“Neither of you could have come up with a date? You both backed out on me.” Evan stared down his friends.
“Oh no, I’ve done my part already,” Cade said.
“You didn’t do shit. Everyone knows Catherine picked for you,” Evan told him.
“I let her.” Cade put both hands up as though he’d done his part by letting Catherine pick.
“Maybe we should add her to the party. She already knows about it. Then you’ll have to actually make your own pick.” Evan laughed at Ryker’s shocked face.
It was no secret that Catherine had a thing for Ryker. What he didn’t understand was why Ryker had never admitted to anyone that he wanted Catherine, too. It was obvious to anyone in a room with both of them for more than five minutes.
“If you think she won’t take two turns, then you don’t know my sister at all.” Cade brushed off the table and walked back to the fridge. “Either of you staying the night?” he asked.
“Not me. I’ve got shit to do this weekend. I’m out,” Ryker said before heading to the door and letting himself out.
“I think my life is about to get real interesting, so I’m going to head home tonight and enjoy the last bit of peace I can before Luke sets me up on a date with someone who will probably turn out to be a fucking escort or some shit,” Evan told him, walking towards the door.
“Might not want to say that anywhere near Luke. He’d probably do it and consider it a good business investment because Ryker told him not to,” Cade teased.
“Don’t say a fucking word,” Evan threatened and opened the door.
“Have a good night,” Cade called out.
“Yeah, you too,” Evan replied.
He headed home to get ready for the weekend and to contemplate the person that Luke might pick out for him. It seemed a lot was about to happen in his life, but only time would tell if it would be good news or not.
ChapterTwo
Kayla
Kayla reached for her cell phone on her desk as it vibrated. She’d been working in the same position since lunch and only just realized how stiff she had gotten.
Stretching, she smiled as she noticed Evan’s name on the screen. Her silent business partner had become less and less silent lately, but she found she didn’t mind as much as she thought she would.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hey. How’s it going?” he asked.
“Just knocking some things out at the office. You?” Evan called once a week at minimum and checked in on how things were going. Lately, it was closer to daily.
“Oh, good. I actually wanted to get things set up for me and my friends again.” He sounded nervous and she couldn’t resist the smile.
“Which one of you is the victim this time?” Kayla teased. There were five of them to go through this blind date scheme they’d set up.
It was out of the ordinary to have people set up on a date in her restaurant. It was usually about letting the app find you a good match, but she’d made an exception for him and his friends only.
“I get to go second since it was my idea,” Evan explained.
Her stomach dropped. A heavy weight settled in it, stealing her smile and her words.
“Kayla?” Evan asked when she didn’t say anything.
She cleared her throat. “Sorry about that. I got distracted.”
“No problem. What do you think?”
Ha. What did she think? She thought this was a very bad idea. “Umm, sure. I can set that up for you. When did you want to start, and who’s going to be sending over matches?” Last time Evan had coordinated everything with her, but he couldn’t be the point on this if he was the one doing the dating.