I’d decided to try and put him out of my mind when I realised that would be impossible. Out of the question, actually, because when I visited my mother two days after he’d walked out of my house on an angry outburst, Kick was at her house again.

As I entered her kitchen, I asked, “Where is he? I saw his bike out front.”

She looked up from the vegetables she was cutting up and smiled at me. “He’s out the back, cleaning the gutters.”

“Why?”

She frowned. “I guess because he’s a nice guy and wanted to help me.”

“So he just dropped by and decided to do it for you?” I asked, incredulous.

“He told me he’d noticed them the other day, so that’s why he came back. Are you annoyed about it?”

I huffed out a breath. “I don’t know how I feel, Mum. I’m like a big knot of stress at the moment. One minute I want him and then the next he pisses me off and I just want him to leave.” God, I felt like one of those whiny bitches I couldn’t fucking stand.

Just make up your mind already.

A huge smile spread across her face. “Baby, you’ve always loved Kick, and from what you just said, I don’t think that love is going anywhere soon. You two have always had that push and pull where you piss each other off, so that’s nothing new.”

“Maybe I don’t want a relationship like that anymore. Maybe I want something easier with no pissing each other.”

She laughed. “Oh, Evie... you’d be bored in a day.”

She was right and I fucking knew it.

And that pissed me off even more.

God damn it.

I left her and went in search of Kick. I found him and Braden up on the roof out the back. He didn’t realise I was there for a couple of minutes, so I took the opportunity to watch him and just soak him in. He was shirtless and his muscles rippled as he moved. And I had an awesome view of his ass, too, so every time he bent over, he blessed my eyes with that ass.

Oh god.

My mother was so right when she said I’d be bored without the push and pull Kick and I had.

I still love him.

With every fibre of my being.

With every scar he’d left on my heart.

I still want a life with him.

As I was caught up in my thoughts, he must have seen me. “Evie,” his voice filtered through and I blinked him into focus.

“Hi,” I said, smiling up at him.

“You staying long?” he asked, his frustration with me from the other day gone.

I had a couple of things to do, one of them being to visit my dad to get more information out of him about the guy he owed money to. I’d been desperately trying to find a way to borrow the money but I’d still had no luck yet so I figured maybe we could negotiate with the guy. “I’ve gotta go and see Dad but I’ll be here for a while.”

A look of irritation crossed his face, and he said, “I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Okay.” I had no idea what the irritation was about but I figured he would clue me in soon.

“Hey, Evie,” Braden called out, waving to me.

I waved back. “Hey, Braden. Long time, no see.”

“Yeah. I reckon it’s about time you two got your shit sorted,” he said with a huge grin.

I waved him away with a flick of my hand. “Yeah, yeah... you wouldn’t be the first person to say that.”

He laughed a huge belly laugh. “Well got on that, woman.”

I shook my head and laughed. “I’ll leave you guys to it. I’m going back inside out of the heat.”

“Have a coldie waiting for me,” Braden said.

I smiled to myself. I’d missed the banter with Kick’s brother. Although our parents had killed their relationship, us kids had stayed friends, but when Kick and I had broken up the last time, I’d cut all ties. I’d needed to put distance between us, and being friends with his family would make that hard.

As I turned to walk back inside, I caught a glimpse of Kick standing on the roof staring down at me. He seemed surprised about something, and I couldn’t figure out what, so I just gave him a smile and continued on.

My phone rang a second later and I answered it absently. “Hi,” I said, having no idea who it was because I hadn’t even checked the caller id.

“What’s got you all distracted?” Maree asked.

Thank god. I could get her perspective on this before I saw Kick again. “Who do you think?”

“I am guessing it’s that hot man of yours.” I could practically hear her licking her lips.

“He’s not my man. But fuck, I think I want him to be.”

“Of course you do, babe. I mean, who wouldn’t?”

I laughed. “No, Maree, I mean I really do want him. Not just for his body.”

She grew serious. “As in, you still love him?”

I sighed. “I never stopped loving him. I just didn’t want to admit it. But I don’t know how we can make it work with all the baggage between us.”

“If you want him, you have to fight for him. You have to work out what’s holding you back and find a way to get rid of it. ‘Cause I’ve gotta say, you’re an amazing woman, Evie, but you came alive when you were with Kick the other night. I’ve never seen you light up like that. On your own, you kick ass, but I can only imagine how awesome you’d be with Kick by your side.”

Shit.

I knew what it was.