Page 31 of If You Love Me

“You look like a snack. Right, Tyrion?”

“Huh?” I asked, turning back.

“Doesn’t my friend look good?”

Evenie glared at me, waiting for an answer.

I swallowed hard. “You look beautiful, love.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled, turning back to Nina. “Summer Rose is in the bathroom. She should be out in a second.”

“Let me go grab my child.”

Nina sashayed past me with a wink as she headed out the back door. Evenie dug through one of the boxes. I wasn’t sure what she was looking for until she pulled out her purse from that night. For a moment, she just stared at it. I hadn’t taken anything out of it, and I hadn’t had the heart to throw it away. She rummaged through the bag, pulling out her wallet.

She pulled out her driver’s license, examining it before putting it aside and tossing the wallet and purse back into the box. After a little more digging, she pulled out a small wristlet. Plucking her father’s credit card from her bra, she placed it and her license inside. My first instinct was to go into my wallet. I had about three hundred dollars in cash, so I pulled it out and walked over to her.

“What is this?” she asked, looking down at it.

“In case you need cash. I’d offer you my card, but I’d rather not be cursed out this morning.”

“I don’t want your money, Tyrion.”

“Take it. Monday morning, we need to go to the bank. I moved all of the money that was in your separate checking account to a savings account. I put money in there every so often, but I never touched it. I was saving it for Summer, but it’s yours.”

Her face softened a bit. “Thank you,” she said faintly. She took the money from me and placed it in the wristlet.

“I got you. I’ll take a few days off, and we can handle whatever we need to handle.”

“You don’t have to do that. My parents—”

“Evenie. Please… let me do this for you. It’s the least I can do.”

She sighed. She didn’t say anything, but she nodded. Just then, Summer came around the corner.

“I’m ready!” she said.

I smiled at her matching her mother in her choice of outfit. She even had her favorite crossbody thrown on. All she ever kept in that thing was her phone and lip gloss.

“And so it begins.”

“Jealous?” Evenie shot at me.

“No. I’m happy for her… for you both. Come give me some love, princess,” I said, motioning for Summer to come over.

She didn’t hesitate to run into my arms and give me a big hug. When she pulled away, she held out her hand to me. I playfully rolled my eyes as I fished out my wallet and gave her the Greenlight debit card I’d gotten for her. Instead of giving her cash, I loaded her allowance on here along with any birthday, Christmas, or special award money. One thing about my baby, she could hold on to a dollar.

“You have a fifty-dollar limit. Remember that.”

“Yes, sir.” She plucked the card from my hand and dropped it in her bag. Jersey and Nina came back inside and into the living room.

“Everybody set?” Nina asked.

“We’re good to go,” Evenie answered.

“Then let’s get to it. Bye, big head.” Nina playfully mushed me before walking over to the front door. Evenie went to follow, but I gently took her arm.

“Hey,” I said softly. She looked back at me. “Have fun.”

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