Page 57 of Breaking All The Rules

Twenty-Seven

Ethan

I was still waiting for Eva to call after I texted her back to confirm that I was still up. Her text was short and to the point, which made me anxious to be able to talk to her after she spent the day avoiding me. A few minutes later, my phone vibrated on the coffee table before my hand darted out and grabbed it. Without bothering to check the caller ID, I slid the button across the phone to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” she said breathlessly before hiccupping.

“Is everything alright?” I asked, trying to get a feel for where she was at and why she sounded so winded. “Where are you?”

“Yup,” she replied, followed by another hiccup. “You’re so nosey.” She giggled.

I scrubbed my hand down my face as I stood up and paced in front of the couch. She sounded tipsy, if not drunk. Eva didn’t just giggle randomly when she was still pissed at me, so I could only guess that alcohol had taken the edge off for her.

“Where are you, Eva?” I asked again.

“I’m walking Lucy home.”

“From where?”

“From Tia Rosa’s. We had margaritas,” she announced proudly. She was definitely buzzed.

“I’m glad it sounds like you’ve had a good night.” I felt myself smiling, genuinely happy that she hadn’t had as piss-poor of anight as I had. “Can I send someone to pick you ladies up and make sure you get home safely?”

I didn’t want to overstep by offering to come for them myself. It was a step in the right direction that she was willing to talk to me. I didn’t want to ruin that by being too pushy.

“No. We are fine. We don’t need men shining in their armor to come get us.” Hiccup.

I felt the corners of my lips curl up into a smile as I kept from laughing.

“Got it,” I said lightly, just thankful to hear her voice. “Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Yes. And it’s important. Like super mind-blowing out of this world important.” Hiccup. “Be careful, or you’re going to fall.” Her voice was quieter as she pushed the phone away from her mouth to talk to someone else.

“Are you sure I can’t send someone to come for you guys?” My worry was increasing the longer I talked to her and realized just how buzzed—or drunk—she really was.

“We’re fine,” she assured me as she laughed. “We just got to my parent’s house, and Lucy forgot about the stairs up the porch.”

“Since Lucy is home safe, why don’t I come get you and take you home?” I offered, desperate to see her.

“I might just stay here. I haven’t decided yet.” I hated the thought of her trying to get herself home like this. If I knew where her parents lived, I would already be on my way there to take care of her, whether she wanted me to or not.

“Be quiet so you don’t wake him up,” Eva scolded quietly, the phone muffled again. I stilled when I heard her say that. “You know what will happen if you do.”

“Eva, who’s there that you don’t want to wake up?” I asked.

“Her stupid husband.”

“What? Why is he at your parents’ house?”

“Because it’s his night to take Jackson, and he was waiting for my sister to get home so she could get his stuff together.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to be alone with him with everything happening,” I warned. Eva had told me how Lucy’s husband had physically assaulted her before she filed for divorce.

“I agree. That’s why I’m here with her. But that’s not why I called you,” she said, changing the subject.

“Okay, why did you call?” I couldn’t shake off the nagging feeling of worry about them being in the same house as Lucy’s husband right now, but I knew fighting with her about it wouldn’t help anything.

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