Kiss Me Again

First Edition

publication may be reproduced, distributed, or

transmitted in any form or by any means, including

photocopying, recording, or other electronic or

mechanical methods, without the prior written

permission of the publisher, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and

certain other non-commercial uses permitted by

Cover Design by Emma Hart

CHAPTER ONE – AVA

Not A People Person

It wasn’t every day you woke up to a strange

man in your apartment.

I wouldn’t necessarily know how that felt

because I hadn’t yet done it, but tomorrow, I
would.

He wasn’t all that strange, either, if I was

honest  with  myself,  but  I  hadn’t  seen  Ethan  in
months.  Not  since  last  Christmas,  actually,  which
made  it  around  ten  months.  That  was  kind  of  a
stranger.

Had I been able to get over him?
Had I fuck.
No. Here I was, unlucky-in-love Ava, still

stupidly  in  love  with  my  brother’s  best  friend.  A
person  I  wasn’t  even  sure  I  liked  half  the  time.
We’d  certainly  never  really  gotten  along.  We
bitched  and  sniped  at  each  other  more  than  most
siblings did, and Ethan had spent a good portion of
our teen years making himself as much of a pain in
my ass as possible.

I still bore the mental scars.
Ever had a man in a rubber suit climb out

from under your bed and grab your precariously
dangling foot at eleven o’clock at night?

Yeah, well, I had. And he was the reason I

didn’t risk sticking my foot out from the covers
anymore, no matter how hot I was.

Monsters under the bed existed, people.
Yet now, here I was, standing in my kitchen

with my coffee, watching as he carried a huge box
labeled ‘BEDROOM’ to my spare room.

Yep.
He was moving in with me.
Right now.
There was not enough brandy in this coffee.

Not that I was in the habit of drinking at eight-thirty
in the morning, but I was in the very well-practiced
habit of drinking away my problems.

Unfortunately, if I woke up with a hangover

tomorrow, he’d still be here.

As my new roommate.
I really needed to find a therapist…
“Aren’t you going to help me?”
I blinked, focusing my vision through my

glasses.  Ethan  was  two  years  older  than  I  was  and
towered  over  me  by  a  good  six  inches.  His  dark
blue  eyes  were  currently  widened  in  question,  and
he reached up to run a hand through his thick, dark
blonde hair.

“Am I going to put down my coffee and help

you carry heavy boxes up three flights of stairs?” I
raised my eyebrows. “Yeah, let me get right on
that.”

“Fuck sake.” My brother, Leo, shoved a

large  box  through  the  door.  He  flicked  his  head  so
his black hair that was in desperate need of a good
cut  got  out  of  his  eyes.  “It’s  been  thirty  minutes
since  you  handed  him  a  key.  How  are  y’all  gonna
live  together  if  you  can’t  even  pretend  to  get
along?”

“We’d get along if he didn’t ask such stupid

questions,” I pointed out, blowing into my steaming
mug. “It’s really not my fault.”

“I’m starting to regret this already,” Ethan

muttered, walking out the door.

“I regretted it the moment I said yes!” I

shouted after him.

But seriously, I did. Regretted it like hell.

There was no denying that I’d made a terrible
mistake. It didn’t matter that I needed a roommate
because my broke ass was struggling to pay the rent
—I should have just moved back in with my
mother.

Leo sighed and leaned against the small

kitchen island. “Ava, why can’t you just be nice to
him?”

“Because it would go against everything I

believe in,” I said smartly. “I can’t be nice to
people who aren’t nice to me.”

“You’re going to live together.”
“Really? It never occurred to me.”
He held his hands up. “I see this isn’t the

time for this conversation. Do you have enough

chocolate in the apartment to get you through this
week?”

My nose twitched as I glared at him. “Run.

Now. Before you find yourself wearing my coffee,
asshole.”

So what if I was on my period? That didn’t

give him the right to be a dick just because I was
extra snarky this morning. You’d be extra snarky if
you were cramping like there was a velociraptor
trying to escape your womb.

Also, it was shark week for a reason.
Sharks weren’t exactly known for their

friendly disposition.

Leo grinned and slipped out of the apartment

Ethan

carried

another

box

with

‘BATHROOM’ scrawled on the side of it. I sniffed
and put down my huge mug so I could grab my
phone. It blinked with an unread text, so I opened
it.

HALLEY: How’s it going?

REAGAN: Killed anyone yet?

If they weren’t so spot on with how I was

feeling, I’d be annoyed.

ME: It’s HELL. I came on my period this

morning, and we’re already fighting.

HALLEY: I can’t say that I’m surprised.

REAGAN: Me either. At least your

boyfriend’s dog didn’t steal another pair of your
underwear.

ME: You need to get that dog to a

therapist.

REAGAN: I don’t think they do therapy

for dogs.

HALLEY: Yes, they do. They’re called

behavior classes, and Poosh needs them.

ME: Says the one who lives with a horny

raccoon.

HALLEY: I don’t live WITH Boris. He

lives near me.

HALLEY: Also, I’d rather live with a

horny raccoon or an underwear eating dog
instead of the guy I’m in denial about my
feelings for.

ME: Wow. Thanks for your support,

asshole.

REAGAN: Calm down, children. We’ll

meet for lunch where we can discuss this over
cocktails and chocolate ice-cream like adults.

ME: Done.

Yes. I was that easy to please. Chocolate ice-

cream was good for the soul, and cocktails were
good for simply no longer giving a fuck.

As far as giving fucks went, I was a fan of

not giving any at all.

Big, big fan.
Something clattered against the doorframe,

and I jerked my head up. Ethan was carrying a
small animal carrier, and my eyes narrowed at the
sight of it.

“What is that?” I asked, eying it as he

brought it into the kitchen.

“It’s an animal carrier,” he said, eyes flashing

with laughter.

“I can see that. What’s in the animal carrier,

genius?”

“That will be Mr. Prickles.”
“And who, or what, the fuck is Mr.

Prickles?”

He set the small carrier on the kitchen island.

“He’ll be a hedgehog.”

My eyebrows shot up so far I think they went

into orbit. “A hedgehog? You have a hedgehog?”

He had a fucking hedgehog?
I peered into the carrier. A small ball of

blonde  needles  was  attached  to  a  little  body,  and
when  it  unrolled,  a  little  dark,  pointed  head  stuck
out.  Black  beady  eyes  blinked  at  me,  and  fuzzy
little ears twitched.

He had a fucking hedgehog.
I glared up at him. “Did you think to mention

the fucking hedgehog?”

“Leo said he told you.”
“Leo didn’t tell me a damn thing. It’s not like

I asked, either. I never expected you to show up
with a fucking hedgehog.”

“You can just call it a hedgehog, Ava.”
“I’m gonna call you something in a minute!”

I put my mug down a little too hard, sloshing coffee
over the granite countertop. “You should have told
me you had a pet!”

Ethan shrugged. “I checked the lease and

called the landlord. He said it was okay.”

He was also a balding sixty-something man

who hated me because I’d refused to date his son,
so he probably would have said yes even if it
wasn’t allowed.

“I don’t care. It’s not unreasonable to be

pissed off that nobody thought to tell me at the very
least.” I folded my arms and focused my best glare
on Ethan. “It’s rude and inconsiderate. I didn’t
have to let you take my spare room. I did it out of

the kindness of my heart—”

“Oh? So you have some kindness in there?

You hide it well.”

“—and I am not afraid to come into your

bedroom and break your nose while you sleep,” I
finished.

“Oh, Jesus,” Leo muttered, dropping a box

by the coffee table. “Are you still fighting?”

“You can shut up! You’re on my shit list!” I

pointed at him and stormed around the island. “A
hedgehog, Leo!”

“Ah.” My brother almost stumbled over the

box as he backed up. “I didn’t know he was
definitely bringing it. I thought he’d take it to his
mom’s.”

“And why didn’t you?” I rounded on Ethan,

hands on my hips.

He shrugged, completely unbothered by my

rage. “She refused to take it.”

“So if I refuse? Is that fair game?”
“No. This is my apartment, too.”
“No, it’s not!” My voice reached a pitch only

dogs could hear. “This is not your apartment.
You’re renting my spare room for a few months
until you pack up and piss off again.”

His lips tugged to one side. “Actually, I don’t

know if I’m leaving yet.”

“Why?” Leo muttered, rubbing his hands

down his face. “Why today?”

I jerked my head between them both. “I’m

sorry? Did I just hear you right?”

“I don’t know what you heard,” Ethan said.

“But if you heard me say that I don’t know if I’m
leaving yet, you heard right.”

I opened my mouth to yell at him, but the

anger and shock that fizzed through my body were
too strong. I said nothing, so I clamped my jaw shut
and ground my teeth together.

My hands waved, and it was all I could do to

stop myself from reaching out and slapping Ethan
for this. My brother, too, for that matter. I didn’t
know what kind of shit Ethan was pulling, but first
the hedgehog, and now this?

No.
I was pissed, and I had to leave.
I stormed past them both into my bedroom

and  quickly  changed  out  of  my  pajamas  into  jeans
and  a  tank  top.  I  grabbed  a  hair  tie  instead  of
brushing  my  hair,  along  with  a  sweater,  my  keys,
my phone, and my wallet. I stuffed everything into
my pockets, then headed back out while I swept my
hair into a topknot.

Ignoring them both completely, I walked

right  out  of  the  front  door  and  slammed  it  behind
me.  It  echoed  through  the  empty  hallway,  and  I
looked  up  and  down  it  before  I  headed  for  the
stairs.

I had made a terrible mistake.

***

I was going to take out an ad in the Creek

Falls Herald newspaper. It would be for The Wright
Bouquet, and it was going to say, “Great for
flowers! Shit for sympathy, unless someone is
dead.”

Yep. Coming to Reagan was not the best

idea. Then again, I was at the tail end of a whole
bunch of bad ideas, so one more didn’t seem that
much in the grand scheme of things.

“Did you specifically tell him no pets?” she

asked, cutting a rose stem.

“No, but—”
“Did you tell him he could only stay for three

months?”

“No, but—”
“There you go, then.” She put down her

cutters and looked at me, eyebrows raised. “You
didn’t lay out your terms. He’s using the terms of
the tenancy agreement, which he has every right to
do.”

I frowned at her. “Whose side are you on?”
“I’m on the side of the law, Ava.” She

carefully trimmed another rose stem and laid it with
the rest of the bouquet she was putting together.
“Your tenancy agreement says something, and he’s
using that against you.”

“I knew I should have gone to see Halley.

She would have at least pretended to be
sympathetic.”

“Why didn’t you then?”
“You’re closer to my apartment now.”
Reagan snorted. “Look. You said he could

move in. We all knew this was a bad idea, and you
did it without talking to us first. You can be mad at
him for not being entirely truthful at you, but you
can’t be mad at him if you didn’t explicitly state it
either way.”

“I didn’t know he had a hedgehog when I

said yes.”

“How did he get a hedgehog? Why does he

have one?”

I sighed and rested my chin on my hand. “I

have no idea. I didn’t ask. I stormed out, instead.”

She glanced at my hair. “I guessed.”
I stuck my middle finger up at her. “They

blindsided me. Leo knew about it all and didn’t
give me a heads up. It’s one thing to live with Ethan
for a few months, but longer? I can’t do it, Reagan.
Can’t you move in with Noah so I can have your
apartment?”

She barked out a laugh and wrapped the

bouquet in the plastic. “Uh, no. We’re not there
yet. I don’t think Halley and Preston were totally
there, but they did it for me.”

“Really?”

With a nod, she tied off the bouquet and said,

“Preston’s  stayed  with  me  a  couple  of  times.
They’re  both  used  to  their  own  space,  and  it’s
taking some adjusting. I offered him the apartment
back  because  I  don’t  want  to  be  the  reason  they
have  issues,  but  they’re  both  happy.  They’re  not
majorly  fighting  or  anything,  so…”  She  shrugged
and  handed  me  the  bouquet.  “In  the  one  by  the
window.”

I carried it over to the storage thing by the

window and put it in the hole. “They’ll get used to
it. They were made for each other.”

“I know.” Reagan smirked. “I’m still waiting

for your destiny spiel about Ethan living with you.”

“Don’t.” I held up a hand. “Destiny can fuck

itself and its mother. There’s nothing destined about
it at all unless it’s destined to medicate me.”

“You were the one who said yes to all this.”
“Before I knew about the spiky piglet and

the extended stay in Creek Falls.”

Reagan shrugged. “You’re just gonna have to

tough it out, girl. Sorry to say it, but you are.”

I sighed and slumped against the counter.

“Ouch!”

“What?”
I lifted my finger to my face and removed the

thorn. “Wayward thorn. Pricked me.”

“If you’re lucky, maybe your roommate will

prick you.”

CHAPTER TWO – AVA

Spiky Pigs And Shit

I shoved the front door open and set my gaze

on Ethan on the sofa. “If you’re going to lie to me
about living here, we’re going to have to set some
hard and fast rules. The first one: the stinky, spiky
pig lives in your bedroom.”

He peered over at me, one hand in a bag of

cheese Doritos and the other tickling the hedgehog
who was now lying on his chest.

It was quite a sight.
“How do you know he stinks?” he asked,

licking his fingers and cradling the animal before he
put the chip packet on the coffee table.

“I Googled. They need cleaning every day.

I’m not doing it, and neither am I living in a smell
of tiny animal who should be wild.”

“He’s a pygmy hedgehog. He’s bred to be

domesticated.”

“His spiky bits could be made out of solid

gold,  and  I  still  wouldn’t  give  a  shit.”  I  put  my
purse  on  the  island  and  looked  at  him.  “You  can
send  me  Google  links  to  them  if  it  pleases  His
Highness, but my stance won’t change. That animal
is  not  living  in  my  living  room,  and  I’d  rather  you
didn’t snuggle with him on the sofa.”

“It’s ironic,” Ethan mused. “I have a

hedgehog on my chest, and you’re still the
prickliest thing in this apartment.”

“If I wasn’t staunchly against animal cruelty,

I’d throw a saucepan at you.”

“You can still hit me over the head with it.”
“I was talking about you, not the hedgehog,

you pig.”

“May I say that you are an absolute fucking

delight, Ava. I can’t imagine why you’re still
single.”

“Probably the same reason you are. The

asshole gene is strong as fuck and not all that
attractive.” I smiled sardonically and hit the button
on the coffee machine to turn it on.

Ethan wiped his fingers on his leg, leaving

bright orange streaks across the navy sweats he was
wearing. Then he licked each one, getting rid of the
residue before he put the hedgehog on the sofa
despite my glare.

“Look,” he said, getting up. “Mr. Prickles is

trained, okay? He even has a litter box.”

“He’s a hedgehog, not a cat.” I shot a dark

look the way of the animal. “If he shits on my sofa,
I’m going to go insane.”

Ethan held up his hands. “He won’t shit on

your sofa. I promise never to leave him unattended
when he’s out of his cage.”

“Damn

right

you

won’t

leave

him

unattended.” I slammed my mug down. “If he’s out

and you need to piss, he joins you in the bathroom.
If you need a drink, he comes to the kitchen with
you. Preferably in a bowl so my counters aren’t
contaminated.”

“Our counters.”
“Don’t fucking push me, Ethan. I’m already

on edge.”

He gripped the edge of the counter, choking

back a laugh. “You’d like him if you got to know
him.”

“He’s a hedgehog. I really don’t think we’re

going to have a lot in common.”

“He likes to eat.”
“What are you saying?”
“Nothing. I’m just pointing out what he

likes.”

I pulled my now-full mug from the machine

and  turned  around.  “You  know  what  I  like?
Personal  space.  Serial  killer  documentaries.
Reading  history  articles  on  Wikipedia.  Wine.
Nachos. And sleep. Does your hedgehog like any of
those things?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think he can read or

work the remote for Netflix.”

I shot him my best withering look and peered

over his shoulder at the sofa.

The spiky pig was gone.
“Your spiky pig has left the sofa.”
Ethan jerked around, seeing what I’d just

told him. He darted over there and got down onto
the floor, where he stretched his arm under the sofa
and scooted a bleach-blonde animal out from the
darkness. “Got him.”

“Mm.” I leaned back against the counter,

lifting my mug to my mouth.

He stood, holding up the hedgehog

triumphantly.

I simply glared at him. I really had nothing to

say. I was aware I came across as a bit of a bitch,
but I didn’t have pets for a reason. I didn’t have the
time to look after one, especially not one as high-
maintenance as a goddamn fucking hedgehog.

I knew how this would go. I’d be asked to

feed it, then play with it, then clean it. There was
no way that was happening. I didn’t know the first
thing about looking after those prickly little fuckers.
I didn’t even know what to feed it. I’d give it
breadsticks and bananas if left to my own devices.

I sure as hell wasn’t cleaning it out.
I’d had a hamster as a teen. If hedgehogs

stank like those little bastards, there wasn’t a
chance in hell I was going near its cage.

No matter what Ethan said, I was not going

to change my mind.

He wasn’t going to like it, so he’d have to

lump it. Like I had to lump living with what was, in
effect, a spiky rodent.

My dark look obviously did the trick,

because Ethan carried the hedgehog through to his
bedroom and re-emerged a minute later without it.

“Okay, listen,” he said, flattening his hands

on  the  island.  The  stretching  of  his  arms  made  his
biceps pop, not to mention the veins that appeared
on  his  forearms  thanks  to  the  strain  of  holding  his
weight.  “I  was  wrong  to  hide  the  hedgehog,  all
right? I should have told you before I moved in.”

“Yes, you should have.” I put the mug down

on the island and stood opposite him, still glaring at
him, but this time it was over the rim of my glasses.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I just

apologized.”

“No, you didn’t. You said you were wrong.

That’s not an apology, that’s an admission of
wrongdoing.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jesus.

Okay, I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted.” I supposed I had to. It

wasn’t like I had a choice, really. We had to live
together, and that meant compromising on a few
things. “So do you agree? That the hedgehog won’t
be free in the apartment unless you’re there, too?”

“That’s fair.” He shrugged a shoulder. “But I

still think you’ll grow to like him.”

“Doubt it. I don’t like small animals.”
“But Halley can feed the raccoons, and

that’s okay?”

“That’s Halley’s business. I don’t sit there

and  hand  feed  them  peanuts,  do  I?”  I  shuddered.
“No,  thank  you.  If  it’s  smaller  than  a  kitten  or  a
puppy  and  stays  that  small,  I’m  not  interested  in
making friends with it.”

Ethan raised his eyebrows. “Do you know

anything about hedgehogs at all?”

“No. What part of ‘not interested’ are you

failing to understand? Would you like me to Google
you a definition?”

“I know exactly what it means,” he said

dryly. “I just think you should use Google, but to
research the hedgehogs.”

“Ethan, if I go on Google, I’m going to end

up in a Wikipedia hole, and I’ll be an expert on the
French  Revolution  by  lunchtime  tomorrow.”  I
finished my coffee and put the mug in the sink. “I
will  tolerate  the  hedgehog—I  mean,  hell,  I’m
already  tolerating  you—but  I’m  not  going  to  be
friends with it, okay?”

“It’s good to know the tolerance is mutual.”

He smirked.

“Hilarious,” I muttered, picking up my

laptop. “I’m going to check my emails. Make sure
you turn off the television before you go to sleep.”

“Yes, Mom.”
I tucked the laptop under my arm and gave

him the finger before I went into my room and
kicked the door shut behind me. Not only did I
have a roommate I disliked, but I also had a prickly

one I disliked.

This wasn’t what I’d signed up for.
Then again, I wasn’t really sure what I’d

signed up for at all.

***

I rubbed the towel over my wet hair as I

walked into the kitchen. Sunlight streamed in
through the windows in the living room, and a
shuffling noise made me turn around.

The hedgehog was on my windowsill, and it

was  playing  with  my  candles.  Ethan  was  nowhere
to  be  seen,  which  meant  it’d  barely  been  twelve
hours,  and  he  was  already  breaking  his  promise  to
not leave the hedgehog alone.

“Ethan!” I yelled.
Mr. Prickles jerked at my shout, turning his

beady little eyes my way.

I stepped back into the stool at the island and

almost  tripped  over  my  own  feet.  The  stool
screeched  against  the  floor,  and  I  grabbed  it  to
steady  myself,  then  tucked  it  back  under  the
counter.

“Ethan!” I shouted again when he didn’t

appear.

Where the hell was he?
The front door opened, and I jerked around.

“Ethan!”

He froze. “What?”
I pointed at the windowsill.
“Oh. I thought you were in the shower.” He

stepped inside and shut the door. “Forgot my phone
charger. The lead was in my truck.”

“Ethan!” My voice was almost shrill now.
“Yes, that is my name.” He walked right past

me, undoing a knot in the charge lead.

He did not just walk right past me.
Oh, my God.
I pushed off the stool and stormed after him.

“Ethan!”

“What?”
“The hedgehog!”
“Is not eating your face or is anywhere near

you.”

“It’s messing up my candles.”
“It’s messing up your candles? Dear fucking

God, Ava.” Shaking his head, he turned around to
plug in his phone. “You’ve lost your mind.”

“No, I haven’t. There are three candles on

my windowsill, exactly the same width apart, and
that’s how I’d like them to stay.”

Ethan stood and met my eyes. “You are

insane.”

“No, I’m particular. There’s a difference.” I

folded my arms across my chest and shook my wet
hair out of my eyes. “You left the hedgehog alone.”

“Wow. You really meant every second, didn’t

you?”

“Yes. I’m not a man. I mean what I say.” I

spun and stomped back into the kitchen, where I
retrieved my towel from where it’d fallen on the
floor. “Ethan!”

“Jesus, it’s like living with my fucking

mother.” He rubbed his face with his t-shirt,
flashing a hint of lightly-toned abs. “What now?”

“Your animal! It’s gone again!”
He looked up at the ceiling. His lips moved,

and I could swear he counted to five before he
dropped his chin and went over to the windowsill.
After a minute of searching, he reached behind the
curtain and pulled Mr. Prickles out.

“Let’s put you back in the cage before

Maleficent over there curses you with your own
spines,” he muttered, lifting the animal up toward
his face. He snuggled it against his chest and took it
into his room.

This wasn’t going to work. I didn’t have to

be a genius to figure that out. I wasn’t sure what to
do  now,  but  it  was  clear  that  we  couldn’t  actually
live  together.  It’d  only  been  twenty-four  hours
since  he’d  hauled  his  shit  into  my  apartment,  and
it’d already gone to the dogs.

Or the hogs, in this case.
I turned on the coffee machine and pulled a

mug down from the cupboard. I was going to have
to tell Ethan this couldn’t be a permanent

arrangement. It really didn’t matter that I was on
the verge of being broke and desperately needed a
roommate—I couldn’t live with someone when it
was going to make me miserable.

Yeah. I didn’t know you could be in love

with someone and simultaneously hate them, either.

I guessed that was the fine line people always

talked about…

Well, if you asked me, it was a stupid line.
A stupid like that someone had probably

drawn in Sharpie just to piss everyone off.

“How do you work this thing?” Ethan

stepped up beside me, his chest brushing against my
shoulder.

I jerked away from him, my heart skipping

inside my chest. “By using the buttons.”

He eyed me as I cradled my mug and moved

to the other side of the kitchen. “I’m not gonna
steal yours, Ava.”

“I didn’t say you were,” I muttered, gripping

the handle a little tighter. Seriously. Any harder and
I was going to snap it right off.

“Are you all right?” His look became

questioning as he hit the right button on the
machine to make it go. “You look like you want to
strangle something.”

I did.
Him.
The words I wanted to say got stuck in my

throat. Instead of telling him he had to move out
already, I made some kind of weird squeaking noise
I was sure I’d heard Halley’s raccoons make at
some point.

Ethan’s eyebrows slowly raised.
I shook my head and quickly made my way

through  the  apartment  to  my  bedroom.  The  door
slammed  behind  me  after  one  kick,  and  I  leaned
back  against  it,  making  it  thump  against  the  frame
even though it was already closed.

The hinges were loose.
A bit like my emotions today.
Of all the weeks Ethan could move in, it had

to the be the week I was on my period. Seriously. I
wasn’t capable of making a rational decision about
what I wanted for dinner, never mind anything else.

I’d had cookie dough ice-cream last night. It

wasn’t exactly a balanced deal.

There was every chance that my frustration

about my unexpected prickly roommate was solely
down to Mother Nature’s monthly ‘you’re not
pregnant!’ postcard.

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to figure

that out for at least another three days.

Goddamn it.

CHAPTER THREE – AVA

God Bless Cocktails

I slid a beer across the bar to my brother and

took the five-dollar bill he handed me. I rang his
order up on the register then tossed the change into
my tip jar.

Leo cleared his throat. “I wasn’t tipping

you.”

“I didn't intend to live with a hedgehog, but

here I am, living with one.” I grabbed a cloth and
wiped down a wet spot, grabbing an empty glass
someone had just slid across the surface.

I’d only worked at Lucky’s for three weeks.

It was honestly a miracle I’d been hired at all after
the little debacle of me dancing on the table that
time. According to my boss, I was so popular after
that with the regulars that hiring me was a no-
brainer.

I wasn’t allowed to dance on the tables

anymore, though.

I couldn’t say I was mad about that.
I think I still had a bruise on my hip from

when I fell into Noah and Preston.

“Didn’t he apologize already?” Leo asked,

wiping his mouth. “I admit, I should have warned
you.”

“You should have. You know how I feel

about tiny animals. If they aren’t a puppy or kitten
and can fit in a purse, I don’t want to live with
them.”

“You don’t mind fish.”
“No, because fish live in a tank and aren’t

going to eat my face in the night.”

“It’s a pretty irrational fear you’ve got there,

sis.”

“Okay, you’ve clearly never watched horror

movies.” I raised my eyebrows at him and moved
to serve someone at the other end of the bar. After
delivering six beers and ringing a food order
through to the kitchen, I went back to my brother.
“Rodents eat people, Leo. It’s a fact.”

“Horror movies are not non-fictional. If they

were, we’d all be fucked.”

I pursed my lips. I knew that, but I also knew

that  rats  did  eat  human  flesh,  so…  “I’m  not  going
to  debate  horror  movies  with  you.  You’re  my
brother.  I  have  a  shit  roommate  because  I  was
doing you a favor. You owe me like ten for this.”

“The hedgehog isn’t going to eat your face

while you sleep.”

“How do you know that? It might.”
“Hedgehogs don’t eat people, Ava. That’s

how I know.”

“They eat meat.”
“Yes, but it’s not going to eat your eyeballs.”
I shuddered, grabbing an empty bowl that

had once held nuts to refill it. “Thanks for that
imagery. Now I’m not going to sleep until I’ve
installed a bolt on my bedroom door.”

“Why are you putting a bolt on your

bedroom door?” Noah stepped up beside my
brother with Preston.

Oh, good, the cavalry had arrived.
“Because Ethan’s hedgehog is going to eat

her eyeballs,” Leo answered before I could.

I grabbed a peanut from the newly filled

bowl and threw it at his face. “I don’t like
hedgehogs,” I replied.

Preston raised his eyebrows. “What’s wrong

with hedgehogs?”

“Don’t,” Leo said quickly. “Just… don’t go

there.”

I hated having a sibling. “I just don’t like

small animals. That’s all. Do you want your usual?”

They both nodded, and Noah said, “You like

Poosh.”

“Poosh is a dog. Poosh is fine.” I uncapped

both their beers and slid them across the bar to
them. “Small animals that are not dogs or cats freak
me out.” How many times did I have to say that?

Was it so weird? Didn’t all kinds of people

hate rats and mice and stuff like that? Was my
dislike of anything with tiny hands and claws that
could rake out my eyeballs so strange?

I didn’t think so.

“You’re weird,” Preston said, handing me a

twenty.

I snatched it. “Today, your girlfriend texted

me a picture of the sweaters her grandmother
knitted for the baby raccoons. You can shut up.”

“Sweaters? For raccoons?”
I looked up and caught Ethan’s eye. “Oh,

look, it’s the fourth musketeer.”

“There were only three of those.”
“You’re still on my shit list, roomie.” I

grabbed another beer, uncapped it, and set it on the
bar. I rung up all three beers and handed Preston
back his change. “Are you three going to watch the
game or bug me all night?”

“Wow. The service in this place has really

gone downhill.” Ethan smirked.

“I don’t know,” Noah said. “You haven’t

seen her drunk-dancing on the tables. That’s why
half the punters are here tonight. For her Coyote
Ugly moves, not her ability to pour a pint of beer.”

“You dance on the tables?” Ethan stared at

me like he’d never heard of anyone doing such a
thing. Ever.

I held up a finger. “One time. I danced on the

tables one time, and nobody will let me forget it.”

Preston snorted. “No, we will not.”
I pursed my lips. I didn’t come to work to be

abused like this. “You know I can refuse to serve
you, right?”

“I’ll open a suggestion box that means you

have to dance on the tables once a week,” Leo
said. “I’m mad nobody videoed that for me.”

Noah shrugged. “We were trying to control

the betting circle Reagan and Halley had set up.”

“Yes, yes, the infamous Lucky’s betting ring.

The game is about to begin, and I know you can’t
see the screens from here, so scoot.” I waved my
hands, shooing them away from me.

Chuckles rose from all of them, and Noah

winked at me as they all disappeared, leaving me in
peace.

Well, as much peace as a twenty-something

woman could get in a sports bar when it was
football season.

Not a lot, to be honest.
Luckily, the game meant the bar was packed,

and that meant my shift went quickly. I’d started at
three, so by the time the game was over, so was my
shift. I finished the order I was ringing up and
pocketed my tips, then headed out the back.

The guys were all still here, and that meant I

was going to have to drive them home. How did I
know that?

Preston and Noah had decided that two

weeks ago. Unfortunately for me, my Friday shift
never changed.

I tucked my tips into the inner zip portion of

my purse and dug my keys out from the abyss,

bypassing two tubes of Chapstick, six receipts, an
empty gum packet, a phone lead, a pocket mirror, a
bottle of nail polish, a travel-sized tube of
toothpaste, a sock, and a Chinese take-out menu on
the way.

I really needed to clean out my purse.
My keys jingled as I made my way to the

front of the bar and to the guys’ table. They were
all done, and both Preston and Noah grinned at me
as I approached.

“Come on, Cinderella. Your ride awaits,” I

said dryly, waving my keys at them.

Ethan raised his eyebrows. “What?”
“She takes us home every Friday. It’s

payback for the dancing night.” Preston grinned.

I stared at them flatly. “I’m leaving in ninety

seconds. If you’re all not in my car by then, you’re
walking.”

I’d barely taken five steps when the sound of

four chairs scooching across the wooden floor
broke through the chatter of the bar. I snorted to
myself and pushed the door open to step outside.

Dim lights illuminated the parking lot off to

the side of the bar, and I paused to hit the button on
my key fob. The lights of my car flashed,
brightening the parking lot, revealing the crumpled-
up body of someone against the dumpster.

I froze.
Someone walked into my back.

I screamed, stumbling forward, and two

hands landed on my arms to steady me.

“What?” Ethan’s voice was right behind my

ear, and I knew it was his hands on my arms.

“There’s, um, someone on the floor.” My

voice was weak and shaky. “In front of the
dumpster.”

“Oh, shit,” Noah said, jerking to life. He ran

past all of us, his firefighter training kicking in, and
yelled, “Call nine-one-one!”

I was shaking like a leaf. My keys clattered

to the floor, and Ethan bent down to pick them up
while Leo stepped under the streetlight and dialed.

Sure.
Halley fed raccoons.
Reagan’s apartment burned down.
I found what was probably a dead body.
Sounded about right.
My teeth chattered even though it wasn’t

remotely cold whatsoever. It was far too warm for
eleven o’clock at night in late October, actually, but
that didn’t stop my entire body trembling as if it
was below freezing.

