It was not the family dinner Linc had been expecting or the one he wanted to have.
Poppy convinced Darcy it would be fun to have a picnic dinner upstairs in Olivia’s room. But they all knew the real reason. Not one of the women wanted to even be in the same room as Emmett.
“Told you he was gonna fucking ruin Christmas,” Ethan hissed to Linc.
They’d have more to worry about than Christmas if Wyatt decided to go against their father’s wishes and mentioned the will to Emmett.
Thank goodness the old man had arrived shortly after Eva’s dramatic exit. Linc noticed his father had been keeping Emmett close all night. And keeping an eye on his eldest son.
“He hangs around much longer he’s going to ruin everything, including my relationship with Poppy,” Ethan continued. “You know what she told me in the kitchen? She’s moving back to the Wilder until he leaves town. Now the bastard is ruining my sex life too.”
Not having all that much sympathy for his brother, Linc asked, “Can’t you just do it at the Wilder?”
Ethan scowled. “She thinks we should run the scumbag out of town, not welcome him back, and I don’t disagree. She’s not going to let me touch her until this shit is resolved. She’s pissed, man.”
That Emmett could drive even sweet and sunshiny Poppy to anger said something.
Linc rolled his eyes. “You’ll live.”
He could play like he didn’t empathize with Ethan’s plight, but it was a lie. He knew exactly what his brother was going through because he was going through it too.
Being with Eva again had always been tentative, but now it was unlikely, bordering on impossible. He felt the loss of her presence—in this house, in his life—more than he should, proving it wasn’t just the sex he was missing. It was her.
“Hey, did you notice anything different about him?” Ethan tipped his chin toward their cousin, who was working on putting quite a dent in a bottle of Wyatt’s prized whisky.
“Like what?” Linc asked.
“Like when he left here he was sporting a ponytail and now his head is all but shaved. Doesn’t that seem weird. It’s almost like he joined the Army or something.”
Linc shot his brother a sideways glance. All Ethan had done was remind him how pissed he was that Emmett had used Linc’s Army photo to lie to women about being a soldier on one of his many fake dating profiles. For that alone Emmett deserved to be pummeled.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Now it was going to be even harder for Linc to keep Emmett close. Sun Tzu, the originator of that ancient advice, must have been a frigging saint to pull that one off.
Still scowling, he said, “Maybe he realized long hair on a balding man is not a good look. Or maybe whatever girl he was wooing at the time liked short hair.”
Or maybe he didn't want to be recognized by the cops or whatever woman he'd wronged lately, which seemed more likely.
Either way, Linc didn’t understand what Emmett’s hair had to do with anything. If Ethan couldn’t come up with better small talk, maybe they should just sit quietly. He was remembering why he liked being alone. And why he’d moved to the cabin… where frigging Emmett was now staying. Ugh.
“Jeezus. I just thought of something.” Ethan’s eyes were wide when he turned to Linc. “What if Poppy goes back to New York? What if they all do, because of him?”
“Olivia can’t. Not pregnant and married to Wyatt now. And Poppy and Eva won’t leave Olivia.” Linc was pretty sure Ethan was worrying for nothing.
“You don’t think so? I’m not so sure. The way they’re acting because of him being around again, I think they just might.”
Linc scowled. He couldn’t argue that point with Ethan, but he could voice his unhappiness. “You really know how to ruin an evening. You know that?”
Ethan let out a snort. “Don’t blame me. You know where that blame belongs.”
“Yup,” Linc agreed. There was no doubt about that. Both of their gazes moved to where Emmett sat by their father and Wyatt.
“So why the fuck did you bring him here tonight to ruin family dinner?” Turning to face him, Ethan asked the question Linc had been asking himself since they’d arrived tonight and Linc had seen exactly how bad everyone’s reaction had been to his presence.
“He was with me in the truck. I had to tell him something. What was I going to do? Dump him at the cabin and say bye?”
Ethan screwed his mouth up unhappily. “Should have just left him in town to fend for himself.”
“He has no vehicle. And I’m sure as hell not giving him mine,” Linc said.
“He wouldn’t need a vehicle if he was living back at his old apartment. He could eat at Rosie’s. Drink at the bar. Walk anywhere he needed to go.”
Sometimes, Ethan had flashes of brilliance that made Linc almost forget how annoying he could be.
That might be it—the solution. He knew what he could do to fix things. At least help make everyone a little happier. Or, in his own case, a whole lot happier. He could have Emmett out of his house and Eva back in his bed. All he had to do was run the idea by her.
He wanted to jump in his truck and speed down to Eva’s apartment to present his offer to her in person.
But again, he was Emmett’s ride. And if he said he was heading to town, Emmett would want to come and go to the bar. And the rest of his family would want to know where he was going and why since it wasn’t Linc’s habit to leave family dinner to go out drinking alone—or with Emmett.
He wasn’t about to tell them all, including his dad, the truth. That he was trying to secure his future sexual satisfaction. With Eva, the woman no one knew he was falling for.
Falling for.
That was a thought he’d unpack later. After this was settled. For now though, he’d just have to text her.
“I’m gonna go uh, use the head,” he said to Ethan.
Ethan’s brows rose as he shot Linc a look. “Uh, okay. Thanks for the update.”
Ignoring his brother’s attitude, he disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door so he could type out the text to Eva in private.
He held his breath, staring at the display, waiting for her answer. It felt like forever. But it might have only been a minute or so, when the dots appeared and he knew she was typing.
Heart pounding, he waited, and finally, her text appeared.
No surprise. Of course she couldn’t just give him a straight yes or no answer. But he could. He typed it in and had no trouble admitting the truth.
He smiled as he read her reply and sent her a thumbs up emoji in response.
It was a genius idea, even if it did originate from Ethan’s comment. Could things actually be working out? Getting better?
Someone tried the knob, found the door locked and started to pound on the bathroom door. That was followed by Emmett calling out, “Hey! I gotta get in there.”
It was the reminder Linc needed that things wouldn’t really be all right again until Emmett—and the specter of that will hanging over them—was out of all their lives. For good.