Page 70 of You've Got Male

There was just no way she could do it all today.

It was times like this that she wished she had a partner—someone to help carry the weight. Someone to call when she got a flat, or to hold her hand when things got rough, or sit by her side and cheer with her when her daughter hit major milestones. She didn’t need to be taken care of, but sometimes it would be nice not to have to take care of everyone all on her own.

It would be nice not to feel alone.

Her parents had given her all the support and love that they had to give—which was enough for five families. But as they’d aged it was as if the roles were slowly reversing and it was now Evie’s time to give back. Only some days, she felt like she didn’t have enough to give.

That she was coming up short and everyone was paying the price.

To add to the chaos, Tasha Hart from LoveByte had shown up earlier to interview some of the You’ve Got Male-Mamas about their journey of love in what Tasha was calling a social media social experiment. Even Ernie made an appearance, bringing his adorable twins along.

They were little, like travel-size little, and Evie gave a sigh of relief that she’d dodged that bullet. She’d raised her daughter, was looking forward to the next phase of life, and couldn’t imagine starting over. Not that she was opposed to dating someone in the future—the far, far future—who was a parent. She just always imagined that they’d be in the same chapter when it came to parenting.

Another thing Tasha brought with her was her following. Hundreds of people filed through the shop, buying coffee and cookies and even Grinder’s specialty roasted coffee beans—in fact, they’d sold out of their monthly stock in one day, and she had to order more.

What a problem to have,Moira had said gleefully. And her mom was right. There was a silver lining in all of this. New customers were discovering Grinder, raving about their signature drinks, and promising to come back again. So when Tasha had asked Evie to give them an update on her and Jonah’s relationship, she’d obliged.

Which was how she found herself sitting at a table with a fresh coat of lip gloss, staring into the camera as Tasha held it in selfie mode. Tasha sat next to her, a crowd of onlookers circling them as the live interview started.

“LoveByte Nation wants to know how it feels to be the inspiring factor for many singles taking to social media for this social experiment,” Tasha began.

“I don’t know if I’d call it an experiment,” Evie answered.

“Remember to look into the camera,” Tasha whispered, and Evie tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled into the phone. Tasha slid back into her talk-show-host voice. “Then what would you call it?”

Fake. A fraud. A giant faux relationship that we’re selling to the public at large.“Fun. I’d call it fun.”

That answer wasn’t fake. That was the I-swear-to-tell-the-whole-truth-and-nothing-but-the-truth honest answer. And if she were going for honest, it was also thrilling and exciting and all the other adjectives that came with sharing a secret with her sexy neighbor. Yes, it was stressful, too, wondering if and when they’d be found out. It was also scary to think that they’d blurred the lines last week in her kitchen. But right now, with the shop full of paying customers, she was starting to think that the reward outweighed the risk.

“Don’t be shy now. We all saw that kiss. It was very honeymoon phase if you ask me.” Tasha looked into the camera. “What do you think, LoveByte Nation? Was that a honeymoon-phase kiss, or what?”

A giant cluster of hearts floated up the screen like a bouquet of balloons taking to the sky and hoots and hollers came from the customers in the shop.

“And where is your sexy plus-one?” Every eyeball looked around the store, as if expecting him—just like Ernie—to have come.

In her gut she knew he would have. So then why hadn’t she asked him? It would have been the perfect time to give credibility to their ruse of a relationship.

Because you are intimately acquainted with his O-face. That’s why.

Evie hadn’t seen him since the honeymoon-phase kiss. Oh, sure, they’d waved to each other through the window, and even exchanged a few notepad conversations, texts about carpool—Evie had even babysat Waverly for a few hours, where they had two successful potty times—but she and Jonah hadn’t talked aboutit. And she wanted to keep it that way.

Talking about it would lead to thinking about it, which would lead to dreaming about it, and possibly doingitagain.

“He’s—”

“Running a little late,” a voice broke through the crowd and she froze. Which was the exact opposite of what her heart was doing in her chest—pounding like a jackhammer.

Jonah.

He looked like a tall glass of lemonade. Sitting on his forearm, which was bent to make a toddler-sized seat, was Waverly, wearing a cute pink sundress and little pink bows in her hair. She looked adorable and he looked like Dad of the Year.

He was there. She hadn’t asked him to come, didn’t even know how he found out about the LoveByte interview, but he was there. For her.

“Hey, sunshine,” he said with a wink, full of conspiracy and humor.

“Hey,” she said, sounding very honeymoon-phase breathless.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, coming up beside her, then slowly lowered his head and an unexpected trill of excitement tingled her lips.

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