“And it is clear women lose their sense of humor when they are pregnant.” That shut me up.
“Not funny,” I grumbled.
Shaking his long, sun-bleached, dreadlocked head he added, “I’ll cancel on the boys. I promised you lunch so that’s what we’re going to do.”
I wanted to smile and throw myself at him but there was something about the look he was giving him that made me rethink the idea. I immediately became suspicious.
“Only if—”
“I knew it! I knew you had some crazy scheme up your sleeve.”
Hunter burst out laughing. “You are too much, cousin. I was going to say: admit surfing is a professional sport and you got yourself a deal. Jeez.”
“And if I don’t?” I challenged.
“Hey, my surfboard is in the back of my truck ready to go,” he teased, folding his arms over his chest.
I rolled my eyes and drew out a sigh. “Fine.”
“Say it.”
“Really? You’re really going to make me?”
“Damn right.”
“Surfing is a real sport…” I mumbled, pulling a face.
“I can’t hear you,” he said with a giant grin.
“Surfing is a real sport with real men.”
“And your cousin Hunter Sinclair is one of the greatest—”
“Don’t push your luck,” I growled pointing a threatening finger up at him.
With another laugh, Hunter raised his hands as a sign of defeat. “Give me ten to change,” he said spinning around. “Jeez, I sure hope Willah doesn’t ever get pregnant,” he mumbled under his breath before rushing off in the direction of his bedroom.
I giggled to myself, trying to imagine a pregnant Willah, and Hunter having to deal with his twin. Poor boy wouldn’t stand a chance; her mood swings were bad enough and at the moment she’d gone baby crazy
.
CHAPTER 33
Hunter and I agreed on a small restaurant with ocean views close to the pier. I had reasons for wanting to be near the ocean, such as clearing my head from the recent, unwanted thoughts of New York, and of Ryan Fox, that I was having since reading my father’s letter. I wasn’t entirely sure of why Hunter insisted that we pick this particular restaurant, that is, until we stepped inside and I saw him practically salivate over one of the waitresses.
We’d just ordered a few entrées to share when I grew excited after Willah called saying she’d finished shopping with Gran and were on their way to join us.
I eagerly waved over the only waitress looking in our direction— which just so happened to be the one Hunter had been eyeing off. As she approached, my cousin started to get fidgety; he averted his gaze to the table, and played with the end of one of his dreadlocks. What on earth? By the time I’d ordered two extra entrées dishes and the waitress had written them down, Hunter was an uncomfortable wreck.
I waited until she was gone before I decided to get to the bottom of it. “So, who is she?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t play dumb. You practically dragged me to this place and I’ve caught you staring at her many times and you were just acting really weird a moment ago.”
“I don’t know who she is,” he replied shrugging.
“Liar. You know everyone around here,” I reminded my extremely social cousin.
“Yeah, I thought so too but I guess some people just have a way of sneaking up on you.”
“Yeah. Yeah. So you’re not going—”
The sound of my cell ringing interrupted us. Pulling the phone out from my bag I saw Derek’s name flash across the screen. I was about to answer it when Hunter made a deliberate coughing sound. I looked up to find him shaking his head at me.
Hunter was like that. He may be loud, highly annoying at the best of times and speak with his own ‘surfy’ language but he never appreciated rudeness, no matter who it was from.
“Sorry,” I said, pulling an apologetic face. “I thought I’d set this thing to vibrate.” I switched the phone to vibrate and placed it back in my bag.
“As I was saying, I don’t know her, that’s just it. She’s new around here.”
“So, is that why you’re gushing over her? Because she’s new meat to you?”
Hunter looked appalled by my choice of words. He opened his mouth but quickly shut it once he sensed the waitress arriving with our meals. Thankfully, it was a different waitress.
“Firstly, don’t ever use the word ‘gushing’ ever again, I may have to disown you and secondly, ‘new meat’? Who are you?” he lectured once the waitress had left.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the look he gave me. By the way he behaved, no one would ever guess that he was two years younger than me. “Isn’t that how men speak to each other?”
“Looked in the mirror lately, Eves? You aren’t exactly a dude and as for your question, no we do not. At least I don’t anyway.”
I watched him pick away at the cold meats he’d ordered, deliberately avoiding my eyes. “Oh my God! You have a crush on her! Hunter Sinclair has a crush!”
His head shot up immediately. “Shut up, will you!” he hissed with narrowed eyes.
Knowing I’d irritated my cousin made me laugh. I loved seeing Hunter uncomfortable. It was such a funny sight.
“You are the worst cousin ever,” he muttered under his breath before going back to his entrée plate. I continued to chuckle to myself, shaking my head as I picked up my fork.
“Now, now. What has Evangeline done to get you all flustered, Hunt?” said a female voice I knew all too well.
I looked behind my shoulder to see Willah and Gran, both standing right behind me with matching silly grins on their faces.
“I just figured out one of his dirty little secrets,” I said, smiling proudly as Gran and Willah took their seats at the table.
“You didn’t figure anything out because I don’t have a secret,” Hunter deadpanned.
“Liar,” I retorted.
