Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Elton smirked, using his beer to indicate the two blue rows of seats on the other side of the glass wall. “Come sit with me. I’ll explain as we go.”
“Oh, um.” Veda hesitated. “Should we . . .”
“What?”
Twin spots appeared on Veda’s cheeks. “Is it weird to sit together alone if you’re sort of dating my sister?”
Elton’s throat muscles worked. “No. We’re friends, you and me. Right?”
“Friends.” Veda brightened. Everywhere but her eyes. “Right, yeah, I know. Besides, in what world could I steal a man from Alexis?” She let out a hearty laugh. “You’re probably explaining the rules of baseball to me to earn points with her, right? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to put in a good word, slugger.” She looked at Eve, whispering, “Oh god. Am I still talking?”
“Afraid so.”
“Quick,” Elton said, handing her his pint. “Drink the rest of my beer before you make this any weirder.”
Veda drained it in ten seconds and handed him back the empty glass. “Thanks.” She snuck a slow smile up at Elton. “You have terrible taste.”
His scrutiny of Veda’s features went on a second too long. “I don’t know my taste anymore,” he murmured, holding the cold pint glass to his temple.
“I’m talking about beer, Elton,” Veda whispered. “You have terrible taste in beer.”
“Right.” Apparently, he was having a very difficult time looking at anything but Veda, but he managed to set down the pint glass and steer her toward the exit that would take them out into the stadium-style seating area. “Back to baseball. There are nine innings . . .”
As the conversation between Veda and Elton faded away, Skylar slid up beside Eve, giving her a little hip bump. “Hey.”
“Hey, babe,” Eve responded, cataloging the changes to Skylar’s appearance since the last time she’d seen her, about a month ago. With her eyes holding a permanent sparkle and her dark brown hair in a wavy tumble, the girl looked incredible. “What is going on with my brother and that rockabilly girl?”
“Oh, he’s dating her sister, Alexis, a local real estate agent in Cumberland who is precisely his white picket fence and two-point-five-children type, but he’s obviously crazy for Veda, who pulls all-nighters, lives with her parents, and shivers at the thought of marriage.”
“Whoa.”
“Tell me about it.” Eve winked at Skylar. “Moving on. Hockey looks good on you.”
“I’m going to let you give me conversational whiplash because we have way too much to talk about and I don’t know when we’ll be alone again.” Her best friend breathed a laugh. “Hockey feels as good on me as it looks.” She seemed to lock eyes with Robbie across the suite. “I didn’t see him coming. He’s . . . wow. You know?”
Eve warmed. “Tell me more.”
“I mean, it’s superearly,” Skylar qualified. “We’ve only been seeing each other for a month, but . . .”
“When you know, you know.”
“Yeah,” Skylar breathed, pressing her palms to her cheeks and lowering her voice. “I fell asleep at my apartment after practice yesterday and he just showed up, all frowny and griping. He packed me a bag and carried me downstairs where the Uber was waiting. Took me back to his place and—”
“I can guess what happened next.”
“No. I mean, well, yeah, but not until the next morning. He just wanted to sleep beside me.” She let out a burst of air. “I’m in love with him.”
Eve’s chest swelled—and it almost burst wide open when she looked over at Robbie and saw him mooning at Skylar like a lovesick puppy. “I can tell, Sky. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks.” Skylar rolled her lips inward, wetting them. “But . . . there’s something I need to speak with you about. Concerning Madden?” She looked down at the ground for a moment, as if piecing her thoughts together. “When everything was developing between me and Robbie, we hit some speed bumps and I ended up going for a drink with Madden in the middle of it all. I mistook it for a date, but Madden very tactfully told me it wasn’t. He only asked me for a drink to talk about you, Eve. All those years I had a crush on him and . . .” She reached out and squeezed Eve’s shoulder, her features rife with chagrin. “He was locked in on you the whole time.”
Breathing was difficult—which was ridiculous, considering Eve had known on some level that Madden had wanted her a lot longer than a few weeks. To hear that he’d said it out loud to her best friend, though, rocked her back on her heels. “Is that what he said?”
“I think his exact words were ‘It’s always been Eve for me.’”
“Oh,” Eve said choppily.
Skylar pulled her into a hug and Eve went, resting her chin on Skylar’s shoulder. “Eve, I promised him I would talk to you about accepting his help. You need health insurance for the kids and—”