Chapter 9

I'm here, I texted Evian as I sat in the parking lot of the apartment complex he lived in. I'd had moments since seeing Evian where I'd freaked the fuck out and almost texted to tell him he didn't have to come. Every single time I picked up my phone to message him, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead of giving him an out, I'd chicken out and ask him something stupid like if he liked raisins—no, he didn't like those shriveled little wine rejects—or which was superior…sour cream and onion or barbeque potato chips—sour cream and onion because…right answer. Truth was, I wanted to see him again. I'd had a shit day and something about the prospect of joking around with him made it easier to get through.

My day from hell started with a text from my sister, Rina, asking why Mom hired someone to replace me at Victor's. She didn't seem to know the truth, and I sure as hell wasn't ready to tell her. Which only made me pissed at myself for not being honest with her. The fact that I didn't respond at all definitely wouldn't go unnoticed. My mom had apparently fed her some bullshit about Burke being short staffed at his restaurant. It answered my question about whether or not my mom knew where I was…or even gave a shit. I assumed she gave the same lame-ass excuse to Vito. I had to admit, though, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief that my mom had inadvertently given me a reason not to rush back home—or out me again. Every day spent in Coral Pointe was one more day to be comfortable being me.

Of course, my crappy day didn't stop with Rina's text. Not when Tino felt the need to remind me what a shit son I was, making our mom scramble to find help. His brilliant advice was to stop acting like a pussy, and go out and get some instead. You can bet your ass I didn't respond to that text. I still wondered how the hell my sister-in-law married such a misogynistic, disgusting piece of garbage, but she'd said things in the past that made me think she probably agreed with him. She sure as hell wasn't jumping to defend the rights of her own sex at all.

Needless to say, I was in a foul mood but knew how messed up it would be to cancel on Evian, or Noah for that matter, at the last minute.

The door to Evian's building opened, and immediately my brain was hijacked by other parts of my body. The way his jeans sat low on his waist and accentuated how slim he was—without them looking like they'd been painted on—was so damn hot. The baby blue fabric of his V-neck tee stood out against his golden skin. But what caught my attention the most was the subtle hint of blush on his cheeks, his long, black lashes, and those luscious, glossy plump lips, tinted the perfect shade of pink.

Every damn time I saw him, I had to remind myself we'd be nothing more than friends. Even if I miraculously found the balls to shoot my shot, he'd made it clear he wasn't looking to date anyone. I had to respect that, no matter how hard it was to look at him without my mouth running dry. Besides, I saw how he acted when he had feelings for someone. Mr. Flirty Pants was nowhere to be found when he was with me.

The passenger door yanked open and in came a delicious smelling Evian. The second he looked at me, his wide smile fell. "What's wrong? Am I not dressed right? I figured it was a casual dinner, but I can go back in and change."

I grabbed his arm a little too aggressively to stop him from getting out of the car. "No, you look great, and you smell amazing. I mean…" I quickly let go of his arm and cleared my throat. "I wanted to ask you the other night what cologne you were wearing. So I could, you know…buy…it." What the everloving fuck was I even going on about?

Evian looked at me in confusion. "I'm not wearing any cologne. That's just how I smell."

I reared my head back. "Seriously?"

He snickered and smacked my arm, drawing my attention to those long fingers, this time painted a royal blue. "No, not seriously, dumbass. I'll text you the link."

Immediately, I was reminded why I'd asked him to go with me. I didn't know why things were so easy with him, but in a matter of seconds, he sure as hell managed to defuse the ticking time bomb of anger and sadness that had been threatening to detonate all day. Hearing I'd been replaced at my own family's restaurant tore the hole in my heart open a little more. I wasn't sure how much more rejection I could take. Evian was like a breath of fresh air, reminding me that even if my heart was breaking, I was still alive and there were plenty of people in my corner. It didn't matter that I couldn't admit out loud that I was leaning on them to get through the internal war raging inside me.

"Is the fact that you can call me a dumbass so easily a sign that our friendship leveled up?" I backed out of the parking space, shooting him a teasing glance.