“He’s right, Eves,” Willah replied, trying to pick at Hunter’s meat plate while he swatted her hand away. “He doesn’t have a secret.”
“Ha! I told you!” said Hunter throwing me a ‘told you so’ look.
“Only because we all already know about his little crush on the waitress,” his sister added, finally securing some prosciutto and plopping it in her mouth before Hunter had the chance to stop her.
“Is this really what I gave up an afternoon of surfing for? To be picked on by my two favorite ladies?” Hunter questioned, giving up on trying to stop his twin from swooping in for seconds.
“And what about me, young man?” Gran asked, faking a pout. Oh, my grandmother had the best sense of humor.
I tried to hold back a smile but failed as Hunter tried to explain that Gran and Pop meant so much more to him.
With Hunter distracted by Gran, and Willah laughing along and eating everything in front of her, I figured that it was a good time to find out why Derek had called. If it was just to talk, I’m sure I could manage to squeeze in a few minutes to talk with my best friend.
I excused myself from the table and made my way towards the bar. I might as well get everybody a round of drinks while I was up.
I placed an order of three sodas and a glass of orange juice for me, asking the bartender if he would kindly take the sodas to the table while I stayed and made a call.
Derek answered on the first ring.
“Where have you been? I have been trying to get a hold of you for almost an hour,” he asked in a worried tone.
“I’m at lunch with my family. Why? Is everything okay?”
“Depends on how you look at it.”
“Great, what is the media saying now?” I groaned, picking up my juice and taking a long sip from the straw.
Derek went silence.
“Derek, are you going to tell me or not?”
“It’s about Ryan.”
“Is he alright?” The words escaped before I had time to think about them. A dreaded f
eeling washed over me, fearing that he was hurt.
“Relax, he’s fine…”
“But? I swear if you don’t—”
“He ran off!” Huh? “I mean, I was watching the game live on TV and it was Ryan’s turn to bat. He didn’t come out of the dugout. After awhile it was revealed that he’d left and run off somewhere.”
“Okay?” I asked slightly confused. “So why are you telling me this?”
“Evan, they’re playing in Anaheim. Where do you think he’s—”
I didn’t get to hear the rest of Derek’s sentence because something had caused me to drop my phone. The loud bang of the restaurant door closing made everyone inside the venue turn and look up at the tall, handsome figure standing in front of it. I immediately froze as those familiar hazel eyes swept across the room before locking on mine.
I stood there unmoving, bewildered, as my entire body tingled excitedly, aching to be closer to the man who was suddenly making his way over to me.
“Evie…” Ryan whispered, as he approached and stopped half an arm reach away from me. He made no other move to touch me; we just stood there staring into each other’s eyes.
I was unaware of how much time passed between us, but the tiny smile that suddenly tugged at the corner of his mouth and the electrifying touch of his hand on my chin broke me from the spell. He closed my mouth then gently caressed my cheek with his fingers. The simple yet overpowering sensation caused me to shiver and my eyes to flutter close.
“Is this the jerk that knocked you up and screwed you over?” interrupted Hunter, whose presence I suddenly felt beside me.
My eyes snapped open just in time to see Ryan blink then slowly turn his gaze towards Hunter. The expression on his face immediately hardened.
“Who are you?” Ryan asked through gritted teeth. “Aren’t you a little young to be messing around with my girlfriend? Are you old enough to be in here?”
“‘Girlfriend’? You’re a little late for that title, dude,” Hunter retorted, puffing up his chest.
Sensing the clear sign of hostility in the air, I took a big risk and stepped right into the middle of the two men and tried to separate them. Would they be stupid enough to start a fight in the middle of a restaurant? Wait. I knew the answer to that.
With his lean physique, surely Hunter knew that he’d be no match for Ryan in a fight. Ryan was not only taller, but much wider, and I’d never seen my young cousin in a fight my whole life, whereas Ryan…
“Guys, really? Are you both going to do this right here? In front of my Grandma?” I asked, holding my arms up to hold both men back. I managed to keep the space between them, but realistically it wasn’t going to take much to push me aside if they wanted to brawl. So I tried another tactic. “Ryan, this is Hunter: my cousin. Hunter, meet Ryan.”
The only response I got from both boys was a slight nod and a grunt while they continued to size each other up.
“So, you are the guy that screwed her over. Well, you’re not welcome here. Go back to your t-ball game, my cousin’s not interested.”
In reply to Hunter’s comment, Ryan scoffed and raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s cute, beach boy, but it’s time to take a step back and let the grown ups talk.”
I closed my eyes and sighed inwardly, wishing there was a wall close by I could bash my head against. It was like dealing with a couple of children fighting over a new shiny toy. Well, there was only one other option; I had to speak to Ryan. He came for a reason, and the sooner that was out of the way the sooner he’d leave.
I opened my eyes and turned to my cousin first. “Hunt, thank you for being worried about me but I can take it from here.” When he looked as though he was about to argue, I looked him in the eye and continued talking before he had a chance to start. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”
I could tell Hunter wasn’t particularly happy about the idea but he eventually gave in and went back to join Gran and Willah at the table.
