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Chapter twenty-six

Rhett

I poke my head into the bedroom that now only serves as a place for Evie to keep her clothes, finding her wearing blue panties and a bra, her head in the closet.

“Evie, you better hurry your sexy self up. Your brother’s gonna be here any minute, and I don’t know if he wants to see my reaction to you walking around half naked,” I say.

“I’m almost ready,” she calls back and I stifle the urge to go over there and squeeze that pert ass.

Instead, I head into the living room and tidy up a couple things left out from our earlier lunch. Then I get Ruthie’s dinner ready and carry it back into the guest bedroom. The plan is to leave her in her crate tonight since we’ll be gone for a few hours. It’s the longest she’s ever been left alone during the day, and I’m not lying when I say we’re both a little nervous.

But tonight’s important. Each year, Monty’s Little Brother Grayson’s baseball league does one major fundraising event. This year happens to be a bowling night, and since it falls during the All-Star break, a lot of the guys from the team are going.

It’ll be good to hang out with everyone and support a good cause, and I’ve been looking forward to tonight for a while. But the change in my and Evie’s relationship means I’ll have to work extra hard to resist touching her the way I want to and not let anyone in on the fact that we’re more than just temporary roommates.

“See? I’m ready, and Kai’s not even here yet,” Evie says triumphantly as she walks into the room.

I let out a low wolf whistle as I take her in. “Damn, I was just thinking about how hard it would be to keep my hands off you tonight. And you just had to go and look that good. Woman, you’re torturing me.”

I walk over and run my hands down her sides to land on her hips. I turn her around, taking in the way her dark jeans cup her perfect, pert little ass. And how her long black hair falls in soft curls halfway down her back.

“I’ve never seen you with curls.” I lightly run my fingers down one section, feeling the silky strands slide through. “I like it.”

Evie blushes. “It won’t stay. Asian hair is rarely good with curls unless we get a perm or something.”

She’s babbling. I love that I can affect her like this. I lean in and kiss the tip of her nose. “Your hair shines like the brightest night sky. Straight or curly, it doesn’t matter. It’s gorgeous. You are gorgeous.”

And she really fucking is. She’s wearing a Tridents T-shirt, but it’s got her brother’s last name on the back. Okay, fine, it’s her last name as well. Doesn’t matter that it makes sense for her to wear it, some possessive part of me doesn’t like seeing another guy’s name on her.

I guess the grumbling sound that escapes me makes that evident, because Evie’s eyebrows raise. “What was that for? ”

“No reason. Just something in my throat, I guess.” There’s no way I’m drawing attention to the fact that a part of me wishes it was my name she was wearing.

The front door opens and Yami lets himself in. I just barely manage to step away from his sister in time.

I really need to find a way to take back his key.

“Hey, hey, let’s get going. Party doesn’t start until we get there. Well, until I get there.” He walks over to his sister and ruffles her hair.

“Kai, stop it. I just finished getting ready,” she complains, ducking out from under his hand.

I can understand her annoyance on a deeper level now that I know Evie as well as I do. Yami obviously loves her and respects her, but sometimes he really does treat her like a kid sister, and not the fully capable woman she is.

I remember when we first met, he would joke about chasing away anyone who tried to get close to Evie. I thought nothing of it, she was a teenager, and he was her older brother. It was his job to be protective like that.

But now, I wonder how he’d react to the idea of me being the one getting close to her. Would he be mad that we kept it from him? Or would he somehow be okay with it?

These questions have crossed my mind more than once over the last several days, and the God’s honest truth is, I have no idea what the answer would be.

All I know is that if I want any kind of future with her, we’re going to have to find out.

Yami drives to the bowling alley in his stupid low-slung sports car that’s a pain in the ass to fold myself into .

“I don’t know why the hell you drive this thing,” I complain, once again trying to shift into a comfortable position in the back seat.

“Because it looks cool, dumbass. And normally I don’t have big-as-fuck baseball players in the back seat,” he fires back.

“If you would have let me sit back there, you could have been up front where there’s more leg room.” Evie shakes her head.

“You’re the lady, you get the front. It’s just good manners,” I retort.

She turns in her seat to face me. “Thanks, Rhett. I appreciate it, but I’m sorry you’re so uncomfortable. You have to promise that you’ll sit in the front seat on the way home.”

I give her a soft smile after confirming that Yami’s not looking at us in the rearview mirror. “Fine, honey. I will. Thank you.”

Her eyes widen a fraction, and I realize my mistake. I’ve never called her honey in front of anyone before. Thankfully, her brother seems to have missed my slipup, or maybe he assumes it’s no different from when I call everybody darlin’, because he doesn’t say a word.

But it is different. Very different. Because what I feel about Evie is different .