"Pretty sure it leveled up when you called me out for my over-the-top flirting, which my friends loved, by the way."

"You talked to your friends about me?" Apparently, the thousands of butterflies currently invading my stomach hadn't gotten the memo that we were just friends.

Luckily, Evian was quick to remind me. "Don't feel so special. I talk to my friends about everything." He smirked, but the way he shifted in his seat and shot me an awkward side-eyed glance hinted that he probably didn't mean to share that tidbit of info with me.

"So they know about your crush on Reedy or Not?" I wiggled my eyebrows, and shot him a goofy grin. The more I reminded myself that he had feelings for someone else, the easier it would be to compartmentalize him in my mind, right?

He groaned, leaning his head back on the seat. "If it sounds so stupid when you say it, I must sound like a complete idiot."

"If it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure Reedy is ready for you to find him and do wicked things to him." Jesus, I shifted in my seat from the boner threatening to pop up. Reedy sure as hell wasn't the one I was picturing playing Hide and Seek with Evian. It was fucking with my head bigtime.

Evian leaned his elbow on the windowsill, resting his head in his hand. "I'm not sure I can look the poor guy in the eye again." An apology for teasing him was on the tip of my tongue until he started laughing. "'Course, his eyes aren't my favorite place to look anyway."

"Pretty sure I figured out what your favorite part of him was when you watched him walk away." If I wasn't careful, my teasing could be misconstrued as jealousy. Fuck it. Construe away. I was jealous, dammit, and it was throwing me for a loop—one that continuously circled back to Evian.

He opened his enticing mouth to respond, but his big eyes landed on something outside my window. His head popped up and he sucked in a breath, bracing his hand on the dashboard, his head following something until he was looking out the back windshield, his brows drawn together. "I thought you said we were going to a restaurant in Randall Beach? Why did we just pass the sign for Coral Pointe?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. Noah and Hunter's babysitter canceled, so it's at their house now." Awkward silence fell over the passenger side of the car. "You okay?"

"Yeah, uh… You said you don't know a Drake, right?" He studied the houses we passed by, his head following one in particular.

"No, I've never heard of anyone by that name. Why?" Without much thought, I reached across the center console and took his hand. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Evian looked down in confusion, his grip tightening around my hand when I tried to let go. So much for ignoring how perfectly his hand fit in mine. "Long story short, he's my ex. It ended badly. He's from here. He's a lying, cheating, sack of shit, and I hope his dick shrivels up and falls off. The end."

"Whoa…" I slowly slid my hand out of his and cautiously covered my goods, flicking worried glances his way.

He snorted, smacking my arm. "Unless you were also a lying, cheating, sack of shit to someone, you have nothing to worry about."

I moved my hand to the steering wheel and let out a relieved breath. "I'm not a liar or a cheater."

"So…just a sack of shit, then?"

I burst out a laugh. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

"You did. You opened that door and walked right in." He thought he was hiding how nervous he was, but the way he wrung his hands and glanced out the window anxiously was hard to miss.

I pulled up in front of Noah and Hunter's house, leaving the car running. "Hey, you really don't have to do this. I can turn around right now and take you back home."

Evian shook his head and rolled his shoulders back. "I'm good. From what you texted the other day, they sound fun as hell. I think getting to know these guys better will be good for you. Trust me, Enzo, anyone would be lucky to know you." Leaving me there dumbfounded, he opened the door and got out of the SUV.

I quickly got out and fell in step beside him up to the front door, ringing the bell while trying to calm my own nerves.

Hunter opened the door holding his son, laughing as he wiped ketchup off Logan's little chubby cheeks. "Hey, Enzo. Glad you made it." He stepped to the side, opening the door further to let us in, turning kind eyes to Evian. "I'm Hunter and this is Logan. I'd shake your hand, but I don't think you want to wear his dinner."

"He's so cute," Evian said to Hunter. His eyes lit up when he looked at Logan. "You must like ketchup, huh?"

The little guy nodded his head. "K'chup?" He took the napkin out of Hunter's hand and gave him a stern look. "Messy, Daddy." He then proceeded to wipe Hunter's face with the dirty napkin, getting ketchup in his beard.