Preston tugged me out of Ethan’s arms and

pulled me against his side, but before I could croak
out a thank you, Ethan was on the other side of me.

I was in a hot guy sandwich.
I’d been in worse places.
Like in front of a dead body.

Why did these things always happen

together?

I was delirious. I had to be. This was the only

reason why I wasn’t shoving Ethan off me like he
was a rat full of fleas carrying the Black Death. I
needed the feeling of both of them either side of me
to ground me.

I mean, I was watching Noah perform CPR.
All I could think of was that it was a good

thing I was sober. If I’d been drinking, I’d probably
have run headfirst into a tree trunk by now.

Or a car. Or oncoming traffic.
I was a panicker, okay?
I panicked. Panicking was my thing. It was

probably due to the fact I was only just making
enough to pay my bills and live without starving at
least one day a week, so I constantly panicked
about not being able to pay said bills.

I also panicked about being hungry because,

well, I liked food.

Blue lights bounced off the walls. A crowd

had now gathered outside the bar, full of nosy, half-
drunken patrons who wanted to see what was going
on. The Creek Falls police department arrived
swiftly and took control of the situation, keeping
people away so that the paramedics could attend to
the…

Body?
God, that was morbid, wasn’t it?

I mean, I didn’t even know if she was dead.

Noah giving her CPR was a pretty good indicator,
but people came back around after CPR all the
time. There was every chance she was still alive.

Oh, look, there was the tiny spark of

optimism that occasionally came out.

Noah came back over and wiped his face

with his t-shirt. “She’s unconscious but alive.
They’re taking her to the hospital now, but the
police want to talk to us quickly.”

I nodded, hugging myself tightly. I was still

sandwiched  between  Ethan  and  Preston,  but  I
shook  them  both  off.  I  couldn’t  breathe  squished
between  them,  and  honestly,  if  I  stayed  pressed
against  Ethan  for  much  longer,  there  was  every
chance  I  wouldn’t  be  able  to  peel  myself  away
again.

We were interviewed one by one. There was

nothing  to  tell;  we’d  all  left  the  bar  and  stumbled
upon  her  when  Noah  had  done  CPR.  After  three
rounds  of  questioning,  we  were  finally  let  go  and
told we could go home.

It’d been an hour. The fastest hour of my life.
All I wanted to do was shower and climb into

bed. I’d never been so thankful to have a Saturday
off work, that much was for sure.

My car had relocked itself at some point

during the events of the last hour, so I hit the button
once again. I opened the driver’s side door, but

Ethan plucked the keys out of my hand before I
could get in.

“What the hell?” I rounded on him like a

rabid wolf and made to snatch them back, but he
held them high above his head where I couldn’t
reach them.

“You can’t drive,” he answered.
“Of course I can drive!”
“He’s right,” Leo said. “You just got one hell

of a shock, Ava. You’re still shaken up.”

“You’re the ones who have been drinking.

You’re definitely not able to drive,” I shot back.

Ethan held up his other hand. “I only had

two beers and I ate. I’m fine.”

I looked at the others. They all nodded, and

honestly, I knew they were right. I’d kept half an
eye on them all night—nothing to do with my crush
on Ethan, thank you very much!—and it was true.

Two beers and a big-ass burger. He was fit to

drive.

I ground my teeth together. I wasn’t happy

about handing Ethan my keys, but I was
outnumbered four to one. I was also outsized. All
four of the guys were well over six-foot and looked
like they ate muscles for breakfast.

Honestly, if one wasn’t my brother, the other

two weren’t my best friends’ boyfriends, and I
didn’t love-hate the last one, this could have been
the start of a porno.

Thank God it wasn’t. All the Gods, actually.

Pagan, Roman, Greek, Buddhist…

“Fine.” My tone said it was most definitely

not fine.

Out of spite, hormones, or just downright

female indignation, I slammed the door and
stormed around the other side and got into the
front.

Ignoring the chuckles from the guys, I

buckled myself in and set my purse on my lap,
staring straight ahead.

They all piled in, Ethan in the driver’s seat

and the others in the back. It looked like a tight fit
back there, and sure, I could have offered to sit in
the middle, but why would I do that?

The jackasses took my keys.
Never mind that I probably was too shaken

to drive.

It would have been nice to be asked.
Ethan backed out of the parking space,

almost hitting the police tape that’d been strung up,
and turned out of the parking lot.

I almost dug my phone out of my purse, but I

honestly didn’t want to explain what’d happened
tonight. Noah and Preston would do that, and I’d
answer the questions tomorrow.

There were no cars on the road, so our trip

was fast. Ethan drove first to Halley’s house to
drop off Preston, then to Reagan’s, where she and

Poosh were both waiting for Noah. Leo only lived a
couple of blocks from Reagan’s apartment, and he
leaned forward and kissed the side of my head in
goodbye before he got out of the car.

Then, we were alone.
It was at least a five-minute drive back to my

—our—apartment. The air in the car was tense,
and I shifted uncomfortably in the seat to look out
of the window.

“You okay?”
“Fine.” My tone was clipped, and guilt

immediately took hold. “Sorry. I’m tired.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s been a long

night.” He hit the stick for the blinker, and the
clicking filled the car in the ensuing silence.

I swallowed.
I was a hot mess inside. I was tired yet wide

awake.  My  brain  was  running  like  a  well-oiled
engine, turning over and over the events of tonight,
but  like  the  stupid-ass  woman  I  was,  the  thing  it
came  back  to  was  the  moment  I  was  sandwiched
between Preston and Ethan.

I couldn’t care less about Preston. I wasn’t

attracted to him in the slightest, despite a fleeting
thirteen-year-old crush. Twenty-five-year-old me
was far more mature.

As evidenced by the fact I couldn’t look

Ethan in the eye, lest I snuggle myself up against
his side again.

Jesus, a woman could have died tonight, and

all I could think about was how it felt to have his
arm around my shoulders.

This was fucked up.
I was fucked up.
I needed a vacation. Or to move. Or to tell

him to move, as had been my plan in the first place.

Tomorrow.
I’d do it tomorrow.
Yup. That was my story, and I was going to

stick to it.

Tomorrow.
Jesus, if I said that again, I’d break into song

like Annie.

Ethan pulled into the designated parking spot

outside of the apartment building. As soon as we
got out, he handed me back my keys. I locked the
car and immediately rushed inside, taking the stairs
instead of the elevator.

He waited for it, but I beat him to the

apartment. By the time he joined me, I’d dumped
my purse on the sofa and was heading for the
bathroom.

I paused and turned around, my hair flicking

over my shoulders. “If I see that hedgehog in the
living room when I wake up tomorrow, you’ll be
the one needing an ambulance.”

Then, I locked myself inside the room and

turned the water up to the hottest temperature I

could bear.

***

HALLEY: OMG ARE YOU OKAY??

REAGAN: Noah told me what happened.

Do you know????

HALLEY: AVA, WAKE UP

REAGAN: SERIOUSLY, WAKE UP NOW

HALLEY: Goddamn her night owl ways.

REAGAN: We aren’t all morning people,

Little Miss Up And At ‘Em.

HALLEY: I’m sorry for being someone

who likes to get stuff done early.

REAGAN: I’m surprised you’re not going

to run for President. You’d start and finish a
war before breakfast.

HALLEY: You’d be the first sacrifice.

It was too early for their shit.
Way, way too early.

ME: I’m fine, thanks for considering your

upcoming takeover of the USA before you let me
wake up.

I grabbed my phone and stumbled into the

kitchen. My first stop was the coffee machine. Just
because Halley was a morning person and liked to
have me get up and run at seven-thirty didn’t mean
I was one myself.

I was more of a roll out of bed, throw on

some clothes, drink a liter of coffee, and hope I
didn’t murder anyone kind of person.

The coffee machine was like a comfort

blanket as it whirred to life, but the blinking of my
phone distracted me from my morning best friend.

REAGAN: Well, it’s about time.

ME: It’s nine-fifteen. You’re acting like

it’s three in the afternoon.

HALLEY: I’ve already done laundry, gone

for a run, and opened the library.

ME: Nobody likes a bragger, Halley.

REAGAN: At least we know who’s going

to die first when the zombies attack.

HALLEY: You two, because I’ll be one in

an underground bunker with enough canned
food to last three years.

ME: Screw that, I’ll join them. Then take

you both with me. #BFFs

HALLEY: Stop hashtagging in texts.

REAGAN: OH, SHIT, HERE COMES

THE

HASHTAGS.

#TeamZombie

#ZombieQueenAva

#SayNoToCannedFood

#ZombiesDigToo

#WeWantBrains

#WeAreComingForYou

ME: You’re ridiculous.

HALLEY: This whole thing is ridiculous.

Why haven’t we deleted this chat yet?

REAGAN: We haven’t bet on Halley

sleeping with Ethan yet.

ME: Fuck yourself.

HALLEY: Even I think that’s unlikely.

ME: I won’t eat your brains if I become a

zombie, Hals.

REAGAN: You’re going to live with him

and not sleep with him??? Really???

HALLEY: We should probably bet on the

likelihood of her murdering him first.

ME: I’ll put ten bucks into that.

REAGAN: You can’t bet on yourself.

ME: Since when was that a rule?

REAGAN: Since I just made it.

HALLEY: You can’t just make up rules,

Reagan.

REAGAN: Sure I can. She’s either going

to murder him or she isn’t. It’s the same logic as
sleeping with him. She’s not going to half fuck
him, is she?

ME: How would you half fuck someone?

HALLEY: Just the tip.

REAGAN: *finger pointing emoji*

REAGAN: Just pretend they wiggle

ME: …I think I’m done with this

CHAPTER FOUR – ETHAN

Roommate Warfare

My cock was as solid as a rock.
Burying my face into my pillow, I rolled over

so I was half on my side and half on my stomach. It
meant my cock was half-crushed, but it was better
than the fucking alternative right now.

Two nights.
I’d slept in this apartment for two fucking

nights, and I’d woken up twice with a hard-on.

Whoever thought living with your best

friend’s hot as fuck little sister was a good idea was
a goddamn idiot.

It was a shit idea. The worst idea I’d ever

had.  Not  that  it  had  been  mine—it’d  been  Leo’s.
Why I’d ever listened to that prick was beyond me.
I  didn’t  believe  for  a  second  that  the  only
apartment he could find was a one-bedroom place.
My sister had shown me two two-bed places, after
all,  but  they  were  both  out  of  my  price  range  as  a
solo renter.

Leo only went for the one-bed place because

the girl he wanted to date lived in the building.

Since my grandma had moved in with my

parents, there was no room for me there, either.

Which left me living with a stupidly

attractive woman. The exact person I couldn’t do

anything about. It wasn’t like I could act on my
attraction to Ava. She was my best friend’s little
sister.

She was the one woman in the world who

was off-limits to me.

Leo had never said that. No. He never

would, but I had respect for our lifelong friendship.
The day I’d agreed to this, I’d sworn to myself that
I wouldn’t lay a single finger on the raven-haired,
snarky-mouthed, curvy-hipped woman who was
now my roommate.

Then I’d walked in, and she’d murdered me

with one look.

And it’d just made her even hotter.
Which was why I was lying here with a

raging hard-on.

I reached for my phone and pulled up the

latest baseball scores. I couldn’t give a flying,
screeching fuck about baseball, but I needed to
think about something other than Ava.

I scrolled.
And scrolled.
And scrolled.
But it was fucking useless.
It didn’t help that I’d held her against me last

night. That I’d tucked her into my side to stop her
freaking out and her curves had molded against my
body.

Fuck.

This wasn’t going away.
Just like it hadn’t yesterday morning until I’d

gotten into the shower and taken an unhealthily
long cold one just to get rid of it.

I couldn’t do that this morning. Ava was

already awake—her coffee machine was as loud as
a herd of dinosaurs, and there was no sleeping
through it. If I went into the shower and spent
twenty minutes in there, she’d get the wrong idea.

The last thing I needed was a tongue-lashing

from her about jerking off in the shower.

She bitched at me about enough as it was.
Which wasn’t really a bad thing. The more

we bickered, the less chance there was of anything
else happening.

Which was definitely not a bad thing.
I rolled onto my back and shut my eyes. If

this erection didn’t disappear in the next two
minutes, I would have to do something about it.

Seriously. This shit was ridiculous. I wasn’t

fucking fifteen.

I was nearly fucking thirty.
I’d done my time where uncontrollable

erections were concerned.

I counted to fifty, but no. My cock was still

hard, throbbing against my boxer briefs. I had no
other option. I had to get rid of it myself.

I slid my arm beneath the covers and slipped

my hand under my boxers to grasp my cock. It was

hot and hard in my grip, and I moved the waistband
of my underwear so that I could move freely.

Flexing my fingers, I got comfortable in my

grip and moved my hand from the base to the tip. I
fisted it furiously, grinding my teeth in desperation
to get rid of it.

It was like tugging on a rope.
Nothing was happening.
I froze, squeezing my eyes shut.
Shit. There was only one way this was really

going to disappear, and I already hated myself a
little bit for what I was about to do.

I imagined Ava.
Imagined her lying back on my gray sheets,

her black hair a mess on the pillow. Imagined her
eyes shining and her cheeks flushed with her full
lips in an ‘o’ as she dug her nails into my shoulders
and I pounded into her.

I clamped my jaw shut as tightly as I possibly

could.  My  cock  throbbed  inside  my  fist  as  I
imagined  her  on  her  side,  one  of  my  hands  lifting
her  thigh  so  I  could  slip  inside  her  wet  pussy,
making her gasp.

My balls tightened as the image inside my

legs changed to her on her knees in front of me, her
ass in her air, just waiting for me to fuck her hard.

Fuck.
Fuck.
I arched my back, pumping my hand on my

cock as hard as I possibly could. My entire body
tightened with pained pleasure as my release came
and hot cum spilled out over my hand. I moved my
hand slowly until every last drop was out, and I
kept a firm grip until my cock softened against my
palm.

Double fuck.
I cleaned off my hand using the already dirty

sheets, then did the same to my cock and hip. After
getting out of bed, I tugged up my boxers and
stripped off all the sheets, then rolled them into a
ball to put in the laundry after work.

I quickly disappeared into the bathroom

before Ava knew I was awake. I needed to shower
the shame away. I had no business jerking off to the
thought of her naked in front of me.

It was never going to happen.
Ava Parker was off. Fucking. Limits.
I’d tell myself that a thousand times a day if

it meant it’d sink in. If only my cock got the memo.

Nothing good would come from sleeping with

my best friend’s little sister. I’d never asked Leo
how he’d feel about me pursuing his sister, but I
didn’t need to. I knew it wouldn’t be a conversation
that would go well.

It would be one that would end with a punch

to the face.

His punch.
My face.

And I didn’t know what anyone else thought

about my nose, but I liked it the way it was.

I didn’t care what anyone thought about it,

for that point.

I locked the door and headed for the shower.

After turning it on, I brushed my teeth to let it heat
up, then tossed my underwear in the laundry
hamper.

The hot water of the shower was more

enjoyable than it should have been. I felt like shit. I
wanted to forget that I’d ever jerked off to the
thought of Ava. How the fuck I was going to face
her this morning was another question.

I had no emotional feelings for her.
It was purely sexual.
She drove me fucking insane. Her mouth was

so smart that, if she were ever kidnapped, it’d
either save her life or murder her. It’d get her
murdered because she was too damn smart.

On the other hand, that damn mouth of hers

would save her life because the kidnappers would
get tired of her shit.

I rinsed the soap from my hair and my body.

After a moment of savoring the feeling of the water
on my skin, I turned off the shower and stepped
out.

I wrapped a towel around my waist and

unlocked the bathroom door to walk into the
hallway. The apartment was silent, and I hesitated

in the hall.

Coffee wouldn’t be amiss right now.
I didn’t know where Ava was, but despite

this morning’s antics in my bedroom, we had to get
used to living together. That meant there was every
chance we’d see each other post-shower in nothing
but a towel and water droplets.

I preferred that she’d see me like this.
If I saw her in nothing but a towel and water

droplets, I’d need a shower of my own.

A fucking freezing one.
A sled to the Arctic would work, too.
I double-checked the towel around my waist

was  secure  and  left  the  bathroom,  walking  toward
the  silent  kitchen.  Cracking  my  neck  as  I  went,  I
also  stretched  out  my  arms,  freezing  when  I  saw
Ava  sitting  at  the  small  island  in  the  middle  of  the
open-plan living area.

“Morning,” I said, clutching the towel knot at

my hip.

Ava jerked around, and her phone slipped

from her right hand. She bolted from the stool, and
the  phone  bounced  out  of  her  grip  three  times
before  she  finally  managed  to  get  hold  of  it.
Adjusting  her  bright  yellow  glasses  with  one  hand,
she clutched the phone tightly to her with the other.
“Morning.”

“You’re jumpy. Or rather, your phone is.”
“Shut up.” She put the phone on the counter.

“Are you not wearing clothes today?”

“Nope.” I turned on the coffee machine. “I

start work at twelve, and I just got out of the
shower. I didn’t know that I had to wear clothes to
make coffee.”

“It would be appreciated.”
“Would you like some coffee?”
“Are you trying to butter me up?”
“Is that some kind of sex game you’re into?”
She reached over and slapped my arm.

“You’re still wet.”

I chuckled. “That’s usually my line.”
Ava rolled her eyes and leaned against the

island. “No. I don’t want a coffee, thank you.”

“Suit yourself.” I turned my back to her so I

didn’t have to look at her anymore.

She was unfairly fucking beautiful.
Don’t get me wrong; right now, she was a

fucking disaster, but she was a beautiful one.

Her black hair was tied into a bun on top of

her  head,  but  that  bun  looked  as  if  a  cat  had
compiled  it  and  Wolverine  himself  had  twisted  the
hair  tie  to  hold  it  in  place.  Behind  her  glasses,  her
eyes  were  bloodshot,  and  the  shadows  under  them
would  frighten  away  a  mass  murderer,  and  there
was a huge stain on the front of her shirt.

I was doing my best to ignore the fact she

was braless. Her nipples were way too distracting,
and after what I’d just done in my room, it wasn’t

exactly how I wanted to get the rest of my day
underway.

“How are you feeling?” I asked. She’d taken

last night hard, as anyone would, and despite what
she’d tell you, I did care about her feelings.

“Fine,” she replied shortly, telling me that

she was most definitely not fine.

Thank God I wasn’t stupid enough to

question her use of the word ‘fine.’

“You’re talkative this morning.” Apparently,

I was a little stupid.

“Do you want me to junk punch you?” she

snapped.

I turned, eyebrows raised. “Jesus, can’t I

make conversation?”

She pursed her lips.
Living together was going to be impossible.
“Look, we need to talk.” She put her cup

down and rested her hip against the side of the
island. She reached up and tucked some of her dark
hair behind her ear, then sighed. “This is a bad i—”

Her

phone

buzzed

the

counter,

interrupting her. She snatched it up and groaned
when she saw the screen, but she answered it
anyway.

“Hey,” she said. “What’s up?...Yeah, he’s

here.”

Ava quickly tapped the screen and put the

phone on speaker because Reagan’s voice filled the

kitchen.

“Hey,” Reagan said. “Noah just called me

from work. He spoke to one of the nurses at the
hospital.”

“About that woman from last night?” I

asked.

“Yeah,” she replied. “It was an accidental

drug overdose. They gave her some Narcan in the
ambulance and saved her life.”

“Was the nurse allowed to say that?”
“No. He flirted it out of her, and yes, I am

going to have his balls for that.”

Ava snorted. “You’ve had them since the day

you met.”

“Not the point. I’m not happy.”
“I don’t imagine the almost-dead woman is

happy either,” I said before they got too carried
away. “Thanks for letting us know.”

“Don’t mention it. Hey, Ava, I’m slammed at

the store this morning, and nobody can help me
except Aunt Bethel. Can you come down for an
hour and watch the register?”

Ava sighed. “Are you going to pay me?”
“I’ll give you ten bucks and buy you lunch.”
“Twenty, and I want real food, not a

sandwich in a Tupperware box like last time.”

“Ugh. Fine. You’ve got a deal. Only because

I don’t want any more doctor appointments in the
book.” The line crackled. “Bye, Ethan.”

“Bye, Reagan.”
“I’ll see you in thirty minutes, Ava.” Reagan

hung up.

Ava sighed and put her phone down on the

island. “So much for my day off.”

I smirked. “What did you want to talk

about?”

She waved her hand. “It’ll have to wait. I

need a shower, and you need some clothes.”

“I don’t need clothes!” I called after her.
“Yes, you do! Before I throw up!”
Just for that, I didn’t go back into my room

as I’d planned. Instead, I went over to the sofa and
lay back, grabbing the remote to turn on the
television. I watched twenty-five minutes of sports
news before Ava came back out from her room.

Her black hair was now in a braid that hung

over one shoulder, still wet, and she had her phone
clutched in her hand. “You should know that I’m
now the proud owner of a picture of your ballsac.”

I jerked, immediately covering myself.

“What?”

She shrugged. “Leverage.”
“Leverage for fucking what?”
“The hedgehog.” She smirked. “Let the

hedgehog run free, and I’ll do some freeing of my
own.”

“There are laws against that kind of stuff,

Ava.”

“Not if my friends happen to accidentally see

it and then tell people you severely lack in that
department. That’s not revenge porn.”

I glared at her. “You wanna play this game?

All right, let’s play. Just because the hedgehog will
stay in its cage, doesn’t mean I can’t mess with you
in other ways.”

She pursed her lips. “We’ll see.”
With that, she spun around and stalked out of

the apartment, kicking the door shut behind her.

And I grinned.
Messing with her was going to be fun.

CHAPTER FIVE – AVA

Passive Aggressive Bullshit

My candles were in the wrong places.
I dropped my purse on the sofa and stormed

over to the window. Yep. I was right. One of the
candles had been moved an inch to the right, and
another had been nudged backward.

Fucking Ethan.
I was going to kill him.
All right, so I’d started this with the whole

picture of his balls—which didn’t exist—but this
was just downright mean.

Passive. Aggressive. Bullshit.
If that was how he wanted to do this… as he

said, we’d play. I grew up with a brother. I was
used to doing things to piss the other off. If he
wanted to move my candles, I’d get back at him in
my own way.

I knew exactly where to start, too, but I

didn’t  have  much  time.  My  ‘hour’  at  The  Wright
Bouquet  had  turned  into  four  when  Preston’s  car
broke  down  and  he  couldn’t  do  the  deliveries  so
Reagan had to.

I marched into the kitchen and grabbed hold

of the sugar canister. The lid made a popping sound
as I pulled it off to look inside. There wasn’t a
whole lot of sugar in there, so with a nod, I carried

it over to the trashcan and tipped every last granule
into it.

I set it on the counter and pulled the tub of

salt down from the cupboard. It was fairly new, and
I tipped it into the sugar canister until it was a third
full like it’d been before.

I didn’t take sugar in my coffee unless I was

hungover and needed a kick. Since I had no plans
to drink tonight, I knew it’d ruin Ethan’s morning
tomorrow.

I was all about that.
I mean, I could ask him to move out, or I

could just ruin his life.

Since he seemed hell-bent on ruining mine,

it’d be rude not to return the favor.

I put the lid back on the canister and put it in

place between the coffee one and the tea one that
was actually full of cookies.

Talking of cookies…
I pulled three from the jar and replaced the

lid. I needed a sugar hit after the day I’d had, and I
also needed to decide what to make for dinner.

Did I have to cook for Ethan, too? Or were

we each responsible for our own food?

I cooked too much food all the time. A bit

like the people who cooked pasta for two but made
enough to feed an entire classroom. I was like that
but with everything.

It didn’t really explain why I made six

enchiladas for myself every time, but whatever.

A perusal of the fridge turned up not a whole

lot, but as far as enchiladas went, I had everything
for those.

Hmm.
I fetched my phone from my purse and

pulled up Ethan’s number.

ME: What time do you finish work?

Definitely 5?

His response was swift.

ETHAN: Yeah, 5. Why?

ME: I’m making enchiladas. Did you want

some?

ETHAN: Are you going to poison me?

ME: Even if I were, why would I tell you?

ETHAN: To be nice?

ME: Murderers don’t give advance notice.

ME: Nor are they nice.

ME: Can you answer the question?

ETHAN: I don’t know if I trust you not to

poison me.

ME: To paraphrase the Beast—then go

ahead and fucking starve.

ETHAN: If you’re talking about the

Disney dude, I don’t think he said ‘fucking.’

ME: That’s why I said paraphrase.

ETHAN: Right.

ME: Look, I’m going to make a ton

anyway because I make too much of everything,
but I was asking to be nice.

ETHAN: I’d love enchiladas. As long as

you don’t poison me.

ME: If you don’t fucking shut up, I’ll

bludgeon you in your sleep.

ETHAN: That’s fine. I have great dreams.

I’ll die happy.

ME: Weirdo.

I put my phone down and got to preparing

dinner. Cooking was soothing to my soul, and I felt
entirely at home in the kitchen. More than
anywhere else, actually. It was my happy place.

I diced the chicken and tossed it into the pan,

then sliced the vegetables. By the time it was all
done and I had the sauce made, the front door
opened, and Ethan walked in.

He froze in the doorway.
“What?” I asked, glancing at him over my

shoulder.

“Nothing. It smells better than I thought.”
“Yeah, well, they do say that most people

can’t smell cyanide.”

“Funny,” he drawled, dragging the word right

out. “I might order in instead.”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the tortillas,

slicing the packaging open with a knife. God only
knew I’d made enough fillings for all of them, so I
was going to cook all of them.

Ethan disappeared into his room, and I

finished making the enchiladas. The oven was hot,
so I put the dish inside it and closed the door. It
already smelled amazing, and I was a little gutted
that I had to put the dishes in the dishwasher.

I wanted to lick the pan.
Just a little.
Hey, some people ate cake mix from the

bowl, I wanted to lick enchilada sauce from the
pan.

We all had our vices.
By the time Ethan rejoined me, the kitchen

was clean and I’d wiped down all the counters.

“Wow. You got fairies who do that?”
I shook my head as he pulled a bottle of beer

from the fridge. “Yes, me.”

He held a bottle of beer out to me, but I

shook my head. “Did you help Reagan for the rest
of the day?”

“How did you—” I stopped. Of course he’d

know  about  Preston’s  car.  He  worked  at  the  only
garage in town. Since his uncle owned it, he had a
standing  job  there  whenever  he  came  home.
“Never  mind.  Yeah,  I  got  back  just  after  four.  Did
you fix his car?”

Ethan took a long drink from his beer, then

shook his head. “No. We had to order in a new
exhaust pipe.”

“A new exhaust pipe? How do you break an

exhaust pipe?”

“When it gets loaded with rocks and pizza

crusts.”

“I… don’t really know how to respond to

that.”

“Yeah, well, neither did we until Halley

hunted down the raccoons and found three empty
pizza boxes hidden in a bush.”

I frowned. “Let me guess: Boris?”
Ethan nodded. “Fuck knows what happened,

but that raccoon sounds like he should be in jail.”

He was not wrong about that. Hard time

would probably do that animal some good. Readjust
his priorities and all that.

Probation at the very least.
“Why would he put pizza crusts in the

exhaust pipe?” I asked, pulling a bottle of wine
from the fridge. “That’s the weirdest, most random
thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t speak

raccoon, and apparently, he ran off when Halley
demanded answers. Does she know raccoons don’t
speak English?”

“It’s something we’re working on,” I replied

vaguely. “Seriously, she does, but that doesn’t mean
she’s going to stop talking to them.”

“Has anyone ever told her that she’s really

weird?”

“Yes. Every day. She couldn’t give a shit.”
“Fair enough.” Ethan cough-laughed and

rubbed his hand over his lips. “But yeah, it looks
like Boris has something against Preston, and took
revenge in his car.”

“I don’t buy it. I mean, Boris is a raging

fucking asshole, but how would he even know to
put stuff in the exhaust?” I paused. “Then again,
this is Boris, and raccoons are crazy smart. Smarter
than we give them credit for.”

“This is vindictive ex-girlfriend shit, though.”

Ethan flattened his hands on the island and leaned
forward. “A guy I worked with a couple of years
ago in Dallas broke up with his girlfriend when she
caught him cheating on her, and shit, man. She
went apeshit. I think there’s a video of her defacing
his car on the internet somewhere.”

I blinked at him. “He broke her trust.

Breaking his car seems like a perfectly reasonable
revenge method to me.”

“And remind me to warn every man ever

away from you.”

“Not all of them. Only the cheaters, but then

you’d be doing me a favor.” I shrugged and crossed
to the oven to check on the food. “Look, there are
crazy bitches out there. I’m not one of them,
luckily for everyone in my path.” I gave him a
pointed look.

“Don’t you have a picture of my ballsac on

your phone because I let the hedgehog out once?
That’s crazy-bitch territory in my opinion.”

I shrugged. I wasn’t going to tell him I didn’t

actually have it. “I’m vindictive, not crazy.”

“You say that like it’s an upgrade.”
“Sure it is. I won’t key your car or smash

your windows with a brick, but I will make sure
everyone knows you and your three-inch dick can
only get off to the gay porn I found in your internet
history.”

“There is no gay porn in my internet history.”

“Yet.”
“You’re a little scary, do you know that?”
I grinned, lifting my wine glass to my mouth.

“Just reminding you of what I’m capable of if you
ever, ever move my fucking candles again.”

He raised two fingers to his temple and

saluted me. “Your obsession with those candles is
weird.”

“I told you; I like them just so. They’re

symmetrical. I like symmetry.”

“Well, that explains the cutlery drawer.”
I opened the oven again and side-eyed him.

“There’s nothing wrong with an orderly cutlery
drawer.”

“Do you have OCD?”
“What? Because I like things a certain way?”

I  set  a  three-minute  timer  on  the  oven  and  faced
him.  “No.  OCD  is  way  too  overused  for  people
who  just  like  things  a  certain  way.  I  can  enjoy
organization  and  order  without  having  a  genuine
disorder that shouldn’t be thrown about as trivially
as  it  is  these  days.  Yes,  I  thrive  on  things  being  in
the  places  they’re  supposed  to  be  in,  and  I  like  to
make sure everything has its place, but that’s all it
is.”

“All right, Dr. Phil. Calm down.”
“Watch yourself, or I’ll find you a place six

foot under.”

“Your death threats are getting more and

more frequent.”

“And they only happen after you say

something stupid. Isn’t it funny how that works?”

“Living with you is a pleasure I didn’t know

I needed to experience in my life, Ava.”

“Aw, that’s sweet. Living with you is the

nightmare I normally wake up from.”

The oven timer beeped, and I jabbed the

button to make it stop, then turned off the oven. I
grabbed the oven mitts and removed the dish,
setting it on top of the wooden cutting board.

Ethan got up and set two plates down on the

counter, and I thanked him with a smile before I put
two enchiladas on each plate.

“Only two?”
I peered over at him. “You want another?”
“Another two,” he replied. “There are four in

there. Unless anyone else is coming for dinner…”

“I told you when I texted you that I always

make too much food.” I put two more enchiladas
on his plate. “Are you really going to eat four?”

“Are you really going to eat only two?”
“Look, taking another one into my bedroom

to eat at eleven-thirty in bed is my prerogative, and
I’d like you to keep your judging to yourself.” I
poked my tongue out at him and took my plate over
to the sofa. I grabbed hold of the remote and
pointed it at the TV.

“Whoa, whoa, what are we watching?” He

sat on the floor in front of the sofa and put his plate
on the coffee table. “I’m not watching some girly
shit.”

“I’m not watching sports,” I retorted. “I was

going to turn on Netflix.”

“Yeah, but for what?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t turned it on yet.”
“Well, get on with it.”
I kicked him. “Tell me what to do again and

see where that gets you.”

“Yes, Mom.”
I kicked him again. You know. Because I

could.

