Page 37

CHAPTER 37 EVIE

Pick you up tomorrow by your apartment?

Jake’s annoyingly presumptuous text showed up, and it was a testament to how little Evie thought of her ex that she almost erased their last conversation from her mind. Maybe it was because her former relationship paled in comparison to her current one. The blushes and laughter with Viet came every day, and there was none of the anxiousness that plagued their first date. He took to heart that while it was not her first relationship, it was their first and theirs alone.

They still hung out with the Saturday Sins group, especially since the forensics competition was just on the horizon. Whenever Kale or Lis teased Viet too much, Evie joined them, then kissed him to playfully ask for forgiveness—only for him to demand lengthier reparations. She discovered her boyfriend liked to hold hands for no reason other than to feel her beside him. And just the other night, when she borrowed his yellow hoodie because she was chilly, she relished the heat that appeared in his eyes. She loved all the firsts she was sharing with Viet.

Evie should have deleted Jake’s number but too late, he was reminding her that his parents were coming soon, with his soon-to-be sister-in-law.

She rang back, and her ex picked up right away for once. “I never said yes.”

“Well, hello, Evie.”

“There were no pleasantries in your text either.”

Jake scoffed. “Look, all you have to do is come and chat a little—then you can leave.”

“You’re the one who said you never wanted to see me again. And other things. Why are you asking me to do this?”

“I can’t stand the thought of it. My parents. My brother and his smug happiness. Especially since my life’s been falling apart all over the place.” A dig at Evie, if anything. “No, I don’t mean that. I promise, it’s really everything.

“I took you for granted. You were always there when I had to complain about them. You always knew what to say. And I felt like you were the one who understood me the most.”

“Jake,” she warned. The conversation felt much darker than she intended, and she wondered, as a person, if he was getting the help he needed.

“It would just help if you were there. So there’s someone on my side.”

Jake couldn’t get himself out; he was stuck. She used to be that way, stuck in the easy, the familiar to the point it drained the color from life. Those colors only came back when she joined the clinic on her own accord, and understood she deserved to find self-fulfillment. That satisfaction stemmed from her choice and her choice alone. If Jake were able to choose how to live, instead of living under his parents’ crushing expectations, would he be happy?

Flashing in her mind was an award ceremony during their second year, when his parents weren’t in attendance. How cruel that his parents’ absence could have just as much of an effect as their overbearingness on Jake.

Evie partly thought she would show Jake she found her own way; she was truly happy. The other part of her felt he needed saving, and because he wasn’t capable of doing it himself, she was the next best option. Despite their bitter breakup, Evie didn’t wish for his suffering.

“Jake, if I’m showing up to the dinner, it’s only because we were once friends. But after that, I’m saying goodbye. To what we used to be.”

He sighed in relief. “You won’t see me again. I promise. Thank you. I really mean it.”

She had to tell Viet; she couldn’t lie about what she was doing. But she felt she wasn’t explaining herself well. He faced her on her and Lis’s couch. His eyebrows were furrowed as he listened to her describe Jake’s family and their control over him—how that made her feel, even when she was dating him.

She fidgeted with her blouse’s bottom hem. Which part would he react more to—the fact that Jake made this strange request or that Evie told him yes? She didn’t agree because she still liked him; she had to make that clear at least.

“In case you were thinking it, my feelings for Jake are long gone,” she blurted out.

His forehead smoothed out. Genuine surprise was behind his eyes. “Of course I knew that. I wasn’t thinking that.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Can you just explain why you agreed to go?”

“It’s more like… I feel sorry for him. He’s never had a good relationship with his parents. It’s always felt transactional; they demand him to behave a certain way, to please the people around him, and he does all of that because he’s used to it. He doesn’t question it. And I wish he knew it didn’t have to be that way.”

“His parents sound vicious,” Viet agreed. “It sounds like they ask more of Jake than they realize, and maybe they don’t know what toll it’s taking on him. You had front-row seats to it when you two were together, which must have sucked. And you’re going to be in the thick of it during the dinner, probably.”

Evie leaned her head on his shoulder, thankful for a solid place to rest. “Actually, I don’t know if my presence will help. I just… I don’t think I can sit here now, knowing what I know and not doing something about it.”

“I can’t say I’d go if I were you,” her boyfriend eventually admitted. “But I trust you, Evie, and your heart. I just hope this dinner comes and goes quickly, and that years later, Jake will thank you for being there.”

Evie melted against him. His fingers stroked her back up and down, soothing her, soothing them both.

After this dinner, she would leave everything about Jake truly in the past, and then she could move forward.