Page 118 of Stolen Fate

Interesting.

“Some friend I’ve been,” I admitted regretfully. I hadn’t planned on cutting off contact with so many people back home, though I had needed the time away.

“Ah, she’s not mad, sweetheart. She understands you need your time away.”

“How would you know?” I asked. The last time I checked, they weren’t exactly on speaking terms with each other.

I was met with silence.

I would have thought he hung up on me had I not checked my screen and found the call was still connected. “Ethan?”

“Yeah? I’m still here. And I think Emilia wants to talk to you. I’m going to give the phone to her. We’ll talk soon, okay? I love you, Evelyn.”

“I love you, too, but—”

I was cut off when Emilia got on the line. “Hey, Evelyn? Why is Ethan crying?”

“Uh…”

“Never mind. I’ll ask him later. Not that he’ll tell me. You guys never tell me anything.”

Even though I couldn’t see her, I knew she was pouting. I smiled at the image of my baby sister giving me her signature pout that had gotten her out of many groundings and timeouts growing up.

“Ethan said you don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll just make this quick. I’m coming to visit you this weekend. That’s all. Remember to send me the address and I’ll be there Friday afternoon. Please let that hot boss of yours know, cool?”

“Hey, wait a minute. You’re coming here? This weekend? And how do you even know Jace is hot?”

“Oh? It’s Jace? And Katie said you told her he was hot. So I’m assuming that’s true, although, our taste in men is pretty different, so…”

I could almost imagine her shrugging at the end of that sentence. I could hear Ethan groaning in the background, so he was probably listening in on the conversation. Sure enough, I could hear him tell Emilia, “Please stop talking about hot men, squirt. You’re barely legal to drink, so I don’t think you should be dating?”

“What the hell are you talking about? I’m a twenty-four-year-old woman. I’ve plenty of dating experience, especially back in London.”

“Gah. I think I’m going to throw up now. But when I get back, I want you to tell me all the names of the little shitheads you’ve been dating.”

I laughed at their antics. Emilia might have forgotten that I was still there. I checked the time. I had to go get Elliot up, and if Emilia was actually coming, I would have to deal with it when the time came.

I hung up and shot a quick text to Emilia letting her know she could come visit, but to be mindful of others considering I was living with Jace and Elliot, and climbed out of bed.

I stretched my sore muscles a little, and made my way to the door, opening it only to run into a large muscular chest.

I let out a small gasp and felt strong arms go around me. “Woah, there, baby. It’s okay. I was just coming in to check on you.”

I looked up and met bright blue eyes. Jace was staring down at me intensely, and he was in nothing but workout shorts, his body sweaty and delicious… all those muscles on display. And the way his thick brown hair clung to his sweaty forehead…

Yum.

Jace's lips curved upwards in an amusing grin. “Yum?”

That pulled me out of my daydream. “What?”

He laughed. “Did you just say yum while looking at me?”

“No! I, uh…I was just, you know, thinking about food.”

“Food?” The expression on his face told me he knew I was lying.

He took a step forward, and since his arms were still wrapped around me, I had no choice but to move with him.

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