I turned on Netflix and selected my profile.

“I see you wasted no time in setting up your own
profile.”

“Nope. I took one look at your girly shit and

bounced right out of your profile,” Ethan said
around a mouthful of food. “Damn, this is good.”

“Thank you. For both the compliment and

not sullying my profile with your bullshit shows.” I
scrolled to the section that had the shows I’d added
to my list and rolled through them. I paused at
Forensic Files where I was halfway through season
six.

“What’s that?” Ethan asked.
“What it says on the can,” I replied. “It’s

murder cases.”

“Not girly shit?”

“Does it look like it’s fucking Mean Girls?”
“No, but you do.”
“I wish I’d poisoned your guacamole,” I

muttered, starting the show.

He peered over and grinned, his cheeks

puffed out like hamster cheeks with the food he still
had shoved in his mouth.

The man was attractive as fuck, but this was

not a look he wanted on a dating site.

Or anywhere.
Hell, I didn’t want it in my living room.
“Don’t do that,” I said, stabbing my

enchilada with a fork. “It’s not a good look for
you.”

He sighed. “Always crushing my dreams.”
“You have no idea.”

***

I mixed the cherry yogurt into the berry

granola in my bowl, splattering yogurt everywhere.
Honestly, it was no wonder I was single—the
counter looked as though I’d given a six-month-old
baby a spoon and asked them to feed a goldfish.

A dead goldfish.
I grabbed a cloth to clean up my mess and

yawned. It was Sunday, which meant there’d be
football games back to back all day long. From the
early afternoon, at least. But it also meant I’d be in

work early since yesterday was my day off—not
that it’d mattered to Reagan, but she paid more per
hour than Lucky’s, so…

I digress.
I just wanted Ethan to wake up before I went

to work. I wanted to see the results of my sugar-salt
switch for myself. I’d video it, but I didn’t want to
tip him off that I was up to something.

I was fully aware that I was potentially

starting a war here.

The problem was, I didn’t care. Not a damn

bit. I knew he’d retaliate one way or another and
that it would be worse than just nudging my
candles.

Switching salt for sugar was pretty savage,

after all.

Especially since we had no sugar left, so he’d

have to go out to get coffee.

Poor baby.
A door opened from down the hall, and I

cradled  my  bowl  against  my  chest  as  I  ate.  Ethan
stepped  into  view,  his  hand  covering  his  mouth  as
he  yawned.  His  dark-blonde  hair  was  a  mess,
sticking  up  at  all  angles,  and  he  was  wearing
nothing but a faded pair of sweat shorts.

It was annoying. I didn’t need to perv on him

while I ate my breakfast. Biceps and a six-pack
weren’t appropriate morning viewing, thank you
very much.

He reached his hand down his shorts and

scratched his balls.

I cleared my throat.
He jerked around, bashing his elbow on the

fridge. “Shit.” He rubbed at it.

“Good morning,” I replied.
“Good morning.” He hit the button on the

coffee machine to turn it on.

“You appear to have lost your t-shirt.”
“And your nipples appear to be trying to

break out of yours.”

I adjusted so they were covered by my arms.

Kinda. “Why are you looking at my boobs?”

“Why are you looking at my chest?”
“I can hardly miss it.”
“There you go, then.” He pulled a mug down

from the cupboard, completely unbothered, and put
it under the spout and set the coffee to pour.

It was happening.
I dropped my gaze to my bowl and shoveled

a huge spoonful into my mouth. It was too much,
and I had to spit some out into the trash so I didn’t
choke to death.

Discretion was not one of my great abilities,

and a poker face was not something I possessed.

Ethan side-eyed me, giving me a look that

said he was wondering what the hell was wrong
with me.

It’d been asked many times.

I still didn’t know the answer.
Ethan spooned sugar into his mug three

times, added the cream, and stirred. He left the
creamer on the side as he lifted the mug and took
two huge mouthfuls.

He coughed immediately, throwing the full

mug into the sink where it clattered against the
stainless steel and hot coffee splashed all over the
tiles.

I put down my bowl. “What’s wrong?”
The look he gave me was murderous. “Did

you switch out the fucking sugar for salt?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I

replied, picking up my water to take a drink.

He snatched the bottle from me before I had

a chance and glugged down half the water. He
slammed it onto the counter and stuck his tongue
out, disgust etching into his expression.

With a shudder, he stormed off toward the

bathroom, and the tap in there roared to life.

I laughed silently into my hand. Oh, man, this

was so worth whatever was coming my way as
revenge.

Famous last words, probably, but whatever.
“Fucking salt,” Ethan said from the

bathroom. “Fucking Ava.”

I pressed both hands over my mouth to hide

my laughter.

Yep. He was pissed.

He stomped back into the kitchen, eyes

narrowed. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

“Generally, no,” I replied, dropping my

hands. “But right now? Absolutely. This is the best
morning I’ve had in a long time.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked

up at the ceiling. Then, slowly, he walked over to
me and stopped just inches in front of me. He was
still shirtless, and I swore I could feel the anger just
emanating off him.

“Ava,” he said in a low voice. “You just

started a battle you can’t win.”

Jerking my chin up in defiance, I met his

burning, blue gaze. “I wouldn’t be so sure about
that.”

He held eye contact for the longest moment

before he finally said, “We’ll see about that.”

CHAPTER SIX – AVA

Sibling Rivalries

“You actually put salt in the sugar jar?”

Reagan raised her voice to be heard over the sound
of the entire bar roaring with delight as the
Panthers scored a touchdown.

I winced at the noise and waited until they’d

stopped hollering like Neanderthals to respond.
“Yep. Apparently, we’re now at war.”

Halley wrinkled her nose. “What are you

going to do next? That’s a pretty savage move. I
don’t know how else you can really get at him.”

“You still have the ballsac card, right?”

Reagan asked, dipping her fries in ketchup. We
were tucked away in the corner of the bar while I
was on my break, and since it was five-thirty, we’d
all decided on a slightly early dinner.

“I do,” I said, putting down my burger and

wiping my mouth. I swallowed and continued, “But
that’s only for use with the hedgehog. Otherwise, I
need to come up with some ideas and fast.”

“Steal the insoles from all his shoes while he

sleeps,” she said immediately.

Halley nodded. “You can also go through the

cookies and take one bite out of every single one.
Works on just about anything.”

“Have you done that?” I asked, grinning.

She dabbed the corner of her mouth with her

napkin. “It’s the last time Preston touches my
candy.”

Reagan smirked.
I pulled my glasses off and used the bottom

of my shirt to clean the lens. “All right, so that’s
two, but I really need more than just that. I get the
feeling this is going to be painful for me. I need to
return that in spades.”

My friends both nodded. We ate in silence

for a few minutes before Reagan clapped her
hands.

“Switch the toothpaste out for shaving

cream.”

I screwed up my face. “I think he’ll notice

that, though. The texture is completely different.”

Halley nodded. “That’s a basic one. He’ll be

looking for that. You need something more
discreet.”

“Take all the batteries so he can’t use

anything?” Reagan suggested.

I shook my head. “Far too risky that he’ll

retaliate in the same way. I don’t think he knows
about the vibrator yet, but I don’t want to risk it.”

Halley shook her head, her blonde bob

brushing against her cheeks. “File it away anyway.
It’s a last-resort kind of passive-aggressive attack.”

Reagan nodded. “So there’s stealing insoles,

biting one of every of his favorite snack, and

maybe stealing all the batteries. You could also hide
all his charge leads.”

“What if they have the same lead?” Halley

asked.

“I don’t think we do,” I replied. “His phone

is newer than mine. I think the adaptor is different.”

“Okay, so there’s also that. That should get

you through the week. He’s not going to retaliate
straight away.” Reagan picked up her Pepsi and
sipped. “He’s going to lull you into a false sense of
security and attack.”

“I did used to do this with Leo.”
“Yeah, but that’s the problem. He’s got your

brother on his side. He’s going to know all your
tricks by the end of the day. Unless you call
Angelica…”

I paused. I hadn’t thought about calling

Ethan’s  sister.  We  didn’t  speak  that  much,  but  I
knew she’d gotten married last year and was about
to  have  a  baby.  She  was  always  nice  when  I  saw
her  in  passing,  and  as  someone’s  sister  myself,  I
knew  how  satisfying  it  was  to  piss  off  your
brother…

“I don’t have her number, and I’m pretty

sure she’s on maternity leave,” I said. “Either of
you have any ideas?”

Halley shook her head.
Reagan pulled her straw from her glass and

sucked air through it, making a bubbling noise. She

tapped the end against her lips. “Doesn’t her
husband come in here every week? I’m pretty sure
Noah said something about them seeing him here
on Friday.”

“That doesn’t help me. It’s Sunday.”
“No, I think he comes in to watch the games.

He’s from New York so he’s a Jets fan, but he also
watches the Panthers. He’s probably here right
now.”

“Isn’t Angelica literally about to give birth?”

Halley raised an eyebrow. “I’d castrate your
brother if he left me to watch football and I was
going to have a baby.”

“Have you discussed impregnating yourself

with the lesser strain of the Wright family DNA?”
Reagan responded with an eyebrow-raise of her
own.

The look my blonde best friend shot at my

purple-haired one was withering. “Not at this time,
no. I think the raccoons are enough questionable
DNA, thank you.”

One day, we’d all stay on track of a

conversation.

“Okay. I’ve never met her husband, so…

Anyone?” I asked, drawing the conversation back
to the point at hand. “Can you see him?”

They both craned their necks and looked

around the bar until Reagan squeaked. “He’s by the
bar.”

“Who is he?” I sat up to see.
“The guy with the dark hair, black t-shirt,

laughing right now?”

I had him. “I got him. Okay, I’m gonna go get

her number.”

“You’re just gonna walk right up to him?”

Halley’s eyes widened.

“Yeah. I’m not a magician. I can’t just pluck

her number from his cell phone. Plus, I have to get
back to work.” I smiled and stood up, waving them
goodbye.

I made my way through the people and back

to the bar right before the husband disappeared and
I lost him for the night.

“Excuse me!” I called, reaching for him.
He turned, two beers in each hand. His eyes

flitted across my face before recognition shone in
his gaze. “Hey—you’re Ava, right? You live with
Ethan.”

“He lives with me,” I muttered before I could

stop myself.

He laughed.
“Sorry.” I grimaced. “It’s automatic. Yeah,

I’m Ava. You’re Angelica’s husband, right?”

He nodded. “Shane. I’d shake your hand,

but…” He held up the bottles.

“Don’t worry. I was wondering—could I get

her number?”

Shane’s eyebrows shot up. “Why do you

need her number?”

“Because Ethan and I appear to be in some

kind of passive-aggressive roommate war, and I
want to win.”

He hesitated for all of a second before he

burst out laughing. “I can’t say that’s what I was
expecting you to say, but it’s probably the best
thing she’ll hear all week.”

I grinned. “So you don’t mind?”
“I can’t give you her number, but why don’t

you give me yours? I’ll give it to her later and tell
her to text you.”

“That would be awesome! I’m behind the

bar, and it looks like this quarter is starting, so do
you just wanna bring it over at some point? I’m
here until eight.”

He glanced up at the screen above the bar.

“Let me put these on the table, and I’ll write it
down for you. I’m gonna forget otherwise.” He
returned the smile and turned, disappearing into the
crowd.

I tucked myself back behind the bar and

served a customer. It looked as if everyone was
trying to get drinks before the game restarted, and I
had to clear five people before I could slip to the
end of the bar to where Shane was waiting.

I held up two fingers and turned to the

down my name and number and handed it to Shane.

“Thanks,” I said. “I really appreciate it.”
He grinned. “Not as much as she will. I

swear she lives to piss him off.”

“Ethan’s best friend is my brother. I feel

that.”

“Ah, shit. Leo. That’s why you looked

familiar to me.” He paused when I wrinkled my
face. “But you definitely got the better genes.”

I laughed. “Nice save. I’ll put in a good word

with Angelica.”

“Always appreciated.” He winked, then held

up the bit of paper. “I’ll give it to her when I’m
home.”

“Thanks. I have to get back to work. Let me

know if you all need anything.”

***

Shane did as he’d promised because I

managed to slip out of the apartment the next day
before Ethan had gotten out of the shower.

Angelica had insisted we meet for breakfast.

I  was  a  little  apprehensive,  but  she’d  sent  entirely
too  many  laughing  face  emojis  for  me  to  be  too
nervous.  I  got  the  impression  she  was  bored  with
maternity  leave  and  needed  something  to  amuse
her, and if pissing off Ethan was that thing…

Well, who was I to deny a pregnant lady

some enjoyment?

I was no monster. Let that be known.
A salty, vengeful bitch? Yes. Monster? No.
If Angelica really wanted to help, I had an

obligation to let her. You know. It was like the sister
code. Pissing off brothers was an art form, and it
was our duty to pass that knowledge on to the next
generation of sisters.

It didn’t matter that Angelica was older than

Ethan. It was all fair game as far as I was
concerned.

I pushed open the door to my old workplace

and stepped into the cooler air of the café. It was
quiet for a Monday morning, mostly full of people
who were there to grab a quick coffee and maybe a
pastry to eat at work.

I glanced around, but it didn’t look like

Angelica was there yet. I took a table by the front
window and settled in, waiting for her to show up.

It didn’t take her long. She was instantly

recognizable by not only the baby bump but
because her hair was the exact shade of dark
blonde that Ethan’s was.

Dark blue eyes too similar to his scanned the

room and landed on me. Her face broke out into a
huge grin, and she beelined for me. “Ava!”

Her outstretched arms said she was coming

in for a hug, so I stood and accepted the one she
happily offered me.

It was nice to know she wasn’t the asshole

that Ethan was.

“What are we drinking?” she asked, taking a

seat. “Will you judge me if I get a latte?”

“You’re here because I want to piss off your

brother. You can drink what you like.”

She grinned. “Don’t tell Shane. He doesn’t

like  me  drinking  coffee,  but  one  latte  a  week  isn’t
going  to  kill  me.  It’s  basically  a  hot  coffee
milkshake.  Do  you  mind  if  I  eat?  I  haven’t  had
anything yet, and I’m dying for a cheese Danish.”

Oh, my God. She was so alive. She was

carrying a literal person around, and she was still
more likable than I was on a Monday morning.

“Go ahead. I can go and order it if you’d

like.”

She blew out a long breath and rested a hand

on her stomach. “Would you? God, you’re so nice.
And Ethan said you weren’t.”

“He would,” I murmured, making her laugh.
The sound of her laughter carried me up to

the counter. I ordered her latte and cheese Danish,
adding a second pastry for me and a regular coffee.
Paula, the girl who worked behind the counter and
my ex-manager, added the employee discount of
twenty percent with a wink and told me she’d bring
it over when it was all ready.

Thanking her, I headed back to the table.
“So, you’re in a war with my brother.”

“About as close as two twenty-something

millennials can get without throwing avocado toast
at each other.”

Angelica snorted. “Oh please, everyone

knows we millennials can’t afford avocados.”

That.
Totally that.
They were expensive, man.
“Well, yeah.” I laughed and leaned forward

on the table. “He brought the hedgehog to the
apartment without telling me—”

“Oh, Jesus.”
“—And I kind of have a thing about small

animals that aren’t cats or dogs.” I gave her a brief
explanation of the anti-hedgehog chat. “Anyway,
on Saturday, I find he’s moved my candles. I know
it was deliberate because he’s desperate to get
under my skin because I banned Mr. Prick.”

“Mr. Prickles.”
“Oh, I know. I did that deliberately.”
She laughed. “Go on.”
“So before he got home on Saturday, I

switched the sugar out for salt.”

Angelica’s grin was evil. Pure evil and

riddled with satisfaction. “He takes three sugars in
his coffee.”

“And apparently, two rounds of teeth

brushing, a bottle of water, and numerous curse
words.”

She nodded slowly, tucking a stray lock of

hair behind her ear. “Excellent. I’m here for that
kind of brutality. So, what do you need my help
with?”

Right then, our coffees and pastries were

brought over. I took mine, and Angelica got started
on her Danish as if it was going to grow legs and
jump off the table.

I guess pregnancy made people crazy.
Hell, I felt like that about food in general, so

if she only felt like that because she was pregnant,
then she had more self-control than I did.

“Okay. I know Ethan has to have a weakness

somewhere. I can do all these silly things to him in
response to what he’s going to do to me, but I want
to get under his skin.”

Angelica nodded, dabbing at her mouth with

her napkin. “I get that. He and I had some intense
fights growing up, so he’s not going to be easy to
get at. If you want to really get at him, you’re going
to need to find his weak spot.”

“Exactly. I feel like I’ve thought of

everything with Halley and Reagan’s help;
toothpaste for shaving cream, shampoo for hair
removal cream, biting into all his snacks, sugar for
salt, stealing the insoles of his shoes—”

She choked on her latte. “That’s being saved

for the next time my husband pisses me off.”

“You’re welcome,” I replied. “Stupid shit

like  that,  you  know?  It’s  what  he’s  going  to  do  to
me.  Little  things  that  are  just  goddamn
inconvenient.  But  if  he  replaces  my  shampoo  with
my  hair  removal  cream,  I’m  going  to  chop  off  his
balls with a butter knife and choke him on them.”

“Totally reasonable.” She nodded slowly.

“Okay, so other little things: if you don’t use cable,
you could cancel it. It will make him rage.”

“I don’t use it,” I admitted. “I usually watch

Netflix and Prime Video, and I’ve been toying with
getting a Hulu subscription.”

“There you go. While you’re there, delete his

Netflix profile on your account so he has to start his
list again.”

“How do you know he has a Netflix profile

on mine?”

“Because he hasn’t logged into my account

for at least four days, so I figure he’s using yours.”

“Huh. Yeah. What a jerk.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, sister.” Her

lips pulled to one side. “This way, he’ll probably get
a Hulu subscription and pay for it so you can use
that.”

“I like the way you think.”
She grinned. “You’d feel the same about

your brother.”

Probably.
“All right, so I have all these now. And I’m

totally canceling my cable, for what it’s worth.” I

wiped the grease from my Danish off my fingers.
“There has to be something else, right?”

Angelica frowned. “Like what?”
“His big issue. I don’t know. His crux. The

thing that stymies him. His Achilles heel, I guess.”

“His Achilles heel?”
“Yeah. The one thing that really gets to him.

There has to be something that really gets under his
skin. Isn’t there?”

Angelica took a long drink of her latte and

set it down. Slowly, she sat back and linked her
fingers over her bump, her blue gaze firmly locked
onto mine. “You wanna know?”

“Yes. What is Ethan’s Achilles heel?”
Her throat bobbed, and she said one word in

response. “You.”

CHAPTER SEVEN – ETHAN

Salty As Fuck—Literally

I wiped my face with the nearest cloth and

quickly dropped it to the floor. It was covered in
oil, and I knew it’d done more damage than good to
my face.

Shit.
I ducked into the staff bathroom and

scrubbed at my face. I didn’t know who the idiot
was that made oil and water repel each other, but I
wanted to have words with them right now.

Yesterday, it was salt in my coffee.
Now, it was oil on my face after cleaning up.
Shit.
It’d been one of the longest Mondays in the

history of the world, and I was so fucking glad it
was over.

I grabbed my stuff from the staff room, and

after waving goodbye to my uncle and the other
guys in the garage who were finishing up with an oil
change for an elderly lady, I slipped out of the side
door and headed toward my car.

I needed to come up with a way to get back

at Ava. I swore I could still taste the salt if I
touched my tongue to the roof of my mouth.

Yep.
I could.

No amount of scrubbing and mouthwash was

going to get rid of it.

It was going to haunt my fucking dreams,

which was fitting since Ava was already doing that.

I pulled out of the parking lot and turned in

the direction of the store. There had to be
something in the grocery store that would give me
inspiration to pay her back for the salt.

That, and I needed to buy more sugar. And a

safe for my sugar. Just in case.

I pulled into an empty spot near the entrance

and grabbed a cart on my way in. We’d never
discussed how this would work—did we split the
bill? Did we buy our own food? What about shared
meals?

I stopped and pulled my phone out of my

pocket to text her.

ME: Do you need anything from the store?

There. I was being a nice person, even

though she didn’t deserve it. My phone rang almost
immediately, Ava’s name flashing on the screen.

“Why are you calling me?” I asked as soon

as I answered.

“Because I’m at work, and it’s quicker to

argue this way,” she replied without missing a beat.
“Yes, there are things we need. We’re out of toilet
paper, plus we need milk, eggs, bananas, and Lucky

Charm cereal.”

“Not a lot, then,” I said dryly. “All right.

Anything else?”

“Yes. Sugar.”
“Hold the phone; we’ve got a comedian on

our hands.”

Ava sniggered. “I have to get back to work.

I’ll give you some money later. Bye.”

The line went dead, and I put the phone back

in my pocket. Everything except the cereal was
pretty standard, and I wasn’t going to take her
money for it. It wasn’t like she’d asked me to buy
her shampoo or whatever lived down the lady aisle.

That was an aisle I wasn’t going to walk

down.

I loaded the cart with everything we needed,

doubling back to get her cereal. By the time I was
done at the register, I was more than a hundred
bucks lighter and had adulted so hard that it was a
shame I was driving and couldn’t drink a beer in
the car.

I drove back to the apartment and pulled into

an empty spot. I almost pulled into Ava’s
designated one, but knowing her, she’d take my car
keys, move the car, then hide my keys.

I had to pick my battles better than that.
I grabbed all the bags and headed upstairs to

the apartment. I almost dropped one, but good old-
fashioned determination and the handles slicing into

my fingers got me to the front door. After spending
a good minute fumbling with my keys, I let myself
into the apartment and dumped the bags on the
floor.

It took fifteen minutes to put it all away,

mostly because I still wasn’t totally familiar with
the kitchen.

That was the last time I spent that much on

food.

I picked up the last item—the Lucky Charms

—and put them on top of the fridge where she kept
the other cereal.

And froze.
People ate Lucky Charms for one reason.
The marshmallows.
A grin spread across my face. Yeah—this

was the appropriate fucking revenge, all right. She
was going to lose her shit, and I was going to laugh
my fucking ass off.

I grabbed the box back down and hunted the

cupboards for a plastic mixing bowl. Locating one
in one of the bottom cupboards, I put it on the
island and emptied the entire box into the bowl.

One by one, I picked out the marshmallows,

putting them in a plastic Tupperware container,
until the mixing bowl was full of marshmallow-less
cereal.

She was going to kill me.
I carefully put the cereal back into the box,

closed it up, and put it on top of the fridge. It was
the only box there, so I knew she’d open this one
tomorrow.

God, I hoped she woke up before I left for

work.

I’d be late if it meant I could see her face.
It was, hands down, the most passive-

aggressive thing I’d ever done in my life. Right
along with the gentle nudging of her candles.

Man, that pissed her off.
I laughed to myself as I went into my room.

Mr. Prickles was asleep, so I refilled his water and
left him alone.

I still didn’t know how I’d ended up the

owner of a hedgehog. It was definitely my mom’s
fault, though. That much I did know.

I checked my phone and, instead of cooking,

ordered a pizza, happy with my payback.

***

“Why is the spiky pig sitting in my shoe?”
I looked up from the article I was reading on

my phone and over at the door. Mr. Prickles was
indeed sitting in one of her running shoes, and he
was staring at her, almost taunting her. “Maybe it’s
comfortable.”

“I wouldn’t run in shoes that weren’t,” she

replied, putting her glasses on. “But that’s mine.”

“So go and move him.” I picked up my cup

of coffee and sipped.

“I’m not touching it. They have fleas.”
“Wild ones, sure. He gets flea treatment?”
“Flea treatment? Dear God, Ethan.” She

pulled the Lucky Charms down from the top of the
fridge. “Did you open these?”

I nodded. “I bought them.”
“I told you I’d give you some money.”
“I’m sure I can part with two or three dollars

for some cereal I’m going to eat, too.” I peered up
at her as she grabbed a bowl.

“Fine.” She opened the box and tipped it. A

yawn scrunched her face up, and she almost spilled
the cereal all over the island, but she caught herself
before that happened.

She froze.
“What’s wrong? Is there a spider in there or

something?”

“There are no marshmallows.” She was

looking down at the bowl as if it were an algebra
textbook. It was fucking adorable. “They’re the
best bit. Did yours have marshmallows?”

My lips twitched. “I said I opened it. I never

said I ate some.”

Her pink lips parted, and I swore I could see

the moment recognition dawned on her. “You!”

“Yes, sunshine?”
“You took out all the marshmallows!”

“Did I?”
“You damn well know you did!” She shook

the box of Lucky Charms at me. “What kind of
fucking savage are you?”

“A vengeful one.” I lifted my mug to my lips.

“I told you this was war, Ava. It’s not my fault if
you didn’t listen to me.”

She grabbed a handful of the cereal and let it

fall through her fingers into the bowl. “This is some
passive-aggressive bullshit. I thought you meant,
like, actual war. Not this.”

“Well, you should have thought about that

before you put salt in the sugar jar.”

“You should have thought about it before

you moved my candles.”

“Yeah,

you’re

right,

they’re

totally

comparable.”

“Ethan!” she snapped, shoving the bowl in

my direction. “This is brutal. What did you do with
the marshmallows?”

I grinned. “I ate them.”
“You ate all the marshmallows?” Horror

flashed across her features. “What kind of a sick
bastard are you?”

“Again, a vengeful one.”
“What am I supposed to eat for breakfast

now?”

“Something not aimed at getting kids

addicted to sugar before they’re fully capable of

wiping their own asses?” I suggested. “Like fruit?
Or granola? Or even toast?”

“No. I wanted Lucky Charms.” She huffed

and without another word, took her bowl and the
now apparently ruined box of cereal and dumped it
all in the trash.

Literally all.
Even the bowl.
“Did you mean to drop the bowl in there,

too?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

The pout her lips formed told me she did not.
I laughed. “You should probably get that

back out.”

She made a noise that sounded a bit like an

angry chicken before she reached into the trash can
and pulled out her bowl. “I’m going to get you back
for this.”

“You can try.”
“I don’t need to. I already know I can. I

spoke to your sister.” She smirked. “And now it
really is game on.”

My sister?
Aw, shit.
Angelica knew way too much—like how I

had a very inappropriate attraction to Ava. I didn’t
think  she  was  stupid  enough  to  tell  her  that,  but
there  was  every  chance  she  would.  There  was
probably  some  shit  from  when  we  were  younger
that she still had to pay me back for.

“All right. Then I’ll talk to Leo,” I countered.
“Do it.” Ava grabbed an apple. “He’s got less

imagination than this apple.” She bit into it, the
crunch filling the room, and swept past me to go to
her room.

I clicked my tongue and grabbed my phone.

ME: Need to piss off your sister. Help.

He replied quickly.

LEO: Isn’t living with her already doing

that?

ME: We’re in a passive-aggressive fight.

LEO: Normally I’d suggest sleeping with

her and running out before she wakes up, but
you have to go home after.

ME: You’re suggesting I sleep with your

sister?

LEO: Not specifically. Just a general

thought.

ME: Help me. I stole all the marshmallows

out of the cereal and now she might be
assembling an army in her room.

LEO: Hahahahahahaahhaa that’s cruel as

fuck, dude.

ME: Exactly why I think she’s gathering

an army.

LEO: Steal one of all her socks so she

can’t find a pair. I did that when I was fifteen
and she fucking murdered me.

ME: At least it’ll mean I win.

LEO: True.

LEO: You could always leave the

hedgehog in her room.

ME: Then she’ll kill the hedgehog.

LEO: A worthy sacrifice.

ME: No.

LEO: Put empty bottles back in the fridge

every time she takes them out.

ME: That’s cruel. I like it.

LEO: Yeah. So. When are you gonna

admit you have feelings for her?

ME: No feelings. Not that kind.

LEO: Yeah. K.

ME: No feelings.

LEO: The more you protest the less I

believe you.

ME: I gotta go to work.

LEO: Avoidance is a stage of denial.

ME: I’ll punch you in the nose. Avoid that.

LEO: I will. You punch like a fairy.

ME: Thanks for the help.

LEO: No problem. By the way, mission

accomplished. She just texted me telling me
what a fucking sadistic prick you are.

ME: I’ll sleep with one eye open tonight.

LEO: My advice? Don’t sleep.

CHAPTER EIGHT – AVA

It’s On, Bitches

Marshmallows were such an irrational thing

to be angry about. I knew that. Everyone knew
that. I didn’t even have the excuse that I was on my
period anymore.

Nope, the monthly notification of not having

a human being forming in my uterus was over.

The problem was, everyone knew you didn’t

buy Lucky Charms for the cereal. It was for the
marshmallows. They literally sold just a box of
those, which was what I was now eating as I sat at
a table in the library.

The little kids were all kind of… staring at

me.

It was a little scary. No wonder people were

genuinely afraid of them.

I had, however, swiftly enacted my revenge

in the form of a double hit. I was no longer paying
for cable, and I’d not only deleted Ethan’s profile
from my Netflix account, but I’d changed the
password, too.

And logged out.
Everywhere.
Ev. Er. Ee. Where.
I chuckled to myself as I shoveled a handful

of marshmallows into my mouth.

“You know,” Halley said, buttoning up her

jacket as she approached me. “It’s really weird that
you’re just sitting there eating those from the box.
Are you okay? Do you need an intervention?”

“Nope.” I threw a few more into my mouth,

then explained the events of the morning and how
I’d retaliated.

She nodded her head as she pushed open the

door to the library. “Seems fair. I think what he did
was basically treason.”

“Agreed.” I hugged the box tight to my

chest. “Anyway, that’s today’s update. It’s getting
brutal.”

“What else did Angelica tell you? Surely

there’s something you can do to really piss him
off.”

I sighed. “There is, but I don’t know what

I’m supposed to do.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She said I’m his Achilles Heel.”
“What?”
“Apparently, he has an attraction to me that

he keeps secret.”

Halley stopped in the middle of the street.

“Well, that works, considering you’re in love with
him.”

“I’m not in love with him,” I lied. “But I

don’t know what to do with this information.”

“Use it to your advantage, obviously.” She

started walking again. “Don’t wear a bra at home.
Wear little shorts. Drop something and pick it up in
front of him. If he’s really attracted to you that
badly, he’ll lose it.”

I frowned, pushing open the door to the

diner. “I don’t know. That just seems like the
easiest possible way I could make a fool out of
myself.”

“Ava, you were just sitting in the library in

the middle of the day eating Lucky Charms
marshmallows from the box. No offense, but you’re
not exactly the epitome of being a lady.” Halley
gave me a pointed look as we sat at a table for two
people.

Also, it was really annoying that she was

right.

“Okay, so you have a point,” I started.
“Naturally.”
“But it seems like a terrible idea.”
“The marshmallows or the sexy thing?”
“The sexy thing. The marshmallows are

never a bad idea.” I put the box on the table. “I
mean, it’s not like I wear a bra all the time anyway,
but I don’t wear little shorts when he’s around, and
I certainly don’t snap and bend to pick things up.”

“Bend and snap.”
“What?”
“The move is bend and snap.”
“I… don’t really care,” I said honestly. “I’m

not going to do it. I’ll probably fall and break my
elbow or something.”

Halley rolled her eyes. “What then? If you

have feelings for him and he’s attracted to you, the
fact

that

you’re

roommates

seriously

problematic.”

I put my elbows on the table and rested my

chin in my hands. “It’s already problematic. I had
to get hedgehog shit out of my sneakers this
morning before I could run.”

“You ran without me? Look at you, getting

fit and shit.”

I gave her a withering smile. “That’s what

you took from that?”

She sighed and leaned forward. “Look. You

and Ethan living together was a terrible idea, Ava.
You don’t even need me to tell you that, but I don’t
get it. You’ve had feelings for him for years, and
now you’ve found out he’s attracted to you.”