When we arrive at the bowling alley, half the team’s already there. Evie and I go separate ways, with her heading off to say hi to Willow and Lark and me following Yami over to where our teammates are standing around a table with a couple pitchers of beer and some pizza.

Even with a lot of the parents and siblings from the youth baseball players here, no one’s acting crazy about our presence, which is nice .

“Gentlemen,” Yami says, holding his arms out wide. “Who’s ready to have their ass handed to them by a bowling ball?” He lifts his right arm up to kiss his bicep, earning a groan from several of us. “Don’t hate, don’t hate. This arm isn’t only the best pitching arm in the western division, you know.” He might sound like he’s talking smack, but the truth is, I’ve been bowling with him before and he’s not lying. The guy is good. Annoyingly good.

“I don’t know about that Yami. If it’s anything like your cornhole skills, I’m feeling good about my chances.” Sin takes a sip of his beer, smirking at Yami. Laughter rings out from all of us who were at that team barbecue in the fall at Sin and Willow’s house.

“Listen. It was the end of the season, my arm was tired, and I’d had three beers. Don’t judge me on that performance.”

“Sit down, Yami, your cocky side is showing,” calls out Wilson, another younger player.

Yami looks down at his crotch, then back up at the group with a grin. “My cocky side is my best side. Just ask your mom.”

I groan and slap Yami’s back. “Don’t go getting started with the yo mama jokes, Yami. They’re not funny. Never have been.”

The other guys all chime in with their agreement, and with an eye roll, Yami allows the subject to change to the players on the All-Star teams and who we think will win.

Eventually, Monty and Grayson join us, along with a couple other kids from the league. We spend the next half hour signing autographs and taking pictures with the kids. Not Grayson, however. He’s known most of us for years, from all the times we would join Monty in helping out at training camps or supporting Grayson’s team. He’s a cool kid.

“Time to start bowling.” The announcement comes from the overhead speakers. “Teams have been chosen at random, please look to the screens overhead to see who you’re playing with.”

I stroll down the walkway behind the lanes until I find my name. And right below mine is Evie Yamaki. Along with Willow, a couple of youth league kids, and their parents.

Even though Yami is several lanes away, I’m hyperaware of how close I stand to Evie and whether our body language is giving anything away.

Subtlety is the name of the game. Willow is the only one with even the slightest hint that maybe there’s more than meets the eye between us. Every now and then, I feel her staring like she’s trying to figure us out.

I’m determined not to give her anything.

But when Evie takes her turn, walking up to the lane, bending over to pick up a ball, I’m treated to the perfect view of her ass in those jeans. And my own jeans become a little bit tighter each time she does it.

I think I’m doing a good job of exercising restraint until her final turn, when she throws her first strike of the game. She skips back to the rest of us with her arms in the air as we all cheer. It’s impossible not to be excited for her, and I jump up to give her a hug, spinning her around. I set her back down just before I completely fuck up and kiss her. She stares up at me for a second before whirling around to high five the rest of our group.

“For someone who’s just friends with his teammate’s little sister, that sure did look like one hell of a hug. It almost makes me wonder if somebody’s in a secret relationship or something.” Willow slides across the plastic bench closer to me, leaning in so she can — thank fuck — keep her voice low. “I should know. I’m practically an expert on them.”

My body stiffens, and I keep my head facing forward, not even looking at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, darlin’. There’s nothing to see.”

“Uh-huh. You’re still playing it that way, are you?”

I turn my head to her, fixing her with a serious stare. “I’m not playin’ at a single damn thing, Willow.” The lie feels wrong coming off my tongue.

Willow goes quiet for a moment before giving me a small nod. “Okay, if you say so. I’ll leave it for now. But trust me when I say you’re not being as subtle as you might think. It’s clear to anyone looking hard enough that there’s more than friendship between the two of you. And my only advice is to be careful. Think about how long you want to keep this ruse going, because sooner or later, the truth will come out and you want to be in control of it when it does.” Regret laces her tone, and I notice her gaze search the bowling alley. The second she sees Ronan, her lips turn up in a smile. “Trust me, I’ve got some experience with this. It can get messy if you don’t have a plan for telling everyone the truth.”

Someone calls her name at that moment and Willow stands up to leave, but not without one last parting comment, an echo of what she said to me that day she helped get supplies for Evie’s migraine. “You’re a good man, Rhett Darlington. Remember that.”

Willow walks away, and my gaze scans the bowling alley, finding Yami laughing with some of our other teammates. Then I turn back to look at Evie, who’s moved over a couple of lanes and is talking to Lark and Sadie. Her eyes land on mine, and a smile breaks across her face, and I know there’s an answering one on mine.

Willow is right. We’re doing a terrible job of hiding how we feel. And I don’t want to hide it any longer.

But how and when do we tell her brother?