Hunter laughed. "Well, I am now." He closed the front door and nudged his head toward the noisy kitchen. "Come on, everyone's gathered around the food."

"Shocker." I chuckled and placed a hand on Evian's lower back, feeling the need to guide him like he wasn't capable of following Hunter on his own.

"Look who's here! Enzo and—" Hunter turned to Evian with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name."

"It's Evian, right? Like the water?" I'd expected the answer to come from the man himself. Instead, I followed Evian's wide doe eyes and found an equally stunned expression on Cole's face.

Evian took a nervous step back. "I'm sorry. I didn't know…"

My need to protect Evian roared to life, even though I had no idea what I was protecting him from. And then it hit me. Evian, like the water… Oh shit. Did Evian have a crush on Cole at some point?

Cole's gaze dropped to my hand that was still firmly on Evian's back, his eyes slowly sliding up until they locked on mine. Aiden stepped closer to Cole and gripped the back of his neck, sharing a look with his husband that I didn't know how to read. Resolve settled on Cole's face and he gave Aiden a small smile, getting a smile of understanding in return.

Striding the few steps it took to get to Evian, whose eyes were still wide as saucers, he said, "We were never properly introduced." He held his hand out to Evian, the gesture bursting the balloon of tension in the room. My respect for the man skyrocketed because I could still feel Evian's back trembling against my palm from whatever happened between them. "I'm Cole Sullivan-Rafferty." He waited for Evian to take his hand, a warm smile spreading on his face as he shook it.

Cole looked back over his shoulder and motioned to Aiden. "I think you probably met Aiden, my husband, but that was…well, years ago and not under the best circumstances. He also wasn't my husband back then." Cole looked at Aiden with so much love it floored me.

Aiden held his hand out and Evian took it, finally relaxing his muscles and releasing the tension in his back. "Hey. I don't know if you remember me, but I own Rafferty's SandBar."

"Oh, I remember. Hard to forget, honestly." Evian's voice was timid, but he managed a small smile. He looked past Aiden to Jared. "Pretty sure I met you before, too. I'm sorry, but I don't remember your name."

And just like that, couple by couple, my cousin and his friends introduced themselves to Evian. Burke and Jared, Ford and Abe, Levi and Sage, and of course, the man of the hour, Noah, who proudly stood next to his fiancé and son.

When the introductions were done, everyone went back to joking and laughing like nothing awkward had happened.

Ford being Ford—it was pretty obvious from the start the guy was a fucking riot and loved to push my cousin's buttons—completely shattered any lingering tension by plucking Logan out of his dad's arms and zooming him around the room, Superman style. "Everyone watch out! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Super Logan! Vroooommm." Logan's squeals of laughter echoed around the tiled space.

"Vroom?" Burke tossed a cube of cheese in the air and caught it in his mouth, mumbling around the food carnage, "Is he a flying car?"

Ford quickly switched directions, aiming directly for Burke's head. "Look out, Super Logan! You're headed straight for Mount Fool-ji! Abort! Abort!"

"Bort!" Logan yelled, laughing even harder when Ford swung him away from Burke at the last second.

Even Burke couldn't hold a scowl when faced with Logan's high-pitched giggles, laughing as he said, "It's too late to save him, Noah. You've subjected the poor little guy to Ford's bad influence too many times."

I glanced at Evian, my breath leaving me in a whoosh when I caught him already looking at me. His hazel eyes danced with amusement, but it was his glowing smile that made me swallow my tongue.

"You're all bad influences," Hunter responded with a mock scowl. "I don't know how I let Noah convince me to let Logan be around any of you. Kid never stood a chance."

Sage snorted, rolling his eyes to the side. "Pretty sure we all know how Noah convinced you."

Hunter opened his mouth to argue, but then it settled into a facetious grin. "You're not wrong." Everyone laughed as he pulled his fiancé in for a lip-smacking kiss.

Once everyone settled in the living room, Noah drew an unusually quiet Evian into conversation. "So, Evian, how do you know Enzo?"

