Page 37 of Back to Square One

But Rowan wasn’t about to move.

Nope.

She knew she should. She knew she ought to gently jostle Evie a bit, shrug her shoulder, make her head loll until she opened her eyes and sat up.

But she didn’t.

Nope.

She was going to soak this in.

She gently settled herself closer to Evie, got a bit more comfortable, and made sure Evie’s head wouldn’t roll too much. Her warm hand was still on Rowan’s thigh, and Rowan was fine with that. In fact, if she closed her own eyes for just a moment, it was like she’d gone back in time. Before her injury. Before Evie had broken up with her. Before, before, before.

She glanced toward the front of the boat and met Stevie’s concerned expression but turned away. She’d hear about it from Stevie later, and that was fine. For now, she simply wanted to be in this moment. Revel in it. Sink down into it and stay there.

She didn’t look at any of the other passengers in the boat for the remainder of the ride. She sat quietly—happily, if she was honest about it—with Evie leaning on her and watched the lake and all its occupants. She ran a little monologue in her head, continuing what she and Evie had started, the game they’d always played whenever they were out in public. What’s the story with that couple? What’s that woman thinking right now? Where do you think that group of friends know each other from? And the whole time, she felt the warmth of Evie’s body next to her, Evie’s palm flat on her thigh, Evie’s leg pressed against hers. The delicious familiarity of it made it almost feel like no time had passed. None. She and Evie were together, and they were on vacation with their friends like they were every summer. And it felt so good, so perfect that Rowan felt tears spring into her eyes.

It was too soon that they were chugging their way back to their own dock, and internally, she gave a sad sigh. Rowan would have preferred it if they just floated around the lake forever, but that was not to be. She thought about Claire for the first time since Evie had fallen asleep, and while she wouldn’t have been sad if Claire saw them in their current state, she didn’t want Evie to have to deal with it.

“Hey,” she said quietly, giving Evie a gentle shake. “Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Time to wake up.”

Evie took in a deep breath, as people did when they woke from a sleep, and blinked several times at Rowan.

“Oh, God,” she said quietly, looking down at her own body, how close it was to Rowan, her hand on Rowan’s leg. Her eyes went wide, and her cheeks tinted a light pink. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry.”

The words hit Rowan like a blow, which, of course they did, and she gave Evie a sad smile. “No worries. I didn’t mind. At all.” And that was the truthiest of truths, wasn’t it?

“I didn’t even realize I was that sleepy, but it happens sometimes with—” The embarrassment was so plain in her voice that it squeezed Rowan’s heart, and she put her hand over Evie’s.

“Hey.” She waited until Evie met her gaze. Reluctantly. “Stop. It’s fine. I said I didn’t mind, and I meant it. Okay?”

Evie’s dark eyes bored into hers, and there was a wetness there, as if she was close to tears.

“Seriously.”

Finally, with a swallow and a nod, Evie whispered, “Okay. Thank you.”

“Any time.”

And then they were next to the dock and Stevie was jumping out to tie them off, and the ride was over. Back to reality. Damn it.

Evie was off the boat first, grabbing Stevie’s hand for help, then hurrying up the dock. Rowan loitered as the rest of them got off, and when she reached for Stevie’s hand, it was held tight.

“Everything okay?” Stevie asked, her question more loaded than a huge plate of nachos.

“Fine. I was just living in the past for a bit there.”

Stevie squeezed her hand. “You’re sure?”

Rowan gave her a sad smile. “Yeah. Promise.”

Stevie took another beat to search her face, and Rowan let her. It wasn’t like she could ever hide anything from Stevie anyway, so she let her look, and when she was finally satisfied, she let go of Rowan’s hand. “Okay.”

Stevie’s arm around Rowan’s shoulders, they headed up to the house.

The fire that night was lively. Sara was there, and she always brought a new injection of life to any gathering. It’s just how she was.

Rowan sat across the fire from her and watched her and Stevie together, how natural they were, how obvious their love was, how they complemented each other in every way. Stevie was a handsome masc, long and lean and muscular, thanks to her job. Light hair and eyes, and a wisdom in those eyes that was hard to miss. Her heart was always right there for everybody to see—she pulled no punches. She hid nothing about herself. With Stevie, what you saw was what you got. Sara was the opposite in coloring. Her dark hair and eyes contrasted with Stevie’s perfectly. Her nose was a bit large for her face, but it worked, and her smile was gentle and infectious, almost ever present. It was hard not to feel safe and joyful around Sara. The two of them together were like magic, and not for the first time, Rowan found herself envious of their relationship. They were #couplegoals all the way.