t trust me enough not to run off and sell the story to some sleazy magazine, and I don’t blame him for the silence I receive.
However, to my surprise, he eventually speaks.
“She left out of the blue. Both of us. We haven’t heard from her since.”
My mouth pops open, and I stare at him, dumbfounded.
The public has always speculated what happened between him and his son’s mother, but hearing him confirm that she no longer wanted to be in the picture makes me sad for the kid.
For both of them. Who would leave their son and disappear off the face of the Earth as if it never happened?
How can someone be that cruel? To leave a parent to raise their kid alone?
“Women can be shitty. I’m sorry, Evan. She had a responsibility as a parent to care for Leo, and treated him and you like you were options. It’s wrong and not fair.”
There’s another brief pause.
“You’re not going to ask for her name? What she looks like? Where she is now? That’s all you wanted to know?” He seems genuinely surprised.
I shake my head, reaching down to scratch at my still rashy legs.
Evan doesn’t fail to notice it, his eyes following my movement.
“You shared what you felt comfortable with, and I don’t need to know who she is.
All I know is she’s missing out on the world’s greatest kid.
” I shoot him a look, a small smile curling my lip.
“You, though, maybe she had her reasons.”
He gives a low laugh. I like the sound. “Our relationship was… far from strong. I don’t miss it. In fact, she probably did me a service. It’s just Leo I feel sad for because he’ll have to grow up wondering what was wrong with him and why she didn’t want to stay for him.”
Evan doesn’t make eye contact with me as he speaks, and I’m shocked he’s being this open with me. He’s always careful with what he says around people, like he’s rationing himself. But lately, he’s been laughing more. Smiling more. And it looks good on him.
“I don’t regret it. Not for a second. Becoming a father is the single best thing to ever happen to me, but it isn’t easy, especially when you’re doing it alone.”
“He doesn’t need a Mom like her.”
“Yeah, but it’s easier to tell yourself that when he doesn't have the option.”
Evan’s right. I’ve always been close with my family. My mother and I get on like a house on fire, and despite them divorcing when I was eighteen, I’ve never really had any issues with my parents.
“Have you explained things to him? Told him why he doesn’t have a mom?”
Plating up my eggs and toast, Evan passes it to me, and I immediately take a forkful.
“To a certain degree, yes. He knows it’s just him and me, but he won’t understand why until he’s older.
I’ll give him her name if he wants it, but I know he’ll look her up and probably won’t like what he sees.
She seems happy, I guess. Married now. And that’ll hurt him. ”
Dipping my chin to my chest, I meet Evan’s gaze, and he studies me, as if he’s running through something in his head.
“So, she’s the last woman you were with?” Perhaps my low blood sugar has made me delirious, because why am I asking Evan about the last person he fucked?
“You want to know about your boss’s sex life?”
“No shame here.”
Evan’s shoulders shake as he chuckles. “Fine, no, I’ve slept with one woman since Leo was born. It was right in the beginning after my relationship ended, but it felt forced, like I thought it was what I was supposed to do since I was single and alone.”
I hum. Evan could get any woman he wants. He’s a walking, talking God, so it’s shocking that he doesn't utilise that. “Interesting.”
He turns to look at me. “What? You’re not going to tell me about yours?”
“You want to know about my sex life?”
“Only fair.”
I laugh. “Sure, it’s been a good six months. I guess we’re both out of practice.”
He rumbles a vague reply. “I guess so.”
“Well, if you’re ever looking for a practice partner, you know where I am.” It’s supposed to sound casual, like I’m kidding, however, my purposeful tone slips in.
God, I’m an idiot.
There’s a heat behind Evan’s eyes now, hot and simmering, and his tongue darts out to lick his bottom lip, shoulders rising as he takes in a deep breath. His glower drops to my lips, and he scrunches his eyebrows together before making a low sound from his throat.
But he eventually closes his eyes and rises to his feet. He nods towards the main house, indicating the conversation is over. “I should try to get some sleep, otherwise, I’ll be in a bad mood tomorrow.”
“You’re always in a bad mood. But thank you. For helping me.”
His lips tug in a half-smile. “You’re causing me an awful lot of trouble for someone who’s only been here two weeks.”
“No more burnt toast. I promise.”
“I’ll get the cabin a new toaster in case it happens again. Are you sure you’re feeling okay? I can stay for a little longer if you need me to.”
“I feel much better, thanks.” I stand to show him how steady I am on my feet.
“Okay, well, night… trouble.”
The nickname makes my stomach knot up, and I scrunch my nose up at him.
As he begins walking away, I glare at his back, unable to find the frustration I want to, because I’m distracted by not only his rippling muscles, but the fact that I just offered to be his sex practice partner and he just completely ignored me.
I’m not easily embarrassed, but that was a shame-inducing experience.
