Page 66 of Havenfall Harbor
“Do you have any plans today?” Evan asks, ignoring me mentioning getting to bed.
I plant my palm on my forehead. “I forgot it was Saturday.” I was thinking I would be in my office all day. Now what am I going to do? I don’t want to go back to my room, not until the lock is fixed.
“Does that mean yes? This for me?” Griffin questions, looking over at Evan who nods and continues to sip from his cup, watching me.
“Nope, no plans for me.” I rock back on my heels and focus my attention on picking my food into bite-sized pieces.
“We should show you around!” I look up at Evan after his proclamation. “Alice was going to take you to Bakersville, right? You didn’t get to go. We can take you.” Evan lifts his hand and waves at Griffin, including him in on the plan.
“I mean, that’s really nice of you, but you guys have already done enough for me.” I push away the idea and how appealing it sounds.
“Do you not want to go with us?” Griffin picks up his own disposable cup.
“It’s not that.” I peer between the two of them. “I just don’t want you guys to feel obligated to hang out with me.” I tuck a piece of damp hair behind my ear—good thing I remembered to grab my brush and a few other things to put in my bag yesterday.
Evan leans his wide shoulder against the wall and peers at me with his chin lowered just enough that it seems like his eyes are smiling at me. “I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to take you. Plus, you’d be doing me a favor.”
Evan makes it easy to want to go. “And what favor would that be?” I plant my empty hand on my hip, waiting.
“It’s two-fold really.” Evan runs his thumb down the side of his jaw, slightly scratching the scruff there. “Griffin barely speaks, it can get kind of lonely, but more importantly, we can get to know each other better.”
I furrow my brow, is Evan Winters flirting with me? I can’t even form a response before Griffin adds, “All of us.”
I glance between the two of them, suddenly feeling like it’s getting warm in here. Playing it cool, I reply, “Where are we going? I might need to change.”
“No, you’re good. Perfect.” Evan hides his smile behind the rim of his cup, but I can see the crinkling around his eyes. Now I feel like he’s poking fun at me. I cast him a sideways look, checking out what he’s wearing. Different jeans from last night and a dark gray t-shirt, which is fitted in all the right places in that effortless guy way. It would take a tailor to get that kind of fit on a woman.
“Okay then, looks like you’re stuck with me playing third wheel.”
Evan places his coffee back on the tray with a slight scoff. “Not a third wheel, think of us more as a trifecta.”
“Should we get going?” Griffin pipes up before I question Evan’s word choice, drawing my attention to him.
“Are you ready?” The question pops out as I look at him. He’s wearing dark linen pants and a black thermal shirt. The same clothes he was wearing last night. “Did you sleep on the couch?” I ask, getting back to my original thought when I first saw him.
“A little.” Griffin shrugs indifferently.
“I thought you were going to Evan’s.” I glance over at Evan as he reaches for a glistening doughnut from the tray.
“Well, I didn’t. Neither did he.”
“We both dozed off,” Evan agrees, acting like it’s no big deal. I think back to all the times I would wake up and find a friend of a roommate crashed on the couch.
“Okay, I just don’t want to be the cause of you guys losing sleep,” I divulge, but if they aren’t going to make a big deal about it, I’m sure not going to.
Evan leans his head a little closer to mine and mock whispers, “It was worth it. We had fun.” He makes sure to look over at Griffin as if he’s including him in the statement. A grin tugs at my mouth. I had fun too, even if I was here for a strange reason. Which reminds me why I’m really here in the first place.
“Think we could stop by the hardware store? I can pick up an interior deadbolt for when I’m in the room.”
Evan leans back, his face smoothing out quickly. “Sure, we could find something.” His tone goes from playful to much more serious.
“You’ll still need to stay here though,” Griffin says, as he turns to head back to his bedroom area.
I furrow my brow. “I can’t stay here forever. I just need a better lock.” My voice rises as Griffin continues to walk away from me. I look at Evan, feeling a little exasperated. “He does that to me all the time, just leaves when he feels like it.”
“He’s a royal pain in the ass, literally. Don’t let it bother you, he barely speaks to most people.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that.” I look down the hall where Griffin disappeared. “Did you find anything out about the keypad lock, or when we could install it?”
