StepBrother: New Rules (Stepbrother Romance) (8 page)

“Ella, can’t anyone else cover it? Evelyn and I actually have dinner reservations.” William looked at Evelyn, as if he was willing her to stand up to her mother.

“Of course I can find someone else to cover it, Will, but it’s not like you have a hot date. You can find one of your buddies to hang out with, right?”

“Mom, I kinda want to go with Will.” Evelyn braced herself for Ella’s response.

“You can’t miss this opportunity to show your dedication, Evelyn. You could even work yourself into a promotion, you know.”

“So it’s up to you, Evelyn,” Will said, arms out, palms upturned. “You can choose. Work or me.”

“How is that even a question?” Ella said, turning to her daughter. “Let’s go.”

Evelyn could feel her shoulders slump as she realized she was going to cave to her mother’s demands.

“No way, Evelyn,” Will said, seeing her body language. “You know how much I spent on those tickets.”

“I’m sorry, Will.”

“No way,” he repeated. “When are you going to grow up and start standing up for yourself?”

“What is he talking about?” Ella asked, standing up straighter and putting her shoulders back, donning her cold, professional demeanor.

“We had plans,” Evelyn explained half-heartedly.

“Plans change, especially when duty calls,” Ella said. “I’m not going to tell you again. Go change.”

Evelyn took a step toward leaving the kitchen, and William reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Evelyn, this has gone on long enough. If you’re not going to do it, I will.”

He pulled her to him and bent to kiss her, holding her in place, despite her attempt to step back. He crushed her mouth with his, letting his hand drift to her ass, pulling her even closer. Evelyn couldn’t do anything, helpless to break free, part of her responding to his touch and craving more. William let her go, and they stood still, looking at one another, neither able to speak for a few seconds.

Evelyn turned to her mother. Ella stood, mouth hanging open, shock evident on her face.

When neither of the women in the room could manage to say a word, William shook his head in disgust.

He grabbed his jacket. “I’m out of here. You’ve made your choice, Evelyn. I hope you’re happy with it.”

It was the slam of the front door that brought Evelyn back to her senses. Though she never would have guessed it, the second William had walked out, she felt an overwhelming sense of loss—like she’d given up something that was more important to her than she’d ever realized. She looked at her mother, opened her mouth, realized she couldn’t string together a coherent sentence, and fled the room as her eyes started to fill with tears. Finding the safety of her bedroom, Evelyn slammed the door and threw herself on her bed, sobbing like she hadn’t since her father’s funeral.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been there by the time she heard a knock on the door.

“Yeah?” Evelyn managed, reaching for a tissue.

She was surprised to see her mother open the door.

“You’re still here?” Evelyn asked, nose all stopped up.

“I called Paul, and he said he’d handle everything.”

Evelyn sat up. “You called out of work? You’ve never done that as long as I’ve known you.”

“I did.” Ella walked over to the desk and turned the chair to face the bed. “Mind if I sit?”

“Of course not.” She blew her nose, feeling like nothing in her life was ever going to be right again. “Why’d you stay home?”

Ella sat down. “Because my daughter needs me,” she answered, as if it had been the only logical choice.

“What?”

“Well, clearly, there are some things going on we need to talk about, don’t you think?”

Evelyn’s face flushed remembering the kiss she and William had shared. “I guess.”

“I can tell when something’s bothering you, you know.”

Evelyn laughed, a hollow, cheerless sound. “Oh, really?” she asked, thinking about all the questions she’d struggled with—things she’d gone to great lengths to conceal from her mother. She didn’t think Ella had any idea what she was in for.

“I can tell that something’s wrong right now.” Though Ella’s posture was upright, as always, her voice was soft, betraying a tenderness she typically concealed.

Evelyn was frustrated. “Only because Will had to go and spill it.”

“Evelyn, are you and Will seeing one another?”

“Yes.”

Ella paused, as if she required a little time to process the news. “Are you sleeping with each other?”

“Yes.”

Ella’s voice wavered slightly, as if she was trying to conceal her reaction to Evelyn’s news. “Are you using protection?”

“Jesus Fucking Christ, Mom, yes. You took me to the doctor for birth control pills, remember?”