Before he’s far enough away that I can no longer see his silhouette, Evan pivots so he’s facing me. “Oh, and you have no idea how tempted I just was to take you up on that offer, kidding or not, so be careful what you joke about, Florence.”
The lake’s water just outside Evan’s property bites at my toes, cool and smooth, soothing my rash. Since the UV index is so high today, I'm sure to catch a tan, so I rummage around in my bag that sits on the ground for my sunblock.
I discovered this place a few days ago while on a walk for inspiration, and plan to embroider the surrounding forest onto a cushion—something I can take with me on my travels to remind me of this place. It’s just so calming.
The warmth of the sun sinks into my skin, and the light air helps to dry my wet hair from my early morning splash around. I squeeze the bottle of sunblock and spread the contents over my shoulders, since I plan to be here for at least another hour or so.
Then there’s shuffling behind me, and I twirl my head to see Evan, who hasn’t appeared to have seen me yet. He yanks his white T-shirt over his head from the back using one hand, as well as shuffling down his shorts, leaving him in just his tight black underwear.
The way his body catches the light is mesmerising. And his thighs. Man, his thighs. I’m sure he could crush a watermelon in his sleep with those things.
Why am I now imagining myself as a watermelon? Jesus Christ, Flo.
Evan moves closer to the lapping water, so it seems we both had the same idea to come for a morning swim today, and I clear my throat and stand, grabbing my bag. I’ve already been here for a little while, so it seems only fair to let him enjoy it in peace.
My bag rustles a bush nearby, and Evan’s head twists. “Don’t worry, I’m going.”
“Shit, Flo, I didn’t see you.”
My khaki bikini blends in with the foliage, so I see how.
Evan can’t help himself, and his eyes follow the lines of my body, honing in on where the ties of my tight bikini bottoms dig into my hips. I see his entire face tense before he sits by the water, knees to his chest, arms resting over the top of them.
“You don’t have to go,” he tells me. “It’s a public area, Flo. We can both enjoy it.”
Leo’s on a breakfast play date with Gracie at a nearby kid’s cafe this morning, who’s in the area for business again, so there’s no real reason for me to rush home and start making breakfast—Evan never eats it.
“If you’re sure.” I settle back down, propping my sunglasses up on my head and angling myself to the side so I can pretend not to stare as Evan wades in the water of the crystal clear lake.
But I can’t help but appreciate that this is a view that is rare to outsiders, and I feel fortunate that I’m sitting here, casually watching this man like it’s nothing.
“Do you come here often?” I ask, cringing at how much that sounded like some cheesy pick-up line, which makes Evan angle his head at me as he ventures deeper into the water until just his head is bobbing above it.
“Cam won’t get off my dick unless I do it. He says it’s good for recovery.”
Dick.
Well, that’s a word I certainly didn't need coming up because now I’m thinking about—
“Flo, you’re already burning.”
I peer down at my shoulders, which are slathered in sunscreen, but Evan shakes his head as he swims forward until he can walk again.
“No, you’re back.”
“Must have not been able to reach it.”
He’s out of the water now, hair darkened, and droplets cascade down him like rain sliding off marble.
“Do you need—” Evan stops himself before he finishes the question, fingernails scraping at his stubble-covered jaw.
My hands are passing him the sunblock before my brain can register what I’m doing. “It would be a shame to burn.”
I didn't think he actually would, but now he’s behind me on his haunches, sunblock between his palms, and suddenly I’m hyper-aware of how his large hands feel against the skin of my heated back.
Good. It feels good.
Evan’s movements are steady and confident.
He spreads the cream slowly, fingertips gliding over the muscles of my back and down the curve of my spine.
He doesn’t rush it, like he’s trying not to make it weird.
Except it is weird, right? I mean, he’s rubbing lotion into my back while we sit together, barely clothed, and I’m his kid’s nanny.
It’s taking everything in me right now not to moan and lean into his touch. This is casual. All he’s doing is making sure I don’t get burned. I’m sure he would do this for any of his nannies.
Okay, I don’t believe what I’m telling myself, but I’m trying to.
“There, you should be good,” he tells me, although his hand remains on my lower back as he reaches around me to place the bottle of sunblock back in my bag.
Our eyes lock. We’re mere inches apart, so close to kissing, and as my blues fall to his plush, rosy lips, Evan knits his brows together. After a few seconds of what looks to be contemplation, Evan peels his body away from mine.
“Thanks.”
He enters the water again, facing forward the entire time, which makes me suspicious.
But maybe I’m overthinking it. Who says Evan was turned on? Maybe he just doesn’t want me to be forced to look at what he’s packing.
Only when he’s waist-deep does he turn to me, and I smile, which turns into a snigger. It causes him to do the same, even though he doesn’t want to.
“Fuck’s sake, woman”, Evan murmurs, craning his neck to look up at the sky, running a hand down his face, which makes me then burst out into laughter.