But dating his daughter pushed it to the line with Jacob.

Driving his son into a guardrail at forty miles an hour, after mixing him up with his uncle's criminal schemes shoved it right over that line.

Dad basically banished Silas that night, and no amount of me swearing that I hated him or telling him the full story was going to change that. In his head, Silas was the kink in the chain of his family, and it needed to be hammered out.

Course we never knew until Silas came back to town a year ago to make things right that he and Ivy had gotten f.u.c.king married a couple days before he left town that night.

Anyways, it's a long and complicated story, but suffice to say, I owe Silas my life and then some.

A whole d.a.m.n lot of 'then some'.

"I don't look like s.h.i.t," I mutter, looking out the window as we drive into Lynn towards the job site. Dad managed to wrangle both of us into helping out today with some of the carpentry stuff.

"You do, trust me."

"Whatever dude, least I'm not letting Ivy put f.u.c.king coconut product in my hair, or wherever that s.h.i.t is in yours."

"It's a healthy, natural shine, dude."

We both snort into laughs.

"You're ridiculous."

"Ah s.h.i.t," Silas grumbles as we pull into the parking lot. He nods, and I glance up to see Leonard Ellis screaming at some poor worker.

"That guy," Silas mutters.

"That guy needs to cool the f.u.c.k out or they're never going to get this place done."

"He wanted the framing crew to take turns pa.s.sing around the book of Isaiah the other day in between framing out windows. Those guys are on a deadline, they almost walked off the job. He knows it multi-denominational, right?"

I frown. "I honestly don't know. I'll get Dad to simmer him down. They've got that divinity school connection. Besides, he scares the s.h.i.t out of me."

"Yeah? And why's that?"

I turn to see Silas grinning at me.

I swallow, shrugging. "Cause he's intense."

"About?"

"This going somewhere, man?"

He shrugs. "Nope."

"No, please, speak."

"Rowan."

"Silas."

He grins and shakes his head, turning to look out the front of the truck. "Dude, I've known you for a long time." He turns back, giving me a knowing look.

"What."

"Quite a bathroom break you took the other night at dinner."

"Had to take care of-"

"Right, right. Bar stuff." He grins. "So weird that Eva had such a hard time finding a serving bowl."

I frown. "It's not like she knows Mom's kitch-"

"They're literally on a shelf at eye level next to the oven."

My mouth snaps shut.

"You think Preacher Leonard's calling down fire and brimstone now." He shrugs as he opens the door and starts to step out. "That dude's going to call down the f.u.c.king Rapture if he catches you messing around with his daughter, I hope you know that."

"Hey!" I jump out of the truck. "Not what you think."

Silas puts his hands in the air as he walks away. "Lying is a sin you know!" he calls back over his shoulder.

"a.s.shole."

"Love you too, buddy."

Chapter Seventeen.

Evangeline

"You've never done this before, have you."

I stiffen at the sound of his voice, refusing to turn around. "Sure I have," I say primly, hefting the electric drill in my hands going back to my task of trying to put this stupid bunkbed together.

Rowan laughs. "See I thought your whole thing was that you hadn't done a lot of s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g."

My face goes hot as I freeze, my hands tightening on the drill.

"Well, you know, or any as the case may be."

I purse my lips as I turn.

"Can I help you with something?"

"I was about to ask you that."

"I'm fine, thank you."

I turn back, gritting my teeth and revving the drill.

"Stop, stop."

I sigh heavily and stop the drill as his hands wave in front of my face. I turn again. "What?"

"You're stripping the screws."

"I am not."

He grins. "You are. You're using the wrong bit, see? Here." He reaches past me, his arm brushing mine as he grabs the drill case and opens it up.

"Use this one."

He takes the drill from my hand, unclipping the front part and putting the new attachment on. "Try it."

I take the drill from his hands and glare at him. "Are you going to watch?"

"Gotta make sure you're s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the right way, don't I?"

I roll my eyes, willing the heat from my face.

"Oh, hey, I brought a peace offering."

"A peace offering?"

"It's even religious, you'll love it." He holds up a brown paper bag and shakes it. "Here."

I put the drill down and take it from him. "Thanks?" My brow furrows as I open it up. "Donuts?" I glance up at him. "How are donuts religious?"

"Because they're hole-y."

I groan as he laughs. "That's awful."

"That is comedy."

"So what's the peace offering for?"

"For the other night. I'm sorry about that."

"Which part."

I snap my lips shut but the words are already out there, and I glance up to see him grinning with a brow raised.

"Forget I said that."

He shrugs. "Well for what it's worth, I meant I was sorry for giving you a hard time and making you uncomfortable."

I nod. "Thanks."

"I'm not actually all that sorry about the other part."

I blink quickly. "What other part."

"The part where I kissed you."

I shiver at the memory, heat blooming up inside.

"Well, you should be," I say with snap.

"Maybe, but I'm not and you know what?" He leans in, getting close.

I swallow quickly.

"I don't think you're all that sorry either."

His lips brush my ear as he moves away, and I can barely breathe with my heart this high in my chest.

"So, when's the next lesson?"

I shake my head. "No."

"No?"

"Nope, no way. No more lessons."

"Really."

"Yeah, no, that was..." I shake my head. "That was a bad idea."

"If you say so."

"I do."

His eyes trace over mine, and I'm lost in them for a second before I somehow find myself and drag what's left of my ability to think out of that gaze.

"I have to get back to- to..."