I shifted in the chair.
“Why don’t you just mess with him and see

if he breaks? If he doesn’t, no harm done. If he
does, you don’t know what might happen.”

“We’re not you and Preston,” I argued.

“Ethan and I don’t get along for the most part, and
I like it like that. Even though we live together now,
we’re not really nice to each other. We’re just civil.
We don’t see each other half the time because of
work.”

“You’re just making a long list of excuses.”
“No.” Yes. “The point is, if I try and be all

Jessica Rabbit, something is going to go wrong.”

“Worse than a hedgehog using your shoe as a

toilet?”

“Worse than a hedgehog using my shoe as a

toilet,” I confirmed. “Honestly, I don’t want him to
be attracted to me. Now I’m constantly going to be
worrying about what he’s thinking about me.”

“He’s probably terrified of what you’re going

to do next.”

“I’ve already done it.”
“He doesn’t know that. I think you should

have waited for a few days. Built the suspense.”

“I’m not writing a book, Halley. I’m just

trying to piss him off. I’m not even going to be
passive about this one. Just aggressive.”

She put her menu down. “Ava. You have the

aggressive of a newborn kitten.”

I pursed my lips. “You and Reagan are

dreadful at being supportive friends.”

“Yeah. Pretty much. So, what are we

eating?”

***

“We need to talk.” Ethan slammed his hands

down on the bar.

I looked over at him. “I’m sorry, sir, you’ll

have to wait until I’ve served these customers.
They were here first.”

Anger flashed in his eyes. “Ava.”
“What can I get you, sir?” I asked a balding,

portly man who already had his wallet out. He gave
me his order of two beers, and I took my sweet-ass
time pouring them from the tap and serving them to
him.

I repeated this four times, making one of the

women laugh when she realized what I was doing. I
winked at her as I set the last gin and tonic down on
the tray. After taking her money, I rang up the order
on the register.

Slowly.
She laughed as I handed her the change. She

shook her head and whispered, “Ex-boyfriend?”

“No,” I whispered happily. “My roommate,

who just found out I canceled my cable.”

Her laugh carried her over to the table. I put

the  tip  in  my  jar,  and  after  making  a  big  show  of
wiping  down  the  bar  and  taking  so  long  someone
else  came  up  for  a  drink,  I  finally  gave  Ethan  my
attention.

“Would you like your usual, sir?” I asked

brightly, giving him my best customer service smile.

He licked his lips. “What happened to the

TV?”

“What do you mean?” I frowned. “It was

fine when I left.”

“You know exactly what I mean.”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked, would I?”
He tightened his jaw. “Cable, Ava. There’s

no fucking cable, and I can’t get into Netflix.”

“Ohhhhhh.” I dragged the word out as long

as I could. Slowly, I nodded my head. “That.”

“Yes. Why isn’t there any cable?”
“That will be because I canceled it.”
He stilled. His entire body went rigid, and the

muscles in his arms visibly tightened under his thin,
gray sweater. “Why would you do that?”

“It’s quite simple, really. I didn’t watch

cable, so I canceled it.” I shrugged and moved
along the bar to the guy who was waiting. “Yes, sir,
can I help you?”

Ethan’s eyes followed me as I served the guy,

narrowing when I rejoined him. “I watch cable.”

“Then, by all means, call the cable

company,” I replied simply.

He took a deep breath. “And Netflix?”
“I changed my password and logged out.” I

grinned. “Whoopsie.”

“Whoopsie? What kind of—fuck. This is

your revenge, isn’t it? For this morning?”

“Wow. You had to come all the way down

here to figure it out.” I shook my head and tutted.
“How have you survived this long?”

He glared at me. “You’re a fucking

nightmare.”

“I never claimed to be anything but.” I

wasn’t bothered at all. In fact, this was great.
Exactly what I’d hoped for.

“Fine. I’ll call the cable company and pay for

it myself. Did my sister put you up to this?”

“Why? Did she change her Netflix password,

too?”

His lips twitched.
“Seriously. It’s like ten bucks a month, you

cheap bastard.”

He rubbed his hand down his face. “Don’t

you think this is getting out of hand?”

“No. I’m just getting started.” I reached up

and  retied  my  ponytail.  “You’re  the  one  who
started  this,  Ethan.  You  nudged  my  candles  after
I’d  already  told  you  it  bugs  me.  Anything  that
happens to you is solely your responsibility.”

“All right. I see how this is.” He tapped both

hands on the bar and straightened up. “You really
want to see how far this can go, don’t you?”

“I have a list.” I smiled.
“So do I. Sleep with one eye open, sunshine.

Be afraid.”

“Yes,” I deadpanned. “You look terrifying.”
Ethan’s dark blue eyes flared with something

that  told  me  that  maybe  a  little  fear  wouldn’t  be  a
little  bad  thing.  “Yeah?  I’m  going  home.  You’re
here  until  midnight.  That’s…”  He  glanced  at  the
watch  on  his  wrist.  “Six  hours  for  me  to  do

something, and you’re going to be standing here the
whole time wondering what I’m doing. Or maybe I
won’t do anything, but you won’t know that
either.”

“You’re childish.”
“You’re petty,” he shot back.
“Says the one being petty.”
“Your TV move was petty.”
“This whole thing is petty,” I said, grabbing

my cloth. “It’s kind of the point.”

Ethan sighed. “It’s hard to argue with that.”
I nodded. “That’s because I’m right.”
“Mm.” He pushed off the bar and hit me

with a dark look. “I’ll see you at home. Maybe.”

I folded my arms across my chest and gave

him my best, ‘I don’t care’ stare.

I did care.
A lot, actually.
We were quickly moving into a real savagery

stage of this passive-aggressive living arrangement.
Maybe Halley was right at lunch—maybe I did
have to use myself as a way to get at him.

The problem was, I was one hundred percent

sure that Angelica was wrong. I didn’t think for a
second that Ethan was attracted to me. He’d never
done anything to make me think that could be true
—or if he had, I simply hadn’t noticed.

That was a possibility. Given that I kept him

at arm’s length so he didn’t accidentally find out

how I felt about him…

I sighed and dropped my arms. I really

wasn’t  sure  I’d  thought  through  my  warmongering
stance  on  this.  I  just  wanted  to  win,  but  I  wasn’t
even  sure  what  exactly  it  was  we  were  competing
for.

He was already showing signs of breaking.

Taking away the sport and Netflix was a good one.
That really hit where it hurt, and I made a mental
note to text Angelica to thank her for that one.

Her changing her password was a nice touch.
It really gave the move some oomph.
Of course, Ethan had been right. I was stuck

here at work for another six-ish hours while he was
back at the apartment, maybe doing something.
Maybe not doing anything at all.

It was torture to think about.
I had to be ready to fight back—a thin shirt

with no bra and taking a bite out of every single
cookie in the packet he’d just bought was a smart
next move.

Hell, the no-bra one was easy. I’d get a

headstart on that tomorrow morning. You know, be
proactive and all that. That was how I’d win this.

I pulled my phone out from under the bar

and, after glancing around to make sure nobody
needed anything, tapped out a quick text.

ME: He’s mad. Next up, biting all the

cookies and basically getting my boobs out.

HALLEY: Smart. When does the boob

thing start?

REAGAN: Why are you getting your

boobs out? Are you changing jobs again?

ME: Tomorrow. At work. Halley will

explain.

I tucked the phone back away to serve the

woman at the other end of the bar. Going back to it
when she’d gone, I shook my head at how their
conversation had ended.

HALLEY: $50 says the boobs make him

break.

REAGAN: Nah, he’s gonna win. Deal.

ME: You two need another hobby.

CHAPTER NINE – AVA

Will He, Won’t He

Everything looked perfect.
I was worried.
It was like being a parent—they always said

that they only worried what their kids were up to
when it was silent.

Obviously, I didn’t have kids, but I imagined

this was how they felt.

Absolutely nothing in the apartment seemed

to be out of place. Ethan was already at work, and
that’d allowed me to do a thorough walk-through
and check everything I could think of.

None of my food had been eaten. Nothing

hidden. He hadn’t hacked the Netflix account or
anything. The hedgehog was safely in its cage.

There was nothing.
Nada.
I was extremely uncomfortable with this. I’d

been sure that he’d retaliate immediately, but
obviously, his talk last night had done its job.

I was really fucking paranoid.
I didn’t like it. At all. I was waiting for the

other shoe to drop, even though I knew I was alone.

He had to have done something.
I shivered and grabbed a bottle of water from

the fridge. I was too jittery even to drink coffee, so

I drank some of the water, then went into my room
to change into my running stuff.

Running was the only way I’d be able to shift

some of this nervous energy.

I changed quickly and pulled my hair into a

ponytail.  After  treble-checking  my  shoes  for  spiky
pig  poop,  I  put  them  on  and  tied  the  laces  tight,
then  headed  outside  with  my  phone,  money,  and
keys in the handy zip pockets in my pants.

Yep. Every item of clothing needed pockets.

Pockets were so underrated. And, as a woman, my
clothes did not have enough pockets. Dresses with
pockets were so delightful—whenever anyone said
they  liked  my  dress,  I  was  just  like  that  internet
meme  that  declares  we  women  stick  our  hands  in
said  pockets  and  perform  some  questionable  ballet
routine  just  to  say,  “Thanks!  My  dress  has
pockets!”

When I eventually rise to power, everyone

will have pockets in all clothes.

That was definitely a solid use of power.
Ava, 2028. Make Pockets Great Again.
That’s right. I was going to sweep votes

based on that alone.

We are women, and we demand pockets in

all our clothing. It was a seriously underrated
human right.

I know. First world problems. But first world

problems are still problems, and anyone who thinks

pockets aren’t a necessity has never pulled twenty
dollars out of their bra.

Here, have some boob sweat for your

troubles, said nobody ever.

Actually, said thousands of women ever, but

I digress.

I picked up my running pace as I rounded the

corner  to  the  park.  Despite  all  my  complaints,  I’d
become  pretty  accustomed  to  this  part  of  my  day.
Well,  my  week.  Let’s  be  honest:  I  wasn’t  running
every day. More like… every three days.

Running was running. My mouth probably

didn’t count here, but I did that at least ten times a
day.

My feet pounded against the asphalt path

that  wound  its  way  through  the  Creek  Falls  park.
Thanks  to  the  trees  that  stretched  into  the  sky,  I
was  pretty  much  sheltered  from  the  sun  as  I  ran.
The lack of water I’d brought with me was already
killing me, so I kept an eye open for where I could
buy some.

Jesus.
I was going to die.
Why hadn’t I brought water? I’d opened a

bottle literally five minutes before I left. Was this
why Halley ran with me? To remind me how to
adult? To fitness? To human?

No wonder I was the only single one out of

the three of us. Reagan didn’t run, but even she

wouldn’t forget this.

Wheezing, I leaned against a tree. Sweet

baby Jesus on horseback. This exercise shit was not
for the weak-hearted.

That was me.
I was the weak-hearted.
I doubled over, bracing my hands on my

knees.  My  ponytail  swung  down  the  side  of  my
face,  and  I  had  to  adjust  my  glasses  to  stop  them
falling off my face. The stitch in my side was going
to  make  me  pass  out  if  I  didn’t  get  control  of  my
breathing in the next, oh, point-five of a second.

“Ava?”
I jerked my head up at the sound of my

favorite firefighter. All right, the only firefighter I
knew. “Noah!” I breathed.

He raised one eyebrow, lips twitching, and

looked me over. “You all right there?”

“No,” I replied. “Can you carry my body to

the apartment and make sure someone tells my
parents that I love them?”

He laughed and held out his water bottle.

“Why don’t you try this?”

I basically snatched it out of his hand and

glugged half the bottle down. I instantly felt better,
sighing as I handed the bottle back.

Noah grinned. “Keep it. I’m done anyway.”
“You’re my hero.”
“Perfect. Just Halley to go, and I’ve

officially saved the lives of all three of you.”

I burst out laughing. “Two outta three ain’t

bad. At least we know what to write on your
gravestone now.”

He put his hands in his pockets and rocked

on his heels. “Noah Jacobs, life-saver and all-
around hero.”

“I’ll make sure to write that down so nobody

forgets.”

“Good thinking. After all, if you keep

running without water, you’re probably going to die
first, then nobody will agree that should be on my
grave.”

“You’re so thoughtful.”
“I know.” He winked. “I’ve gotta get to

work, so I’ll see you later.”

I smiled. “Thanks for the water. Go be a

hero.”

His laughter followed him as he jogged in the

direction of his house. I hadn’t realized that I’d
come this far into the park—I usually turned
around before now. No wonder I was half dead.

I finished the water and turned, heading back

toward  my  apartment.  The  run  hadn’t  worked  out
as  much  nervous  energy  as  I’d  hoped,  and  by  the
time  I  got  back  home,  all  it’d  done  was  give  me  a
huge stitch and a thirst I couldn’t quench.

Ugh.
I dropped onto the sofa and turned on the

TV, turning on Netflix. It was logged out, of course,
so I typed in my password and logged in.

Or tried to.
The password was wrong. Because I’d

changed it…

And I couldn’t remember the new one.
God. Damn. It.

***

I kicked the front door shut behind me and

paused. Ethan was sprawled out on the sofa, legs
wide open, scratching his balls, with the hedgehog
on his bare chest.

“Honey, I’m home,” I drawled. “And what a

welcoming sight.”

He leaned his head back. “Hello, darling,

how was work?”

I snorted and dumped my purse on the floor

by the door as I kicked off my shoes. “What are
you watching?”

“Some documentary about the Patriots.”
“Did you get cable back?”
“No. You left your Netflix account logged

in.”

I paused with my hand stuck in the fridge.

Crap. All that changing the password shit was really
screwing with me. “Aw, shit. I knew I’d forgotten
to do something. You didn’t delete my profile, did

you?”

“No. And stop shouting. Mr. Prickles is

sleeping.” He swung his leg down from the back of
the sofa and sat up, cradling the hedgehog.

This was way weirder than I’d ever imagined

it being. “What did you do, then? I know you did
something.”

Ethan got up and shrugged. “I didn’t do

anything. Check if you don’t believe me.”

“I will.” I pushed the fridge door shut and

stalked  over  to  the  sofa  as  he  disappeared  into  his
room.  I  hit  the  back  button  on  the  remote,  and  it
took me back to the main Netflix screen. I checked
the  profiles,  and  he  was  right—he  hadn’t  messed
with it.

I frowned.
This was unnerving. Why wouldn’t he? If it

were me, I’d have changed the password and the
email address just to be cruel.

Then again, we weren’t being cruel. We were

being passive-aggressive assholes.

I scrolled through the options and paused at

my list. There were three shows I hadn’t added, and
a flick through proved more.

They were—
Oh, my God.
He’d added his shows to my list.
My recommendations were going to be all

messed up.

“See? Told you I didn’t do anything.” Ethan

grabbed a beer from the fridge and popped the cap
with a hiss.

I turned to look at him. “You took over my

account.”

He shrugged. “What else was I supposed to

do? If I made another profile for me, you’d have
deleted it again. I figured putting my shows on your
profile was safe.”

“Do you know how long I’ve spent

cultivating the perfect stream of recommendations
on Netflix?”

“Judging by how pissed you are right now,

way too long.”

I wasn’t going to argue with that. But still.

That was the result of at least three years of
procrastination and series binging. All that hard
work of being one lazy bitch was now for nothing.

There was no justice in this world.
My day just got worse and worse.
“Whatever.” I threw the remote on the sofa

and went to the fridge myself. He moved out of my
way, and I pulled out a bottle of wine instead of the
water I’d intended on getting before he’d goaded
me into seeing the mess of my Netflix account.

I poured a glass and put the bottle back in the

fridge. Ethan was already back on the sofa, and
when I joined him, he was getting ready to resume
the Patriots documentary.

“No,” I said firmly. “Absolutely not. I’ve had

sports on all evening at work, and it was absolute
hell. Give me the remote.”

He looked at my outstretched hand and

choked back a laugh. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”

“You’re on my Netflix account that I pay

for.”

Ethan held up one finger and grabbed his

wallet from the coffee table. He pulled a bill out of
it and handed it to me. “There you go.”

I glanced at the five-dollar bill. “What?”
He dropped it on my lap. “There. Now I’ve

paid for half of it.”

“Are you deliberately this annoying, or is it

just a part of your general disposition?”

“It’s you,” he replied without looking at me.

“You bring it out of me.”

I grunted, shoving the five dollars in the

pocket of my jeans. I’d find it again in a few days
and forget where it came from. Like a little surprise
for myself.

“Surely there’s something we both want to

watch,” I said after one minute of the most mind-
numbing interview I’d ever watched. “Come on.”

“Nope.” He played with the remote, tossing

it up and down. “Not really.”

“Ethan.”
“Ava.”
I clenched my jaw. “You are impossible.” I

reached  over  to  make  a  swipe  for  the  remote.  He
was  faster  than  me,  though,  and  he  threw  his  arm
out,  holding  the  remote  as  far  away  from  me  as  I
could.

A little growly noise escaped my throat, and I

clambered off the sofa to get it. Fighting a laugh, he
switched hands when I got close to it. Even though
I was standing up, he still had the advantage
because he was so much taller than me.

It sucked.
I leaned over to reach for it, but he moved,

jerking to the side. I did the same, going for it again,
but my foot slipped on the hard floor, and I fell
forward.

And landed right on Ethan.
I shrieked. A big “oomph” left him as he

dropped the remote and grabbed hold of me
instead. His hands gripped my waist, stopping me
from ramming my knee into his stomach.

Or his balls.
His fingers dug right into me. I was frozen in

position,  half-straddling  him,  with  my  hair  forming
a  dark  curtain  between  our  faces.  I  couldn’t  move
because  I  did,  I  knew  I’d  have  to  look  him  in  the
eye, and I wasn’t sure I could do that right now.

If I did, there was every chance I’d do

something I would most definitely regret.

Like kiss him.
God.

I had to move.
I cleared my throat and, with the help of his

steady grip, pushed myself up to stand. My legs
backed into the coffee table, and I stumbled again,
this time sending both my wine glass and Ethan’s
beer flying to the floor.

“Oh, shit!” I gasped, jumping over the huge

wet mess and broken wine glass that’d shattered
over the carpet.

“Jesus, Ava! Were you drinking on the job

tonight?”

“Oh, fuck off.” I grabbed damp cloths from

the sink and tossed them over to him.

He caught them easily and immediately

dropped to his knees to get as much liquid as he
could. I grabbed a bowl to squeeze them out in and
handed it to him when I went to fetch some towels.

I ducked into the bathroom. There were three

hooks, and Ethan’s towel was stretched across all
three and my two were on the floor. I frowned, but
I didn’t have time to think about that right now.

I rejoined him in the living room where he

was muttering to himself with his finger in his
mouth. “Are you okay?”

“Cut my finger,” he murmured around it. He

pulled it away to look, and it immediately started
bleeding.

“Oh, my God. If you get that on my sofa, I’m

gonna kill you.”

“Thanks.” He put it back in his mouth.
“Come here.” I tossed two towels on the sofa

and kept the third—his, the darkest one.

Ethan got up and walked around the coffee

table, completely avoiding the mess on the floor.
“It’s not that bad,” he said, pulling it from his
mouth again.

More blood.
I shoved the towel at him. “Put pressure on

it, and I’ll bandage it. If it doesn’t slow down, I’ll
take you to the emergency room.”

He put the towel on the island counter and

pressed his finger right into it. “I know you want to
win this little battle, but this is an extreme way of
doing it.”

“You’re not worth the wine I wasted,” I

snapped back. “It was an accident, and you know
it.”

“I know. But you owe me a towel.”
I rolled my eyes and set the first aid kit next

to his hand. “You know there’s a thing called a
washing machine, right?”

“Yeah, but bloodstains.”
“It’s hardly a white towel, you drama

queen.” I got the rubbing alcohol and bandages out
of the kit and soaked a cotton pad in the alcohol.
“Give me your finger.”

He did as I said and flipped his hand so I

could access the cut. It was bigger than I’d thought,

but it didn’t look like it needed stitches. Hopefully,
it was one of those weird cuts that looked ten times
worse than it was.

Gently, I pressed the cotton pad against the

cut. A hiss escaped him, and his entire body went
taut.

“Sorry,” I whispered, wincing a little.
“Get on with it.” His voice was a low

grumble, and I spared a glance up at his face. His
skin was a little paler than usual, and he had his
eyes screwed tightly shut.

Maybe the emergency room wasn’t a bad

idea…

I dabbed it a few more times with the alcohol

pad, then quickly put another on top of it. I waited
for a second, but the blood didn’t come through.

“Hold that there,” I instructed Ethan so I

could get the tape. I got it and secured the pad to
his finger, then stepped back and looked over my
handiwork. “Not bad.”

Actually, it looked a little bit like a ten-year-

old wrapping the paw of a stuffed bear, but if it
worked, it worked.

“Well,” Ethan said, admiring his finger. “It’s

not going to win any nursing awards anytime soon.”

“Normal people say ‘thank you.’”
“Normal people don’t throw themselves

around like a clown for a TV remote.”

“Watch out,” I said, rolling the dirty towel

into a ball. “Or you’ll have a cut a lot bigger than
that one to worry about.”

His lips tugged to one side. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I returned his smile,

albeit slightly shyly.

He stepped around the corner of the island

and reached out, wrapping one arm around my
shoulders. He pulled me against his body and
hugged me tightly, and I swear all my nerve endings
came alive in that second.

His fingers were wrapped around my arm,

and my front was pressed right against his. Taking a
deep breath, I could smell coconut and papaya
from where he’d obviously stolen my shampoo, but
there was a lingering scent of motor oil, too.

This was the first time we’d ever been this

close. In fact, it was the first time he’d ever hugged
me, and a part of me hated that he was doing it
right now.

Because my heart was pounding. And there

was no way he couldn’t feel it against his chest.

“All right. Get off, or I’m going to think you

like me.” I extracted myself from his arms and
ducked my head so he wouldn’t see the blush I
knew was already warming my cheeks.

The last thing he needed to know was that I

was the one with some weirdo feelings.

I busied myself putting the first aid kit away

under the sink. “I’ll get the broken glass, and you

do the liquid.”

“Yeah, I’m not touching that glass.”
I went back over and carefully picked up all

the glass, thankfully without slicing my own fingers
open. Ethan worked to get up as much water as
possible, and I grabbed a dustpan and brush to
clean it up. It was too late to vacuum, and I didn’t
think my downstairs neighbor would appreciate the
interruption.

He was a grumpy old bastard as it was.
I swept the whole area. If I’d missed any, it

was going to really suck.

“So, what have we learned here tonight?”

Ethan asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“Don’t hide the remote from the short girl,” I

shot back.

He shook his head. “No. The remote control

is sacred in a man’s hand.”

“You know what else is sacred? Your balls.

The remote could cost you money if it doesn’t stop
bleeding. Don’t let your attitude cost you your
balls.”

“Feisty.” He grinned, folding his arms over

his chest. “Is that an after-effect of the
adrenaline?”

“What adrenaline?”
“The adrenaline from when I hugged you and

your heart beat so hard it was practically punching
me in the chest?”

I swallowed hard and jerked my chin into the

air. “It was the blood.”

“Yeah, all right.” His eyes flashed with

something indiscernible, and I held his gaze for a
moment before I pulled away and grabbed my
purse from where I’d dumped it on the floor.

“I’m gonna go to bed,” I said, holding my

purse in close to me. “Night.”

He followed me with his gaze when I walked

past him, and he didn’t say a word until I was about
to shut my door. “Night, Ava.”

CHAPTER TEN – AVA

Free The Nipples

Mornings were not my thing.
Especially not mornings that featured Ethan

Hawkins.

Especially not mornings that followed a night

where I’d not only smashed a glass he’d cut his
hand on, but he’d called me out for my stupid little
heart beating crazy fast.

I was mad at myself. Mad because I had no

control over my feelings. I should have gotten over
this by this point in my life. I’d had relationships
and I’d had real feelings for all those guys,
especially Butler.

Sure, it had been toxic at times where it was

so on-off, but I had loved him.

I think.
My feelings for him had made sense, at least.

The ones for Ethan didn’t. They never had, and I
genuinely couldn’t give an explanation for why I
felt the way I did about him.

I didn’t want to feel this way. I wanted to

reach inside and tear them out, throw them away,
stamp on them, whatever.

I just wanted to make it stop. At any cost. I

really didn’t care how that happened, in all honesty.

The problem was that I didn’t know how to

make it happen. I’d literally tried everything, and it
really wasn’t true that getting under someone else
will make you get over someone.

It was a crock of shit.
I flipped my head over and pulled my dark

hair into a topknot. It was a total mess, but I wasn’t
going anywhere until I had to go to work tonight.
God only knew that yesterday’s run was enough for
this week.

I slipped my glasses onto my face and

yawned. Getting up from the side of the bed where
I’d been sitting while I woke up, I adjusted my tank
top and let go of another yawn that was so intense I
almost walked into the wall.

See?
Not a morning person.
At all.
I scratched my hip and stumbled into the

kitchen. It was stupidly bright in here, which meant
Ethan was up and already at work. Honestly, he
worked eight ‘til four, so I would be worried if he
was still here.

Another yawn forced its way out of me.

Jesus Christ on a cracker, what was wrong with me
this morning?

I wriggled my finger in my ear then shivered.

Ugh. I hit the button on the coffee machine and
washed my hands while it warmed up, then made
my coffee.

Mm. Awake juice.
The best kind of juice. Unless it was grape

juice. With alcohol in it.

Wine, okay.
Wine.
I took a big sip of hot coffee. A bang

sounded from somewhere in the apartment, and I
froze, hands cupped around the mug.

There were three options.
There was a ghost.
The hedgehog was loose.
Or Ethan was here.
Last I knew, there wasn’t a ghost. Not since

Reagan’s old neighbor who claimed to be Wiccan
came and smudged the entire building for… Well,
nobody knew, but since her old building had burned
down, we gave the woman a pass.

Even though she’d invaded my bedroom with

her stinky, burning hay bale.

The second option was that Ethan was here,

but I already knew he was at work. He was the only
one of us who opened the curtains before the
awake juice had been finished.

The sun was a bright little thing.
I was not a fan.
The only other possible option was that the

hedgehog was loose.

That was problematic, to say the least. Not

knowing would drive me crazy, but what would I do

if I opened Ethan’s bedroom door, and it ran out? I
didn’t know how to touch it. Or what to do with it.
Or if it would bite.

Oh, God, what if it bit me? Did hedgehogs

carry rabies? Any other weird diseases I didn’t
know about?

Who the fuck had a hedgehog as a pet?
I had to know. I had to know if the spiky

little prick had broken free.

I put my coffee down and steeled myself.

That’s right. I, Ava Parker, was going to be brave.
Braless, in a white tank top and pink panties with a
coconut print and yesterday’s mascara on my
eyelashes.

Yes.
That was how women should go into battle.
Men would be too distracted by our braless

boobs to shoot us. Win-win.

I shook my head to refocus myself and got

on with it. Noises were still coming from Ethan’s
room—shuffling noises that closely resembled what
I imagined a fugitive hedgehog would sound like
while trying to find a hideout.

So I did what any sane person would do.
I opened the door.
Right on a very naked Ethan, standing in the

middle of the room, rifling through his dresser.

I screamed.
He yelled.

I screamed some more.
It was really, really ineffective at solving the

problem at hand.

I slammed the door shut and ran out into the

kitchen. My heart was beating like a drum, and the
mild panic I felt at seeing his bare ass had my hands
shaking with adrenaline.

Oh. My. God.
Why hadn’t I knocked?
“What the hell are you doing?” Ethan asked,

running out into the kitchen in his boxers. “Ava!”

“I thought you were at work!” I blurted out.

Like that explained everything. Jesus.

“Do you regularly go into my room when I’m

not here?”

“No! I heard a bang and some noises and I

thought the hedgehog was free.”

He opened his mouth to say something but

stopped  himself.  He  rubbed  his  fingertips  against
his  temple  for  a  moment  and  blew  out  a  long
breath.  “And  what  exactly  did  you  intend  to  do  if
he was free? You can’t even look at him, let alone
touch him to put him back in his cage.”

I shuffled side to side. “Maybe scoop him up

in a pan and drop him back in?”

“Scoop him up in—fucking hell. You haven’t

had your coffee yet, have you?”

“Why am I at fault here? Why aren’t you at

work? Why are you naked in your bedroom in the

middle of the day?”

“It’s not the middle of the day,” he replied,

approaching  the  island  and  leaning  against  it.  “I
was  naked  because  I  was  changing  my  underwear,
and that requires the removal of clothing. I’m not at
work because someone broke a glass last night and
cut  my  finger  open,  and  my  boss  doesn’t  want  me
bleeding in someone’s engine today. And to answer
your  last  question,  you’re  at  fault  because  you
stormed into my bedroom.”

That was tough logic to argue.
“And now you’re extremely frustrating

because you’re standing here in your underwear,
and you may as well be shirtless because that shirt
is thinner than my grandpa’s hair.”

I clamped my arm over my boobs. “I didn’t

know you were here or I’d put on a bra.”

“The coconut panties add a real something

special to it.”

“I don’t see the problem here.”
“That’s because I’m hiding it behind this

counter,” he ground out, jaw tight.

I paused, my gaze running over him until it

hit his lower stomach. It was pressed right against
the countertop on the island, and my lips slowly
formed an ‘o’ shape.

“Oh.” It came out all squeaky. “I see. I don’t

see, but I see.” I cleared my throat, blushing. “I get
it.”

He gave me a tight smile. “Now, I don’t

know how we handle this. Who leaves first?”

“Um. I’ll close my eyes, and you go.”
“I think I’ll close my eyes, and you go.”
“If this is part of your passive-aggressive

shit, it’s not funny.”

“I’m not laughing,” he said, deadly serious.

“Seriously. Go.” He closed his eyes and used his
hand to cover them.

I had no choice.
It was on me.
And, apparently, Angelica was right.
How about that?
I ran to my room and pushed the door shut so

hard it rattled on its hinges. My heart had reverted
back to its crazy thud-thud-thud against my ribs,
and I was inexplicably breathless.

Not even I was such a bad runner that I

should be out of breath from that quick escape.

I dropped on the edge of my bed. I’d left my

damn coffee out in the kitchen, so I’d have to get
dressed to retrieve it.

I grabbed a bra, shirt, and leggings from my

dresser and moved to the underwear drawer. After
getting a pair of panties that were not covered in
any kind of fruit, I turned my attention to my socks.

The drawer was a hot mess, as always. I

rifled through the socks looking for a matching pair,
even going so far as to take some out and lay them

on top of the dresser just in case.

It was useless.
There were no pairs.
Only a drawer full of odd socks.
How was it even remotely possible that one

of every single pair of socks had just upped and—

Son of a bitch.
I threw the socks in my hand into the drawer

and turned on my heels. “Ethan!” I shouted,
yanking my door open. “Ethan! Where the fuck are
my socks?” I stormed back into the kitchen where
I’d left him, but he wasn’t there.

He had to be back in his room, but I wasn’t

going to make the same mistake twice.

“Ethan!” I pummeled my fist against his

door. “Open this damn door before I break it
down!”

“I’m naked!”
“I don’t care! Open this door so I can choke

you until you talk!”

The door swung open, and he leaned against

it, still in nothing but his boxers, and still with a
relatively clear bulge in them.

Ahem.
“If you choke me, I can’t answer a thing.”

His lips curved into an infuriating smirk. “What’s
this about your socks?”

“My socks.” I put my hands on my hips.

“Half of my socks are missing.”

“Are they in the laundry basket?”
“I mean one half of each pair, smartass. I

have an entire drawer full of odd socks. Where are
they?”

