My Dad's Bestfriend

Chapter 175 I'm Leaving

Evelyn

Chase dropped me off with a quick goodbye hug, and I stepped into the house, instantly engulfed by its familiar darkness. As expected, all the lights were off. That was Dad and Clara's nightly ritual, plunging the house into shadow as if setting the stage for a horror movie. When I'd teased them about it, they only laughed, claiming it was perfectly normal to have a vampiric darkness in your house at night.

But it never felt normal to me. Lately, though, I hadn't bothered to complain. The darkness had become my refuge, a place where I could vanish, and disappear from the weight of the world. It was easier to exist in shadows when you didn't want to be seen.

I kicked off my shoes and started toward the stairs, already feeling the exhaustion seeping into my bones. But then, out of nowhere, the thought popped into my mind: wine.

It had always helped. Especially on nights like this, when my mind was spinning with questions, doubts, and that gnawing anxiety that had been haunting me since Cameron's words. His voice echoed in my head, making me rethink everything. Fear takes away the most precious things in life.

Was I afraid? Had I become that person-the one too scared to love, to take risks? It didn't feel like me. I was never the one to back down. Then how had fear found its way in?

Love didn't make people scared. At least, it wasn't supposed to.

But heartbreaks... heartbreaks did.

"Turns out it's not that easy to figure out the root of fear," I muttered bitterly, heading straight for the kitchen. Wine was my only plan for the night-enough to numb my thoughts, maybe even enough to pass out.

But the moment I reached the threshold of the kitchen, everything came to a screeching halt. My heart skipped a beat, my thoughts scattering like broken glass.

The kitchen wasn't as dark as I'd expected. The open window let in a flood of moonlight, casting a silver glow across the countertops. But that wasn't what stopped me in my tracks. What froze me was the sight of Jacob Adriano leaning casually against the counter, shirtless as always. His bare skin gleamed under the moonlight, every line of his muscles highlighted in the soft glow. A glass of wine hung lazily from his fingers, and next to him, was the bottle I'd been planning to raid.

Of course, he'd beaten me to it.

he already finish

to process the scene. Jacob wasn't a heavy drinker. Not like me, not on nights like this when I just wanted

usual lately? The truth was, I hadn't been paying close attention. Ever since Jacob had come back to America, all I'd done was avoid him like the plague. I thought I'd been successful-until last night. Turns out, I'd been lying to myself, clinging to the delusion that I was in control, that I'd pushed him out of my thoughts.

my trance. That's when it hit me I'd been standing there, staring at him like some

the hell is wrong

wavered slightly as our eyes locked. The heat of his gaze was unmistakable, and I knew he'd seen me looking. Shit. "I've had some," Jacob replied, his tone calm, almost too composed. It wasn't his usual playful or amused self. "But there's still enough left for you. How

"Uhm, sure."

Damn it.

enough to touch. Not after last night-not after how it had left me unraveling. Jacob grabbed another glass from the cabinet, pouring wine into it, but didn't refill his own. When he handed it to me, our fingers brushed. That brief contact sent a shiver racing up my arm, an electrifying spark that made my breath catch in my throat. Holy

tension crackling between us, thick and impossible to ignore. He must've felt it too-there was no way he couldn't. But instead of pulling away, he held

took the glass, gripping

the stem could

wouldn't let it happen again. But Jacob

the wine. The taste was sharp on my tongue, but

back against the counter, his eyes never leaving mine. "How was your day?" he asked, his voice low, almost conversational, but there was an undercurrent there-something darker, something that made my pulse

the heat radiating off him. "You could say it was nice." I didn't even know how I would have survived if wine didn't

stop thinking about him? That last night had torn open wounds I

I forced a chuckle, trying to shake off the tension. "Just one

smile, but his eyes darkened, as if he could see right through my attempt to brush it off. "Yeah," he said quietly,

A constellation of mistakes and scars that marred his beauty, yet,

silence between us felt oddly comforting, like we had momentarily escaped from the weight of the world. But then,

leave for Italy tomorrow,

cold wave, and I froze, every muscle in my body tensing as if bracing for impact.