Page 50 of EverGreene
“Yeah, and I had to do my homework to find that information out.”
Which took all of about five minutes, which still counts.
Ever clenched her jaw, unamused. “Fine. Get mugged out here while being unnecessarily stubborn. See if I care.”
“Mugged? Look at me, Ever, who would want to mug me?”
Her lips curved upward in a smile that stopped just short of her breaking out into a laugh. “You may have a point if not for the whole sweatshirt thing you have going on.”
I looked down at the sweatshirt Ever had given me to put on, reading it for the first time.I’m A Simp For A Man In Fiction. “Honestly, who isn’t, really?”
“Would you just get back in and let me take you somewhere reasonable?”
“This is somewhere reasonable.” I pushed the door closed, waving to her as I walked down the sidewalk.
Undaunted, Ever followed along on the roadway with the passenger side window down. “Fine, I’ll just drive along next to you.”
“That would be all well and good if I were staying on the sidewalk.” I picked up my speed to a sprint, hurdling over a chain link fence surrounding a construction site. “But I’m not.”
“Goddamnit, V!” Ever called out to me right as my feet touched the dirt on the other side of the fence.
“Until we meet again, little bird.” I called back to her, snickering when I caught sight of the middle finger she flashed at me. Matching her act of pettiness with one of my own, I formed a heart with the thumbs and index fingers of both of my hands and held it out to her. “I’ll text you when I get home to let you know I made it.”
“You’d better, you bastard.”
She was still angry, and she had a right to be, but there was the faintest hint of a smile intermingled in the scowl she gave me before I turned around to run, disappearing into the darkness.
Chapter 15
Ever
Copy, punch, click, and repeat. Binders covered every available square inch of the conference room table. Binders containing direct exams; binders containing deposition transcripts; binders containing trial exhibits. A metric fuckton of binders and me with a hole punch, and a hand riddled with blisters from an entire day of making copies and punching holes in them to fill said binders because I loved my fucking job and the firm was too cheap to spring for a copy machine that could punch the holes for us.
“Knock. Knock.” Shelby stood in the doorway with her coat on. “It’s after five. Are you coming or staying late again?”
I sighed, knowing it was going to be another late night. Trial preparation from a paralegal’s standpoint was more time-consuming than the actual trial itself. “I’ve got to stay and at least get these binders done before I can think about going home. What about you? Are you going to see that guy you told me about?”
Shelby nodded, smiling. “Yeah, he wants to try out Friesand Pies. He’s super excited because they apparently don’t have one down south where he’s from.”
I nodded. “Yeah, it seems to be a Midwest thing. There definitely wasn’t one where I used to live. You two seem to be getting serious if he’s already up here and staying with you.”
“We’re taking it one day at a time, you know. He went through a nasty breakup not too long ago, so he’s wanting to move slowly.”
“That’s understandable. What’s his name again?”
“James. I call him Jimmy. It fits him better.”
“Well, Jimmy seems to be making you happy. I haven’t seen you genuinely smile like this in a while.”
“Yeah, he does.” I looked up at Shelby. Her usually animated eyes were fixated outside the conference room windows, staring off into space.
“I’m happy for you, Shelby. I hope it all works out.”
She nodded, her faraway gaze floating back down to reality. “Thank you. I hope it does.”
“Have a good night and put in an extra order of fries for me, or better yet, get an alcoholic beverage and knock it back in my honor.”
“I think I can manage that.” Shelby took a step forward as though she’d intended to start plodding back down the hallway but stopped herself short. “Ever?—”
