She lets go of Stevie to hug me, but my hug lasts a whopping two seconds.
She hooks her arm around Stevie’s, taking off with her. “You got my bag, Ev?” she calls over her shoulder.
I stand with my two best friends as the three of us watch my sister kidnap Stevie, taking her to the couch and excitedly chatting on about God knows what.
“So, does everyone like my girlfriend more than me? Is that how this works?”
“Yes,” Logan answers without hesitation.
“Welcome to the club, my man.” Maddison adds a pat on my shoulder before taking my sister’s bag to stash away from the front door.
Sometime after dinner and birthday cake, I find myself alone with Logan and Maddison once again as we collectively clean up the dishes in the kitchen. Between Ella and Lindsey, I’ve barely seen Stevie all night. They’ve stolen her away from me more times than I can count.
But I’ve got to say, I can’t help but love the way all my favorite people love her. She’s so special, and sweet, and hilarious and hasn’t recognized her worth due to the company she kept. People were in her life to get closer to her brother. Then there’s her mother, who always made her feel like she wasn’t enough. But here, with these people that are my family, she’s more than enough. She’s welcomed and wanted.
I wrap my arm around the birthday girl. “Thanks for being so cool to Stevie. She’s never really had good friends, so it means a lot.”
Logan’s head melts into my side. “That’s wild to me because we all really like her.”
“Yeah, I think it was more so she didn’t do a good job of standing up for herself when people would try to use her friendship to get closer to her brother. She’s starting to figure it out, though.” My admiring gaze finds my girlfriend in the living room with Lindsey.
“Zee.” Logan nudges me. “She’s great. But more than that, she makes you like who you are, and that makes me love her.”
I watch as my girl and my sister sit on the floor of the living room together, a glass of wine in Lindsey’s hand and a beer in Stevie’s. Rosie is passed out next to Ella on the couch, who is currently in a sugar coma due to the chocolate birthday cake still smeared across her mouth.
“What are you two talking about?” I find my way to the living room, taking a seat on the couch as I pull on Stevie’s hand to join me. She climbs on my lap, tucking her feet under my leg, and offering her beer for me to take a swig.
“Stevie is trying to convince me to adopt a dog,” my sister announces.
My girlfriend’s smile is wide and not so innocent.
“Oh yeah? And how’s that going?”
“She wants us to go by Senior Dogs of Chicago in the morning.”
Stevie’s laugh is quiet, but I detect the mischievous undertone in it. I know what she’s doing.
“Then I hope you’re ready to take a dog back to Atlanta because I went there once, and I was done for.” I motion towards the Doberman, happily sleeping on her back next to my niece.
“I’d be so into it if I were ever home, but I live at the office these days. Stevie, how many do you have at home?”
Her freckled cheeks turn a slight shade of rose. “Oh, I don’t have any of my own. I live with my brother, and he’s allergic. But I get to volunteer at the shelter and love on them every day, so that’s a win.”
I pull her into me. “Besides, Vee is over at my place almost every night anyway. Rosie is as much her dog as she is mine.”
Stevie brushes me off, shaking her head. “It’s okay that I don’t have my own,” she tells my sister. “As long as I get to help them all find their forever homes, it’s okay that it’s not with me.”
I swear, everything that comes out of this girl’s mouth has me falling a little more.
She’s an interesting mix of soft and firm. Insecure and confident. Bold and shy. But regardless of the duality of her personality, her heart is always tender and open.
“Ev, the headlines have been ridiculous lately,” Lindsey changes the topic of conversation.
Stevie’s focus bounces anywhere but me or my sister, her body stiff and uncomfortable as she sits on my lap.
I run a soothing hand up her back. “They’re just looking for anything because they haven’t caught me out on the town partying or leaving the arena with anyone.”
Stevie awkwardly adjusts. This has been a bit of a sore subject for her lately. I can handle people shitting on me, but she has a hard time reading the lies, regardless that this was something we agreed upon until I can get my contract extended.
“Did you see the one yesterday about you having a secret love child, and that’s why you haven’t been photographed out?” Lindsey’s head falls back with a laugh.
“I do have a child.” I rub Rosie’s belly. “She’s just not a secret.”
I was hoping to pull a little smile from Stevie’s lips with that, but it’s no use, so I wrap my arm around her hip and pull her into me a little more.
“It’s sucked lately,” I admit. “Having to hide this and keep Rich off my back about everything else. More and more people camp outside my building, and getting Stevie over from across the street has been harder to do.”
“You guys should just move in together,” Lindsey casually states.
Stevie coughs up her beer, turning into a sputtering mess.
Glad we’re on the same page with progressing at a normal pace regardless of everyone around us assuming we’re going to move at the speed of light.
“Linds, if you could try not to make my girlfriend choke, that’d be great.” I lean my lips in close to Stevie’s ear, whispering, “That’s my job.”
Her mouth falls open, swatting me in the chest.
“Damn. I still can’t believe you have a girlfriend.” Lindsey shakes her head. “But at some point, you’ve got to put a stop to all the media crap, Ev. Your fans love you, and they’ll be stoked to know you’re happy. They’ve had fun with your unlovable bad boy bullshit because that’s all you’ve given them. But you’re going to need to show them who you really are and give them a chance to love that guy.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying,” Stevie agrees under her breath.
“And if they don’t like the real you, well then I’ll fucking sue them. I’m a lawyer. I can do that.”
My sister’s humor relaxes the three of us, so much so that there’s finally a smile back on Stevie’s face.
I know Lindsey’s right. Stevie, Logan, and Maddison have all been preaching the same thing, but it freaks me out to change it up and show my true colors this close to a re-signing date. I’m only a couple of months away. I can deal with the bullshit narrative until then.
I just hope Stevie can too.
37
STEVIE
“You wanna close your mouth, or are you planning on mopping up the galley floor after the flight?”
Indy’s words bring me out of my daze as I quickly shut my mouth, wiping the corners of my lips for good measure.