Page 3

“What?” I asked.
All eyes were on her. We didn’t play about Epiphany’s spirit. If it was telling her something, I wanted to know! She closed her eyes and blew out a deep breath before shaking her head, her baby locs bouncing with the movement. Finally, she looked at me with a weak smile.
“Just be careful, Ev,” she said quietly before going back into the kitchen.
The room was silent for a minute before Em tapped my leg again.
“Pip is tripping. C’mon. Let’s get you ready!”
I lookedaround my living room again, trying to see it through a girl’s eyes. And not just any girl.
Everly Miller.
Ev was a breath of fresh air. Beautiful, like so many of the chicks I talked to, but not obsessed with it. She was sweet and funny and awkward. She talked a lot when she was nervous. She was so smart that she breezed through her classes and could discuss almost anything. And she was so real that I couldn’t fully believe it. I damn sure didn’t deserve it.
The crazy shit was, even though I was undeserving, I could tell she loved me. And I was realizing, I loved her, too.
That was a problem, though.
My life was mapped out.
Overachieving high school scholar-athlete. HBCU to continue my family’s legacy and connect me to our people. Future Ivy League grad student for the pedigree and the connections. Respectable career and then politics. Pretty little wife with the right lineage and the right “look” to help my career and birth my children. Everly’s family was more than comfortable, but they weren’t old-money wealthy. Their background was what my father would call “common.” And, as gorgeous as she was to me, she was on the heavier side. My people would eat her alive, have my awkward, bookish baby as insecure, self-conscious, and bitter as they were. I couldn’t introduce her to them.
My phone vibrated against my desk, pulling me out of my thoughts. I smiled as I walked over and reached for it.
Everly:
Outside
Me:
Here I come.
Immediately, I started for the door. I shared this house with my annoying ass cousin, Quad, but he was gone and by the time he got back, he’d be so fucked up that he passed out. Our frat was hosting a little party tonight and co-hosting a bigger one with all the Greeks tomorrow. I figured I could bring in Ev’s birthday with her, then hit the yard early and the party later.
I opened the door, ready to walk to her car and escort her in. I was surprised to see her in front of me, her finger hovering over the doorbell. I frowned down at her.
“Why you didn’t wait on me? I told you I was coming,” I fussed gently, even as I pulled her soft body against mine.
Sighing, I closed my eyes for a second. Chilling with Ev in my arms—that was peace.
“Who gone mess with me over here?” she sassed as I stepped back and took her hand.
“Anything could happen, Everly,” I said, closing and locking the door.
I set the alarm before leading her to the couch and gesturing to the remotes on the coffee table. “Find a movie. I’ma make some popcorn.”
She smiled up at me, pretty teeth gleaming, brown eyes shining with affection. Again, I thought about how I didn’t deserve her.
I made the popcorn old school like she liked—kernels in a deep pan on the stove. Before dumping it in a bowl, I added butter, salt, and a little cayenne. She liked that, too. I set the dish on a tray, then searched through the cabinets until I found a pack of mini-candy bars. I threw them next to the popcorn, grabbed two root beers, and strolled back into the living room.
I rolled my eyes when I saw Reese Witherspoon talking to her sorority sisters onLegally Blonde. My Youngin’ loved this silly ass movie. But I knew she’d compromise and watch something I liked later.
Halfway into the movie, I paused it.
“Tate, what you doing?” she whined.
I cupped her pretty face.