“Yeah, Dad’s delivering twins, and Mom has an emergency C-section.” He shrugged off his black wool coat and hung it on one of the hooks by the door. “Did he get in okay?” Evan’s voice was low as he asked his question.

  Heidi smiled, nodded. “He did. I do have to warn you, though, he, um—” And then Iris came around the corner into the foyer, cutting Heidi off mid-explanation. “Iris,” she said softly. She reached for the wall to steady herself. How did Iris do that? Take her breath away just by walking into a room?

  “Uh, hi,” Iris said as she waved her hand through the air. “You must be Evan?” She came forward, hand outstretched, and introduced herself. “It’s so great to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”

  “You have?” Evan asked at the same time Heidi did.

  Iris’s eyebrows knitted together.

  Heidi laughed. “I mean, you have!” Oh god, she needed a drink. Was it too early to start?

  “Yeah, I have,” Iris reiterated. “Zac will be super happy to see you.”

  “And, I’m sorry,” Evan said, “forgive me, who are you to him?”

  Iris chuckled. “Oh, I’m his fri—girlfriend.”

  Evan’s eyes widened. “Oh.” With the look he gave Heidi, all she wanted to do was apologize profusely.

  “Yeah, everyone knows about you, but not a soul knew about me,” Iris said with a very forced laugh. She smacked him on the arm as she walked past, pointing at him with finger guns and winking. “They’re in the living room, waiting for your arrival.”

  “Well, that was weird,” Evan said softly. “Ms. Nowak, I thought—”

  “I know. Me too, honey. Just go with the plan, okay?”

  “But—”

  “Believe me, it’ll be fine. I’m about eighty-twenty that I know what I’m doing.”

  He breathed in through a pained expression. “I don’t know about those odds.”

  She pushed him gently toward the living room. “Let’s just go say hi.” She plastered on her fakest smile. “Everyone, Evan arrived!”

  “Oh my god, Evan, you haven’t changed a bit,” Adrien said as he stood up and hugged him. “You’re still just as cute as ever.”

  Evan’s cheeks blushed a deep red. “It’s good to see you, too, Adrien.”

  “This is my boyfriend, Shaun.” He pointed to Shaun, who waved from his position on the floor next to the fireplace. Nora was on his lap, and she wasn’t about to stop watching whatever show he had allowed her to pull up on his phone.

  Oscar was next to welcome Evan with a firm handshake and a pat on the arm. “Man, you sure beefed up. What have you been doing?”

  “Oh, I work out, like, six days a week.”

  Heidi was watching Zac’s reaction, which was exactly as she had hoped. He was still just as enamored with Evan as he had been all those years ago. When Zac finally pulled his gaze away from his former friend, he shook his head and looked around, seemingly to make sure no one saw him. He never made eye contact with her, though. She so wished he would have because she would have tried her hardest to convey how okay it was.

  “Hey, Zac,” Evan said as he walked over to the chair next to him. “You look great.”

  The smile that spread across Zac’s lips was enough for Heidi to know she had done the right thing. She mentally patted herself on the back as she watched the two of them start to talk. If she could have leaped for joy, she would have.

  “Ma?”

  Heidi jumped. “What?”

  Oscar laughed. “Where the heck are you? I’ve been saying Ma for the past ten seconds. The timer on the oven is going off.”

  “Oh, shit,” she said as she flew back into the kitchen and over to the oven. The apple pie she had thrown together was done. She pulled it out and breathed in the scent of the cinnamon and apples. If there was one thing she loved more than anything in this world, it was apple pie.

  “That smells amazing.”

  Heidi glanced across the kitchen to the breakfast nook, where Iris was sitting. It struck her then how unfair it was that she had met Iris how she did. Or maybe not how she had met her but how she was connected to her. In any other world, she wouldn’t be waiting to see where a relationship with her would go. She would be knee-deep in finding out everything about her. She would be asking her on a date. She would be doing so much more than holding herself back. “Thank you,” she finally said.

  “I was going to take it out for you, but I heard Oscar trying to get your attention.”

  “Why are you in here and not in there with everyone else?”

  Iris tilted her head. There was something there, something Iris wanted to tell her; it was right beneath the surface, and Heidi wanted to know so badly what it was. “Just giving them time to catch up.”

