Aly froze, feeling like an idiot for not recognizing him as an Evans sibling. Nervously, she glanced over her shoulder, but Will’s focus was on the pool as one of his swimmers lined up to race.
“We saved you two seats, but we didn’t realize you were here until my brother texted. We like to be up high because we want to see the wall reach,” Danny explained, waving at them to follow him. “Andy won all three individual races, but his relay is coming up. Better get your yell on.”
Shoot. Of course she’d missed all his individual races. As late as she’d been, it had been stupid of her to hope to be there to cheer for him. For once, she wanted to feel like she wasn’t the world’s worst parental figure. Lily scooted out of her aisle seat and stood with Danny. Unable to stay in her seat alone, Aly stood and stepped toward the Evans brother, speechless.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and guided her up the steps toward two more giant Evans men.Joey and Nick, she reminded herself a couple of times so she wouldn’t mess up.
“I was away for Thanksgiving, doll, but I’ve heard nothing but good things, which is a shock.”
His tone was complimentary, but she wasn’t sure how to respond. Aly peered over her shoulder. The two women were back to whispering—probably about her. She wasn’t a glutton for punishment. She didn’tenjoythe badmouthing, but she could handle sitting with people whose opinions she didn’t care about. But the Evanses were a different story. She wanted Will’s family to like her. She wanted so badly to fit in, but after twenty minutes, while Lily laughed and chatted easily with all three men and Aly sat almost mute, it became very apparent that she didn’t.
CHAPTER19
Will’ssneakers squeaked across the wet floor as he headed toward his manager.
“Hey, man.”
“What’s up?” Ken asked, looking away from the lanes of swimmers.
“Just got off the phone with a mom who swears both her kids got pink eye from the pool.” He tucked his hands into his jacket pockets. “Hate to dump it on you, but can you clear the pool and check the water?”
Ken’s face lit with a huge smile.
“Why does menial work like that make you so happy?” Will asked.
Ken shook his head. “It doesn’t. I’m just glad to see you delegating the jobs to those of us who are supposed to do them. And giving yourself time away from this place.”
Will opened his mouth to respond but stopped. It wasn’t that Willcouldn’tdo it. And Ken was right. In the past, this was the type of thing Will would have chosen to do himself. Today, though, passing it on to Ken didn’t seem like a big deal. He’d felt that way about more and more tasks at the gym lately.
“Thanks.” Will gave him a nod and headed out to his truck. It was freezing. For the first time this winter, the temperature had dipped into the single digits. He hustled across the parking lot, ready to get the heat blasting inside his truck’s cab, but when he turned the key in the ignition, all it did was click. “Damn it.”
He glared at the wheel and tried again, but nothing happened. Shifting on the seat, he pulled out his phone. Aly had picked Andy up from school so she could take him to the set for a bit. But she had texted earlier that she was making dinner. It was the first time she had done the cooking, and Will hated to be the asshole boyfriend who didn’t show up.
Especially since she’d had a rough time at the meet. Andy had been a bit of a jerk about Aly’s tardiness. Knowing Aly worked on the set of a TV show gave people the impression that she spent her days having fun, when the truth was that every moment was filled with responsibilities she couldn’t ignore. He, Aly, and Andy had sat down for another conversation about jobs, and Andy had warmed up by the time they finished dinner.
Some of the moms at the meet had been rude as well. Will hadn’t wanted to force Aly to sit with his siblings because he knew his family was overwhelming. But when he saw Lily’s text about Nicole’s nasty comment, he wanted nothing more than to shield Aly from the world. He couldn’t leave the team, though, so the next best option was sending his brother.
He stared at his phone. Typically, Will called Danny for car trouble. Danny loved tinkering with motorcycles and cars in his free time and could handle the small issues that popped up with the old truck. It had been his father’s, so the idea of trading it in had never sat well with him, but Will should probably start looking into it now that he had others who depended on him to be where he was supposed to be.
First, though, he’d give Aly the heads-up and hope he didn’t ruin her plans.
“Hey, Al.” He tried to keep his annoyance out of his voice.
Before she could respond, Andy was calling his name in the background.
“Calm down,” she said to her brother. “Sorry, he’s excited to show you the kitchen design. We finished it tonight.”
“I can’t wait to see it.” Aly hadn’t let him peek at them, although she and Andy had been working on them for the last week. “But I’m still at the gym. My car isn’t starting.”
“Okay.” She didn’t seem disappointed at all. “Is it the battery?”
“Probably. Wouldn’t be the first time.” This wasn’t Will’s forte. “I’ll call Danny to help me.”
“We could help. I have cables in my car,” Aly assured him.
Less than fifteen minutes later, Aly had the hood of his truck up and was connecting the cables while she explained each step to Andy. Once again, Will was blown away by the calm she possessed as she went over the correct way to connect the two batteries. No part of her was annoyed that she’d had to leave the house on this cold December night or frustrated by Andy’s millions of questions.
“You want to turn my car on, mush?” Aly asked.