Carter

Leonard ignores me through most of the game.


At a commercial break, I say, 'So are we going to never talk about this, or what?"

'I know I fucked up. Not much else to say. I already apologized to Evangeline."

I wait.


'Okay, fine, I'm sorry." He sighs. 'I owe you the apology, too. Was she okay after?"

'Yeah, I held her, reassured her that you're fucked in the head and that this was more about you than her."


He shrugs. 'Sounds about right."

'You need to figure this out, Leonard. She could be the one?—"

'Don't. You know I can't do that anymore. There's no such thing as ‘the one.'"

'Get over that. Her issues weren't the same as your issues. That was a whole different thing, and you know it."

Before Leonard can do what I expect him to do, which is ignore me and put his attention back on the game because he's so emotionally available, the doorbell rings.

He and I exchange a look. Neither of us ordered anything, we don't have people coming over.

'Maybe it's one of Evie's friends," I say, going to the door.

I open it to see a guy who looks to be in his mid-twenties. He has brown hair and I don't notice much else because there's a stack of folded cardboard leaning against one of his legs.

I wait for him to look at me and realize he has the wrong house, but he just stares stupidly past me and says, 'Where's Evangeline? Who are you?"

'Who are you?" I ask, conscious of Leonard's footsteps approaching behind me.

'I'm Thomas. Evangeline's moving back to her mom's. I'm here to help her pack."

'The fuck you are," Leonard says from just behind my shoulder.

Thomas frowns and scratches his nose. 'But, uh, Chanel and her mom said that Evangeline's moving back. So, here I am to help."

'You can help by relaying the message that Evangeline isn't going anywhere," Leonard says. 'She already said so, from what I understand."

'Francesca and Chanel said Evangeline would change her mind." Thomas gulps.

They were wrong, because Evangeline is currently out celebrating the fact that she's not moving back to Francesca's place.

'Is one of you her dad?" Thomas asks. 'I thought he was out of town."

'Nope." Leonard doesn't volunteer any further information.

Thomas stands on his tiptoes, trying to see past us. 'Is Evangeline home?"

'Nope," I say.

'What are you, her boyfriend or something? Why are you here if her dad's gone?"

I don't like the tone he uses when he's talking about her, like he has some kind of ownership or claim.

'That's none of your business," I say. 'Now run along. Pass on the message again that Evangeline isn't moving out. Maybe it'll sink in this time."

He looks like he wants to argue, but Leonard and I stand firm.

He scoffs. 'Yeah, whatever."

We watch as he fumbles with the flattened boxes and heads back to a sporty SUV.

'I don't like that guy," Link says.

I don't like him, either. Something was off in how he asked if I'm her boyfriend.

Evangeline

I'm up bright and early the next day. Wow, it feels good to not have a hangover. I find Leonard in the kitchen, scowling at the coffee pot, and I give him my sweetest smile.

His scowl deepens. 'I need to buy your dad a better coffee pot. I think he's had this one since the nineties."

'He doesn't like to throw out things if they aren't broken," I say.

'But it takes thirty minutes to brew."

'Good things take time."

A thoughtful look comes over his face as he stares at me. 'Do they, now."

'I guess." Ugh, I can feel myself blushing. I need to stop this. He and I can be friends. Just friends. We had such a good time swimming yesterday. That can be enough, right?

Other than the teeny, tiny—okay, massive—crush I seem to be harboring for him and Carter.

He's still looking at me, and I need to change the subject, fast.

'Hey, do you mind if I have some friends over to swim today?"

There's no hesitation when he says, 'Of course not. This is your home—I'm just a guest."

'Pretty sure my dad thinks of this as your home, too."

That's when I see it, the guilt in his eyes. He thinks my dad wouldn't consider this place Leonard's home if Dad knew what we did.

I was hurt when Leonard jerked off on me and walked away the other night, but it's only now, looking into his soulful, light brown eyes, that I see the inner turmoil. Maybe I think he's wrong, but at least now I can see where he's coming from.

The tiny green light on the coffee maker flashes, and he grins. The tense moment is broken.

'Fuckin' finally," he says. 'Can I pour you a cup?"

* * *

Evangeline

Four hours later, Maya, Saige, Nico, Brenna and I are flinging water balloons at each other, and Leonard is nowhere to be seen. Totally fine, I don't blame him.

