ME: What thing?
EVIE: Hillary’s restaurant opening. Merryweather where we went for lunch
My eyebrows pulled tight. I wasn’t sure what I was even frowning about so I tried to jog my memory on what I knew of that restaurant. It came up surprisingly quickly. Right
Both Evie and her ex had done work for that place.
ME: Mike going to be there?
EVIE: Yes. Yay for you getting his name right. I owe you a gold star.
ME: You owe me several gold stars. What time is the thing
EVIE: Starts at 8 and goes on till forever bc there’ll probably be an after party. But I’m only making an appearance for Hillary then I’m dipping
EVIE: Why do you ask?
ME: Go there late. I’ll meet up with you at 10:30
No idea why I said that. Aside from the fact that I had a day game tomorrow, tonight’s game was bound to end at or past 10PM, which meant I’d have to book it to get to the restaurant from the stadium in time. But considering Evie slept at grandma hours, I knew I’d have to throw out the earliest time possible.
EVIE: If you’re offering to come with because you think I need protection from Mike you are sorely mistaken
ME: I’m not worried about that. I’ve seen his scrawny ass and your naked one. I’m pretty sure you could squat him.
EVIE: Except it was pitch black when you decided to steal my panties off me so technically you haven’t actually seen my naked ass
ME: I haven’t but I’ve felt every inch of it. If I described it to a sketch artist he would draw it to a tee
EVIE: Omg
EVIE: What on earth did my ass do to warrant a police sketch?
EVIE: Something something being wanted for a spanking?
“What’s going on with you? You’re laughing now?” Diaz asked as he looked at me.
“Leave me alone,” I said, a leftover grin on my lips as I replied to Evie.
ME: You get the gold star for that one. Now stop texting while you’re walking. See you at 10:30 tonight.
21
DREW
It was closer to 11PM by the time I got to the restaurant, which definitely felt different than the last time I’d seen it.
The last time I was here it was quiet, sunny and mostly empty, but tonight there were candles on every table, indie folk on the sound system, and a good fifty to sixty buzzed to drunk people standing around dirty, plate-littered tables, engaged in animated conversation.
Definitely not the type of nightlife I was used to. If I was out and drinking at 11PM, The Lumineers weren’t
exactly my soundtrack of choice, but to each their own. I wasn’t here to party anyway. I was here for Evie.
The usual eyes flew to me as I angled through the crowd, but the setting was intimate enough that no one yelled my name or mobbed me for pictures. They just kept watching as I made my way to the group of women Evie was talking to.
My eyebrows lifted when I got closer.
She was wearing red lipstick tonight. And she looked fucking stunning. The first thing I saw was her big smile as she burst out laughing over something that was apparently funny enough for her to be the last of the group to notice me.