Page 94 of Against All Odds

Lachlan chokes on his beer, and Miles pats his back. “Easy there.”

“You’re a dead man,” I warn him. “It was her propane that didn’t work, so I was able to turn it on.”

Ana grins. “You turned it on, did you?”

I turn to look at Violet, wondering what exactly she told her. She must’ve mentioned we slept together.

Violet stands opposite of me, her arms crossed, and raises one brow. “She’s just as bad as your friends, so don’t look to me for help. She has no filter.”

Ana stands and claps her hands, holding them in front of her chest. “Anyway, I didn’t mean to ruin your bro night. I just wanted to say hello and make sure you weren’t in any fire danger, but I see you’re all good.”

Lachlan speaks before I can. “You guys are sure you don’t want to hang out?”

“No, no,” Violet chimes in quickly. “Ana leaves tomorrow, and we had plans to spend time together.”

Ana rolls her eyes with a sigh. “Please, you want to bake. This is so much more fun. I would really like to know your neighbor, your boss, and the fire chief.”

“Analeigh, we have to go.”

I grin, debating whether I should push a little and also encourage them to stay, but I can tell Violet is not in the mood.

I refrain from being a ballbuster for probably the first time in my life.

Then Ana sighs again. “Fine, you’re no fun.”

Violet rolls her eyes. “Bye, guys.”

“Bye, Vi. It was nice to meet you, Analeigh,” Miles says quickly.

She waves. “Bye, Everett. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”

I nod and lift my hand. “Great meeting you, Ana.” I catch Violet’s eyes. “Bye, Violet.”

She waves at me and then grabs Ana’s arm, pulling her toward the house. Once the girls are out of sight, I lean back, seeing that my two friends are watching me intently. “What?”

“Just laughing because I think we just met the female version of you.”

“So you’re saying she’s awesome.” I grin and take a long pull from my beer.

Miles shakes his head. “I was focusing more on how you were watching Violet.”

“I wasn’t watching her.”

He laughs once. “The hell you weren’t. You basically tracked her the entire time.”

I thought I held it together pretty well, but apparently not. Did seeing Violet cause my heart to speed up? Yes, but it always does.

She’s been the only woman I’ve ever known to make it feel as though tunnel vision is a real thing. When she smiles because of something I say, it’s like I can run through a wall and have the strength of ten men.

It’s too bad I can’t do anything to make her life better right now. It’s out of my hands, and I have to respect what she wants.

Even if it means not getting to be around her.

“Bye, Mom,” I say after going through our morning routine. “I’ll see you for dinner.”

Tomorrow her doctors are coming to the house to do a few routine tests and let me know that there haven’t been any changes.

Like always.

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