Even so, I miss seeing him all muscular and big and handsome in his swimming trunks.

Maya, Saige, and Nico have formed one team of three, leaving Brenna and me to fight together. At one point, Leonard wanders out, and even though he isn't wearing his swim trunks, I try to bring him over to our cause.

'Nope," he says, holding up his hands.

'Who is that?" Brenna whispers as Leonard walks away.

'My dad's stepbrother," I say.

She whistles low. 'Does he always look so angry?"

'Angry?" I peer around the side of the air mattress fort we created at one end of the pool. Sure enough, Leonard is wearing a deep scowl. But, 'Nope, that's his usual face."

'Resting bitch face," she says wisely.

I cackle. 'Yep."

I collect a surplus of full water balloons, while Brenna covers me from behind our fortress. It's hard to swim and carry the balloons at the same time, and I end up herding half of them along with a pool noodle, ducking every time one of Maya's or Saige's projectiles comes close. Nico's throws all go wide—they're like me with their terrible aim.

'Ha," Maya shouts. 'You're a selfish bitch, aren't you?"

Laughing, I lob a water balloon in her direction. 'Takes one to know one!"

After a while, we run out of balloons and insults, and we all seem ready for snacks. I'm just drying off and pulling on my cover-up when Leonard appears again.

He's still scowling. I have to bite my lip from grinning at Brenna's comment about his 'resting bitch face."

'You know to collect all the balloon pieces so they don't get clogged in the filter, right?" he asks.

'Yep," I say, striding to the pool net mounted on the side of the fence. It's not the best location for the net because of the landscaped area surrounding it, but it seems to be the only place. 'I was just about to do that."

But when I step onto one of the paving stones leading through the azaleas, it sinks into the ground on one side and I completely lose my balance.

Down I go with a shriek, ass-first into the azaleas.

My friends gasp. 'Evangeline!"

Through the pain radiating from my butt and ankle, I'm vaguely aware of Nico rushing toward me because they were closest. But before they get there, Leonard is at my side.

'How bad is it?" he asks, concern lacing his tone, and his scowl more pronounced than before.

'Hurts," I say, 'but I'm fine, really."

'Where does it hurt?"

'My ass," I say, my face on fire because now every single one of my friends is hovering next to us.

'Anywhere else?"

I take stock of my body, trying to shove aside the pain in my tailbone to consider everywhere else. 'My ankle. I think it twisted before I went down."

'You," he says, gesturing to Nico. 'Nico, right? Will you get some ice from the kitchen? Towels are in the second drawer to the left of the sink."

'Got it," Nico says, jogging off.

'And…Saige?" Leonard looks at Maya before realizing he has the wrong person, and looks at Saige instead. 'There's ibuprofen in the guest bathroom medicine cabinet."

'On it," Saige says.

Leonard's expert hands move down from my knee, gently feeling along my bones and tendons. It's a little tender around my ankle.

He watches my face for signs of a reaction, his brown eyes thoughtful. 'It's probably a sprain. We'll ice it and keep you off of it for a day or two."

'How do you know?" Maya asks. 'Are you a doctor or something?"

'Nope, but I've seen my fair share of injuries on construction sites." He shrugs. 'I was thinking we'd keep an eye on it, but if you want, we can go to the doctor now, Evangeline."

I shake my head. 'I think you're right. If it gets worse, I'll go."

Nico and Saige arrive with pain meds and ice. Leonard helps me hobble to one of the lounge chairs—the very chair where Carter fucked me, actually, and I see his eyes darken as he realizes it at the same time I do.

'Careful, Trouble," he mutters close to my ear. 'You don't want to make me lose control."

I kinda do. But I know that's a dangerous game.

Once Leonard is convinced I'm comfortable, and I have fresh-squeezed lemonade and pretzels and my ankle is elevated and surrounded by ice, he starts inside. Everyone watches as he walks away. Nico doesn't like men, but even they seem to watch Leonard go with hearts in their eyes.

'Damn," Brenna says as he goes. 'Chanel can have Thomas. You have Doctor McScowl. Did you see the way he was looking at you?"

Her voice carries and Leonard nearly misses a step before recovering his stride. My friends and I dissolve into giggles.

It's very clear to me that my friends are now Team Leonard.

But I want him all to myself—him and Carter.

I grin to myself. Maybe Maya's laughing accusation was right, and I am a selfish bitch.