Evelyn POVThe next week flew by in a blur. While Buddha and Badger tailed Ricci and Kade, while I stayed “normal” with my undercover mission. I told the team that I didn’t want to know all of the logistics of what the other team members were doing to take down Ricci in case I were ever caught. A must needed safeguard.Since our dinner, Kade seemed distant and distracted. I tried not to read into it, but I couldn’t help but feel a little panicked and hurt at his distance. He never flat out ignored me; however, his texts were simple, and his schedule was abnormally busy at work. Which made seeing each other nearly impossible. Could he know what I and the team were up to? Chief had Arrow helping Zombie sift through paperwork and old case files, making it easier to not feel conflicted between the two men. The fewer lies I needed to tell, the better.As I was cutting up some watermelon for a late evening snack, my phone began to ring. Not looking at the caller ID, I swiped the screen to a

Evelyn POVI quickly swiped the tears pooling in my eyes with my fingers when I heard Kade’s footprints approach. He looked at me and then at the bag of take out and teepee. “Everything alright?” I rubbed a hand down my face. “Yeah, just a misunderstanding.” I braced myself on the island. Warm arms wrapped around my waist. “It didn’t seem like just a misunderstanding.” I turned around in his arms and looped my arms around his neck. I took a deep breath and decided to tell the truth. “Aaron and I have been friends for a long time.” I averted my gaze from him. “At some point we mutually decided to become friends with benefits. But we agreed to not date. We both got what we wanted without the stress of a relationship.” Kade pulled me closer and kissed my temple. “I take it he clearly caught feelings and thought you were something more?” I nodded. “Yeah, I think so. We were only seeing each other so I can understand why he feels the way he does.” I paused. “But then I met you… and thin

—-Evelyn The next morning I had a pit in my stomach when I saw no texts from Aaron. I was finally realizing how much I took for granted the little things such as silly cat memes or reels from New Girl. The silence was a reminder of how I hurt one of the most important people in my life. I looked at the time to see 5:15 AM. A heavy arm draped over my waist. Another reminder of what happened last night. When I looked over my shoulder Alfredo was fast asleep on Kade’s pillow. Wrapping himself around Kade’s head. I quickly snapped a picture of the cuteness overload before a text notification popped up on my phone.Zombie 🧟‍♂️: Care to explain why my roommate came home at 2 AM drunk off his ass and trashed his room? Fuck this wasn’t good if Z was texting me and if Aaron was drinking. He rarely drank but when he did it was usually to void out his feelings.Me 👻: I’m sorry Z. I plan on reaching out today. As much as I wanted to defend myself. I didn’t want to air out my business to so

Evelyn POVI’m not sure how long I was in my room before Kade came in. It wasn’t until his hands framed my face that I snapped out of the trance I was in. He knelt in front of me and continued to cup my cheeks as tears streamed down my face. “Baby, what happened? His brows knitted together. I began to hyperventilate. I couldn’t tell Kade my mother died or else he would figure out the connection with Ricci. “Breathe Evelyn…. Tell me what’s going on.” Kade’s voice was filled with concern. In this moment, was the first time I felt guilty for hiding my identity and sad that I needed to lie to the man I was falling in love with.“My–” I cleared my throat. “My grandma just—” I took a breath. “She’s gone.” Sobs began racking my body as Kade wrapped his arms around me trying to soothe my pain. After a few minutes, Kade scoops me up into his arms and places me further onto my bed. “I’ll be right back baby.”I get lost in my grief and become unsure of how much time has passed. It isn’t until

Evelyn POV As time passed, I let myself break down. Grieving my mother’s death and the death of my relationship with Kade. I lost feeling in my limbs a while ago. All I could see in the dark room was the illuminated EXIT sign near the door. I cried until there was nothing left in my system. As my body began to doze off, the light turned on and the door to the room was shoved open. I jerked awake and blinked my eyes several times to get used to the light in the room. Kade walked in first with his laptop cradled in his arm. Behind him, Machine rolled a metal cart in front of him. Kade placed his computer on the seat across from me and walked over to the cart to grab a water bottle. While unscrewing the cap, he walked over to me. “Open your mouth.” Feeling too weak to fight, I listened. Knowing I needed the water. The water felt good as it soothed my raw throat. After taking several gulps he placed the bottle back on the cart. “So, Ms. Myers, we are going to try this again.” “Why