“That’s all right. I do,” he replies, taking my hand and leading me toward the clinic.
As soon as we reach the front door, July is there pushing it open with a smile on her face, looking between me and Evan. “You said you would be here twenty minutes ago.”
“Had to pick up my truck,” is Evan’s reply as he tugs me through the door.
When I got off work and went home, I expected to have to face my house alone, but Evan was there, outside in his truck waiting for me. He didn’t even let me go inside, just took my hand and helped me into his truck. A truck that was just as cool on the inside as it was on the outside. Black leather seats with white stitching, black wood paneling, chrome everywhere there could be chrome, a killer sound system, and all the bells and whistles you could possibly ask for. I didn’t ask him what we were doing or where we were going. I was honestly just happy I didn’t have to be home alone, and even though I wouldn’t admit it out loud, I was happy to be spending time with him.
“Are you okay?” my sister asks, sweeping her eyes over me as we step through the door.
“Yeah, well, I was. Now, I don’t know.”
“What?” she asks, and her eyebrows pull tight as she studies me.
“Apparently, I need a dog.” I pause then turn to look at Evan, who is talking to Kayan at the reception desk. “A big one,” I mutter, and her eyes light up and a smile graces her lips.
“Ah.” Her gaze moves over my face and goes soft, and then she takes a step closer to me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Letting out a breath, I nod. “I’m fine. I was freaked yesterday. I probably won’t want to stay alone for a while, but I’ll be okay.”
“I tried to call you.”
“My cell is still in the bottom of my bathtub.”
“What?”
“It fell in the tub. I need to get a new one. I’ll probably try to do that today.”
“When I called Mom and Dad’s last night, Dad said you and Mom were talking.”
“Yeah,” I reply quietly.
“You told them?” she whispers, looking over at Evan then back at me.
“I did,” I admit, and even though it sucked telling them, I’m happy to have that weight gone.
“How’d that go?”
“As expected. Dad was disappointed in me, and Mom was Mom: disappointed and hurt.”
“Did Dad talk to Evan?” she asks, and I shake my head. When Evan came to pick me up from my parents’ house this morning to take me home so I could get ready for work, I was expecting my dad to take him aside and have a talk with him. That didn’t happen. All my dad said was, “Know what you have, son, and don’t fuck up again.” To that, Evan jerked up his chin. My mom looked like she wanted to say more, but my dad held her close to his side, not letting her have a chance to do that. The whole thing was strange, but I had a feeling my dad heard me last night, and understood in his fatherly way what I said about Evan—or at least I hope he heard me.
“Dad likes Evan, or he did,” she mutters then continues, “I had an emergency surgery, but Wes called to tell me what was going on.”
“How did Wes know?” I ask, but it’s Evan who answers as he wraps his arm around my shoulders.
“I called the guys when I called Jax and Sage, and told them to rally.”
“What?” I ask, tilting my head back to look at him.
“Wasn’t sure if the guy was still in the area and wanted them to do a sweep.”
“Isn’t that a job for the police?”
“The cops in town are mostly good, but they’re undermanned. Town’s growing faster than the department. More drugs and petty crimes are happening daily, so they’re spread thin.”
That’s true. Our town, which used to be on the smaller side, had started sprawling out over the last ten years, ever since a big automotive factory moved in. There were now more jobs, more people, more homes, and more crime. “The guy was on foot. It’s easy to steer clear of a cop car, not as easy to steer clear of a guy on a Harley, or a man in a truck that looks like the rest that drive by.”
“How do you know he was on foot?”
“Baby, your next-door neighbor is Brew. He has two brothers who live on your block, and all of them keep an eye out.”
Okay, I didn’t know that either. Then again, I just moved in, so it wasn’t like I had a chance to invite people over and introduce myself to them.
“Oh,” was all I could say, and when I did, I watched Evan smile then his face bent and he touched his mouth to mine softly.