“Oh, that.” He nodded slowly. “God, that’s

gotta be annoying.”

“Ethan!” I threw my hands out. “I agreed not

to change the Netflix password again. Give me my
socks!”

He took a step back and pointed at the

hedgehog cage. “I don’t have all of them right now,
but Mr. Prickles is enjoying sleeping in a few. I’m
not sure you’re going to get those back.”

My jaw dropped. I shoved past him into the

room and toward the cage on top of his dresser.

Yep. Sure as shit, there they were. Three of

my socks being used as a bed for a spiky pig.

“Great.” I took a step back. “Just great. I’m

going to kill you.”

“You already are,” he said dryly. “Because

you still aren’t wearing a bra.”

I spun on the balls of my feet. “Oh, does that

bug you? Me not wearing a bra?”

He stared at me.
I grabbed my boobs and pushed them up and

together. “This kills you?”

He worked his jaw, his nostrils flaring.
“Good. Because if you think it was bad

before, it’s now all-out roommate warfare, Ethan.

And this shirt just became my new favorite shirt, so
I  hope  you  get  your  little  friend  under  control
before  it  gets  too  awkward!”  I  dropped  my  boobs
and stormed out of his room with what I hoped was
a  strut  with  a  dramatic  flair  but  was  probably  just
an awkward hobble with a hint of annoyance.

“Ava!”
“What?” I demanded, spinning around to

face him.

He stalked up to me, wasting no time at all.

His hands were rough as he grabbed me and pulled
me against him, his lips slamming down on mine.

What was happening?
He softened after a second, but only slightly.

My body reacted before my mind did, and through
the spinning in my brain, I was vaguely aware of
the fact that my braless boobs were pressed against
his naked chest with only a very thin layer of
cotton.

There was also the issue of his hand wrapped

around the back of my neck.

Oh, and his tongue moving against mine.
He was kissing me.
Ethan was kissing me.
I was kissing him.
Kissing Ethan.
And neither of us were stopping it.
But oh, Jesus, it was something else. His grip

on me was unwavering, and the ferocity he kissed

me with duplicated itself in shivers that tingled
across my skin, leaving all the hairs on my arms
standing on end.

It was the most stomach-fluttering, heart-

pounding, desire-churning kiss I’d ever had in my
life.

And it was with Ethan.
The best kiss of my life would go down in

history as being with him. This would be the
benchmark for which all other kisses would be held
against.

That was it, then. I was already ruined for all

other men. Wonderful.

Ethan flexed his fingers against the back of

my neck, slowly pulling away from the kiss. He
lingered for a moment, his lips hovering barely a
breath away from mine.

“Um,” I breathed, needing to break the

silence.

He pulled back just enough to meet my gaze.

“For the love of fucking God, put a bra on, Ava.”

Then, with those words, he released me.
And headed straight for the bathroom. He

pulled the door shut behind him, and the lock
clicked. Less than a minute later, I was still
standing in the hall, almost paralyzed.

I couldn’t move. How was I supposed to

move now?

The sound of the shower being turned on

shook me out of whatever post-kiss haze I was in. I
touched my fingers to my lips, my eyes widening,
and jerked to life.

Ethan had just kissed me.
And now he was in the shower with a hard-

on that’d just been pressed up against my stomach.

Oh, Jesus.
What the fuck was going on?

***

“Kissed you?” Reagan leaned across the

table, her eyebrows shooting up.

“Kissed you?” Halley echoed, doing the

same. “What? Why? How?”

“All excellent questions.” I fiddled with the

rim  of  my  wine  glass.  I  wasn’t  in  the  habit  of
drinking  before  work,  but  I  was  hungry  and  I  was
stressed,  and  I  needed  something  to  take  the  edge
off my constant thinking.

“What happened?” Reagan asked, looking a

little too much like the old ladies at the church who
thrived on gossip.

I ran through the whole story, starting with

the remote thing last night. It was the only way to
get the full context, but even I knew the answer as
to why he’d kissed me before I’d finished telling
the story.

“It was the boob-grab,” Halley said

immediately.

Reagan nodded. “You brought this on

yourself.”

Groaning, I dropped my forehead to the

table. “I can’t do this, guys. I can’t. It’s too much.
This is a disaster.”

“Yep,” she said brightly. “A complete and

utter shitshow, and it’s all your fault.”

I fake-sobbed into my arms.
Halley snorted. “It’s simple. Just end the

roomie war and be done with it. You’re only
interacting the way you are because you’re actively
trying to piss the other person off.”

“And let him win?” I sat up so fast that my

head spun. “No way! He’s not winning!”

“He’s not,” Reagan said, smirking. “I mean,

the fact he had to pamper himself in the shower
after tells you all you need to know.”

Pampered himself. That was an interesting

way to put it. I’d never heard a guy jerking himself
off be referred to like that before.

“Look, I don’t even know if that was

definitely  what  he  was  doing.  It’s  not  like  I  could
see  through  the  door,  is  it?”  I  pushed  my  hair
behind  my  ear.  “I  just  assumed  because,  well,  it
was the obvious thing to do.”

Halley propped her chin up on her hand. “It

fits. What are you going to do now?”

“What did you do after Preston kissed you?”

“I’m pretty sure I ran away, actually.”
Reagan smirked. “Ethan already did that.”
I sighed. This was going nowhere fast. “We

have to talk about it. We live together. He’s my
brother’s best friend. We have to set boundaries
and stuff like that.”

“You know what’s a good boundary? A bra.”
“Shut up.”
“Ladies.” Halley held up her hands and

turned to me. “You have to talk. You’re right. But I
also think you owe it to yourself to not brush it
under the carpet like it never happened. Clearly, he
feels something for you, even if it’s just attraction.”

“She’s right.” Reagan grimaced. “I hate it

when she’s right.”

I did, too.
“You both need to get to the bottom of your

actual feelings about one another. You clearly don’t
hate each other, at least not the way you claim to,
so deal with it.”

“God, when you make sense, I know the

apocalypse is coming,” I muttered to Reagan. “All
right. Fine. Even if nothing happens, at least we can
draw a line under it and move on.”

I slid my phone over in front of me and

picked it up, ready to text Ethan. I had a new
message flashing on the screen, and when I looked
at it, it was from him.

“Oh. He texted already.”

“What does it say?” Halley craned her neck.
I opened it. “It says we need to talk.”
Reagan jerked her head, looking around

Lucky’s.

“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Seeing if he’s here,” she replied. “Because

that’s weird, dude.”

“Hardly,” Halley drawled, playing with her

straw. “He’s obviously thinking about it. He’s older
than us. He’s mature enough to know it has to be
discussed.”

“Mature? The man stole one sock from every

pair I own. That’s not mature.” I hit the reply box
on my screen.

“No, but it’s brilliant. Like, that must be

really fucking annoying,” Reagan mused. “And so
random. Why would you do that to someone?”

“To passively-aggressively piss them off,”

Halley said slowly. “Do you listen to a word anyone
says?”

“Not when they come out of you.”
Halley elbowed her.
“It’s like putting cats in a bath,” I muttered,

turning my attention to my phone.

ME: Guess so. I’m @ work til 2 but I’m off

tomorrow.

ETHAN: I have to work. We can talk at

lunch?

ME: That works. I can get food ready.

ETHAN: Do you think it’s a smart

conversation to have in the apartment?

ME: Us having lunch in public would be

weird. We’re not exactly best friends.

ETHAN: Good point. Ok. I’ll see you just

after 12 tomorrow then.

ME: K. See you tomorrow.

“We’re going to talk on his lunch hour

tomorrow,” I relayed to the girls.

“His lunch hour?” Reagan frowned. “What

are you? Allergic to mornings?”

“Yes,” Halley muttered.
This was impossible. “Yes,” I said, echoing

Halley’s  answer.  “But  I’m  here  until  two  tonight,
and  he  has  to  start  work  at  eight.  He’ll  be  gone
before  I’m  awake,  and  since  tomorrow  is  Friday,
he’ll be here watching the game with the guys.”

“Crap. Yeah. It’s Friday tomorrow. Ugh. That

means  I  have  to  put  together  the  world’s  biggest
anniversary  bouquet  for  some  guy  who  forgot  his
wife’s  birthday  last  week.”  Reagan  paused.  “Well,

he said he did, but I think he cheated on her.”

“How do you know that?”
“Roses.” She said it as if everyone should

know  that.  “Nobody  buys  roses  unless  it’s
Valentines,  they’re  proposing,  or  they  screwed  up
real  bad.  This  guy  ordered  three  dozen  long-
stemmed  red  roses  to  be  delivered  to  his  wife’s
work.”

Halley blew out a breath. “Yeah, he banged

his secretary.”

You know, for someone who worked in a bar,

I was not all that good at the whole reading people
thing.

Drunk people? Could spot them a mile off.

The  girls  who  needed  cutting  off  from  tequila
shots?  Nailed  it.  Grandma  who  spikes  her
lemonades  with  gin  from  a  hidden  flask  in  her
purse?

Well, that was Halley’s grandma, so maybe

that one was pretty obvious.

Halley’s phone beeped, and she checked it.

“Oh, God, she’s terrorizing the village again.”

There was only one person that could be

about—her grandma. Had I summoned her?

“And she’s with Bethel. Fuck me.”
Reagan frowned. “They went to the cinema.

I literally dropped them at the doors and watched
them go in. What trouble could they have gotten
into at the cinema?”

“That question has so many possible

answers,”  I  replied,  finishing  my  wine.  My  shift
started  in  ten  minutes.  “Those  two  could  get  in
trouble  in  a  church.  Honestly,  I  don’t  know  how
they’re  able  to  make  it  past  the  doors  without
sweating.”

“They flashed the concessions guy to get free

popcorn.” Halley looked up. “Can’t we just let the
police arrest them at this point? Does Noah have
any favors he can call in?”

“This isn’t a mob movie, Halley.” Reagan

snorted. “Did they really flash him?”

“Yeah.” Halley’s eyebrows drew together as

she frowned. “Then they ran away and were last
spotted near the liquor store.”

“The liquor store?” I asked. “What the hell

are you still doing here? The last time they got
drunk, they hung their underwear from telephone
masts.”

“Yeah, still not sure how they got them up

there,” she mused. “All right. Come on. Let’s go
save the villagers before they start flashing their
knees or something.”

Reagan snorted. “I’m not going. I saved her

the last time. It’s Preston’s turn.”

Halley sighed, already dialing on her phone

as she left. “I knew I shouldn’t have come back
after college.”

I laughed, and so did Reagan. She’d hated

not  being  in  South  Carolina  and  had  complained
about  it  the  entire  time  she  was  studying  for  her
degree.  There  wasn’t  a  chance  in  hell  it  was  going
to  happen,  so  she  could  run  that  line  all  she  liked,
but no.

“So, you’re really gonna talk to Ethan,

then?” Reagan asked.

“Talk to Ethan about what?” Leo appeared

from behind me.

I jumped out of my skin. “How long have

you been there?”

“Just walked in with a few guys from work.

Why?” He took Halley’s recently vacated seat and
motioned to some guys by the door. “What are you
talking to him about?”

“Her socks,” Reagan said without missing a

beat.

“Your socks?” Leo raised an eyebrow. “Why

your socks?”

“He stole them. You know we’re fighting. I

just—it’s a long story. I have to start my shift.
Reagan can explain.” I got up. “Is he coming in
here tonight?”

Leo shook his head. “Said he’d see us

tomorrow. You piss him off that much?”

“He knows I’m here until close. He’s

probably going to mess up my Netflix some more,”
I said dryly, getting up. “I have no idea what he’s
doing, but as long as the hedgehog isn’t in my

CHAPTER ELEVEN – ETHAN

Guys Don’t Kiss And Tell

I waited in my car for a good two minutes

before I was ready to get out.

There was no way I was ready for this

conversation. I had absolutely no fucking idea what
I was supposed to say to Ava. Having all this time
between yesterday morning and now where we
hadn’t seen each other at all should have given me
some perspective.

Nope. All it’d given me was another morning

hard-on, another too-long shower, and now the urge
to move to Cuba so I didn’t accidentally give in to
my dick and do it all again.

I didn’t know what to tell her. I had nothing

to tell her, despite being the one who said we
needed to talk.

We did.
Fuck, we needed to talk.
But it was so much easier to say that than to

actually do the talking. She was my best friend’s
little sister—how the fuck was I supposed to
explain myself? How could I explain my actions?

I couldn’t tell her that I’d wanted to do that

for years. That the desire to kiss her had only
increased since I’d moved into the apartment. That
we couldn’t tell anyone because Leo was going to

kill me.

That I had no idea why I’d finally given in

and kissed her.

She’d want answers. I knew that. Ava would

demand to know why the hell I’d kissed her, and I
couldn’t give her a reason.

I knew moving in with her was a bad idea.

That  was  the  problem  with  being  a  bit  of  a  nomad
—I  never  knew  how  long  I’d  be  in  one  place.
Luckily,  being  a  mechanic  meant  my  skills  were
always in demand, and I was able to move around
cities.

I hadn’t signed a lease in Creek Falls like

Leo. He planned to stay for a year and figure out
his life, but I hadn’t wanted to commit to that.

I’d planned on staying for a few months until

after the new year, then I’d make a choice. I was
only stuck in this apartment for six months if Ava
decided to leave, and she wasn’t going to do that.

I rubbed my hand down my face. The way I

felt about her was complicating everything. It made
me want to stay, but on the other hand, it made me
want to pack my shit and leave.

The truth was that Ava Parker fucking

terrified me.

I wanted her as much as badly as she

annoyed me. I couldn’t decide if the way I was
feeling was an itch I needed to scratch, or it was a
precursor to something more. Kissing her had been

damn stupid, but she’d taunted me with a fire in her
eyes.

It was a fire I’d wanted to taste.
I still wanted to taste it. I wanted to wind her

up again so she’d yell at me. When she yelled, her
eyes shone, and her cheeks flushed with pink.

There was something weirdly sexy about it.
Mostly because I knew I deserved the

yelling. Stealing one sock out of every pair was
probably the pettiest thing I could do to her, but
maybe it was only hot when she was mad because I
found it so fucking funny.

Yeah. That was probably it.
Either way, we had to fix something. The

smartest thing to do would be to end this little war
we had going on. It was bringing us closer together,
and after yesterday, getting too close would take us
over the line.

To a place we’d never be able to come back

from.

I dragged myself out of the car. The lights

flashed when I hit the fob to lock it, and I forced
myself up the flights of stairs to the apartment. The
elevator was busted, and I made a note to call the
landlord and get it fixed.

Stairs were for the birds.
I reached our apartment and let myself in.

Ava was sitting cross-legged on the sofa with her
hair in what I was now realizing was her at-home

hairstyle. A.K.A, styled by Halley’s raccoons and
tied up on top of her head by someone with no
fingers.

She looked over from the TV and dug her

hand into the bowl she had rested on her lap. “Hey.
Did you get lost coming up the stairs?”

“Why?”
“I opened the window ten minutes ago and

saw you pull in.”

Shit. “I got a phone call,” I lied. “Did you get

lunch?”

She shoved popcorn in her mouth and

pointed in the direction of the kitchen.

“Thanks.” I shut the door behind me and

went to get it. I didn’t know what she’d grabbed
me, but I didn’t care, because I was so damn
hungry I’d eat just about anything right now.

I unwrapped the sandwich. It was a BLT, and

I wolfed it down quickly. With my stomach full but
still twisting with the conversation that was to
come, I grabbed a water from the fridge and joined
her on the sofa.

“What are you watching?” I asked, sitting

down.

“Some documentary on the British Royal

Family,” she answered, her hand back in the
popcorn bowl. “But you don’t care about that.”

“If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have asked.” I

rubbed the back of my neck. “But you’re not

entirely wrong. I don’t have long.”

“Because you wasted half this time sitting in

your car, pretending to be on the phone?”

“Wow. Call me out, why don’t you?”
“I did.” She grinned and put the bowl on the

coffee table. She wiped her fingers on her yoga
pants, and I had to admit that I was glad to see she
was wearing a bra.

That was the last thing I needed—to be

distracted by her.

“Fine.” I turned, my lips tugging to one side.
Ava adjusted her glasses, briefly pulling them

off to clean them even though they didn’t look dirty
at all.

She was stalling, just like I’d been in the car.
“You kissed me.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement, and

it was a true one at that.

“Yeah,” I replied. “I kissed you.”
She met my eyes. “Why?”
I blew out a long breath. “I guess there’s only

one answer to that: I wanted to.”

Her lips parted, shock flashing in her eyes.

Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she dipped her chin
in an attempt to hide it. “Okay. Again, why?”

At that, I shrugged. “I can’t answer that. I

wish I could, but all I know is that I wanted to kiss
you, so I did.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Do I regret kissing you?”
“I’m not asking if you regret stealing my

socks, Ethan.” She peered back up at me,
something dark in her eyes. “Do you regret kissing
me?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “A part of

me  does  because  of  the  situation  it  puts  us  in.  It
makes  this  living  arrangement  uncomfortable,
doesn’t  it?  Not  to  mention  fucking  awkward,  and
that’s before you even consider that your brother is
my best friend.”

She nodded slowly, reaching up and pushing

a wayward lock of hair behind her ear. “What
about the rest of you?”

“That’s the selfish part of me that doesn’t

regret it.” I rubbed my fingers against my chin. “I
wanted to kiss you, Ava, and I don’t regret
following through with what I wanted to do.”

“Okay. I mean, that’s what I wanted to know,

I guess. At least I know Angelica wasn’t lying.”

“What do you mean, she wasn’t lying?”
She played with a bit of string on the bottom

of her yoga pants. “I asked her what your Achilles
Heel was. The thing I could use to really piss you
off. She said it was me.”

I was going to fucking kill my sister.
She was the only person who knew exactly

how I warred with my feelings about Ava, and
she’d sold me out.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” I got up and dragged

my hand down my face. Turning back to face her, I
said, “Listen. I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been
attracted to you for a fucking long time, all right?
But you’re Leo’s sister. You’re off-limits, and she’s
the only person who ever knew that.”

“Until she told me.”
“Until she told you. Evidently, you’re

attracted to me, too, or you wouldn’t have kissed
me back.”

“Evidently.” She finally looked up at me, her

eyes shining. “It can’t happen again,” she said
quietly. “You’re right. It’s awkward, and I have no
desire to do anything that would ruin your
friendship with my brother.”

“I know. I wouldn’t do it either.” I put my

hands in my pockets. “The awkwardness will pass,
but you’re right. Not again.”

“Right.” She stood and walked past me into

the kitchen. “I’m glad we cleared that up.”

“Me, too.”
She pulled a carton of juice from the fridge

and set it on the island, but she didn’t move to get a
glass. Instead, she stared at the carton, fiddling with
the plastic lid, twisting it back and forth.

I opened my mouth with every intention of

asking if she was okay, but nothing came out.
Something was bothering her, and there was
nothing I could say that would make her feel better.

I didn’t want to make her feel worse.
God only knew that I felt like shit. That

conversation had been horrible, and she obviously
felt the same. Upsetting her wasn’t something I
wanted to do.

Ever.
She laughed.
Out of nowhere, she laughed, shaking her

head.

“What?” I asked.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” She caught my gaze.

“We’ve spent years fighting with each other, hating
each other, and one kiss and we can barely talk to
each other at all. Crap.”

“I never hated you,” I admitted. “It’s just

easier to keep you at arm’s length if I’m pissing you
off.”

“Yeah, but that didn’t work out too well in

the end, did it?” She snorted. “All it’s done is lead
to  one  mistake.  A  mistake  we  can’t  ever  go  back
from.  Are  we  supposed  to  wake  up  tomorrow  and
carry on this irritating fight we’re in the middle of?
Or  are  we  going  to  avoid  each  other  for  the  next
week? Seriously. It’s fucking dumb.”

She grabbed a glass and slammed it down

onto the counter.

“Careful. We don’t need another broken

glass.” I waved my finger as a reminder of what’d
happened a couple of nights ago. “And I’m not

going to call it a mistake. Kissing you wasn’t a
mistake.”

“If it wasn’t a mistake, why did you say you

regret it?”

“I regret what’s happening now. I don’t

regret doing it.”

“That’s not what you said a minute ago.”
“What do you want from me, Ava?” I

slammed my hands on the island counter. “I don’t
know what I’m supposed to do. I’ve fought my
attraction to you for fucking years, and a decision I
made in a split second has changed all of that.”

“I don’t want anything from you!” She

mimicked  my  position,  flattening  her  hands  on  the
countertop. “I just… I don’t know how to live with
you now, Ethan. I don’t know how I’m supposed to
be  your  roommate  and  do  normal  shit  like  watch
TV with you when every single time we’re alone, I
know  I’m  going  to  think  about  what  it  was  like  to
kiss you.”

Her voice trailed off at the end of her

admission, and something inside me clenched.

Was there a chance that I wasn’t the only

one hiding some feelings?

“You’re not the only one who’s aware of my

brother, okay?” She took a deep breath and looked
away. “You’re not the only person who’s kept
things secret because of him.”

Shit.

Fuck.
Shit.
This wasn’t information I needed.
It wasn’t information I fucking wanted. What

was I supposed to do now?

“I—I think I’m gonna call Reagan. I’ll stay

at her place tonight.” Ava stepped away from the
island, unable to look at me.

“No.” I took my own step away. “This is

your apartment first. I’ll stay with my mom. I’ll
come back after work to get the hedgehog so you
don’t have to feed it, all right?”

“I can do it once,” she said softly. “As long

as you swear it won’t bite me.”

“I swear he won’t bite you.” My lips

twitched into a smile. Not that she could see it.
“I’m gonna head back to work.”

She nodded, still looking at an unknown spot

on the floor.

I wanted to go over there and wrap my arms

around  her.  I  wanted  to  hold  her  against  me  and
press  her  face  into  my  chest.  To  reach  down  and
cup  her  chin  and  lift  her  face  to  mine,  to  whisper
against  her  lips  that  I  was  sorry.  So  fucking  sorry
for  making  it  awkward,  for  making  her  feel  this
way, for even a second.

I didn’t.
I clenched my fist, grabbed my keys, and

left.

And you know what? For a few seconds, I

really fucking hated myself. I hated that kissing her
had  made  her  feel  like  that.  I  hated  that  it’d  been
my  choice  to  kiss  her.  That,  in  reality,  I  hadn’t
given her a choice about it—I was going to kiss her,
and  if  she’d  kicked  me  in  the  balls,  I  would  have
taken it.

I’d changed our relationship. Any idea that

we could brush it under the rug was now shattered.
We were irrevocably changed.

And it was all my fucking fault.

***

I had no idea what was going on in this game.

I was finishing my third beer, and even though I’d
been watching the game for an hour, I couldn’t
even tell you with any certainty who was playing.

I’d almost been sent home from work. My

finger was still sore, and I’d blamed my lack of
concentration on that, because it wasn’t like I could
discuss this with anyone.

The person I’d talk to about relationships, the

person I trusted with my life, was the one person I
couldn’t mention this to.

Leo.
He’d fucked with me before about Ava. I

think he knew that I was attracted to her, but that
was it. It wasn’t groundbreaking information—Ava

was absolutely beautiful, and I wasn’t the only man
in the world. Even Preston and Noah admitted she
was hot.

Just like Halley and Reagan were. I could

appreciate good-looking women and be attracted to
them without wanting to kiss them.

I still couldn’t tell Leo I’d kissed his little

sister. Being attracted to her was one thing—
sticking my tongue down her throat and upsetting
her afterward was something entirely different.

I was ready for the black eye I knew I’d get

if he ever found out.

“I’m gonna get another beer. Anyone want

one?” I looked around the table and was rewarded
with three resounding yeses.

I got up and headed for the bar, thankful for

a bit of breathing space. I needed to take a moment
by myself to get my shit together before the guys
questioned what the fuck was wrong with me.

I placed the order for the beers and leaned

against the bar. I didn’t know what I was doing here
tonight. I didn’t want to be here.

I wanted to be anywhere but here.
I wanted to find a time machine and go back

to a time before I kissed Ava. Before I lived with
her. Before I knew what it felt like to have her
sighing into my mouth and my cock pressed against
her stomach.

Jesus. I had to stop thinking like that.

I paid for the beer and grabbed all four

bottles. Only Noah and Preston were sitting at the
table, and the bar erupted in an angry shout. A
glance at the screen told me they didn’t agree with
a penalty.

The story of every football fan’s life.
I set the beers down and sat down. “Where’s

Leo?”

“Stepped out to take a phone call,” Noah

answered. “So. How did your chat with Ava go?”

“What do you mean?”
“After you kissed her,” Preston answered.
I froze. What the fuck? “How the fuck do

you two know that?”

Noah smirked at me. “Have you met our

girlfriends?  Ava’s  best  friends?  The  Three
Musketeers?  The  three  women  who  will  take  the
place  of  their  elders  and  terrorize  this  town  when
we’re  all  dead  and  gone  and  there’s  nobody  to
control them?”

“I like how you think we control them now,”

Preston drawled before turning to me. “His point,
however convoluted, is correct. Ava told Halley
and Reagan, and I can’t speak for Noah, but I was
going to move out last night if she didn’t finally fall
asleep.”

Noah snorted. “I stayed at Reagan’s last

night and had to give her Benadryl pills. She
thought it was Tylenol.”

“Shit.” I put my elbows on the table and

buried my face in my hands briefly. “Does Leo
know?”

“Nah. It’s not our place to tell him. That’s

between you and Ava.”

Preston nodded in agreement. “We figure

you can’t talk to him about this, so while he’s on
the phone, talk to us.”

“Plus, we’re dating her best friends. It’s the

ultimate inside track to a woman’s brain.”

“Women don’t even know their own brains,”

I replied. “But your hearts in the right place.”

They both chuckled.
“It went shit,” I admitted, wrapping my

hands around the beer. “I told her I’ve been
attracted to her for years, and she all but admitted
that she has feelings for me. We both hid it because
of Ethan. I’m staying on my mom’s sofa tonight.”

Noah shook his head. “Reagan’s has an early

start for a wedding tomorrow. You can take my
spare room. You don’t need to sleep on your mom’s
sofa.”

“Thanks, but—”
“You’re staying at mine. Just keep your

underwear away from my dog.”

I wasn’t going to ask.
“What are you gonna do now?” Preston

asked. “You gonna do anything about it?”

I shrugged, lifting my beer to my lips. I

downed two mouthfuls and let it clink back against
the table. Another roar filled the bar, but the guys
were both focused on me.

“Nothing,” I answered after a minute. “We

both agreed it can’t happen again. It’s awkward as
fuck, though, and I’m probably going to have to
find an apartment to lease while I decide if I’m
staying or not.”

“You should tell him.” Preston drunk from

his bottle. “You’ve been best friends since you
were kids.”

Noah tipped his bottle in his direction.

“Reagan’s told me everything and then some at this
point. I dunno about Leo, but if I were him and Ava
was my sister, I’d want her to date someone I
trusted.”

I rolled my shoulders back and sagged in the

chair. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. Not right now
while it’s all so fucked up.”

“Man, grow a pair.” Preston pointed at me.

“I live with my sister’s best friend. Doesn’t matter
than  Reagan  knew  about  the  feelings  Halley  and  I
had.  There  isn’t  a  single  situation  where  having
feelings  for  your  best  friend’s  sibling  is  gonna  be
easy.”

Noah nodded in agreement.
“Or you could just talk to Halley,” Preston

continued. “She was where you are. She might
have some advice.”

“Or you could just tell Leo,” Noah added.

“It’s the fuckin’ easiest way to clear it all up.”

“Ava doesn’t want him to know.” I ran my

hand through my hair. “Doesn’t matter what I want
—I fucked up enough already.”

Noah held his hands up. “We’ve got your

back, man. We won’t say a word.”

Preston agreed, and they both held their

bottles in the middle of the table.

I clinked mine against theirs, and that was

the end of the conversation.

I had a feeling it was only for tonight.

CHAPTER TWELVE – AVA

Making Friends Is Hard

Let it be said that Ava Parker was not good

at making friends.

It didn’t matter if those friends were human

or animals. It was not my forte. It was why I didn’t
get along with Halley’s raccoons even though they
took a liking to everyone who, well, wasn’t me.

I just wasn’t good at it.
I was more than a little socially awkward

where being personal came into it. I could stand
behind a bar for eight hours and serve eleventy-
billion beers, but if even one of those people flirted
with me, I was a goopy mess.

A goopy, awkward, flailing mess.
Apparently, that also extended to hedgehogs.
I’d said it a thousand times, and I was going

to say it again: my fear of rodents and rodent-like
creatures was not irrational. It was a genuine thing,
and given some of the fears that were out there,
mine was pretty normal.

It probably wasn’t phobia-level as I liked to

dramatize—I saved that for the inability to be in
deep water and that shit was actually no joke at all
—but it was strong enough that seeing a rat was
enough to render me catatonic.

All right. There was the drama.

I screamed like a little bitch.
I wasn’t going to do it now, though. I was

going to be brave. I was going to rule the hedgehog
world with cat food and mineral water.

Take that, tiny spiky pigs.
Hiiiiiii-yah.
Cue ninja stance.
I was no ninja. I definitely identified as more

of an upside-down turtle.

I pulled the ring on the cat food Ethan

insisted on buying for Mr. Prickles. I wasn’t sure
what a spiky pig was doing eating cat food, but it
wasn’t my pet, so I would do as I was told.

Holding the can tightly, I carried it into

Ethan’s room. It felt weird to be here knowing he
hadn’t. His bed was made—which was more than I
could say for mine—and his room was perfectly
tidy.

It was a bit annoying, actually.
Mine wasn’t tidy.
There was a bra here, a questionable pair of

shorts there, and at least three hair ties, twenty
bobby pins, and a long-lost phone lead under the
bed.

That was before you counted all the rogue

hairs that’d escaped my head and my hairbrush and
inevitably got sucked up by the vacuum.

Hmm. I needed to vacuum today.
I stilled in front of the cage.

Mr. Prickles was on top of a small log house,

and he froze when he noticed me.

If this were a TV show, a ‘whoosh’ noise

would accompany a lightning bolt across the screen
to signal a stare down.

His beady black eyes followed me. Maybe. It

could  have  been  the  reflection  from  the  sun
streaming  through  Mr.  Morning  Lover’s  window,
but  there  was  something  unnerving  about  the  way
the hedgehog watched me.

I couldn’t believe I was having a staring

contest with a hedgehog.

I needed a new hobby.
Any hobby.
I wasn’t fussy.
I blinked, ending the one-sided contest, and

reached  for  the  opening  to  the  cage.  Mr.  Prickles
was  still  staring  at  me.  I  got  the  feeling  he  didn’t
trust  me  any  more  than  I  trusted  him,  and  I  was
okay with it.

Slowly, I opened the door to the cage. He

jumped down from the top of the log house, and
there was a moment’s stillness from the both of us.

We were feeling each other out.
Why had I agreed to this?
Because I was in love with my roommate and

he wanted me, and I was weak as fuck?

Ding ding ding, we have a winner!
Ugh.

I put the can of food in my right hand and

tucked it into the cage. Mr. Prickles’ nose twitched,
and no sooner had I dumped half the meat into his
bowl than he was making his way over the cage to
where my hand was.

Where.
My.
Hand.
Was.
I froze.
Legit froze.
Mild panic streaked through my veins, the

adrenaline holding my body hostage.

What’d I been thinking when I offered to

feed this animal? Was it my heart? I bet it was my
heart. My stupid-ass heart was overriding my brain
as it so often did.

I didn’t sign up for this, okay?
I didn’t sign up for having a roommate who I

was in love with who had a spiky pig for a bet. I
didn’t sign up for being in love with my brother’s
best friend, who apparently had feelings for me.

The only obstacle was my brother.
You know what? If he wasn’t that good a

person, I’d probably remove him from the equation.

