Page 64 of Tattoo My Heart
“Carrie did for sure,” James informs me.
“And Evie didn’t?” What the fuck happened at this dinner?
“I’m not telling you anything until you swear not to ever tell anyone that Carrie told me this.”
He sounds almost panicky, the way he asks me that, and my curiosity is piqued furthermore.
“Dude, we’re not little kids. Just tell me already.”
“Hold on.”
There’s a bunch of commotion in the background. I hear him cooing to the baby, then saying something to Carrie. A door opens and closes, and he is finally back,
“Sorry, I had to find a good spot to talk.”
He’s lucky that I got nothing better to do right now since I’m still stuck in traffic, or I’d have hung up on him two minutes into this call.
“Evie’s mom called her earlier and told her you’re bringing someone to that fuckin’ party.”
I bust out laughing. “What?”
Then I remember my stepmother calling to ask me if my RSVP from weeks ago still stood. I’m pretty sure I told her at the time that I’d bring someone.
“Fuck.”
“Yeah,” James agrees. “So now, Evie is trying to get a hold ofKhail, and beg him if necessary to escort her to the party.”
“Fuck,” I repeat.
“You already said that,” James deadpans. I can tell he is amused by this whole thing.
“I need to tell Evie about this,” I decide. “Then we can go to the party together. Because it’s obvious that’s who I want to bring.”
That plan sounds simple enough. And since I already know she doesn’t have anyone to bring other than me, it makes things way easy.
“I wish I could be there when you tell her,” James muses. “It’ll be interesting for sure.”
I try not to let his words worry me. What’s the big deal anyway?
“James, I need you in here!” Carrie calls from the background. That’s followed by a rushed James almost whispering into the phone, “I gotta go.” He hangs up like we were doing something illegal.
I shake my head in amusement and continue driving. Now that I have the backstory, I am more relaxed about Evie. I panicked at first after seeing that message on the app.
The cars in front of me are moving now, and I start navigating easier through the traffic as I get closer to the exit for Evie. I let out a big sigh of relief when I finally get on the ramp that takes me to the small town she lives in.
I smile as I drive down the main road. Despite the fact that I never lived in a small town like this, I love the vibe. It’s cuter than hell, although, I’m thinking that it can’t be very productive for her flower business. I wonder how she does it.
Two minutes and I am done going through the main part of town. I park my car in front of Evie’s house and stare at it for a few seconds. It looks sunny, and happy, and just like her personality.
I am almost at the door when it swings open, and there she is. The surprise on her face when she sees me would make me laugh. But I am too focused on everything I feel for this girl, I can’t think of anything more.
“Cal, what are you doing here?” She takes in my appearance. I have on a pair of light wash jeans that have seen better days, and the t-shirt I got on is just a basic black one. My hair was a mess this morning, so I just threw on a baseball cap that I turned backward on my head.
Instead of answering her, I can’t resist and just reach out to grab her hair at the back of her head. I bring her body against mine and my lips find hers like they are on a mission. Evie doesn’t fight me. In fact, she seems more than happy to kiss me back.
“Bedroom?” I pull back only for a second to ask.
She nods and takes a step back, her fingertips brushing against my arm, beckoning me to her. I don’t have a choice but to follow. I would follow Evie to the end of this earth if she asked me to, that’s how far gone I am for her.