When I knew he was out of earshot I turned to Ryan, whose proud, victorious smile disappeared and was immediately replaced by a nervous half-smile when our eyes met.
We stood staring at each other for a moment before Ryan finally broke the silence. I could feel his wide-eyed, starry gaze slowly taking every part of me in, devouring me. I felt more self-conscious than ever.
“Evangeline…” he started. “I came armed and ready with an entire speech on how I was going to win you back, but standing here looking at you has made me forget the words.” I opened my mouth to say something but he cut me off with his hand. “I can’t take my eyes off you. You’re absolutely beautiful. Not that you weren’t before, but now that you’re carrying my child inside of you. It’s like there is a golden aura around you. You’re glowing.”
Was he blind? There was no ‘golden aura’. I was almost four months pregnant. My boobs were huge and tender, my feet were swollen and I had a noticeable bump protruding from stomach; how could he possibly find that beautiful? “Please don’t say things that aren’t true, Ryan.”
Ryan took a step closer to me and leaned down causing another shiver to run through my body as he gently tucked loose strands of my hair back over my shoulder and pressed his lips lightly against my ear. “If you don’t believe me, check for yourself. He popped up as soon as my eyes landed on you,” he whispered. Huh?
Slightly confused, I glanced up and came face to face with the smug grin I knew all too well. That’s when it hit me. I immediately raised my hands to push him away but he caught my wrists before I had the chance.
I frowned as I tried but failed to free myself from his grip. “You think comments like that are going to make me want you back?”
“Oh, I already know you want me,” he replied with the cocky grin still in place.
I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat caused by his very presence, and tried my damn best to act as though his words didn’t affect me; as if his words didn’t make me tingle all over or wish that his hands were grabbing other parts of my body instead of my wrists. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the look on your face when I came through those doors, or the way that your body is reacting with me standing so close. I notice everything about you. You’ve been staring at me like a lioness that hasn’t eaten for days which is understandable, I guess. Just admit it, Evangeline; you want me bad,” he continued, adding a wink at the end of his sentence.
“You are the most arrogant person I’ve ever met,” I groaned with an eye roll.
“Save the compliments for later, Evie, when I have you against the wall.”
“I’m not going to sleep with you,” I hissed, finally pulling myself free from his grasp.
“We’ll see,” he responded, his smug look returning. “But right now, I need you to come with me.”
“No way, I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Why not? Don’t trust yourself around me? Afraid that I am right and you won’t be able to keep your hands off me?” I frowned at his comment, which caused him to chuckle. “Alright, the truth is, it’s me that isn’t going to be able to contain themselves. Hell, I’m about to explode all inside of my pants just standing here looking at you, but I didn’t come here with the intention of sleeping with you, I came to talk.”
I blinked. Did I hear him right? “Let me get this right, you risked your career that you love so much by leaving in the middle of a game, to drive to Newport from Anaheim to talk to me?”
His eyebrows rose. “You’ve been keeping track of my games, I see,” he asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.
I quickly shook my head.
“Of course you haven’t,” he said teasingly.
“For your information, Derek told me.” Shoot! Remember your phone is still on the ground somewhere. I tore my gaze away from him for a moment to pick up my fallen cell phone. Getting back to my feet, I added, “And anyway, just answer the question.”
“Yes, I did. I came to ask the mother of my child why she never called back and why she failed to m
ention that she was carrying my child in the first place.” Shit.
“Ryan…” I looked around the room in hopes that no one had heard him. Thankfully, the restaurant was quiet today and the nearest table was a middle-aged couple dining several feet away. They glanced over but once they saw me looking they quickly turned back to each other. My family on the other hand was a different story. All three pairs of eyes were firmly glued on us. Gran and Willah with slightly worried expressions while Hunter had his eyes zeroed in on Ryan. His straightened posture and tight, clenched jaw indicated he was ready to come running at the first sign of trouble.
“Now do you understand why I said to ‘come with me’,” he whispered.
He was right, yet again. It was a lesson I should have learned long ago. Public places, including the middle of a restaurant filled with prying eyes, were no place to discuss personal issues.
I let out a sigh and returned to face him. “Let me just tell my family what I’m doing.”
Ryan nodded and kept his eyes on me as I walked back over to the table.
Gran and Willah both agreed it was best to talk things over with Ryan, while Hunter continued to ramble on about how I was better off without him, but after a little forceful convincing from Gran he eventually gave in and allowed me to go. What was it with over-protective boys in my family?
****
Just as we reached the car that Ryan had hired to drive down from Anaheim, another car screeched to a halt a few parking spaces away. We both looked over as the engine cut off and a middle-aged man dressed in a suit jumped out, slamming the car door shut behind him. The man looked furious and was headed straight for Ryan.
“Here we go,” Ryan muttered under his breath, staring at the fast approaching stranger while he opened the car door for me. “Get in and whatever you do don’t show the man any fear.” What the hell?
A little confused and slightly concerned, I obeyed his instructions without question and watched the scene unfold before me.
“And just what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” the angry man shouted at Ryan.
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