Hothead (Irresistible 4)

“I feel like that would’ve made me bitter,” I said truthfully.

“No. Everything was already bitter. If I was bitter too, then I would just get stuck in that town forever.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I would’ve just given up before I tried if I believed everyone around me. All they ever said was that the world was unfair. That some people were born rich while other people were just born screwed like us,” Evie said. “The people from where I’m from – they’re mostly good people, but they don’t dare to dream or fantasize because they ‘know’ it’s pointless. To them, everything’s already decided. If your parents were junkies, you’ll be a junkie. If your mom was a teen mom, you’ll be one too.”

“How did you manage to get out?” I asked. But just then, her phone audibly buzzed in her purse. It was the third time since we sat but I’d ignored it till now.

“Um…” Evie tried to act like she was thinking of her answer to my question but I knew she was completely distracted.

My eyebrows pulled tight as I watched her try to subtly remove her phone from her purse and read her screen under the table. In just those two seconds her lips pursed and she tried to take a deep breath without me noticing, but I saw the movement in her shoulders.

“Who’s texting you?” I asked.

“Nobody.”

“Mike?”

“No.”

Only now did I remember that Mike still existed – that we hadn’t vanquished him last night by forcing him to listen to us. He was probably stewing in a dark corner somewhere, trashing me on every sports forum on the Internet while sending Evie hateful text messages.

“Evie,” I repeated myself sternly. “Whatever you read just now clearly upset you, so tell me.”

“Drew! It’s no one,” Evie reiterated, trying to sound playful but firm. But when she looked up and saw the stern look on my face, she heaved a sigh. “Okay, fine, it’s… my mom.”

A deep frown furrowed my brow.

“I thought you said you didn’t talk to her anymore,” I said, vividly remembering her speech about cutting her mom and sister out of her life.

“I don’t talk to my sister ever. I… do talk to my mom sometimes…”

“That seems like a slippery slope,” I remarked.

“And you sound judgmental.”

“Maybe I am. If I recall correctly, your mother enabled your sister’s addiction for years and eventually condoned her throwing you down the stairs and breaking your arm.”

“Yes, and I know you like to preach the idea of cutting out every last person in your life and caring about no one at all, but sometimes it’s easier said that done,” Evie retorted hotly, her cheeks instantly flushed pink.

But as someone came by to refill our waters, I watched her take in several deep breaths, and once he was gone, she spoke again.

“Besides,” she said slowly, clearly trying her best to sound calm. “It was just an emergency situation or I wouldn’t have replied now. Not that I should have to justify talking to my mom. She is my mom. She busted her ass to raise me for most of my adolescence, and I still miss her sometimes,” she said, her voice getting quickly small. She dropped her eyes down her wine glass, quiet for several seconds before attempting a casual shrug. “I mean I don’t think it matters how old you are, sometimes you just want your mom.”

I said nothing in reply, mostly because I was annoyed to find myself instantly thinking about Pattie. I conceded that Evie might’ve had a point here, but I didn’t say it aloud.

“What was the emergency?”

“She’s having some… bad dental issues,” she said vaguely. “And she doesn’t have insurance… or money for that matter… so she’s in a lot of pain every day.”

“If you’re helping with bills, pay directly to the dental office.”

Her eyes lifted to me.

“You think she’d lie about this?” she asked slowly, her tone icy.

“I’ve seen it happen.”