Given that Evian was sitting next to me on the couch, practically in my lap, it was obvious he was still nervous. I was sure the rest of the group was getting the wrong idea about us as they patiently waited for him to fill in the blanks for them. "Uh, well…he came into my family's store about a month ago, needing a suit for a wedding."

"Sage and Levi's," I supplied, like Noah wouldn't know what wedding I'd attended here a month ago. I still felt protective of Evian, though, and guilty for bringing him into a situation that, judging by Evian's body language earlier, could've gone very wrong.

"So, you've kept in touch since then?" Hunter asked, casually.

Evian's head whipped my direction and he gave me a panicked look, not sure how to answer that.

"Yeah, mostly through text," I said, taking the focus off him. "We just really hit it off when we first met, so I figured, if I'm gonna be here awhile, I could use a friend." I could've smacked myself, realizing how that had come out, but it was too late to go back in time and keep my trap shut. Burke's friends were great guys, and I'd just implied I needed to go elsewhere to find someone to hang out with.

"Good," Sage chimed in without hesitation. "Then maybe you'll consider staying." Then he said directly to Evian, "Although, I'm gonna warn you now, Evian. These two together?" He motioned to me and then to Burke. "Trouble."

Everyone laughed as, once again, Burke's friends smoothed over what could've been an awkward situation. I'd been hesitant to get to know them for no good reason other than the fact that I didn't really live here. What was the point of making friends and settling into the Coral Pointe vibe when I wasn't staying more than a few months? Lunch the other day and the talk with Noah already started to crack the wall I'd put up. Now, with how they were going out of their way to make not just me, but also Evian, feel comfortable, I was ready to let my guard down. Maybe I couldn't be completely honest with them yet, but the possibility seemed more intriguing now, instead of nauseating.

I made a promise to myself right then and there to stop in Joel's ice cream shop, too. The guy had been really nice and seemed like someone I could be friends with. It was weird how I had to talk myself into getting to know everyone but Evian. With Evian, things just felt like they'd fallen into place without much thought or effort. We just…fit.

Conversations carried on and laughter filled the room. The couch next to Evian dipped, and I looked over to see Cole giving Evian a sympathetic, yet understanding, smile. Evian pressed his smaller body closer to me and my senses went fucking wild. Jesus the guy was killing me with the touching and the intoxicating cologne and the sticking to my side like a barnacle.

"So this was unexpected, huh?" Cole asked, his voice careful, testing the waters of Evian.

"I'm sorry. I swear I didn't know. Oddly enough, the only person I asked Enzo if he knew was the lying, cheating, sack of shit." Evian wrung his hands in his lap, and it took all my strength not to take them in mine to calm his fidgeting. No fucking way they wouldn't all get the wrong idea if I did that.

"I was shocked that such a specific term of endearment didn't ring a bell," I teased.

Evian snorted out a laugh. "Luckily, neither did the name Drake."

Cole laughed. "Your description of him is dead on. We used to call him Drakeula." His eyes slid across the room to Aiden, who was currently playing on the floor with his nephew, and his expression softened. "Honestly, I think the scumbag might have done us both a favor. I don't think Aiden and I would be where we are if Aiden hadn't come to my rescue that night, pretending to be my boyfriend when Drake was on a mission to embarrass me."

Evian shook his head, huffing in disgust. "I was so stupid. He blamed the whole thing on you. Said you kept coming on to him and that was why he wanted to make sure you knew he was taken. I really didn't understand what was happening."

I tapped Evian on the shoulder. "I still don't understand what's happening."

Evian blanched, smiling sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry. Um, a few years ago, I was dating the lying, cheating, sack of shit…" Evian paused as he stared at Cole, like he was expecting Cole to argue with something in that statement. "And Cole was…" The poor guy looked at a loss for words.

Cole leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, so he could see past Evian to me. "What he's trying so hard to say without hurting my feelings is that I was his boyfriend's sidepiece and had no clue." Cole's expression shifted to one of pure regret as he focused back on Evian. "I'm sorry about that, by the way. That's not who I am. I never would've let him come near me if I knew he was cheating on someone."