I could.
I’d read enough serial killer Wikipedia

articles to know how to dispose of a body without
getting caught.

But was anyone worth murder?
Eh.
If you wronged my best friends… Yes.
If you were my blood brother with a lifetime

of memories that included a few unsavory ones?

Tough question.
I tapped the rest of the food into the bowl

and quickly withdrew my hand from the cage. Mr.
Prickles sauntered up to his food, his fat, prickly
ass waddling as he reached it. His wet little nose
was a quarter the size of a cat’s, and he wriggled it
as if he were testing his food.

Like a human sniffing wine.
But I didn’t sniff wine. I just drank it. I was

no connoisseur.

Mr. Prickles shoved his face into the food.

His furry little ears twitched as he munched his way
through the stinky mess in the bowl.

It was no lie.
Cat food smelled like shit.
I stepped back and perched on the edge of

Ethan’s made bed. The cover was soft beneath my
underwear-clad ass, and I gripped the fabric as I
watched Mr. Prickles.

He ate. And ate. And ate. A bit like the

hungry caterpillar in that book.

The little munching noises he made were

adorable. Tiny little nibbles that were not at all like
humans chewing with their mouths open—little

clicking tsh-tsh noises that were too cute for their
own good.

Crap.
Did I like this animal?
It wasn’t bad enough that I was already in

love with its owner, but now I liked his animal, too?

This roommate situation was going to shit.
I still needed to fill the water bowl, so I

quickly took it out, secured the cage, and headed to
the kitchen. I filled it quickly and returned it to Mr.
Prickles.

Huh.
He was kinda cute.
Damn it. Ethan was right. All it took was

spending a little time with him, and I liked him.

I sat back on the bed and shuffled back to

the  wall,  drawing  my  legs  up  to  my  chest.  I  could
see  Mr.  Prickles  doing  whatever  it  was  that
hedgehogs did to amuse themselves, and the gentle
snuffy  noises  that  came  from  him  were  weirdly
comforting.

I wrapped my arms around my legs and

watched him for a while. He alternated between
playing with a small plastic ball that had some kind
of bell inside it and running in and out of a wooden
tunnel.

I didn’t know hedgehogs played with toys.
You really did learn something new every

day.

I’d learned a lot this week, and I was about

maxed out on education now, thank you very much.

Sitting in Ethan’s room was weird, but it was

comforting to watch Mr. Prickles. I’d get out before
he came back from work, but then what did I do?

Did I hide in my room? There was no way I

could see him. I didn’t know how to talk to him
now. It was easier when I thought he hated me.

Knowing

wasn’t

true

complicated

everything.

I’d been as honest with him as I could have

been, in the end. There was no way I was going to
tell him the true extent of my feelings. If I had, it
would have just made it worse than it already was.

How were we supposed to live together?
Everything had changed. Were we destined

to avoid each other like the plague until he
ultimately decided he was leaving town again? That
was what would happen. Ethan wasn’t made to
settle down in one place.

After all, he’d only moved in with me so he

wasn’t tied to an actual lease.

Talk about commitment issues.
I blew out a long breath and leaned my head

back against the wall. How could we normalize our
relationship  again?  I’d  meant  what  I’d  said  when
I’d  told  him  that  there  was  no  way  we’d  be  the
same—there  was  absolutely  no  chance  I’d  be  able
to  sit  on  a  sofa  with  him  without  wanting  to  curl

myself into his side.

We had to communicate, though. We still

lived together, and that meant we had to be civil to
one another. We had to get along.

Rolling my head, I looked around his room.

Despite the stuff he’d moved in, there was little to
no personality in here. It reflected him perfectly—
not because he had no personality, but because it
made sense that he didn’t settle in anywhere.

My feelings didn’t matter, because he was

never going to stay in Creek Falls. Not like my
brother. Leo wasn’t leaving again, he’d said as
much to Mom, but Ethan hadn’t.

He would leave, just like he always did.
If I didn’t get a handle on my feelings, I’d

end up in a worse place than I was right now.

Another sigh escaped me. Damn it.
No. I needed to do something. As much as I

didn’t want to live with him right now, I didn’t have
a choice. He couldn’t move out overnight, and
neither would I make him leave.

My gaze fell on his shoes.
One of my passive-aggressive moves was

going to be to steal all the insoles of his shoes. Sure,
he had one pair that he was wearing, but if it was
half as irritating as it was when he stole my socks…

Which I still didn’t have back, for what it

was worth.

I shuffled off the bed. Mr. Prickles tilted his

little head to the side, almost as if he was asking me
what I was doing. I pressed a finger to my lips—as
if he could talk—and quickly and carefully poked
through Ethan’s closet.

He had three pairs of shoes in here. A pair of

sneakers, a second pair that were running shoes,
and smart shoes.

I took the insoles from all of them.
I had to laugh at myself. This was a

completely ridiculous way to make this work, but if
it worked…

Well, then my life went back to normal.
Where I was in love with someone I could

never be with, and the only happy ending I was
getting was provided by seven inches of plastic and
two double-A batteries.

At least it wouldn’t argue with me.

***

I tossed the sliced pepper into the pan with

the chicken and the sliced onion. I had, once again,
made enough food to feed a football team, but I
figured I’d be a nice person and leave the fajita
fixings covered in the fridge for Ethan whenever he
decided to come back.

Food was the great equalizer, after all.

Nothing said, ‘I’m sorry, let’s be friends’ like good
food.

Food said a lot of things, actually, but it was

my love language, that was for sure.

I added the spice mix and stirred, blending it

all together, and let it cook on low heat. My eyes
darted to the time on my lock screen. I was hyper-
aware of it, and I knew Ethan would be coming
back at some point this evening.

As it was, it was already six-thirty, and he

should have finished work an hour and a half ago.

I was on borrowed time. I was avoiding him,

and I was already taking a risk by being in the
kitchen right now. He could walk in at any time.

A key turned in the lock.
Like now.
Right now.
Crap on a cracker.
Swallowing, I quickly let my hair down out

of its loose bun. It was dark enough and thick
enough that it would hide me from him if I wanted
it to. It was totally a defense mechanism for me,
and I wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

“Hey.”
I stirred the fajita mix. “Hey.”
“I brought pizza.”
Turning, I looked at him for the first time

since he’d left over twenty-four hours ago. His hair
was in its usual messy style, the stubble that coated
his jaw was a little longer than usual, and there was
hesitance in his eyes. An unasked question.

There was also an oil smudge on his cheek.
“I’m making fajitas.” I shuffled side to side.

“I was going to save some of the chicken for you. I
made too much.”

“Oh. No worries. I just thought… never

mind.” He smiled tightly and put the box down on
the coffee table so he could shrug off his backpack.

“I guess you thought the same as me.”
“That I was hungry?”
“No. That food makes everything better.”
He tugged his lips to the side. “Something

like that. If I knew you were cooking…”

“No, it’s fine. You can always reheat it for

lunch.” I glanced down at the pizza box. God, it
smelled good. “Or I can box it all up, and we can
eat it tomorrow instead?”

He tilted his head to the side. “You’re gonna

eat the pizza?”

“It smells good.” I bit the side of my bottom

lip and dragged it through my teeth. “It’s not like I
made grilled cheese that can’t be reheated.”

“Or we could have cold pizza for breakfast.”
“We could. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. You decide.”
“If I could, I’d have told you already.”
“Why don’t we have both?”
“What?”
His eyes sparkled with laughter. “A fajita and

pizza. That way, both our olive branches are

extended, and we both win.”

It was the weirdest icebreaker I’d ever heard

in my life.

That was probably why it was going to work.
“All right then.” I nodded and reached for

the tortillas. “Give me 2 minutes.”

“I need to change anyway.” He pushed off

from the island. “This shirt is Noah’s, and I need to
wash it.”

“I have a load I need to do. You can put it

with mine.”

“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Also, your cheek has oil

on it.” I cradled the lettuce close to me and tapped
my finger against my right cheek. “Just there.”

He rubbed his cheek and checked his fingers.

“Shit. No wonder they looked at me weird in the
pizza place.”

I bit back a laugh as he disappeared.
Okay. This wasn’t as awkward as it could

have been. We were clearly both trying to make
amends and make this as normal as it possibly
could be.

Whether we’d succeed was another matter. It

was a good start, though.

I diced the lettuce and grabbed the shredded

cheese from the fridge. I made two fajitas and set
them on different plates, and by the time I put both
plates down on the coffee table next to the pizza,

Ethan came back through.

“Thanks for feeding Mr. Prickles.” He sat

down. “You didn’t have to.”

“Don’t worry about it. There was no need to

take him to your mom's.”

He paused. “I actually stayed at Noah’s last

night. Apparently, your best friends have big
mouths, so he offered me his spare room when I
said I wasn’t staying here.”

I met his eyes and froze. “Wasn’t Leo there

last night?”

“He doesn’t know,” Ethan said quickly, and I

sagged in relief. “We talked when he was on the
phone outside.”

“Thank God.”
“Yeah.”
An awkward silence filled the apartment.

We’d gone into uncharted territory with that
direction in conversation, and now that I knew he’d
spoken to Noah and Preston about the kiss, I was
dying to know what he’d said.

Sucked to be me.
I grabbed a napkin from the stack on top of

the pizza box and dabbed at my mouth. I didn’t
know what to say next.

Was I an idiot to think our relationship could

go back to before we kissed?

Ethan reached for the pizza box at the exact

same time I did. Our fingers touched, and a shiver

darted up my arm in response.

“Sorry,” we both said at the same time.
“Here.” He pushed the box toward me. “You

go.”

“Um. Thanks.” I opened the box, revealing

the cheesy goodness of a pepperoni pizza. I peered
over at Ethan. “You hate pepperoni.”

He leaned forward, pulling a slice out, and

picked off all the bits of pepperoni. “Problem
solved,” he said with a small smile.

I glanced down at the pizza and back at him.

“Did you buy this because it’s my favorite? You
know they’ll do half-and-half there, right?”

“I know.” He was looking at the slice he’d

just put on his plate. “By the time I remembered, it
was too late.”

“But why didn’t you get a pizza you like?”
“Because I didn’t buy it for me, you donut. I

bought it to, I don’t know, say sorry. I knew I could
just pick the pepperoni off. It’s just a pizza, Ava.
It’s not the end of the world to pick off a topping I
don’t like if it means we can go back to pissing
each other off like normal.”

Oh, my God.
And therein lay the problem.
This was the kind of guy you married, ladies.

The guy who brought your favorite, even if he
hated it, just to make your day a little better.

I pulled a slice away. “I don’t know what to

say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. Just eat it.”

He smirked. “Evidently, talking isn’t our forte
today.”

“Or any day,” I added. “But I do have good

news.”

“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. I think me and Mr. Prickles might be

friends.”

“Fuck off,” he replied. “You’re friends with

him now? You’ve hated him ever since I brought
him in.”

“Yes,” I said slowly. “But I had to feed him

today, and since he didn’t bite me, we’re on good
terms.”

Ethan laughed, wiping his fingers on a

napkin. “Interjection: I’m getting a beer. You want
one?”

“No. I’ll take some wine, though.”
“Do you have any plastic cups? I don’t want

you cutting the entire finger off this time.”

I pursed my lips.
Laughing again, he quickly made his way to

the kitchen. “Is that all it takes? A promise not to
bite you and you’re friends?”

I shrugged. “It’s a good basis for a friendship

if you ask me.”

“Mhmm. You’re the first person the vampires

will come for if they ever rise up, you know that?”

He shot me a look seconds before he poured me a
glass of wine.

“And I’ll happily go. I’ve watched the

Twilight movies. I’ve seen vampires in bed.”

Ethan choked on thin air. “This conversation

took an interesting turn.”

My cheeks heated. “I watched Mr. Prickles

for a bit today after I fed him. He’s kinda cute.”

“And now I have whiplash.” He handed me

my glass of wine and sat down, taking a drink from
his beer. “So does that mean the restrictions on him
are lifted?”

I hesitated before I answered. Did I want to

stumble  upon  him  while  making  toast  on  a
morning?  Not  particularly.  “Maybe  a  little,”  I  said
after  a  moment.  “But  I  didn’t  actually  touch  him,
and if he appears from the shower while I’m using
the toilet, I’m going to be pissed.”

Ethan held his hands up. “He won’t be free-

range anytime soon. Maybe we should mediate
sessions with you both.”

“Mediate sessions? Do I have to pay for that,

Dr. Hawkins?”

He smirked. “No. But it won’t kill you to

touch him.”

“It might. Those spikes are sharp.”
“How do you know? You’ve never touched

them.”

I opened my mouth. Then closed it. Damn it.

He was right again. This was an awful thing that
kept happening. I didn’t like it when he was right.

“Whatever,” I said, grabbing another slice of

pizza. “Shut up.”

He laughed, plucking the pepperoni off a

slice of his own. Instead of dropping it in the box,
he leaned over and put two extra pieces on my
slice.

Then he winked.
And I’m not gonna lie, my heart sighed a

little.

It was a thing, okay. Hearts could sigh.
Or maybe it was my soul. I didn’t know, but

this was going from bad to worse where my
emotions were concerned.

Never mind cooking. Sharing pepperoni was

my love language.

So was sleep.
I loved sleep.
Sleep and food. I was basically a guy.
I finished my slice and picked up my napkin.

One fajita and two slices of pizza, and I was full. It
was the weirdest dinner I’d ever had, but it
appeared to have done its job.

It wasn’t totally awkward anymore.
Maybe we could make this work.
I got up and went to the kitchen, where I

transferred the now-cold fajita fillings into a plastic
tub to put in the fridge. I tucked it onto the shelf

next to the eggs—when did we get eggs?—and
turned around.

I walked right into Ethan.
I squealed, and he grabbed hold of my upper

arms to stop me stumbling backward.

“Sorry. I thought you knew I was there.”
I shook my head and jerked back, away from

his touch. The last thing either of us needed was to
be that close. “Sorry. I was wondering where the
eggs came from.”

“The grocery store,” he drawled. “I bought

them the other day.”

“Oh. Well. Clearly, I need to pay more

attention.” I smiled tightly and darted out of his
reach. “Thanks for the pizza. I’m gonna go to bed
and watch some Netflix, so…”

“Oh. Sure. Night, Ava.”
“Night.” I ducked into the bathroom to brush

my teeth, then locked myself away in my room
where my laptop was still open from this afternoon.

I positioned it on my nightstand so I could

see and got ready for bed. Once my hair was tied
back up, and I’d removed the death trap that was
my bra, I climbed under the covers and hit play on
the documentary I hadn’t finished watching yet.

My phone buzzed two minutes in.

ETHAN: Sorry if everything is awkward.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – AVA

Texting Sexting

I paused. I didn’t have to reply, and I knew

that, but I wanted to. Maybe we’d be able to fully
clear stuff up through text. It was easier than
talking in person, right?

ME: It’ll work out. It was only once,

right? It’s not like it went any further.

ETHAN: Right. I was able to think a lot

last night at Noah’s, that’s all.

ME: About what?

ETHAN: About things I shouldn’t tell you.

ME: Then why bring it up?

ETHAN: I don’t know. I think a part of me

wants to tell you.

ME: Well, make up your mind. You’re

interrupting my show with your lollygagging.

ETHAN: Wtf is lollygagging?

ME: I saw it on Twitter. It’s a great word.

ETHAN: Doesn’t explain what it means.

ME: Fucking around. Dawdling.

ETHAN: Oh. Right.

ME: Well? Are you going to tell me or can

I get back to the royal scandals?

ETHAN: I think I need to move out, Ava.

Well… fuck.

ME: Okay. If you think that’s best.

ETHAN: I don’t want to. But I realized

last night that I can’t just turn off my attraction
to you. I don’t want to do something we’ll both
end up regretting.

ME: Like I said, if you think that’s best,

do it. I understand.

ETHAN: It’s not you. It’s me.

ME: That’s what you say when it’s the

other person’s fault.

ETHAN: Except it is me.

ETHAN: You’re not the one at fault here.

I am. I fully admit that if we stay living together
for much longer, I’m going to want to do more
than just kiss you.

I drew in a sharp breath. That wasn’t what

I’d wanted to hear—or was it? I don’t know. Did I
need a full idea of how he felt about me? It
wouldn’t validate me in any way. It wouldn’t
change who I was as a person.

Yet, here I was.
Desperate to know.
Desperate to ask.

ME: Why?

ETHAN: Because I can’t stop thinking

about you, Ava. And the more I think about you,
the more I want you.

Ho.
Lee.
Shit.
Whatever I was expecting him to say—it

wasn’t that.

ME: It’s sexual. That’s all it is. It’s just a

physical attraction.

ME: Nobody has to know. What if

something happening gets it out of your system?

Oh, my God, what am I doing?

ETHAN: Do you have any idea what

you’re saying?

ETHAN: You’re essentially asking me to

walk into your bedroom right now and fuck you.

ME: It’s all hypothetical.

ETHAN: No, it’s not, and you know it.

ME: Fine. Whatever. There’s clearly

something unsaid between us. You can’t tell me
it’s the worst idea.

ETHAN: It’s not the best one either. What

do you propose we do? Take this too far? Sleep
together until I ultimately leave town again?

ETHAN: You’re not a one-night stand,

Ava. You’re not the girl you fuck and leave.

ME: What does that even mean?

ETHAN: It means you’re the girl—

however infuriating you can be—that you take
home to your parents, knowing you’re gonna
marry her.

What was happening right now? Was he

drunk? A carb-high? Did someone slip weed into
that pizza? What was going on?

This was weird, weird shit.
Yet I couldn’t breathe. My heart was

thumping and my mouth was dry, and I couldn’t
give a shit about the scandal that was unfolding on
my laptop screen.

All I cared about was hearing more.
Listening to all the things he shouldn’t be

saying. Savoring every last word that never should
have reached my ears—or my eyes.

Feeding my stupid addiction to this man.
Feeding my stupid, stupid heart that was

reckless enough to love him.

ETHAN: And I can’t do that to you.

You’re worth more than a quick roll in the hay.

ME: What if I said I didn’t care?

ETHAN: You do care.

ME: How do you know? You can’t tell me

how to feel.

ETHAN: I can’t, and I never would. But I

saw how you looked at me yesterday after we
talked.

ME: I didn’t look at you.

ETHAN:

Exactly.

You

didn’t.

You

couldn’t. Doesn’t matter if you think it’s all
sexual—that’s what people say when they don’t
have any other reason for the way they feel.

ME: Fine. Whatever.

ETHAN: Now you’re mad.

ME: No, I’m fine.

ETHAN: No woman has ever used the

word fine when she’s actually been fine.

ME: Look, it’s simple. If you want to move

out, move out. I’m not going to try and stop you.
It’s your decision. You have every right to do
whatever you want.

ME: I’m single because this world is filled

with guys who tell girls shit they think they want
to hear then backtrack. I’m not single because

I’m unaware of my worth.

ME: Don’t tell me I’m the kind of girl

worth  marrying.  I  already  know  that.  I  don’t
need  you  to  validate  it.  I’m  also  woman  enough
to know that having sex with a guy without any
promise  of  a  relationship  doesn’t  make  me  any
less  of  a  person.  Even  if  I  did  choose  to  live  my
life  with  one-night  stands,  it  doesn’t  mean  I’m
not  worth  marrying.  Everyone  is  worth
marrying.  Even  serial  killers  get  married  and
they’re straight up psychotic sociopaths who are
way  worse  than  women  who  decide  to  take
control of their sexuality.

ME: But if you’re going to live here still,

cut this shit out right now. Keep whatever
feelings you have to yourself if you’re not going
to do anything about it.

ME: Because you’re right. There is

something  here  that  goes  deeper  than  just  a
physical  attraction,  but  I’m  not  going  to  lie  in
bed and dig myself a hole of denial in the hopes
I’ll  get  to  China  and  get  over  it  like  you
apparently are.

ME: So if you’re not going to do anything

about this, if you’re going to put me on this
‘marry, don’t fuck’ pedestal when I’m perfectly

capable of knowing what I want and making an
informed  decision,  do  me  a  favor.  Just  be  my
roommate.  Do  your  laundry  and  wash  your
dishes  and  contribute  to  everything  fairly.  And
for God’s sake, shut the fuck up, okay? Just shut
up. Because I don’t want to hear it.

My eyes stung with frustration, and I

slammed my phone on the bed next to me with the
screen down. I wasn’t interested in what he had to
say anymore.

How dare he? How dare he tell me what I

was worth? How dare he insinuate the things he
had?

I could have had twenty one-night stands

opposed to the grand total of zero I had to my
name, and it wouldn’t have made me any less of a
woman. Any less of a person.

My worth was not defined by my sexual

history.

My worth was not defined by anyone but me.
I got to decide that. Not some asshole with a

dick between his legs. The only time an asshole
with a dick between their legs got to decide a
woman’s worth was when the was the asshole with
an actual dick between their legs.

Spoiler alert: her worth was through the roof.
So why the fuck did I have tears in my ears?

Was it the subtle rejection? The knowledge that this

was it—this was really, really it? There was
absolutely, categorically, it. There was no way that
Ethan and I would be together. Ever.

It was stupid. I knew that. I’d known it for

years.

Why did he have to go and text me tonight?

We’d left on good terms. Awkward ones, but good.
We’d eaten together. There was cold pizza for
breakfast and enough fajita fillings that we could
both eat them for lunch.

Why did he have to go and fuck it all up?
Why did he have to kiss me in the first place?
Why hadn’t I pushed him away?
I was over it. I was so over all of this. All I

wanted was to curl into a ball and scream my
frustrations out into a pillow. Cry into my sheets.
Get rid of the anger in the easiest way I knew how.

But I couldn’t.
Because he was out there. He’d hear me.

He’d know he got to me. He’d know he hurt me.

And I was never, ever going to give him that

power.

As far as Ethan Hawkins was concerned, it

was the only power I had left.

I got out of bed, knocking my phone to the

floor,  and  grabbed  the  makeup  wipes  from  the  top
of  my  dresser.  I  scrubbed  furiously  at  my  eyes,
removing  the  remnants  of  the  light  coat  I’d  put  on
before I went to meet the girls for lunch today.

My skin was red and blotchy thanks to the

anger I held in the knots of my stomach. Bags
under my eyes gave away my tiredness, and there
was a distinct sadness in my eyes themselves.

I needed a good, long sleep.
“Ava?” Ethan’s voice was muffled by my

door. “Are you still awake?”

“No,” I shot back. “This is my voicemail.

Leave a message after the beep. Beeeeeep.”

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered. Maybe. I had no

idea. The door was a pretty good muffler. “Can you
open the door? We need to talk.”

“We’ve talked enough.” I tossed the used

wipe into the small trashcan I kept next to my
dresser. “You made sure of that.”

“Goddamn it.” He knocked his fist against

my door. “Five minutes. Okay? Five minutes.
That’s all I need.”

“You’ve got it.” I folded my arms across my

chest and stared at the door. “Doesn’t mean I’m
gonna open the door for you.”

“Fine. Look—I think that just about

everything  I  said  then  came  across  wrong.  I  didn’t
mean  it  the  way  you  took  it.  You’re  my  best
friend’s  sister,  Ava.  If  anything  happens  between
us,  I  know  I’m  gonna  feel  like  I’ve  betrayed  Leo.
You  will,  too.  And  more  than  anything,  I’m  gonna
feel  like  I’ve  betrayed  you.  You  don’t  need
someone  who  doesn’t  even  know  if  they’re  still

gonna be in town past the holidays. You deserve
better than that.”

My eyes stung again. I didn’t know if it was

because of his words or because I was just so, so
emotionally exhausted from pulling myself from
pillar to post.

“We’ve never gotten along. You’re right

about that, and I stand by what I said. It’s easier to
fight with you than be friends with you. Until the
other day, I was sure you did genuinely hate me,
and I could live with that.”

“Obviously not.”
“I could and I did. Until I moved in, it was

only physical, but listen to me. There’s something
else there, Ava, something that scares the fucking
shit out of me. Something I can’t deal with because
of who you are.”

My heart.
It was going insane.
“I am obsessed with the idea of you,” he

said, this time a lot softer. “At least I think I am. I
can’t focus on anything else right now, but I don’t
know what it means. I just know that I don’t want
to hurt you in any way, and my decision to kiss you
has done that. Also, on a totally unrelated note, I’d
very much like you to return the insoles of my
shoes that you stole today.”

I bit my lower lip, fighting a momentary

smile. “I’ll swap them for my socks.”

“Shit. I thought I gave those back.”
“Nope. You stole them right around the time

you royally pissed me off. Remember?” I unlocked
my bedroom door and pulled it open.

Ethan looked down at me, his dark blue eyes

shining with warring emotions. If the eyes were the
windows to someone’s soul, his soul was messed
the hell up right now.

“Noah said this morning that I’m welcome to

stay at his place until I find an apartment,” he said
softly, putting his hands in his pockets. “I won’t be
offended or pissed off if you want me to go, Ava.
I’ve fucked up a lot here with you, and I honestly
wish we could go back to hating each other.”

I wrapped my arms around my waist,

thanking God that I’d thrown on a black tank top
tonight. As for my underwear—eh. They were plain
blue. Boring.

“I’m not going to throw you out.” I held his

gaze with mine. “If you leave, it’s of your own
volition. But I mean what I said. Shut the fuck up. I
don’t want to hear any of it. If you’re not going to
act on the way you feel, don’t say anything at all.”

Darkness clouded his eyes. “I can’t,” he said

in a low voice, reaching out. He cupped my cheek
for a second before he dropped his hand again. “I
can’t do it to your brother.”

I raised one shoulder in a shrug before

dropping it again. His words stung more than I ever

wanted to admit. “Then don’t do it.”

“Ava—”
I shut the door in his face.
Slowly, I fell against it, resting my cheek

against the cool wood as emotion barreled through
me. Days ago, we’d hated each other. We actively
tried to piss each other off.

And now?
Now, I had no idea.
Except for one thing. There was one thing I

was absolutely, positively, one hundred percent
certain about.

Ethan Hawkins could never ever know

exactly how I felt about him.

And that was the end of that.

***

I am obsessed with the idea of you.
That was it.
The idea.
Not me. Just the idea.
Was it because I was his best friend’s sister?

That the way we felt about each other was…
forbidden?

Was forbidden even the right word?
No. It wasn’t forbidden.
I knew my brother. If I told him how I felt,

he wouldn’t be angry. He might think I was stupid,

but that was about it. I didn’t necessarily think he’d
stop anything from happening, either.

He just wasn’t that kind of person. As much

as I ribbed on him, he was a good brother. He was a
good person. He’d never do anything to get in the
way of my happiness.

But it wasn’t just me. It was Ethan’s life, too,

and I knew he didn’t want Leo to find out we’d
kissed.

It didn’t matter. It was blatantly obvious that

nothing was going to happen, and that was exactly
why Reagan and Halley were leaning over the
island in Reagan’s new kitchen, mouths agape.

“Are

you

fucking

serious?”

Reagan

demanded, slapping her hand against the counter.

“You’ve lost your mind.” Halley shook her

head so vigorously she almost dislodged her glasses.
“Ava, think this through.”

“I have!” I ran my fingers through my hair.

“I have, okay? Nothing will happen with Ethan.
I’ve said that all along and nobody listened to me.
I’m telling you right now that I’m making the right
choice.”

“Butler made you miserable!”
“She’s right,” Reagan pushed her purple hair

behind her ear. “You were so on and off that I had
to pay for whiplash treatment at one point.”

I pursed my lips. “No, you didn’t.”
“You’re right, I didn’t, but I may as well

have.”

Halley held up her hands, compassion in her

eyes. “Ava, think about this. You’re only doing this
because of what’s happened with Ethan. You don’t
actually want to go out with Butler again.”

She was right. I didn’t. Maybe it made me a

bitch for going to dinner with my ex, but I was long
past caring. I needed a distraction from Ethan, and
while Butler was a shit boyfriend, he was pretty
great in bed.

“You know as well as we do that you’re not

going to sleep with him. And what if you do?
What’s gonna happen? You’ll date again, and in
two months, you’ll break up.”

“If it lasts that long,” Reagan added, ever the

beacon of positivity. “This is a bad idea, Ava. You
need to think this through.”

“I have. I just need a distraction, and me and

Butler never said we’d never get back together.”

Halley groaned. “Ava, I love you. We both

love you. But he made you miserable. What do you
think you’ll actually achieve by having dinner with
him?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing

came out. I didn’t know. They were right, as far as
it went, but I didn’t know what I was doing.

I wasn’t perfect. I wasn’t going to pretend I

was or that what I was doing was a good decision.

I just wanted to not think about Ethan for

one night.

If going out with Butler did that…
Well.
“It’s not going to happen, all right? It’s easy

for  you  guys.  You’re  both  in  relationships.  You’re
not living with the guy you’ve been in love with for
years but can’t have.” I pushed off the counter and
grabbed my stuff. “I know going out with Butler is
a  bad  idea,  but  so  is  just  about  everything  else  in
my  life  right  now.  Don’t  pretend  you  know  how  I
feel because you have no idea.”

“Ava, wait!” Halley jumped up, but I was

already shutting the door behind me.

I knew they meant well, but sometimes, I

didn’t want them to mean well. I didn’t want them
to tell me all the things I was doing wrong.

Sometimes, I just wanted someone to go

along with a bad idea.

This was one of those times. My emotions

were everywhere, and I knew this was a terrible
decision, but that didn’t change the one I’d made.

And the truth was that Halley and Reagan

had no idea how this felt. They had no idea what it
was like to be in my position.

If they did, they’d probably make a shit

choice, too.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN –

ETHAN

Green Isn’t Everyone’s Color

I tapped my fingers against the side of my

beer bottle. I hadn’t seen Ava all day, and the
messy, handwritten note attached to the side of the
fridge with this week’s date on said she was
working until ten-thirty tonight.

I had four more hours to sit and feel fucking

sorry for myself.

Texting her last night was stupid.
We’d almost fixed things. We’d almost

gotten back to normal, and then I’d texted her.
From the other room. And I’d upset her even more.

I was a fucking idiot.
A prize fucking idiot.
There was no way to make this better. She’d

made her position clear—I wasn’t the only one who
had some feelings that needed to be worked out.
She had feelings for me. I didn’t know what they
were or how deep they ran, but they existed.

They were real.
And she wasn’t interested.
She’d told me to fuck off.
She had every right to. She didn’t owe me

anything. I was the one who’d fucked up and made

it all awkward for us. I was the one who’d been
unable to keep my hands to myself. My words, too.

If she wanted me to never speak of it, I

wouldn’t.

I tossed my phone up and caught it again.

Everyone was at Lucky’s tonight, but since Ava
was working, it wasn’t exactly a place I could go. It
was pretty much off-limits.

Not that something being off-limits had

stopped me once this week.

Fuck.
I scrubbed at my scalp, rubbing my fingers

through my hair. Being stuck in the apartment
wasn’t doing me any good. All it was doing was
making my brain go crazy.

I shot a quick text off to Noah to see if he

was still at Lucky’s and if not, where he was.

NOAH: Luckys w the guys, Halley, and

Reagan. You coming down?

I sighed, staring at it. Everyone was there. It

was Sunday. The football games were on, and even
being in the same bar as Ava had to be a better
situation than sitting here moping like a fucking
lovesick idiot.

Especially since I’d put myself in that

position.

ME: Yeah. Be there in 10.

I changed out of my sweatpants into some

jeans and grabbed a clean t-shirt. A quick check of
Mr.  Prickles  resulted  in  his  water  being  refilled
courtesy  of  the  bottle  on  my  nightstand.  I  took  a
minute  to  throw  his  ball  across  his  cage  before  I
tickled beneath his little chin and made my way out
of the apartment.