  “Oh.”

  “They need it.” Iris’s left eyebrow quirked upward the tiniest of amounts.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” Heidi had made her way over to the breakfast nook now, and when she leaned down, her hands on the table, her hair fell over her shoulder, and she noticed immediately how Iris bit down on her lip. “Because it feels like you’re not telling me something.”

  Iris shook her head. “Just that I can’t stop thinking about this morning.” She licked her lips. “And, apparently, I shouldn’t be.”

  God, Heidi hoped to everything holy that her innate Mom Intuition was right about Zac. If it wasn’t, what she did next would be so frowned upon. “Oh yeah? Which part?”

  “The part where I pressed you against the wall of the bathroom.” Iris stood from the bench and ran her fingers along the table until she was touching Heidi’s left pinky. “And how good it felt when you came.” She traced the edge of Heidi’s pinky to her palm, her wrist, before she said, “But I shouldn’t be thinking about that, should I?”

  Heidi stood upright. Iris was so close she could have easily leaned in and kissed her. And, god, it would have been the perfect ending to the entire conversation. Iris’s eyes were so blue with the light reflecting off the snow and through the kitchen windows. Everything about her was exactly what Heidi had always loved about women. Her freckles, her beautiful skin, her adorable nose, her sky-blue eyes, her kissable lips. “Neither of us should be thinking about that… yet…”

  “You want to do it again, don’t you?”

  “More than you know.” Heidi’s voice shocked her—the tone, the huskiness of it, the desire dripping from it.

  “But I’m his girlfriend.”

  Heidi gulped.

  “Of course… you did just invite his boyfriend over.” Iris smiled. “I mean, his friend who is a boy.”

  “Iris, get in here!” Zac’s voice ripped through the moment.

  “I’d better go mingle,” Iris said softly as she turned and left.

  Heidi reached for the table to support her very weak knees. What did she think she was doing? She was a mess. A very hot, very turned-on mess.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Well, Evan was beautiful.

  And, as it turned out, his being drop-dead gorgeous was a fantastic distraction. His arrival helped steer Iris’s mind away from Heidi and everything that had unfolded in the last few hours. He looked like he had stepped off the pages of a Men’s Health magazine. Blue eyes, gorgeous jet-black hair, cleanly shaven, and he smelled like a million dollars. Oh, and he was absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, gay as the day was long. The beauty of having near-perfect gaydar was being able to tell from a hundred paces. Evan, though? Iris could have told from a hundred miles.

  After Evan arrived and forced conversation—on every level—took place, Heidi urged Zac, Iris, and Evan to go get dinner together in downtown Vale Park. Iris found the whole idea of downtown in a small city very laughable. She tried to get out of it, but Zac wouldn’t allow it. He needed her, apparently. Begrudgingly she agreed, but she made sure to add it to the list of things for which Zac would owe her.

  Once they arrived at Stacks, a very trendy bar and grill that resembled a library on the inside, she decided to take a breath and have a good time. After all, it wasn’t like she had to convince Evan she was Zac’s girlfriend. In fact, she was hoping Zac would eventually mess up and, voilà, she’d be off the hook. At least where Evan was concerned.

  So there they sat, the three of them, Zac and Iris on one side of a booth and Evan on the other. The conversation had been very nice so far. To the trained eye, it was only obvious that Zac was nervous when he picked up his drink, some grape monstrosity called a Purple Drank. On his fifth one (he tried to stop at two, but Iris encouraged him to have another… and another… and another), his hand stopped shaking and she could tell he was finally settling down.

  “Evan, I know I said this already, but I am so glad I got to meet you. You both should probably thank your mom for reestablishing this little bromance.” She watched their reactions as she sipped her water. “Seeing you two together has been very enlightening.”

  “Oh?” The speed at which Evan’s face shifted from happy to panicked was almost laughable. As if the cat was mysteriously let out of the bag and it wasn’t glaringly obvious that the two of them wanted to rip each other’s clothes off.