"You don't owe me an apology," Evian scoffed, staring down at his lap, his smile showing more pain than I thought one could. "Out of all the guys Drake cheated on me with, you're the first one to acknowledge that I was the one in a relationship with the guy. We'd been together six months when all that shit went down. A couple of the others were quick to accuse me of being the fuckboy who ruined what they had with Drake. One even came to my family's store."

"Wait, are you serious?" Cole's anger on Evian's behalf sealed the deal for me that the guy was genuinely a great person.

"Yep. Not gonna lie, Drake's not the only reason I've avoided Coral Pointe since then. I really didn't know how you would react if you saw me again. Which sucks because I used to love coming here and hanging out at SandBar. Going to all the cute shops in town. I haven't had a chocolate chip pecan cookie from Beachin' Bakery in years."

"Well, shit. That asshole really did screw us both." Cole cringed. "You know what I mean."

"He sure did." Evian finally laughed. It was the one I'd gotten to know and thought about more than once since meeting him.

Cole studied him for a second, his mouth twisting to the side like he had something else to say but wasn't really sure how to say it. "You're different than I remember."

"How so?" Evian shifted nervously on the cushion.

"I don't know. You were more…" He obviously didn't know how to put it into words without possibly insulting Evian, but I had a feeling I knew where he was going with this.

"Mr. Flirty Pants, with the pouty lips and the fluttering eyelashes?" I grunted, rubbing my stomach where Evian had just backhanded me.

"Oh my god." Evian covered his face with his hands, his ears red to the tips, but he was clearly laughing. "Was I that bad?" He spread two fingers and peeked between them at Cole.

"Well…" The cadence of the word coupled with Cole's slight wince pretty much said it all. "It's possible I called you Pouty the Kid in my head." His eyes got comically wide, eyebrows reaching for his hairline. "Oh my god. I said that out loud, didn't I?" Now they both were blushing.

But I fucking lost it. "Pouty the…" I said between laughs. "That's even better than Mr. Flirty Pants." Evian and Cole started laughing with me.

"I keep trying to remind myself why I'm friends with you," Evian complained.

"No turning back now. We leveled up, remember?" We locked eyes, my laughter calming from the intensity until something dawned on me. "Wait, you were with that piece of shit for six months and you were still acting that way around him?"

"Uh…yeah, I guess?" Evian looked confused for a second, but I didn't want to embarrass him further, so I kept my mouth shut…for now.

"Well…" Cole slapped his thighs and stood up. "Now that we've cleared the air, you should hang out here more often. Drake took a job an hour away and rarely comes back anymore. Even when he's here, he knows better than to step foot in SandBar. Come to the bar and have a drink, on the house."

"Are you giving away my alcohol again, babe?" Aiden said from across the room, obviously giving his husband shit.

"Put it on my tab, shnookums." Cole wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and the whole room groaned.

"Not until you pay what you already owe." Aiden crossed the room in four big strides, picked his husband up with strong arms around his waist, and proceeded to kiss the everloving shit out of him.

Heat flooded my face, yet I couldn't look away. I was still getting used to seeing two guys kiss like that. With this group, it happened a lot. My only attempt to be that fearless had gone up in flames, burning to ashes on my front stoop.

Groans turned to catcalls, but it was Logan who stole the show when he waddled over to Aiden and tugged on his pant leg. Aiden broke the kiss and looked down to find little arms reaching up to him. "Up?"

Aiden looked back at his husband, smacked another kiss on his lips, then abruptly dropped him to his feet. Everyone lost it when he turned away from a pouting Cole and picked up Logan, making the kid squeal with laughter as Aiden gave him raspberries on his neck.

"Look who's all Pouty the Kid now," Evian said, immediately covering his mouth like he hadn't meant to say that so loud.

Was it weird that I felt some sort of pride as everyone, including Cole, howled with laughter again? Probably. Did it stop me from gripping the back of Evian's neck in a move that most definitely would give the guys—and possibly Evian—the wrong idea? No, it did not, but in that moment, I didn't care.