My eyes grow big at the sudden shift in conversation.
“That’s not fair,” I say with a flicker of surprise. “And we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you. Let’s continue with that.”
“Ah, deflection. That’s a sign of hiding you know.”
“I’m not hiding,” I say defiantly.
“Come on. Real y?” He lifts a brow in amusement.
“Everyone who has seen you and Kayden together knows that there’s something going on here.”
I clamp my mouth shut. Surely it isn’t that obvious . . . right? It’s been hard trying to suppress the feelings I have for him, but are they really that evident? I think back to Kayden’s words the other day at Breaking Point: Your maskis immovable in that cage but outside of it, it’s pretty easy totell how you’re feeling.
I shake Evans’s observation off, pushing off the chaise and beelining straight for the dressing room again. “Trust me. I assure you nothing is going to happen.”
Evans just stares at me, writhing with humor. I shut the door then peel off the dress I have on and slip into the next one hanging on the rack.
“Come on. Everyone sees the way he looks at you. And you him. You guys are not fooling anybody,” he says, his voice echoing through the dressing room. “I like that you’re able to look past his flaws and see the good in him. But you aren’t going to do a damn thing about it because you’re afraid of how he makes you feel.”
“You have no idea what’s going on between us.” I shake my head, stepping out and presenting what I’m wearing to Evans, giving a little twirl. “How about this dress?”
“Pass,” he comments in a bored tone. I frown at him then disappear into the cubicle again, slip out of the dress, and loop it over the hanger. I do the same to the rest of the dresses that I tried on and have been piling on the floor.
“And what exactly is going on between you?”
“I know he has his own shit to deal with, and I try to be understanding about it. But I can’t be with someone who has secrets, Evans,” I explain, peeking through the door and staring right at him, voice constricted. “I’ve been hurt badly by Jax. And it’s not just because he cheated on me. I gave him the best three years of my life. Three years. And I’m starting to doubt that he really loved me at all that entire time. That’s not something I can get over quickly.”
The Beth and Jax thing has taught me that everyone has masks. Jax had his. And Kayden does too. What if that secret is the thing that will shatter his? Would I like the real him underneath?
Evans pulls the door wide open and I stumble back.
“But that’s what falling for someone is, right?” He says, his head tilted to the side. “You gotta be vulnerable to get some vulnerability back. You just need to be patient with him. When he’s ready, he’ll tell you.” Evans extends his hand to me, palm out, nodding at the large pile of clothing that I’m balancing on one arm. “You just need to trust him. And in return . . .” When I pass him the pile, he hands the bag that I left sitting beside the chaise back to me. “He’ll trust you.”
“Trust.” I choke back a laugh as I snatch the bag from him, a little too roughly. “Every time I do that, I somehow always end up hurt and fucked up. Maybe I’m just not good with emotions. They’re messy.”
“I think you’re confusing them with your wardrobe,” he jabs back as we walk out of the dressing rooms. I roll my eyes.
A bored sales rep waits by the entrance, and when she spots us, extends her hands to receive all the discarded clothing.
Evans, unsure of whether he should just give the entire pile to her, angles his body to me. “Do you know which one you want?”
I pluck the red dress out of the pile. “I think I’m gonna get this one.”
“Perfect. It’s my favorite too,” Evans says, dropping the clothes into the sales rep’s hands and patting his own hands on his jeans to find his wallet. “I’ll get it for you. As a gift.”
“Sweet,” I coo. Evans slings an arm around my shoulder and pulls me close as we navigate through the maze of racks to get to the counter. I drop my head against his shoulder, liking this new bond. As much as I loathed being Evans’s mannequin for the day, I really did enjoy getting to know the man behind the player archetype that he clearly likes to box himself into.
“So are gonna take my advice?” I ask. “Are you going to trust your feelings for Brent and embrace them, regardless of what your parents might think?”
“Only if you learn to trust your feelings for Kayden and embrace them, regardless of what Jax did to you,” Evans says.
I look away. “I don’t know, it’s a bit too soon for that.”
“Fine,” he says. “Baby steps then. Trusting is a process.
So just learn to trust someone.”
I chuck him my dress. “Do you count as someone?”
“You should not trust me. I’m such a bad gossip.” He takes the dress gladly and slaps it onto the cash counter along with his credit card.
“You and Brent truly belong together,” I mutter under my breath.