Ella’s eyes widened. “Of course. But that was a couple of years ago. I just wanted to make sure you were still being careful. It seems you’re more skilled than I realized at keeping secrets from me, after all.” Ella paused. “And you should watch your language.”

“Me keeping secrets from you? Are you fucking kidding me? I found out you were getting married two weeks before the big day.”

Ella winced at the second f-bomb. “Is that what this is about? Are you mad at me for getting remarried?”

“God, no.” Evelyn was starting to feel increasingly irritated by the calm, even tone of her mother’s voice. Couldn’t the woman ever show emotion?

“Do you dislike Malcolm?”

“You know I like Malcolm, Mom. I’m just saying you didn’t feel the need to keep me informed about your personal life. You shouldn’t be surprised that my life isn’t exactly an open book to you.”

Ella studied her daughter. “I guess that’s fair.” She didn’t say anything about the slightly petulant tone of her daughter’s voice.

Silence stretched out between them.

Ella finally broke it. “How long have you been seeing William?”

“A little over a year. We started hanging out after we met at the Hillford’s holiday party.” She started to relax just the tiniest bit.

“Wow. That long?” Ella’s elegantly arched eyebrows were raised.

Evelyn shrugged.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“The same reason I don’t tell you lots of things. I knew you’d disapprove.”

Ella shook her head, as if she was perplexed. “Evelyn, you’re completely shutting me out. You’re being cryptic, and I’m here, trying to find out what’s gone so terribly wrong between us. Can you please open up to me? Can I ask what other things you haven’t told me?”

“Well, for one, I don’t like chick flicks.” Evelyn realized as the words left her mouth that she’d picked the silliest thing to confess. She almost laughed out loud, but she didn’t want her mother to think she wasn’t taking the conversation—the first real one they’d had in a long time—seriously.

Ella smothered a laugh of her own, and when Evelyn met her mother’s eyes, they both burst out laughing—as if the act was a tension release for them both.

“Okay, so you don’t like chick flicks,” Ella said, wiping tears from her eyes as she finally stopped laughing. “Got it. I’m glad you shared that hugely personal detail with me. What else don’t I know? Is there anything more important?”

Evelyn could feel her heart rate increase as she thought about telling her mother everything. She figured she’d take it one piece of news at a time. “Um, Will and I were going to an MMA fight tonight.”

“Pardon my ignorance, but what’s MMA?”

“Mixed martial arts. It’s anything goes—with a few rules, of course—and it’s the most brutal, exciting thing I’ve ever seen. This was going to be my first big live fight.”

Ella looked slightly appalled. “You were going to a fight? Like boxing?”

“Like boxing, but better.” Evelyn couldn’t help but get excited when she talked about it. “MMA is a fusion of different fighting styles—jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, karate—you can basically use whatever tactic you want to dominate.” Evelyn realized her mother’s eyes had gone wider, and she wondered if too much of her enthusiasm had seeped into her words.

Ella took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if she was using the time to calm herself down. “So you like watching MMA. Can I say that surprises me?”

“I know it does, but yes. I love it. And what’s more? I’ve been training with some MMA coaches. Just for fun, but they actually say I’m pretty good at it.”

“What? You mean you actually fight with people?” Ella’s expression was somewhere between shock and disdain. “Where did you learn about all of this?”

“At the gym. They offered an introductory MMA class, and I thought it might be fun. And I love it.” Evelyn’s eyes shone as she explained. “I’m even thinking about entering an amateur MMA match.”

“Wait a minute, you’re going to fight with someone? In public?”

“Yes.” Evelyn’s tone was emphatic. “I do more than just yoga at the gym, Mom. I’ve been taking MMA classes for nearly a year.”

“You’ve been doing this for a year? Why didn’t you tell me?” For the first time in the conversation, Ella’s composure seemed to slip.

“Seriously? Why would I tell you? You’ve told me my whole life that the most important thing was to be professional and ladylike. You’ve said that visibly defined muscles on women are ugly. You don’t think strong, muscular women can be feminine.” Evelyn stood up and lifted her shirt, exposing her abs. “Look at me, Mom. I think this is beautiful and sexy and strong,” she said, running her hands over the ripples of definition in her muscular torso. “And so does Will.”