  “Yeah, you know what I mean? Just seeing someone important to you with someone from their past who is important to them.” Iris gave him a look she hoped said, Listen, I’ll have you two hooked up and happy before Christmas. Can that much be relayed with a look? She had no idea. “Don’t worry. I can tell you that I haven’t seen Zac this happy in a long time.” She felt Zac nudge her under the table, almost as if he was saying to pump the brakes. Little did Zac know that Iris learned how to drive on the mountain roads in Colorado where one only uses the brakes in an emergency.

  “Wow, yeah, thanks. Me too.” Evan’s eyes moved from hers over to Zac. “It has been a long time, hasn’t it?”

  Zac’s cheeks under his now-tidy scruff were a deep pink. Iris couldn’t tell if it was the alcohol or Evan. “It has,” he said as he dipped his chin, a small smile on his lips. Yeah, it was totally Evan. “Too long.”

  “I agree,” Evan said softly.

  “Evan, what else have you been up to?” Iris asked as she patted Zac’s leg. She could read his indecisiveness like a book. He was having a great time but was incredibly torn about it. She wanted to smack him, yell at him, tell him he was allowed to let go of the past and live in the present.

  “Well, I recently quit my job,” Evan answered.

  “You did?” Zac blurted out. “Weren’t you working downtown Chicago for some huge PR firm?”

  Evan’s eyes sparkled and his shoulders relaxed. “Yeah, I was. Wow.” He tilted his head. “I didn’t think you…”

  Zac dipped his head. “I mean, my mom told me.”

  Um, no, she didn’t. That was code for: I stalked you on social media.

  Evan smiled, knowingly. “She wasn’t wrong.” He looked at Iris and she motioned for him to keep going. “I went in one day, got bitched at by the boss, and said, ‘Fuck it.’ I quit that day. It was one of the most spontaneous things I’ve ever done.” He chuckled before he took a sip of his chardonnay. “I couldn’t do it any longer. So I’m starting at a new firm in February.”

  “That sounds dreamy,” Zac said, a long, deliberate sigh following his declaration. “I’d give anything to quit my job.”

  Iris looked at him. “I thought you loved it.”

  Zac shrugged. “I enjoy the paycheck. But the job? Ugh. Working with numbers all the time? Yawn.”

  “Wow, I had no idea.” Iris nudged him. “Something you should have told your girlfriend, hmm?”

  “Oh my god, stop,” Zac said with a laugh. “You never asked.”

  “I’m just happy you pay half the rent on time every month.”

  Evan cleared his throat. “So, you two, how long have you been…”

  “Together?” Iris finished Evan’s incomplete question. “About six months.” Iris spit the answer out, then looked down at her watch. “Wow. It’s late. Y’know, Zac, I think I’m gonna head back to the house. I got up so early this morning, and I think this evening’s wine went to my head.”

  Zac snapped his shocked face toward her. “What? Why?” He was clamoring to get her to stay, but he was no match for five Purple Dranks. It was adorable.

  “I’m so tired, and you two have so much to catch up on. I just think it’d be great to give you two some space.” She nodded and widened her eyes. “It’ll be good for you,” she whispered after she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. “And him.”

  “Okay, do you need a ride? I can—”

  “I can get my own Lyft if I need one,” Iris said with a chuckle. “I think I can walk, though. No worries. I’m a big girl.”

  Evan stood when she did. “Iris, it was lovely meeting you.” He held his hand out, but she smacked it away as she leaned in and hugged him.

  “Don’t overthink this,” she whispered. “You hear me?”

  He pulled away. “Yeah, I think I do, which is causing me to have a lot of questions.”

  “Don’t. It’s okay. I promise. I’ll see you later. If you idiots keep drinking, don’t drive.” And she left them sitting there, smiles on their faces, hope in their eyes. She was such a great matchmaker. For her fake boyfriend. And his old flame. Iris chuckled as she headed out of the restaurant and toward the main drag of town.

  Once she was outside Stacks, she took a deep breath. She was free. The feeling was exhilarating. She could go back to the house and get some much-needed rest, and Zac and Evan could spend the rest of the night reminiscing and hopefully be back together by morning, which would be incredible on so many levels. No more pretending; no more awkward hand-holding and kisses on the cheek; no more lying.

  Christ, the lying.

