Page 1 of You've Got Male

Chapter One

Evie

Evelyn Granger knew from experience what it looked like when life was about to attack—and this attack was going to be Shark Week worthy.

The minute Evie saw her ghost of exes past, her already complicated day set itself on fire. She closed her eyes for a moment and manifested herself being anywhere but there in her parents’ coffee shop, wearing the same uniform she wore in high school, working the same job she worked in high school. But upward job mobility wasn’t an option when one’s dad was diagnosed with kidney disease and could no longer run the family business, Grinder. In fact, doctors’ appointments and dialysis meant giving up her dream job to come back to her teenage job as a glorified barista.

What had she done to piss off the gods? Because this could not be happening. Not when she was wearing coffee-cup themed leggings, a tank that read “Get Your Grind On”, and holding aToasty bagel ballssign.Unfortunately, when one’s husbandcatches an acute case of Slippery Dick Syndrome and leaves you to raise a child alone, passing out toasty bagel balls can become the new norm.

“Yo. Babe,” her ex-husband, Mateo, said in that bro-tone he used that made her stomach curdle. Dressed in ankle-hugging jeans, checkered Vans, and a stone-washed shirt, he looked like he was headed to the skate park instead of being a dad to their sixteen-year-old daughter.

Then there was the sparkly, pretty, plus-one on his arm, whose coed smile, designer leggings, and yoga top did little to conceal her barely there baby bump—nor the extremely recent addition that was winking from her ring finger. A diamond that cost way more than their daughter’s private school tuition Mateo harped on and on about.Are you serious right now?

“When are you due?” Evie asked, trying to keep the status quo in their relationship going. Surface questions, polite smiles at kid-swap, and flipping him the bird when no one was looking.

Heather curved her perfectly manicured fingers around her belly and gave a dreamy smile. “I’m sixteen weeks along.”

“Does Camila know?” she asked.

Mateo and Heather exchanged a look that made Evie’s skin itch. And there was her answer. A resoundingno. Not that she was surprised. Had Camila known her dad, who saw her only every other weekend, was going to become a full-time parent to another kid, there would have been heartbreak. Dramatic, over-the-top, soul-crushing heartbreak.

Evie considered getting mad, but she’d wasted so much mad on her ex over the years it would take a lot to muster up even a “Screw you.” If she wasn’t so tired, she might have even had a good belly laugh at the situation. The kind that brought tears to her eyes. But the tears threatening to break through her fortress ofeverything’s finewere humorless. And unexpected.

Mateo walked out sixteen years ago, right before Camilawas even born. Oh, he’d always paid child support and came around most weekends, but for the day-to-day he’d been absent, especially in the beginning when he’d been finishing up law school.

When it came to dating, all the Granger women were crazy. Her mother dated men who were too young—“They workharderto impress,”she’d say—her daughter dated men who were too old—“Boys my age have the emotional maturity of frappuccino!”—and Evie, well—to the disappointment of her family and coworkers—didn’t date at all.

A prime example of why was standing right in front of her.

“When are you going to tell her?” Evie asked. And again she was met with silence.

Having an absent co-parent had been especially hard in the earlier years. Evie’s parents stepped in, giving Evie the love and support she desperately needed. But having an absent dad who wandered in and out like the changing of tides had been devastating for Camila. And no amount of love and support could make up for the missing hole an absent parent blasted through a child’s heart.

“We were going to tell her at the wedding,” Mateo said, running a hand through his straight black hair.

“And when is that?”

Another look was exchanged, and that turned those itches into hives. “We’re getting married at the end of the month. In Hawaii.” Mateo said the last part as if it didn’t affect their aerophobic daughter, who couldn’t walk onto a plane and not hyperventilate.

“Hawaii?” Evie nearly knocked the toasty bagel balls over. She couldn’t afford a trip for two to Hawaii. She could barely afford the car insurance for a teenager. And in a month? It just wasn’t possible. Mom couldn’t work both shifts, Dad had dialysis, and Camila—

Shit!

“Camila has overnight cheer camp that weekend. It’s mandatory and gives them a chance to win an early bid to Nationals.” It was the most important week of the year for Camila and her teammates. It’s where they got to know each other, made inside jokes, bonded. If she didn’t participate, she ran the risk of being left out of the fun. For the entire year. “You’re supposed to be on carpool duty and drive the kids to Grand Junction.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand,” Heather said with the confidence of a woman whose kid had never suffered disappointment. “Plus, if she can’t make it, we can always FaceTime with her.”

“FaceTime?”No way. Heather might not care if her soon-to-be stepdaughter was there but Camila would. So much so that just thinking about it made Evie’s heart hitch. “I’ll find a way for us to go. Maybe I can call her coach, explain the situation. I can ask Julie to pull extra shifts at the shop,” she said, referring to her closest friend and the shop’s part-time assistant manager. “Mom can handle the dialysis appointments. And…” She trailed off because the energy of the room had shifted.

Oh God!

“You don’t actually want her there, do you?” she asked.

“It’s not that. It’s just a kid-free wedding,” Mateo explained as if she were the one not grasping the enormity of what would transpire in the next few moments. But Evie knew. She knew her kid’s relationship with her father, how she viewed her self-worth, and what her relationships with men would look like were on the line.

Evie set the tray down and lowered her voice, praying she got through to him. He might be a self-focused philanderer, but he wasn’t cruel. And this was cruel. “She isn’t just any kid, Mateo. She’syourkid. And she’ll be heartbroken if she isn’t there. You don’t want me there, fine. We can figure something out. I’llfigure something out.”

Wasn’t that what Evie had spent the past year doing? Figuring out other people’s shit?

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