Page 57 of If You Love Me

I didn’t answer as Evenie and Summer got closer. Baby girl ran and jumped into my arms.

“Hi, Daddy!” she said, kissing my cheek.

“Hey, princess. Daddy missed you.”

“I missed you too. I can’t wait to go to the festival. Me and Jersey are gonna have so much fun!”

“I bet you are. Go on and get in the car so I can talk to mommy right quick.”

“Okay.”

She climbed in the back seat of Jaime and Nina’s SUV while he opened the door and told her he was riding with me. She glanced over at me, giving me the evil eye before climbing over the console into the driver’s seat. Jay headed to my car, leaving me alone just as Evenie reached me.

“Ev, what—”

“Tyrion, not right now. I don’t want to be in a sour mood all day because I talked to you too soon. Just get in your car so we can go.”

She didn’t give me a chance to say anything else before she opened the door and climbed in. I stood there, thoroughly confused as to what I had done to piss her off now. Defeated, I walked back to my car and got in.

Somebody had some explaining to do.

When we gotto the festival grounds, Evenie seemed to be in slightly better spirits. I wasn’t sure if that was the case or if she was simply putting on a smile in front of the kids. Either way, it was nice not to get the death glare from her. I couldn’t say the same for Nina. I loved my friend, but she loved Evenie more. I had no doubt that she would turn against me for her if it came down to it.

I wasn’t trying to lose a friend or, possibly, my life if she got trigger-happy.

Once we got on the grounds and got our tickets, the girls were immediately trying to go play games. Jamie and I had the right idea in stopping by the ATM before we got here. When Summer Rose and Jersey saw the funhouse, they immediately wanted to go inside. It was a huge funhouse. Summer and I had been in it before, and there were all types of twists, turns, and surprises at every corner.

I saw the moment uncertainty entered Evenie’s eyes. She’d been looking in every direction since we got here. I didn’t miss the grip she had on Summer’s hand. When it became too much, Summer whispered to her that she was squeezing too tight. She apologized and handed her off to me. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to bring her to a place with so many people. I was sure thoughts of Summer being snatched were driving her crazy.

“I’ll go in with them,” I offered.

She nodded slowly. “Thank you,” she said faintly.

Gently, I took her hand. “They will be okay. I promise.”

“I’ll go with him,” Nina volunteered.

I reached for Summer’s hand while she grabbed Jersey’s and went to stand in line. It didn’t take long to get to the front. We let the girls go ahead of us, instructing them not to stray too far.

“I should box you in your shit,” Nina said in a low voice.

“Please tell me what I did that was so bad.”

She scoffed. “You know exactly what you did, Tyrion. You broke my girl’s heart.”

“Nina, I love you, but you really need to stay out of our business.”

“Since when? We’ve always told each other everything.”

“Y’all aren’t kids anymore. You’re grown women with children and husbands.”

“Only one of us has a man that’s acting like a fucking husband,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Daddy, Auntie Nina, hurry up!” Summer urged.

“Coming, baby!” Nina called.

We picked up the pace and caught up with them. They stopped when they reached a mini game, so we let them play. I turned to Nina.

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