  Watching Zac and Evan talk to each other had been eye-opening. And, for a very weird reason, it had been harder than she thought it’d be. She wasn’t jealous. At least, she didn’t think she was. She for sure didn’t have a right to be jealous. At all.

  But, at the same time, maybe she was.

  Not of Evan or that Zac clearly still had a thing for him, but of the situation. As much as she liked to tell herself that she didn’t need someone, seeing the way the two of them reconnected and how the sparks flew was exciting. She didn’t want to say it out loud, but a part of her did long for that connection with another person. She’d spent so much of her life avoiding entanglements. It was easier and less costly to her heart to fuck ‘em and forget ‘em. No broken trust that way. Her love life had begun to feel sort of repetitive, though. A little like a broken record. The first few notes were great, but once it started skipping, it was a real disaster.

  She chuckled to herself as she thought about the last few women she had had in her bed. Two were entirely too young, and two were entirely too clingy. Not one of them had gotten the hint when she was ready for them to leave. It was probably time for Iris to admit that she was a catch, and someone would be damn lucky to have her. That would mean opening herself up to love, though, and the idea of that had her wanting to jump in front of a bus.

  Thankfully there were no buses in Vale Park, Indiana.

  The temperature was falling quickly, and a shiver raced through her. She zipped her coat all the way up and wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck. The restaurants and bars along the main street were all open, including one called Lincoln’s. It was tempting. She didn’t want to go home yet. She needed another drink, something to take the edge off those dreaded emotions she had made sure to steer clear of for most of her life. From the outside, Lincoln’s looked like a great spot, so she took a chance and headed inside without a second thought. The exposed brick walls of the establishment made it feel homey, and the dim lighting was exactly what she needed. An escape. The bar had a couple of empty seats, so she walked to the end and made herself comfortable.

  The bartender came over to her promptly, a wide smile on her face. “Hello there, weary traveler.” She chuckled. “You look like you could use a stiff one.”

  “I must look a fright then.”

  “Not at all. You look”—the bartender paused, a smile appearing on her dark red lips—“stressed.”

  Iris chuckled. “You have no idea. Can you do an espresso martini?”

  “Best one in the city,” she said with a wink. “Coming right up.”

  Iris leaned back and relaxed on the barstool, content with her decision. Some alone time after the last thirty-six hours was not a bad idea. As much as she enjoyed people, every now and then, her social meter ran out. The needle was almost on empty, so she decided to enjoy the peace and quiet.

  “Iris? What are you doing here?”

  Well, that was short-lived.

  She straightened her posture as if on command. “Heidi, hi.” Was she breathless? She felt breathless. A bizarre fervor started to bubble inside of her.

  “What are you doing?” Heidi called from farther down the bar. “Is Zac with you?”

  “Uh, no. I left him and Evan at Stacks to catch up,” she said before she locked eyes with his mother. She wanted to gauge her reaction. “They seemed as relieved I was leaving as I was.”

  Heidi, cool as a cucumber, slid onto the stool next to her. “Gotcha.”

  Dammit. She was hoping the groundwork she began laying earlier and continued working on now would get some sort of reaction that Heidi was completely aware that her son was gay, and his girlfriend was fake. And also gay. Or, at the very least, obviously bisexual. She licked her lips as she gathered another boring conversation starter. “Evan is a nice guy. I’m glad they’re able to do this. Y’know, reconnect and all that.”

  “Are you sure?” Heidi had one arm propped on the bar, the other on the back of her stool. If Iris didn’t know better—and let’s be honest, she didn’t—she’d have thought that Heidi was drunk. Her words were a little slurred, and she seemed far too relaxed considering everything. She was tipsy, without question. “Like, really sure?”

  “Yeah,” Iris said with a chuckle. “If you’re nervous that Zac isn’t having a good time, you don’t need to be. I promise. He’s having fun.”

  Heidi pursed her lips and nodded. “Okay. I’ll take your word for it.” She took a breath but didn’t speak for a couple seconds, just sat there looking at Iris. Talk about feeling extremely self-conscious. “Can I say, though,” she said softly, leaning forward, “I still feel so bad about, well, this morning and also, y’know, inviting Evan over.” Her voice held an air of fake regret, layered with even more fake sadness.

 

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