Ella just sat still, looking at her daughter as if they were meeting for the first time. “I didn’t know.”

“Because I couldn’t tell you.”

“I just wanted you to have a good work ethic, to be successful.” Ella started to cry. “I didn’t want you to have to hide things from me because you thought I’d disapprove. Now I feel like a complete failure as a mother.”

Evelyn watched her mother tearing up. “You’re not a failure. I do have a good work ethic. And I will be successful. I just may do it differently than you have.”

“But if you thought you couldn’t talk to me, I must have been doing something terribly wrong.”

“You know, Mom, I don’t think you did anything wrong. The problem was mine. I think it was more that I needed to be strong enough to risk disappointing you. I needed to find a way to come out of hiding and be my own person.” Evelyn thought for a moment, handing Ella the box of tissues. “You know, it was Will who made me realize that.”

“Will knows all of this?” Ella blew her nose, somehow still managing to look composed while she did.

“He does. In fact, he’s the one person on the planet I feel completely comfortable with.”

Ella frowned. “I can’t decide whether I’m happy you’ve found someone who understands you, or if I’m sad that person isn’t me.”

“Mom, you’ve been there for me my whole life. It’s time that role shifts to someone else.”

She didn’t sound convinced. “I suppose.” Ella’s eyes widened. “Oh, my goodness. Does Malcolm know?”

“No. Or at least he didn’t. I don’t know if Will will tell him or not.”

“Well, I have to. I can’t keep secrets from him.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to, Mom. What do you think he’ll say?”

“I don’t really know. Malcolm’s relationship with Will is complicated, to say the least.” Ella looked up at her daughter, her eyes red from the tears she’d shed. “Is there anything else I should know while we’re at it?”

“Just one more thing. I’m changing my major. I want to be a physical therapist. I have an appointment to talk to my advisor about it next week.” Evelyn exhaled, feeling like a ton of bricks had been lifted from her shoulders. “And that’s everything. You know it all now.” She flopped down to sit on the edge of her bed.

Ella took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Okay. It may take me a while to process all of this, but I have an idea.” She stood up and held out a hand to her daughter. “You, me, and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. What do you say?”

Evelyn took her mother’s hand. “Perfect.”

It was after midnight when Evelyn heard the front door open. Her mother had gone to bed hours before, when Malcolm had returned home from work. The evening had turned out to be a good one, as far as Evelyn was concerned. She and her mother had talked about Evelyn’s change of career plans, and they’d agreed to leave the discussion of William and Evelyn’s relationship for another time. Evelyn wasn’t sure if her mother and Malcolm would talk about the newly revealed relationship, but she’d decided she would no longer try to manage the situation. If they wanted to talk about it, she’d let them talk about it.

She’d cleaned up the evidence that she and her mother had devoured all of the ice cream in the house, and settled back onto the couch to wait for William to return home. Part of her was afraid he wouldn’t return. Part of her wanted a little more time to think.

When she heard his footsteps coming up the stairs from the front door, she turned on the light next to her.

“Hey,” was all she could think to say.

“Didn’t realize anyone was still up,” he answered, running his hand through his wavy hair, messing it up in a way Evelyn found irresistible.

“I was waiting to talk to you.”

“So talk.”

Evelyn looked up at William as he leaned against the door jamb. He looked more closed off, more defensive than usual, and she knew it was her fault. It was her constant dancing around the status of their relationship, worrying about concealing the truth, that had hurt him and forced him to retreat into himself as a means of self-preservation. She knew she needed to make amends, and she intended to start right away.

“Will you sit?” she asked.

He sat on the couch, wordlessly putting more space between them than he typically would have, and Evelyn accepted his need for distance.

“Will, I owe you an apology. Actually, I guess I owe you a lot of apologies.”

He was inscrutable, and Evelyn started to worry that maybe she’d finally pushed him too far.

“You have offered me a gift—something precious, and I never realized how much it meant to me until I faced losing it.” Evelyn thought about reaching out for William, trying to bridge the distance between them with a physical connection. She stopped, though, and forced herself to keep talking. “You’ve given me love and support that I didn’t really deserve. You’ve given me the freedom to be myself, something no one else has ever given me.”