I ran down the stairs and outside. The cool,

fall  air  was  a  welcome  drop  in  temperature.  God
knew  how  long  it  would  last,  but  I  appreciated  it
anyway.  It  made  the  walk  across  town  to  the  bar
much  more  enjoyable  than  it  would  have  been
otherwise.

Not that it was entirely enjoyable. I was all

too aware of the fact that I was willingly putting
myself in Ava’s path—something I didn’t think
she’d be too pleased about.

I also had to contend with Halley and

Reagan. Not that I had anything against them. No.
I’d known them as long as I’d known Ava thanks to
growing up here, but I knew they were loyal to a
fault.

Even if they did run their mouths to their

boyfriends.

Problem was, I had a feeling they’d done that

because they knew Noah and Preston would talk to
me. After all, if anyone knew exactly how Ava felt

about me, it was those two.

They probably knew better than Ava herself.
I took a deep breath as I turned onto the

street where Lucky’s was. The lights from the bar
lit up the area, and cars filled the parking lot off to
the side. A roar escaped the building as I got close,
and I rolled my shoulders as I made my way toward
the door.

Warmth enveloped me the second I stepped

inside.  It  was  a  mixture  of  the  building’s  own  heat
and  that  of  all  the  people.  Barely  any  chairs  were
left  empty.  The  bar  was  rammed,  and  people  were
standing up everywhere.

I slipped inside, scanning the heads for my

friends. I pushed through three big groups of people
before I spotted the beacon that was Reagan with
her purple hair and headed right for them.

“Ethan!” Halley raised her hand and waved.
“Hey.” I stepped up to the table and side-

hugged both her and Reagan. “Where is
everyone?”

“At the bar,” Reagan answered. “Hold on.”

She  clambered  up  onto  her  chair,  tugged  up  her
jeans,  and  waved  her  hands  above  her  head.  I
frowned,  but  it  obviously  worked  because  she
motioned for one more beer to be brought over.

“Thanks,” I said when she sat down. “It’s

busy tonight.”

Halley nodded. “There was apparently a

bachelor party nearby last night. Their flight got
canceled, so they came here and took over half the
place.”

I looked out. It was easy to see them—they

took up four tables and, as people on bachelor
parties usually did, they looked like absolute pricks.

“What’s up?” Reagan asked, pulling a rogue

empty chair up to the table for me. “I was surprised
you weren’t here earlier.”

“Ava’s working,” I answered. “You probably

already know we’re not talking.”

They both nodded. “Mm,” Halley said.
“What’s ‘mm?’” I asked.
“Nothing.” She cradled her wine glass. “It’s

not directed at you, for what it’s worth.”

“Who is it directed at?”
“This prick of a referee,” Preston said,

sliding into the seat next to me and putting a beer in
front of me. “She’s been complaining about him all
night.” He winked when Leo took his seat on the
other side of the table.

“You’re confusing me with yourself,” Halley

said, snorting at her boyfriend. “You’re the one
whining like a little bitch.”

“I will second that.” Reagan touched her

wine glass to Halley’s.

I smirked.
“Thought you weren’t coming,” Leo said as

Noah took his seat.

“Got bored,” I replied, keeping my answer as

vague as I could. “What’s going on?”

Preston tilted his head to the side and rested

his arm over the back of Halley’s chair. “Pats are
winning as always. Nobody cares about the other
games.”

Standard Sunday night, then.
“Was that the shout I heard coming in?”
“Yeah,” Noah answered. “They should have

had a penalty for a false start, but the touchdown
stood without review. Bullshit refereeing.”

Standard weekly operation, then.
Leo swigged his beer. “Is that Butler at the

bar?”

Everyone’s head turned toward the bar. Ava

was standing behind it, smiling. Her hair was pulled
back into a ponytail, and she was dressed all in
black with her V-neck t-shirt cutting low when she
bent over.

“I think so,” Halley said slowly.
“But there are so many guys in here,”

Reagan added, kicking my foot.

“Ow! Why did you kick me?” I asked,

frowning at her.

Her eyes widened. “Sorry. Accident.”
I smelled bullshit.
I let it go.
Leo didn’t. He narrowed his eyes. “It is. It’s

Butler.”

Noah’s gaze flashed in my direction. “It’s

Sunday night. He comes in here, right?”

“Yeah, but he’s not leaving the bar. I thought

they broke up.”

“They did.” Halley squirmed in her seat.

“Maybe he’s trying to get her back.”

My stomach clenched. I knew all about

Ava’s unhealthy on-off relationship with Butler
Ferris. It’d spanned a long ass fucking time before
she’d finally called it off earlier this year.

The idea that he was interested again, and

she was allowing it made me feel sick.

“Nah,” Preston interjected. “She wouldn’t go

out with him again.”

Reagan cleared her throat, and Halley shot

her a look that could kill.

Leo watched it all happen. “She’s dating him

again?” He turned his eyes on me. “She mentioned
it to you?”

“Why the fuck would I know?” I replied.
“Because you live with her.”
“She doesn’t tell me shit.” I rocked my head

side to side to stretch out my neck. “I don’t know
what she does in her free time.”

Leo grunted. “He’s a dick. Why is she

entertaining his bullshit?”

That was a great fucking question, wasn’t it?
I finished my beer. “I’m gonna get a beer.

Anyone want one?”

“Bring a bucket,” Leo said, eyes firmly fixed

on the bar.

Halley moved her hand over her throat in an

axing motion, but a bucket sounded good to me.

I pushed my way through to the bar, stopping

a few feet away from where Butler was grinning at
Ava.

My nostrils flared. What the fuck was he

doing here? As far as I knew, she wasn’t interested
in him anymore. Yet, as she moved across the bar
to serve someone who’d gotten here before me, she
returned his smile.

Anger shot through me.
What the fuck was I watching? Was I really

standing here, watching my roommate and the
woman I had feelings for getting back with her ex?

I wasn’t going to watch it. Not for a second.

The stomach-twisting that was happening in my gut
was almost unbearably painful, a continuous
tightening of cramps that demanded I fix this
situation.

I never should have come here.
“Ava!”
She jerked her head around, her eyes

widening with shock as she parted her pink lips.

Butler turned his head and glared at me.
I motioned for her to come over. She had no

idea that I was here and even less idea that I was
going to bullshit my way through this conversation.

Ava apologized to a customer and came to

me. “What?”

“I left my key in the apartment. Can I use

yours?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “I realized when I was

gonna drive here. Can I use yours?”

“Ugh.” She sagged. “It’s on my keys in the

back room. When are you leaving?”

I checked my watch. “An hour? I haven’t

been here long.”

“I finish not long after that. Can’t you just

wait?”

“And see you say goodbye to your

boyfriend? No, thanks.”

She glanced at Butler. “He’s not my

boyfriend, and you know it.”

“No,” I said, my gaze trained on hers. “I

don’t.”

“Do you need anything, or are you just here

to annoy me?”

“Bucket of beer, please. If Leo has a tab, put

it on his.”

She made an agreeable noise and turned

away.  Butler  was  still  staring  at  me,  but  I  made  a
point  of  pulling  my  phone  from  my  pocket  and
scrolling  that  until  Ava  put  the  ice-filled  bucket  in
front of me.

“No tab. Thirty dollars, please.” She held her

hand out, her bright eyes focused on me.

Slowly, I pulled out my wallet and handed

her the money. I made sure to let my hand linger on
hers as I handed the money over. Her fingers all but
wrapped themselves around mine as she took the
money from my hand.

“I have a ten-minute break in five minutes,”

she said, slipping the bills away from me with a
flourish. “Come back then, and I’ll get you my
key.”

“Thanks.” I half-smiled and grabbed the

bucket. “As long as I don’t interrupt your
conversation with your boyfriend.”

Rage flashed in her eyes. “Go. Now.”
I carried it back over the table after weaving

in and out of people. Halley shot me a look and
Reagan smirked, but it was Leo who questioned
me.

“Did she talk about Butler?” he asked,

plucking a bottle out of the bucket.

“No. I left my keys at home,” I lied. “She

said  she  has  a  break  in  five  minutes,  so  I’m  gonna
go  get  her  key.”  I  peered  over  my  shoulder  at  the
bar.  She  was  now  completely  ignoring  Butler  and
serving a large group of guys.

I grabbed a beer and settled into my chair. I

didn’t know what I was going to say to her in those
five minutes while I got the key I didn’t need.

The only thing I knew was that I was not

fucking comfortable with the dick that was her ex-
boyfriend being so close to her. While she fucking
smiled at him.

Nah.
Not happy.
Not at all.
Not that it mattered. I had no right to feel

how I did either way. All I was allowed to feel was
the annoyance that she hadn’t yet returned the
insoles to my shoes, and I was wearing the world’s
most uncomfortable sneakers.

At least you could mix and match socks. I

hadn’t taken all the left ones, after all. I’d taken
them at random. That didn’t apply to insoles. The
damn insoles were fitted to each shoe specifically.

Both Reagan and Halley sent questioning

glances my way. I ignored them both and focused
on the game. I had no fucking idea what was going
on, and I really didn’t care. I just needed the clock
to time down the next five minutes

Not that I had any idea what I was going to

do. If I’d even do anything at all.

“You know they had dinner earlier, right?”

Reagan said, looking at Leo. “On her break.”

Leo’s expression tightened. “Why? They

broke up ages ago.”

Reagan shrugged. “We tried to tell her it was

a bad idea, but she didn’t listen to us. She’s got a
stick up her ass about something and she’s digging

her heels in.”

Halley wrinkled her nose up. “She’s being

stubborn as hell.”

My jaw clenched. I knew what Ava was

doing. She was trying to make some kind of stupid
point—I knew she didn’t want to date Butler. I
knew she had feelings for me because she’d told
me, but then again, was it my business?

I was the one who said nothing could

happen.

I was the one who’d made that decision.
I answered my own question: I had no right

to feel the way I did.

But that was the problem with feelings—they

didn’t fucking care about your rights.

“I’m gonna go get the key,” I said, standing

up.

I pushed my way back to the bar where Ava

was serving someone. She finished up and caught
my eye, motioning for me to follow her. She slipped
out from behind the bar and guided me to the back
where she pushed open a door marked with ‘Staff
Only.’

I followed her inside and to a smaller room

that was empty. There was a table and chairs and a
sofa, and Ava’s purse was on the floor next to it
with two others.

“How did you forget your keys?” she asked,

picking hers up.

“Wasn’t thinking,” I lied. “Reagan said you

had dinner with Butler.”

She froze but quickly shook it off. “What of

it?”

“Really? That’s how you’re playing this?”
Ava looked up from searching inside the

suitcase she called a purse and gave me a dark
look. “Who I have dinner with is none of your
business. Never has been, never will be. You made
that abundantly clear.”

I sighed, looking away from her.
“Is that what this is?” She put the purse on

the table. “You want to interrogate me about what
I’m doing? You don’t want me, but nobody else can
have me? Is that it?”

“Jesus Christ, have you listened to yourself?

You had dinner with the guy to make some kind of
stupid point. You don’t want to date him.”

She yanked her keys out the purse with a

jingle.  “Have  you  heard  yourself,  Ethan?  You
sound  like  an  idiot.  You  can’t  make  your  mind  up
what you want. You can’t say what you said to me
last night, then come in here like a fucking jealous
ex. That’s not how it works. You don’t want to act
on  your  feelings  for  me,  then  fine.  But  I  told  you
last  night:  shut  up.”  She  pulled  the  key  from  the
ring  and  slapped  it  against  my  chest.  “There’s  the
key  you  probably  made  up  needing  so  you  could
have this stupid conversation with me.”

I grabbed her wrist, stopping her pulling

away from me. There was a fire in her eyes, one I’d
seen so many times, and I stepped closer to her
even though the chance of me getting burned was
high. “You’re right,” I said in a low voice. “It’s not
fair of me to do this, but I don’t know what else to
do. If you’re honest with yourself, you don’t know
what to do either.”

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.
“You don’t want to tell your brother how you

feel about me any more than I want to tell him how
I feel about you.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” she replied, her

voice a touch softer than before. “I’m not going to
go back and forth with you, Ethan. Not anymore. I
don’t think you know how much it hurts. Make a
decision and stick to it, for God’s sake.”

She looked at me for a lingering moment

before she tugged her hand out of my grip. I let her
go, and the key clattered to the floor between us.

“Maybe you should find somewhere else to

live.” Ava tucked her hair behind her ear. “Stay at
Noah’s, like he said. This isn’t going to work
anymore.”

Her words twisted my gut. She was right.

There was too much push and pull—too much
endless back and forth.

“I mean it,” she said, backing up to the door.

She reached for the handle behind her back. “It’s

not me being a dick. I can’t live with you if it’s like
this.”

“Ava—”
“You’re right. I don’t want to be with Butler.

I asked him to get dinner because I thought it would
make  me  feel  better.”  She  looked  away  for  a
second  before  she  brought  her  eyes  back  to  mine.
“But  all  it  did  was  make  me  realize  that  he’s  not
you,  and  as  long  as  you  sleep  in  the  room  next  to
mine, I’ll never be able to get over you.”

I took a step toward her.
“No.” She shook her head. “No. Don’t.

Don’t kiss me when you don’t mean it.”

I covered my eyes with my hand and dragged

it down my face. When I looked back up again, she
was gone, and I was alone in the staff room.

I bent down and retrieved the key from the

floor, staring at it.

This stupid fucking key. My own was in my

pocket, but this shiny, gold one in my hand
symbolized so much.

If I gave Ava mine, that was it.
There would be no going back. Any chance

of anything with her… It was gone.

Was I a fool for not telling Leo how I felt?

Ava terrified me. The way I felt about her was
fucking scary, because I knew it would be too easy
to fall completely in love with her.

Leo was the safety blanket. He was an

excuse. It was easy to use him as the reason why I
was holding back from her.

He was my best friend. Her brother.

Betrayal, right?

In theory.
In reality… in reality, I was a fucking wimp. I

was hiding behind a friendship.

I tucked the key in my pocket and walked

back into the bar. Ava was back in place behind it,
and she looked up as I passed. Something crossed
her face, and she turned away from me, showing
me the back of her head instead.

“Are you all right?” Reagan asked when I got

back to the table.

“What? Yeah. I’m fine.” I sat down and

grabbed my beer. “What’s the score?”

Preston shot me a questioning look.

“Twenty-one, three to the Pats.”

I nodded and settled back.
“Did you ask her about Butler?” Leo asked.
“Huh?”
“Ava. Did you ask her about Butler? Are

they dating again?”

“No. They’re not.” I tapped my fingers

against the table, frowning.

“Are you all right?” Leo leaned forward.

“You’re acting weird.”

“Really weird.” Halley tilted her head to the

side, and her eyes widened like she could read my

mind.

Fuck it.
I was going to tell him.
Right now.
“I need to tell you something.” I looked at

Leo.

“Oh no,” Reagan muttered.
Leo sent a weird look her way before turning

back to me. “What’s up?”

“I kissed your sister.”
Everyone at the table froze.
“A few days ago,” I continued. “I stole one

of every sock she owns like you suggested. We had
a fight. We kissed. That’s it.” I shrugged, holding
out my hands.

Leo stared at me for a long moment. I had no

idea what he was thinking, and I was ready for the
fist to my nose.

It didn’t come.
Instead, he snorted. “Well, it’s about fucking

time, ain’t it?”

It was my turn to still, where the girls both

jerked in shock. “What?”

“It’s about fucking time,” Leo repeated.

“God knows she’s mooned over you for years for
some godforsaken reason. It’s about time you
realized you felt the same.”

“I didn’t say anything about feelings.”
“You don’t have to. It’s written all over your

face.” He smirked, glancing toward the bar. “Is that
why she keeps looking over here like she’s plotting
your murder?”

“As a rule, that’s how she looks at him

anyway,” Reagan piped up. “But she still doesn’t
have her socks back.”

“Jesus, she wears odd socks anyway. She

hasn’t looked that hard for them, because they’re in
her fucking closet.” I finished my beer. “Unlike the
insoles of my shoes, which appear to have grown
legs.”

“They’re in the trunk of her car,” Preston

answered. “I ran into her in the grocery store’s
parking lot and saw them.”

“Son of a bitch.” I sighed.
Leo laughed, sitting right back. “What are

you gonna do now?”

“Grovel,”

Halley

suggested

brightly.

“Because he’s on her shit list.”

“Thank you for that,” I muttered.
“You’re welcome.”
“What did you do?” Leo asked, still smiling.
“Told her we couldn’t be together because of

you,” I answered. “Nothing major.”

He rubbed his hand down his face. “You both

thought I’d be pissed off?”

“I was expecting you to punch me.” I

scratched the side of my neck. “Still waiting.”

“I’ll punch you if you want me to.”

“Don’t get carried away.”
Noah chuckled. “Let me guess, we’re now

on a group mission to get Ethan back in Ava’s good
books.”

“No.” Leo shook his head. “But Reagan and

Halley are gonna tell her I know without me even
asking them, so that helps.”

“Hey!” Reagan knocked her fist against the

table. “We can keep a secret. We didn’t tell you
they made out like a couple of horny teens.”

“Thanks, Reagan,” I said dryly.
“You’re welcome.” She gave me the same

bright smile Halley had. “What are friends for?”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – AVA

Cat Amongst The Hedgehogs

“Leo knows you kissed Ethan.”
The glass in my hand slipped from my grip

and shattered on the floor. “What?”

Reagan nodded, backing up Halley’s words.

“Ethan just told him.”

“What? Why would he do that? What—” I

paused and took a deep breath. This was not how
I’d expected the end of my shift to go.

I grabbed a dustpan and brush and swept up

the mess I’d made.

“Start from the beginning,” I demanded.

“Did you force him into it?”

“I take offense at that.” Reagan swept her

hair around one side of her neck. “We are totally
innocent. For once.”

Yeah, right.
“It’s true,” Halley said. “He came back from

getting his key—did he even need it?”

“Probably not,” I answered.
“Right. Well, he came back and he was in a

weird mood. Spaced out.”

Reagan nodded. “Leo asked if he’d asked

you about Butler.”

“Ugh.”
“Indeed,” she mused. “And when he said

that you weren’t seeing him again, he suddenly told
Leo he had something to tell him.”

“Okay… And he just said it?”
“Pretty much.” Halley leaned over the bar.
“Oh, God.” I buried my face in my hands.

“Why did he do that? He’s spent the last few days
telling me that nothing can happen because he can
never tell Leo. Why would he do that, if only to tell
him?”

“I think you seeing Butler made him shit his

pants.” Reagan grinned. “Nice move.”

“I didn’t—whatever.” I shook my head.

“What did Leo say?”

“Ooh, this is the good bit!” She clapped her

hands together. “He said it was about fucking
time.”

Come again?
“What? Say that again.”
“He said it was about fucking time,” Halley

repeated. “Looks like he knew you had feelings for
Ethan and that Ethan was slow on the uptake.”

“But how?”
Reagan shrugged. “You just know this time.

It was me who figured out both Halley and Preston
had feelings for each other before they told me. I’m
close to them both, so it’s not that crazy that I’d
notice it. That’s probably what happened with Leo.
You said Angelica knew that Leo had feelings for
you. Siblings know stuff.”

Halley grimaced. “Yeah, that was fun when

you told me.”

I remembered that conversation. It was fun.

“So  what  now?  Leo’s  okay  with  it?  Ethan’s
suddenly  going  to  change  his  mind?”  I  shook  my
head.  “It’s  not  going  to  happen.  He  only  told  him
because  I  was  with  Butler.  I  was  right.  He  doesn’t
want me, but nobody else can have me, either.”

They shared a look.
“Actually,” Halley said slowly, “I think he

does want to be with you. His loyalty to Leo meant
he  thought  he  was  doing  what  was  right.  It  was
weird for me at first, too, and Reagan knew how I
felt about Preston. Like, what if we break up? How
that  would  affect  our  friendship  was  a  huge  thing
for  me.  I  didn’t  want  to  put  her  in  a  position  that
meant she’d have to choose.”

“Right,” Reagan agreed. “But it doesn’t

matter, because if they break up, it’s going to be
Preston’s fault anyway.”

That was probably true.
“How does that relate to me and Ethan?” I

looked between them. “It’s more than just that. I
don’t even know if he’s going to stay in town. He
never stays anywhere for long.”

“He did what he thought was right by his

best  friend.  Ultimately,  his  first  loyalty  lay  with
Leo.  They’ve  lived  and  traveled  together  for
years,”  Halley  said.  “Whatever  you  said  to  him

earlier obviously made him realize that he can
either keep that loyalty to Leo and be miserable, or
he can take the risk of breaking it to potentially be
happy with you.”

My lips were dry, and I ran my tongue over

them a few times. “It didn’t need to take this long.”

“Devil’s advocate,” Reagan started. “You

didn’t tell Leo either. It’s not all on him, no matter
how much easier it is for you to believe.”

I went to respond but couldn’t. She was right.

As easy as it was to blame Ethan for it, I hadn’t
told Leo how I felt. Maybe if I’d outright admitted
it, none of this would have happened.

I sighed, sagging against the bar. “You’re

right.”

“Wow. I didn’t think you’d admit it.”
Halley elbowed her. “Neither of you have

handled it well. He’s played it safe, and you’ve let
your temper get the best of you. Leo wants to talk
to you after work, but Ethan just went home.”

I rubbed my hands down my face. “Okay. I

guess we have to figure it out at some point.”

“Yep. Oh, and your socks are in your closet.”
“Son of a bitch.”

***

“Want a ride home?” I jingled my keys.
Leo grinned. “I was hoping you’d ask. Come

on.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and
hugged me. “We need to talk, huh?”

“So I’ve been told.”
We stepped out into the darkness. I scanned

the parking lot for signs of anyone slumped over,
but thankfully, that woman appeared to have been
an isolated incident.

Thank God.
“I don’t care, you know,” Leo said, stopping

under one of the streetlights. “I’ve known for ages
that you had feelings for him. It was the only
explanation for why you hated him so much.”

I swallowed, looking down at my feet. “It

was easier to fight him than anything else.”

“I know. I just wish you would have been

honest with me, Aves. All this shit could have been
prevented if you’d just told me.”

“I didn’t know what to say,” I said softly.

“He was adamant that you couldn’t know we’d
kissed and that it couldn’t happen again, but…”

“But you kept on coming back to it.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“And tonight it broke down because you

went out with Butler.”

“We had a huge fight last night.” I tucked

hair behind my ear and shrugged. “He stayed at
Noah’s two nights ago, and we kind of made up
yesterday over food.”

Leo’s lips twitched.

“Then he texted me, and we had a huge

argument, and I just gave up,” I admitted sadly. “I
knew it would never happen because of you.”

Leo laughed, shaking his head. “Jesus, you

two are fucking idiots. More than I thought.”

“What do you mean?”
“Ava, I lied. I don’t have a one-bedroom

apartment.”  His  eyes  twinkled.  “I  have  a  two-bed
place.  I  knew  Ethan  had  feelings  for  you.  I  knew
you  needed  a  roommate.  I  deliberately  said  I  only
had  one  bedroom  to  see  if  you’d  finally  get  over
yourselves.”

My jaw dropped. “What the hell?” I shoved

at him. “This is all your fault!”

“Yeah.” He grinned.
“Don’t look so happy about it, asshole!”
He put his hands in his pockets and rocked

on his heels. “I didn’t think I’d be such a big issue.
I figured you at least would tell me what had
happened. Obviously, I underestimated Ethan.”

“All of this could have been avoided. Oh, my

God.” I ran my hand through my hair and unlocked
the car. “I can’t believe this.”

Leo shrugged as he got in. “I didn’t expect

you both to be so stubborn about it. I definitely
didn’t expect you to start a war where you steal
each other’s shit.”

That made two of us.
I put the car in gear and pulled out of the

parking bay, then turned in the direction of his
apartment. “What am I supposed to do now?”

“Go home, Ava. Go back to the apartment

and talk to him. It’s not too late for you two to fix
this. If I wasn’t involved, you’d already be dating.”

“Does he know you basically orchestrated

this?”

“No. Tell him I’m going to the gym in the

morning if he wants to spar with me there, but I’ve
got a date tomorrow night, so no black eyes.” Leo
grinned across the car.

I sighed. “That poor woman.”
He laughed. A few minutes later, I pulled up

alongside the front of his building and put the car
into park.

“Know what you’re gonna say to him?” Leo

asked.

I shook my head. “I have no idea. I’ll figure

it out. I think.”

He leaned over and kissed the side of my

head. “For what it’s worth, I can’t think of anyone
I’d rather see you be with.”

I smiled. “Night, Leo.”
“See you later, Aves.” He got out of the car

and waved, then disappeared inside the building.

I pulled away from the side of the road and

did an illegal U-turn to go back toward the bar.
Nobody was around since it was late, and even if
they were…

Well, we’d all done it.
My mind whirred as I drove. This whole

situation  was  all  kinds  of  fucked  up.  I  was  still
struggling  to  see  how  my  relationship  with  Ethan
had  changed  so  drastically,  and  now  knowing  that
my brother was a part of it…

I was angry.
That was it. I was angry. I was angry that Leo

had tricked us into living together. I was angry that
he knew we had feelings for each other. I was
angry that both of us had made the decision not to
tell Leo. I was angry that it’d caused all this
upheaval.

One

little

misunderstanding.

Miscommunications. My brother thinking he’s a
smartass.

If everyone involved had just been a little

more honest, me included, this would have been a
much smoother ride.

Now, I didn’t know what would happen. The

only good thing to really come out of this was that I
knew where my socks were.

It really was the little things.
I pulled into my parking space and shut off

the engine. It was completely silent now, and I
closed my eyes for a second to savor it.

I had no idea what I would be walking into

when I went upstairs.

I couldn’t get upstairs.

It was now past eleven, which meant the

door was locked, and Ethan had taken my key.

God freaking damn it.
I pulled my phone out of my purse and

texted him.

ME: Are you awake?

Thankfully, he replied quickly.

ETHAN: Yes.

ME: The door is locked. I need you to buzz

me in.

ETHAN: Now?

ME: Like 1 minute.

ETHAN: Ok. I’ll unlock the apartment

door.

ME: Thanks.

I got out of the car, dragging my purse after

me. I locked it and headed for the door which,
thankfully, he had unlocked.

It didn’t take me long to walk up the stairs to

the apartment. He’d kept his word there, too. The

door was unlocked, and I let myself in. My key was
in the door, so after locking it behind me, I took a
moment to reattach it to my keychain.

That was better.
The apartment was empty. A gentle humming

noise, like a muffled TV show, was coming from
Ethan’s room.

He was awake.
In his room.
I hesitated.
We had to talk. There were no two ways

about it, and honestly, I wanted to talk to him. I was
tired of the misunderstandings. I was tired of the
miscommunication.

We owed it to each other and to ourselves to

get this situation all cleared up.

I kicked off my shoes before I padded across

the apartment to his room. Squeezing my eyes shut,
I knocked lightly three times and waited.

“It’s open,” Ethan said after a second.
I pushed it open and poked my head in. He

was lying on his bed, shirtless, wearing nothing but
his boxers, and his laptop was resting on his
nightstand.

“Can we talk?” My voice was soft.
He shut the laptop and nodded. “Want me to

put some clothes on?”

No.
Not really.

“It’s fine. If I feel too dressed up, I’ll just

take my pants off, too.”

“I’d be okay with that.”
I dragged my lower lip between my teeth,

fighting a smile.

He didn’t bother fighting his. He sat up and

patted the bed for me to take a seat. “We have to
talk, so let’s get it over with.”

I perched on the edge of his bed. “You told

Leo.”

“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Good question.” He clicked his tongue on

the  roof  of  his  mouth.  “The  idea  of  you  getting
back  together  with  Butler—even  that  you
considered  it—made  me  realize  I  had  to  take  that
chance. The worst thing that could have happened
was  that  he’d  be  fucking  furious,  and  I’d  promise
not to date you, and it’s not like you and I are in a
good  place  right  now  anyway,  so  it  couldn’t  get
much worse.”

Slowly, I nodded. “I didn’t go out with Butler

to get at you. You know that, right?”

“No,” Ethan admitted. “I thought that’s

exactly what you did.”

“No. He and I didn’t have a great

relationship. It was up and down all the time, and it
was a comfortable thing to do. Go right back to
him.” I looked down at the floor. “I shouldn’t have

done it, even though nothing happened between it.
We just ate, then he left.”

“Everything happens for a reason. If I didn’t

know you’d called him, I might not have ever told
Leo.”

“I know.” I pushed hair behind my ear and

peered over at him. “Did you know that he knew?”

“Knew what?”
“That we had feelings for each other.”
Ethan frowned. “What?”
I told him everything Leo had told me before

I’d dropped him at his house. “So the last few days
were all for nothing.”

“I’m going to the gym tomorrow.” Ethan

snorted. “I didn’t know any of that, but I’m not
surprised. It’s exactly the kind of shit he’d pull
without thinking of the consequences.”

“You don’t need to tell me that.” I rolled my

eyes. “What do we do now?”

“I know.”
“You do?”
He nodded, moving closer to me. Without

another word, Ethan cupped my face and kissed
me. It was gentler than the last one, and I leaned
into it, savoring the sweetness of the moment.

It wasn’t how I’d expected this day to end,

that was for sure.

“That’s not really an answer,” I muttered.
He grinned, his eyes shining. “We figure it

out. Naturally. The way it should be.”

“It’s hardly going to be normal, given that we

already live together.”

“Great. At least nobody has to move if it

works out.”

“And if it doesn’t work out?” I raised my

eyebrows.

“We blame your brother.”
I paused. “Well, everything is already his

fault.”

“Exactly my point. One more thing isn’t

going to hurt.” He sat back. “There is one thing we
do need to discuss. Immediately.”

I paused. “Um, okay. What?”
“Mr. Prickles.” A solemn look crossed

Ethan’s face. “You’re gonna have to make an
effort, or this isn’t going to work.”

That was… not really that surprising.
“We’re friends. I don’t think we’re going to

snuggle to watch Netflix at any point, but I suppose
I can try.”

“Try now.”
“Touch him now?” I glanced at the cage.

“Maybe tomorrow.”

“You’ve had a rough day, but tomorrow,

you’re going to see he’s not all that prickly.”

“Ironic, given he’s covered in spikes.”
He laughed. Slowly, it petered out, but he

didn’t take his eyes off me. Not even when they

narrowed as if he was considering something.

“What?” I said when he didn’t speak. “Why

are you looking at me like that?”

He shook his head gently. “I just wish I’d

grown a pair and told your brother how I felt about
you before, that’s all.”

“To be fair, I didn’t tell him either. We both

share the blame.” I paused. “And you haven’t
really told me how you feel.”

“I’ve told you a lot.” His eyes never left

mine. “You’re the one who insisted it was all
physical until today.”

I shrugged. “I was hardly going to admit to

anything else when you were determined that we
couldn’t date.”

“I wasn’t determined.”
“You were so determined.” I folded my arms

across my chest and gave him The Look. You
know, the one that says shut up, you’re fucking
wrong.

“Come here.”
“What?”
“Come here.”
I looked between us. There was like a foot of

space. “I’m already here. Any closer, and I’ll be on
top of you.”

His smile was wolfish. “What do you think I

was trying to do?”

I pursed my lips. “Goodnight, Ethan. I’m

going to bed.”

“Not yet you’re not.” He moved faster than I

did, grabbing me and pulling me back. I squealed as
I found myself falling back onto the bed with his
almost-naked body covering me.

I didn’t have a chance to protest. He was

between my legs and kissing me before I knew it.
Tingles danced across my skin, and I wrapped my
arms around his neck to kiss him back.

He flicked his tongue against the seam of my

lips, and I parted them, meeting his kiss with the
same ferocity.

Blood pumped through my body, making the

desire burn red hot with every second that passed.
His cock hardened and pressed against my clit. The
thin cotton of my leggings wasn’t really a barrier,
and I moved my legs so they were around his waist.

