Chapter 51
Lucas sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You are persistent. Look, I care about Evie, and I
think it’s fair to say that you can’t be trusted either.”
Timothy’s anger wavered for a moment as he looked into Lucas’s eyes. How much had Evie told
him? Or maybe Lucas had just made his own assumptions from the news?
Still, despite what he did to Evie, Lucas was the one dating her. He was also the one cheating on
her in in sight.
“I care about Evie too,” Timothy said, his voice softening. “Enough that I’ll tell her all about how
you’ve been going behind her back.”
Lucas looked down, wiping away the speck of blood that had escaped his busted lip. “So you really
like her, huh?” he asked, his voice oddly neutral.
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Timothy took a deep breath. “I want you to leave Evie alone,” he repeated. “She deserves better
than this, and I won’t let you hurt her.”
Lucas nodded, his expression pained. “I don’t want to hurt her,” he said, his voice barely above a
whisper. “But I don’t know if I can stay away from her.”
“If you care about her, you’ll let her go,” said Timothy. “It’s the least you can do after everything
that’s happened.”
Lucas looked torn, as if waging a war within himself. Finally, he looked up at Timothy, his eyes filled
with regret..
“I’ll break up with her,” he said finally,
Evie
As I stepped into the quaint little grocery store, I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the list
of ingredients. Cake seemed like the safest choice, assuming he hadn’t thrown out thest slice I
gave him.
I pushed my cart down the aisle, picking up a bag of flour and sugar, only to put them back
momentster. Should I make a ssic vani cake, or something more adventurous like a
chocte raspberry cake? The choices seemed endless, and I didn’t want to disappoint Timothy
with a subpar creation.
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Agonizing over a cake would have seemed so silly to me before, but here I was biting my nails over
baking something perfect for Timothy. The events from these past couple of days were still
lingering in my heart. The fear of losing Timothy had been unbearable, and the realization of how
much he meant to me was both overwhelming and ufortable.
Then again, he shouldn’t have been something for me to lose.
As I strolled down the sidewalk, my phone rang, and I saw Lucas’s name sh on the screen. I
answered quickly and pressed the phone to my ear.
“Hey, Lucas,” I said, approaching my car. “What’s up?”
Lucas’s voice on the other end sounded slightly strained. “Hey, Evie,” he replied. “Are you okay?” I
asked, opening the passenger door. “You sound off.”
“I’ve been thinking,” Lucas started.
I chuckled. “Oh, really? What’s on your mind, Lucas?”
Lucas cleared his throat, not sounding as chipper as he usually did. “Well, you know we’ve been
pretending to be in a rtionship for a while now. I think it’s time to call it quits.”
I rolled her eyes yfully. “Oh, no! What went wrong? Was it my cooking again?”
That
got augh out him, but it quickly died off with a sigh. “Oh, it was definitely the cooking. But
seriously, I’m breaking up with you, Evie. It’s been fun, but I think we’ve had enough of our fake
rtionship.”
“You’re breaking my heart, Lucas. How will I ever survive without you as my pretend boyfriend?”
“Well, I’m sure there’s one fe waiting next in line,” he said with a snort. “Your darling hockey
yer gave me a shinerst night.”
My eyes widened. “Oh my gosh!” I mmed the door and rushed to the driver’s seat. “Timothy
punched you? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, Lucas assured me. “Guess he caught me having too much fun with some guy at the
club.”
A mix of emotions surged through me. On one hand, Timothy cared about me
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enough to stand up for me, even with the rtionship being false. On the other hand, I hated the
fact that my friend had to get punched for no good reason.
“He was pretty worked up about it. He was really protective of you,” Lucas continued. “Even told me
to break things off between us.”
“Break things off…” I ced the phone on the dashboard and turned on the speaker. “So you’re
breaking up with me?”
Lucas kissed his teeth. “Well, I don’t n on getting punched again, so yes, I’m ending things.”
I stifled augh and ced my hands on the wheel. My amusement had quickly deteriorated into
something more delirious. The barrier between Timothy and me was quickly eroding.
I took a deep breath, trying to collect her thoughts. “I’m sorry,” I said sincerely. “If there’s any
damage or medical bills, I’ll cover it.”
“No, no,” Lucas replied quickly. “It’s fine, really. Just…
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line before Lucas spoke again. “I hope you can
figure things out with him. He really cares about you. His fist told
me.”
“He does,” I said, almost absently. “And I’m really sorry, Lucas. I might sock him in the face when I
see him again, just for you!”
“Please do!” he said with augh. “Listen, I’ll let you go. Just take care of yourself, okay?”
“I will,” I promised.
After hanging up with Lucas, I found myself feeling a mix of emotions. I was relieved that he didn’t
me me for what happened, but I couldn’t help but feel. guilty for unintentionally leading him into
Timothy’s wrath. I was going to have to confront him about it.
As I left the elevator to the apartment floor, I noticed a woman standing nervously. in front of
Timothy’s door. She seemed out of ce, and her disarrayed appearance piqued my curiosity. I
hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should
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approach her, but my concern for Timothy outweighed my uncertainty.
“Um, excuse me,” I said gently, stepping closer to her. “Are you looking for someone?”
The woman turned to face me, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Yes, I–I’m looking for
Timothy,” she stammered.
I couldn’t help but notice how her eyes darted nervously between me and the door. “I’m Evie,
Timothy’s neighbor. Is everything okay?”
She let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, yes.”
I furrowed my brow slightly, sensing that there might be more to the story than she was letting on.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Linda nodded rapidly. “I’m sorry, I must look like a mess. I’m Linda.”
I smiled warmly, trying to ease Linda’s nerves. “It’s okay, Linda,” I said. “What did you need Timothy
for?”
Linda smoothed down her hair. “I was just worried about his condition. He hasn’t contacted me in a
while, so I came to see him for myself.”
For some reason that irked me. Were Timothy and Linda close?
“He’s probably out. I know he’s been doing press tourstely, even though he’s not feeling his best
right now. Do you want toe in my apartment and wait?”
Linda hesitated for a moment before nodding gratefully. “Thank you, Evie. I hope. I’m not intruding.
“Not at all,” I assured her as I opened the door to my apartment next door. “Come in and make
yourselffortable.”
As Linda stepped inside, I couldn’t help but notice the awkward tension in the air. I wanted to put
her at ease, so I offered her a seat on the couch and fetched a ss of
water.
“Here, have some water. It’s been a stressful day for both of us,” I said, trying to break the ice.
“Thank you,” Linda replied, taking the ss with a grateful smile.
“Don’t worry too much. Timothy will be okay. He’s strong and resilient,” I told her.
Linda looked at me, her eyes filled with a mix of emotions. “I hope so. I care about him a lot.”
“Dedicated fan?” I asked, partially joking. Her look was serious though, like the weight of the stress
was wearing her down.
Linda took a deep breath, her hands trembling slightly. “I’m Timothy’s… well, I guess you could say
I’m his lover.”
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