I was holding onto him like a little limpet, but

his hand was cupping the back of my head and
tangled in my hair.

His skin was hot to the touch, and I ran my

hands over his shoulders, exploring the muscles that
shaped his body. I wanted to keep going, to brush
my fingers over every single one, but it wasn’t to
be.

Ethan kissed me once more, then sat up,

extracting himself from my double grip.

“Uh,” I said, flustered. My cheeks were hot,

and I probably looked like a bit of a mess.

“You can go to bed now.” He grinned smugly,

standing up. “Mr. Prickles doesn’t need a show
before bed.”

I sat up, and my jaw dropped. “Are you

serious?”

“I told you already—you’re not the kind of

girl you have a quick fumble in the sack with.
You’re the marrying kind of girl. I’m not rushing
into anything with you, Ava.”

I got up with a huff and stopped right in front

of him. “Then you’re not getting laid until we get
married. Ha!”

“Wait—it’s not that extreme!”
I paused in my bedroom door. “Have fun

with your problem. I have a solution to mine.”

“To what? Being turned on?”
“Yep. It’s called a vibrator. Enjoy your right

hand.”

“It won’t be the first time it’s fixed that

problem.”

“Are you saying you make it a habit to jerk

off to the thought of me?”

“Habit is an exaggeration. It’s happened a

few times.” He smirked. “And if I hear you using a
vibrator, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

“I will be,” I retorted smartly. “That thing is

hard. I’ll knock you out with it if you interrupt me.”

His nostrils flared. “I change my mind. Come

back in here.”

“Nope. Goodnight.” I spun and stepped into

my room, pushing the lock just in case.

Did I win that?
I feel like I won.
If you ignored the annoying throbbing

between my legs.

Oh, well. I might not be able to use the

vibrator, but that’s what fingers were for.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN – AVA

Back to Basics

“I didn’t hear any buzzing from your room

last night.”

I peered over my shoulder at a still-half

asleep Ethan. “I can’t imagine why you would
have. I don’t keep bees in there.”

“You’re funny. Is there any coffee?”
“In the machine, yes.”
“That was a not-so-subtle way of asking if

you’d make me one.”

I turned, sipping from my own cup. “I didn’t

hear a please. But I am grateful to be reunited with
my socks.”

“You and those fucking socks.” He scrubbed

his hand through his dark-blonde hair. “I’d like my
insoles back this morning, please.”

I stepped to the side so he could get a coffee.

“They’re in my trunk. You can have them.”

“Thank you.” He hit the button on the

machine, and it whirred to life. “So. Are you
working today?”

“Twelve ‘til seven.”
“You wanna get dinner together?”
I raised my eyebrows. “As opposed to me

cooking something and you bringing in pizza?”

“Exactly that.” He grinned, pulling the cup

out from the machine. “We could go out.”

“Like a date?”
“Not like a date. A date.”
“Where there are other people?”
“Don’t tell me that after all this, you’re

ashamed to be seen with me.”

I choked on my coffee. “No,” I squeaked. “I

just—” I stopped when I saw the shit-eating smile
on his face. “Oh, go away.”

He laughed way too hard for so early in the

morning.

“Ugh. Go be a morning person somewhere

else.” I sipped the coffee again. “I have no idea
how this is going to work. I was determined to date
a night owl like me.”

“I can’t be a night owl. I start work at eight.

Why are you awake now, anyway?”

I sighed, sitting on one of the stools. “I woke

up to pee and couldn’t get back to sleep.”

“That’s more information than I was going

for.”

“You asked. I answered.” Another sip.

“Besides, if you think that’s bad, wait until I’m on
my period and run out of tampons. That’s your job
now.”

“My job? To buy tampons?”
“If I’m desperate, I’m desperate. You’re the

new first port of call.”

Ethan gripped the edge of the island. “Can I

take some time to reconsider my options?”

“No.” I put the mug down, meeting his eyes.

“Sorry. You should have thought about that before
you decided you wanted to tell my brother you
stuck your tongue down my throat.”

“You have such a beautiful way with words.

Really poetic.”

“Thank you. I happen to agree.”
“I had a feeling you might.” His eyes

sparkled as he lifted his mug to drink from it.
“Well? Dinner?”

“Do I have to wear pants?”
“One thousand percent not.”
I pretended to think about it. “Do I have to

wear a bra?”

“Ava, you can show up naked if you want.”
“That’s a dinner date I can get on board

with.” I grinned and rested my chin on my hand.
“Am I cooking, or are you going to bring food?”

“Hmm.” He leaned right over the table. “Are

you cooking naked?”

“That’s a hazard. I’d like my nipples to not

get burned off by wayward sauce splashes, thank
you.”

“That would be uncomfortable.”
“No shit.” I rolled my eyes, glancing at my

phone right after. “You know you’re running late,
don’t you?”

Ethan leaned over and pulled my phone

toward him. “Oh, shit!” He drank the coffee really
fast, then put the mug down, flapping his hand in
front of his face.

I watched, amused, as he ran into his room.

There was a clatter that was followed by a loud,
“Fuck!” and it took everything I had not to burst
out laughing. Especially when a second, quieter one
followed it—and a creak of the bed.

“All right in there?” I called in my most

innocent voice.

“Shut up!” he shouted back. “I stubbed my

fucking toe!”

“Wake up earlier, then!” I returned.
“Says the person who hates mornings!”
I laughed into my hands, desperately trying

not to let it escape. If I gave in to it too much, I’d
never stop.

“I’m going.” Ethan swerved to grab his keys.

“I’ll see you later.”

“So I’m cooking, then.”
“I can cook. I’ll get something after work.”

He raised his hand in goodbye at the front door,
stopped, and changed course. He rushed over to me
and grabbed my chin, kissing me firmly, then spun
back and ran out of the apartment, leaving the door
wide open.

Rolling my eyes, I got up and closed it

behind him.

Then I went back to bed.

Mornings were for the birds, and I was not a

bird.

At all.

***

“So you’re going for it?”
I nodded, passing Reagan the string she’d

motioned for. “I think so. After Leo’s interference,
everything makes sense.”

Halley wrinkled her nose up. “I can’t believe

he did that. Did he think that you and Ethan
wouldn’t care that he was your link?”

“I honestly don’t think he thought at all. He

obviously thought he was helping, and I guess he
was because it’s worked out in the end. I just wish
we didn’t have to fight quite so much to get here.”

“That was a little rough,” Reagan agreed.

“Think of it this way, though, it’s not like you were
deliberately trying to hurt each other. It was all
done out of good intentions.”

“Good intentions don’t heal broken hearts,

though.” Halley tapped her fingers against her chin.
“Well, they do, but not if you’re breaking your own
hearts in the process.”

I shrugged a shoulder and picked at the

remaining chips on the counter. “I guess. It’s fixed
now, though. It’s not going to be the same because
we live together, but we’re going to take it slow and

see how it goes.”

“Is it weird to say it might be easier?”
“Yes,” Reagan said.
“No, listen.” Halley waved her hands. “You

already  know  each  other’s  bad  habits.  Like,  holy
shit,  when  Preston  moved  in  with  me,  it  was  hell.
We  argued  for  like  a  week  straight,  and  it  was
because we never had any time apart. Even though
we spent almost every night together, we still had a
place to go before he moved in. After that…” She
shuddered.  “Splitting  chores  was  hell.  He  was
useless at just about everything.”

“Well, Ethan isn’t that bad. He already does

stuff in the apartment.”

“There you go, then. You’re already off to a

better start.” Reagan smirked. “You don’t need to
be worried about anything, Ava. The biggest hurdle
in your relationship was Leo, and he was the
instigator in it all. Now you can just focus on being
two people who are dating.”

“Right, but we didn’t really get along before.

Is that supposed to just flip now? Are we going to
go from not bitching at each other to getting along
perfectly?”

“No,” Halley said honestly. “You won’t. But

that’s just like any relationship. You’re still going to
bicker, and knowing you two, you’re still going to
do that passive-aggressive shit just because you
found it more fun than anything else.”

“But you’ll be okay,” Reagan added, tying

off the bouquet she was working on. “I promise.”

***

I smelled… spaghetti.
My nose twitched as I paused outside the

apartment door. Had Ethan actually cooked? Not
gonna lie, I was expecting him to not do it.

I pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The rich scent of the sauce wrapped itself around
me, and I inhaled deeply.

“Hey.” Ethan was stood over a huge pot of

sauce, shirtless, and grinning at me.

“Hey. You actually cooked.” I put down my

purse and kicked my shoes into the corner. “I
didn’t think you would.”

“Ah. I’m not a chef like you, but my

grandma taught me to make spaghetti when I was
younger. She told me that if I can cook a good
spaghetti, I’ll make a woman very happy one day.”
He winked at me and used a teaspoon to taste test
it.

“I do like spaghetti.” I smiled. “I need to

change really quick. I’ll be right back.”

I went into my room and changed into my

home uniform of a tank top and underwear. I could
wear pants, but something told me it would be
useless.

It was, after all, just one more item of

clothing Ethan would have to take off me.

That’s right. My shift today had been quiet,

and I’d been able to think everything over. Too
many times, one might say, but whatever.

If Ethan and I were going to go for this and

make it work, we were going to go for it. We didn’t
need to get to know each other because we already
knew one another. We’d known each other for as
long as I could remember, essentially my entire life,
and maybe it was just me, but I didn’t feel like
going slow.

Emotionally, I’d been in this relationship for

a while now.

I snorted at myself. I was ridiculous.
I changed my underwear before I went back

out, shirking the comfortable cotton panties for
some that were a little lacier and a whole lot sexier.

I even took off my bra, too.
Hey. It’d worked last time.
I pulled my hair into a bun on top of my head

and cleaned my glasses, then went back to the
kitchen. I hadn’t noticed before, but Ethan was
wearing gray sweatpants.

It looked like I wasn’t the only one who’d

dressed for the occasion.

“You sit down and—” He stopped when he

saw me. “That’s unfair.”

I looked pointedly at his sweats. “Says the

guy in gray sweats.”

“All right. It looks like dinner is a battle of

wills.”

I grinned, sitting at the island. “So, how was

your day?”

“Long. Dirty. Full of handiwork.” He picked

up a glass of water.

“Exactly what I’m hoping this evening will

be, then.”

He choked on his water, almost dropping the

glass to the floor. “Jesus. I wasn’t expecting to hear
you say that.”

I caught my tongue between my teeth and

smiled playfully, propping my chin up on my hand.
“I’m full of surprises.”

“Are you now?” He peered over at me. “Can

you do magic, though?”

“I dunno. Does turning you on in two

seconds count as magic?”

“It’s an impressive feat, but no.” He dug his

hand into his pocket and pulled out a shiny silver
square. “Voila.”

“It’d be more interesting if you’d pulled it

out from behind my ear.”

“I can’t do that. I don’t know how to.” He

shrugged, tossing the condom on the island near
me. “Also, it wasn’t that corny in my head.”

Wrinkling my face, I nodded. “It was pretty

corny.”

“Worth a shot.” He shrugged, sending a small

half-smile my way. “I guess my bad, corny lines are
going to be as normal as you sending me to the
store for lady bits.”

“Damn. I know I said you couldn’t rethink

this, but can I?”

“No. No refunds. Sorry. You can’t just send a

dick back because you don’t like the mouth that
comes with it, Ava.”

I dropped my forehead to the counter and

laughed, my entire body shaking. “Where the hell
do you think these things up?”

“Same place you think up the shit that comes

out of your mouth, honey.”

I sat back up, still laughing my ass off. “You

talk out your ass, Hawkins.”

“From you, that’s quite the compliment. I

don’t think you’ve spoken out of anything but your
ass for at least five years.” He grabbed the handle
of the saucepan that had the spaghetti in. “Why are
you laughing like that?”

“Because,” I sputtered, holding up my hand

so I could get ahold of myself. “I wondered earlier
if everything would change now. I’m so used to
bitching at you.”

“Are you glad that we just bitched at each

other?” Ethan’s eyebrows shot up, and he looked at
me over his shoulder as he drained the spaghetti.

“Yeah. It means not everything has

changed.”

“Change isn’t a bad thing.”
“I know that, but I don’t want it to change

too much. I kinda like bitching at you. It’s
comfortable. A bit like the fact your insoles are still
in my trunk.”

Ethan paused. “Huh. Shit. So they are.”
I smiled. “See? It’s fun.”
He returned my smile and got to mixing the

spaghetti with the sauce. Two minutes later, he put
the plate in front of me with a flourish. “Dinner is
served.”

“It looks great.”
“Reserve judgment until you’ve tasted it.

There’s every chance I messed it up.” He laughed
and sat on the other stool with his own plate.

I twisted the fork in the spaghetti and took

my first bite of Ethan’s cooking. I groaned as flavor
exploded in my mouth, a rich mixture of basil and
garlic, and oh, my God, all the things!

“Please don’t do that,” Ethan muttered.
I choked, clapping my hand over my mouth.

“Sorry,” I whispered, taking the water he offered
me. My bad.

“Thank you.” He side-eyed me and got back

to eating, and I did the same.

Without moaning.
It was delicious, and we ate without talking.

It was simultaneously comfortable and awkward,

but if this was a new normal, it wouldn’t be the
worst.

In fact, it would be pretty damn good.
I finished first. Ethan cleared his plate

quickly after I did, and he took both of our empty
plates over to the sink.

“Netflix and chill?” he asked, wriggling his

eyebrows.

I bit the inside of my cheek. “We’re not

going to fight over the remote again, are we?”

“Yes. Because if you fall on top of me again,

you’re staying there.” His eyes flashed with heat,
and my cheeks flushed at what he was saying.

Okay, then.
I sat on the sofa, tucking my feet beneath my

butt. I was there first, so I was the one who had
control of the remote. “Muahahaha,” I cackled,
turning on the TV before Ethan had even sat down.

He made an annoyed noise and sat down

next to me. “What are we watching?”

“I don’t know.” I paused as Netflix loaded.

“Why don’t you pick?”

“Hand over the remote, then.”
“As if. I’m not falling for that.”
“Why? Because you don’t want to be on top

of me?”

“I can climb on top of you if I want. But no,

I’m not falling for it because I’m not going to get
roped into watching some shit TV and not be able

to change it. At least this way I’m in control of the
shows.”

“Fuck. Okay. Fine. Did you finish that royal

show you were—” Ethan grabbed me and yanked
me over the sofa.

Screaming, I fell on top of him. Not at all

elegantly or sexily.

Nope. Like a big pile of bricks clattering to

the ground.

“Ethan.”
“That didn’t work, did it?”
“No.” I sat back up, pausing only to retrieve

the remote from the floor. I knelt next to Ethan,
focused on the TV screen. I flicked through a few
shows, but nothing jumped out at me.

So I did the smart thing.
I jumped Ethan instead.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN –

AVA

A Dick A Day Keeps Stress Away

I moved, swinging my leg over his thighs so I

was straddling him. He laughed, almost as if he was
expecting me to do it.

I grinned, circling his neck with my arms.

“It’s the sweatpants.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” He ran his hands up

my thighs, sliding them over the curve of my ass.
He pulled my hips against him so that my pussy was
pressed against his cock that was already getting
hard. “It’s the panties, for what it’s worth.”

I leaned down, bringing my nose close to his.

“I know. That’s why I put them on.”

Ethan slid his hand up my back until his

fingers brushed the nape of my neck. He moved his
arm so his fingers curled around my neck, and he
pulled my lips against his.

It was a slow kiss, one that I felt all through

my  body.  My  toes  curled  in  the  best  way,  and  I
slipped  my  fingers  into  his  hair.  The  pounding  of
my  heart  was  insane,  and  I  gasped  when  Ethan’s
grip on my hip tightened.

His fingertips dug into my skin, sending

shoots of pleasure through me.

I rocked my hips against him, pushing myself

right against his hard cock. I wanted him, and if he
was going to blow me off like he did last night, I
was going to kill him.

End of.
His body was solid beneath my touch, and I

explored his shoulders and stomach with my hands.
He was doing the same, running his hands up and
down my thighs, beneath my shirt, cupping my ass.
Every touch sent fire sparking across my skin, and I
just wanted more.

More touching.
More feeling.
More of whatever this consuming, addictive

sensation was.

Ethan slid both his hands up my sides, pulling

shirt up. The fabric rolled up over my breasts, and
we broke the kiss long enough for it to go over my
head and onto the floor.

His movements were swift. First, his hands

cupped my breasts, then his mouth lowered to my
nipple, his tongue toying with it. I gasped, moving
my hips, desperate to feel more from him.

He explored me, this time with his mouth. He

went from nipple to nipple, across my collarbones,
my neck—kisses dotted along my skin, all
desperate, needy, forceful touches.

I responded by gripping his arms tightly, by

offering myself to him entirely.

But it wasn’t enough. Somehow, it just

wasn’t enough.

More, more, more.
I adjusted myself so my mouth found his. I

kissed him greedily, like I was drowning, and he
was the oxygen I craved.

He groaned into my mouth, and it was so

good I could barely breathe. Together, we moved,
switching places. He kissed me one more time, a
long, deep kiss that had my thighs clenching.

He pulled away, chuckling. He knew because

he was between them. He was exactly where I
wanted, but he was wearing two items of clothing
too many.

Ethan stood up and took a few steps toward

the island. He grabbed the condom from the
counter, shooting me a quick grin. I bit the inside of
my cheek. I couldn’t focus on anything other than
his slick movements.

He pulled down his sweats, revealing his hard

cock. No underwear. I shouldn’t have been
surprised because it was the kind of shit he’d pull,
but I was too focused on his long, thick shaft to say
anything.

“My eyes are up here, Ava,” he muttered in a

husky voice.

My cheeks flushed, but I doubt he noticed. I

was hot from head to toe, so my cheeks were
already perpetually blushing tonight.

He tore open the condom packet and reached

down, rolling it over the thick head of his cock. I
squirmed on the sofa—there was something so
inexplicably sexy watching him roll it onto himself.

He approached me just as quickly as he’d

left, and he slipped between my legs without saying
a word. He took my mouth in a hungry, desperate
kiss that had his tongue battling against mine. His
fingers probed my skin, eliciting a shiver that I felt
all over my body.

Jesus.
I didn’t want this to stop.
Ethan guided me onto my back on the sofa.

Our bodies came together easily, like they were
meant to move together. We were perfectly in tune,
and he fit between my legs like he’d been there a
thousand times.

He broke the kiss only to move back. He

hooked his fingers in the waistband of my panties
and tugged, sliding them down my legs until I was
completely bare in front of him.

Bare. Exposed. Needy.
That summed me up in that exact second.
I yanked him back to me, sending our mouths

crashing  together.  I  nipped  his  bottom  lip  by
accident,  but  he  groaned,  shoving  one  hand  under
my  ass.  He  used  it  to  lift  my  hips  and  sat  back,
looking down between us.

His cock twitched, but he didn’t rush.

No, he was painfully, frustratingly slow.
He moved his hand down the inside of my

thigh, his thumb coming dangerously close to my
clit.

No, not dangerously close.
It was on my clit.
He moved it through the slick wetness of my

pussy until I gasped, then with a wicked smile on
his face, he found my clit once more.

One, two, three times, he rubbed it, circling

the tender bundle of nerves and playing it like a
piano. Expertly, he teased me until my legs
clenched and my back arched.

He watched the entire time. A greedy, needy

look in his eyes, one that made the orgasm hit even
harder when it came.

I bucked against his hand, begging for more

when I wasn’t sure I could take it.

He gave it, though. He gave it until I dropped

my hips, exhausted, and panting from the pleasure
he’d just given me.

He chuckled, then lifted his thumb to his

mouth. He sucked it, tasting me, before he leaned
down and kissed me.

The taste of me lingered on his tongue.
He dragged my lower lip between his teeth.

He reached down and rubbed his cock against my
wetness before finding the sweet spot where I’d
take him.

I did so easily.
He slipped right inside me, my muscles

constricting around his hard cock. He rocked inside
of me. My entire body tensed when he covered my
body with his, tilting my hips to take him deeper.

Sweet baby Jesus.
I gasped, but he swallowed it with one kiss.

His groan went the same way my gasp did,
swallowed by the kiss we shared.

“Fuck,” he murmured against my lips. “You

feel good.”

“Stop talking, then,” I breathed, tilting my

head back and exposing my neck to him.

He pressed firm kisses to my neck and

moved his hips against me. His cock slid in and out
of me, each thrust a dangerous summoning of the
orgasm I knew was going to take me again.

My nails dug into his shoulders. It was like an

anchor  for  me  as  he  fucked  me  and  threatened  to
send  me  soaring.  His  body  inside  of  mine  was
everything  I  wanted,  everything  I  needed,
everything I craved in that second.

It was like he was made for me.
Our synchronicity was terrifying, but it was

hard to focus on that when you were being fucked
to kingdom come.

Which was, actually, what I was about to do.
Come.
His name left my lips in a high-pitched cry as

the  pleasure  reached  a  crescendo  inside  me.  The
orgasm  was  a  blurring  mess  that  made  my  back
arch and my body tighten. The hairs on my arms all
stood on end, and I dug my nails so far into Ethan’s
shoulders  that  there  was  every  chance  I  broke  the
skin.

His release was a low yet tight rumble of my

name that skated across my consciousness as I
fought to come back to reality. He sagged on top of
me, his body hot and heavy, both of us totally spent
from the whole thing.

“Jesus,” he breathed into my ear after a

moment  of  us  both  panting  heavily  into  each
other’s  shoulder.  His  lip  brushed  across  my  neck,
but  it  was  the  heat  of  his  exhale  that  sent  yet
another shiver down my spine. “Why didn’t we do
that sooner?”

I laughed, wrapping my arms around him in a

proper hug. “Because you made excuses, then
kicked me out last night. That’s not on me.”

“Shit. I knew I should have gone against all

my principles and fucked you sooner.”

I patted his shoulder, rolling my head to the

side. My gaze landed on a very, very unexpected
voyeur. “Ethan?”

“Mm?” He kissed my shoulder again and

again.

“Remember how you kicked me out last

night because you didn’t want to corrupt Mr.

Prickles?”

“Ava, my dick is still inside you. Are we

going to have this conversation now?”

“We corrupted your hedgehog.”
He pulled back, meeting my eyes. “What?”
I pointed toward the spiky pig who was

watching us from my shoe. What was the obsession
with my shoes? “He escaped. He’s corrupted.”

Ethan contorted his body so he could see

where I was pointing. “Goddamn it, he’s like
fucking Houdini. You wouldn’t believe the number
of times I’ve found him running amok in my
bedroom when you weren’t here.”

“I’m sorry, what?”
“Nothing.” He dropped back down and

kissed  me  again,  another  one  of  those  long,
lingering  kisses  that  sent  my  entire  body  into
overdrive.  “He’s  already  corrupted.  Let’s  do  it
again.”

EPILOGUE - ETHAN

Always and… Hedgehogs

One Year Later

“I don’t know how this happened.” Ava

stood with her hands on her hips, staring at the
cage.

“Well,” I said, peering into it over her

shoulder. “I’m going to say it’s because we put a
mommy and daddy hedgehog together and didn’t
give them any condoms.”

She shoved her elbow into my gut, and I

hissed out a breath.

To be fair, I deserved that.
“Babies. Eight of them. Ethan, I’m not even

sure I like Mr. Prickles.”

“You’re so full of shit. You’ve been all over

Barbie since we rescued her.”

“You rescued her,” she corrected me. “And

Barbie is a stupid name for a hedgehog.”

“All names are stupid for hedgehogs.

Literally none of them make sense.” I slung my arm
over her shoulder. “I feel like a proud dad.”

“Why? Did you make them?”
“It’s validating to see Mr. Prickles as a

father. I raised him well.”

She raised one eyebrow as she looked at me.

“He’s a randy hedgehog who watched us have sex
one too many times. Get over yourself.”

I loved it when she kept my ego in check.

“Still, that’s a lot of kids.”

“You’re not getting any ideas, are you?”
“Why? Don’t you want eight kids? I was

hoping for eleven.”

“Eleven?”
“To have my own soccer team.”
Ava stepped away from me and pressed one

finger against my chest. “Okay, no. Unless science
discovers how to put a uterus in your colon and
make you birth a child out of your ass, it’s not
happening. One is bad enough.”

I slid one hand down her body and pressed it

against her still-flat stomach. When she’d screamed
at me six weeks ago that her period was late and
that she was going to fucking murder me if I’d
gotten her knocked up, I’d genuinely feared for my
life.

Since I was still here six weeks later and had

indeed knocked her up by accident, I was feeling a
little better about my safety.

“All right, so it wasn’t planned.” I cupped

her cheek. “But you’re not mad at me. Not really.”

If looks could kill… Maybe I shouldn’t be

too cocky about my safety.

“You didn’t spend two hours alternating

between throwing up and peeing this morning,” she

shot back. “One time, I threw up into my pee,
Ethan. This isn’t glamorous.”

“Well, at least I missed that at work.”
“Ugh!” She smacked me and walked out into

the kitchen.

Boxes littered the apartment. Some stacks

were five high, and others were only one or two,
but it was a little like a maze trying to get around.

Ava reached out to move one and got tape

stuck to her hand. She flailed with it for a moment
before I darted to her rescue and freed her from her
sticky prison.

Probably something I should have done a

few weeks ago, to be honest…

“How many more days?” she asked, pulling

apple juice from the fridge. “How many days until I
no longer have to fear death by cardboard box?”

“Three.” I kept my distance on the other side

of the island. “Three days.”

“I suppose I can handle that.” She scanned

the room as the front door opened. “Unless I throw
up on them all.”

“Ugh, are you still throwing up everywhere?”

Leo strolled in and took one look at her and
stepped back. “Man, being pregnant gives you one
hell of a stomach bug, huh?”

Ava blinked. “How did you—”
“You’ve been throwing up for three or four

weeks. That’s one persistent bug.” Leo smacked me

on the shoulder. “I can’t decide if I want a niece or
nephew. I think fun Uncle Leo is fucked either way
with you two as their parents.”

I smiled over at Ava. She was looking

anything other than happy, but that was her
hormones. She was only happy if I came back with
pizza.

Ironically, she now couldn’t stand pepperoni.
It was like all my Christmases had come at

once.

I wasn’t telling her that, though.
She sighed, sitting on a stool. “Oh, I’m too

tired to argue with you. Eight baby hedgehogs and
one human one are too exhausting for words.”

“Barbie gave birth, then.” Leo opened the

Doritos and stuck his hand in. “Stupid name for a
hedgehog.”

“Thank you,” Ava muttered. “I don’t even

like them, and now I have ten.”

“It could be worse. You could be Halley,” I

offered.

“Is she throwing up into her hair every day?”

she shot back.

“Unless she’s part of your experiment,” Leo

started, “No. But she does have Boris Jr. living on a
cat tower in her utility room, remember?”

Ah. Of course. Boris had, once again,

knocked up Betty, and earlier this year, one of the
babies had almost died. Halley had taken the runt

of the litter in and nursed him through until he was
healthy enough to go back to Betty, but he’d
refused.

Then he’d humped Preston’s shoe.
Thus the name Boris Jr. It now refused to live

outside and had his very own cat tower, where he
fought for dominance with the actual cat they’d
adopted a few months ago.

They were thisclose to opening their own

Facebook profile.

I kind of wanted them to.
“Mmph.” Ava snatched the chips away from

her brother. “Get the fuck off my Doritos.”

Leo shot me a look.
I nodded, eyes wide. “Listen to her, man.

They’re stashed everywhere.”

She froze. “Actually, no. I ate them all. I

need more.”

“Weren’t you throwing up two hours ago?”
“Weren’t you just telling me how much you

love me, and you’re going to get me Doritos
whenever I want since this is your fault?”

“Technically,

you’re

fifty

percent

responsible.”

“Technically, Leo is the one who made us

live together, and we agreed that everything that
happened was his fault.”

She wasn’t wrong there.
Leo motioned toward the door. “Yeah. I, er,

I’ve got a date, so…”

Ava grinned, orange Dorito coating her lips.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Love you, sis.” Leo blew an awkward kiss

in her direction, and she responded by shoving her
middle finger in his direction. He laughed and left
as quickly as he’d arrived.

I waited for a second before I said, “So… I

should get you more Doritos now.”

She looked up at me, her bright eyes shining

wide, and shook her head.

“Candy? Chocolate? Ice-cream? Pickles?” I

paused. “Don’t pregnant people like pickles dipped
in random shit?”

Her bottom lip stuck out. “Can I have a

cuddle?”

My heart squeezed tightly. I didn’t even

answer her. I just crossed the room and wrapped
my arms around her, pulling her into me.

“I’ll cuddle you for however long you want,

whenever you want. Even if your hair smells a bit
like vomit and you’re covered in Dorito dust.” I
kissed the top of her head.

She shook silently.
“Are you crying?”
“No.” She was laughing. She was fucking

laughing. “This is just…weird. Don’t you think?”

“The fact you threw up in your hair and

didn’t shower? More gross than weird.”

“Oh, my God. You dick.”
“My dick got us into this situation, sunshine.

It ain’t getting us out of it.”

She squeezed my waist hard. “No. Like,

everything.  We  just  bought  a  house  and  we’re
having  a  baby.  Reagan  and  Halley  are  both
engaged,  and  Halley’s  getting  married  in  three
weeks.”

“Reagan is eloping if you believe what she

says.”

“Only because Bethel keeps crashing

Halley’s fittings, and she’s shitting herself.” She
paused. “I’m going to be too fat for a bridesmaid
dress soon.”

“Okay, listen to me.” I pulled back and

leaned  down,  framing  her  face  with  my  hands.
“Reagan  and  Noah  are  getting  married  in  eighteen
months.  The  baby  will  be  here,  and  you  will  be
beautiful.  You  will  be  beautiful  every  single  day
between  now  and  then,  you  hear  me?  Even  when
you’re  nine  months  pregnant  or  you  think  you’re
horrible or your hair has someone else’s vomit in it
instead  of  your  own,  I  will  not  think  you  are
anything less than absolutely beautiful.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Keep talking. I

like that.”

I smiled, perching on the stool next to her so

I was on her level. “I love you, Ava. I’ve loved you
for so long, and I will love you in another twenty

years. Okay? And in twenty years, when we have a
soccer team and fifty hedgehogs living in the corner
of our garage, I’ll love you even more than I do
right now. All right?”

“All right,” she sobbed. “I’ll hold you to

that.”

I laughed, pulling her into my body once

more. “You’re so silly.”

“I know.” She sniffed, wiping her nose on my

shirt and leaving a trail of boogers there.

“Thanks.”
“Get used to it,” she muttered. “It’ll be a trail

of urine before you know it.”

“Not yours, I hope.”
“Cannot guarantee it.” She wiped at her

cheeks. “I love you, Ethan.”

“I know you do, sunshine.” I kissed her

temple.

“Good. Now please buy me some fucking

Doritos.”

COMING SOON

FRENEMIES, a wildly hilarious SINGLE

DAD romcom! Coming January 21

and

available for pre-order on all retailers now!!

There are some things you just have to deal

with.

Like your hot as hell college booty call

moving in next door with his adorable daughter.

The only time we’ve ever gotten along is

under the sheets. Old habits die hard because two
minutes on my front porch is how long it takes us to
bicker.

Not that a little fact like that bothers my

healthy,

eighty-year-old

grandmother

and

roommate who’s determined to see me married
before she bites the dust

Unfortunately for me, she’s got her eye set

on Cameron Black.

She’s barking up the wrong tree. He’s not

The One, no matter how much I swoon when I see

him with his daughter. I have no intentions of
rekindling anything with him—until a rubber spider
in my mailbox starts off the mother of all
neighborhood prank wars, just like the ones we had
in college, and throws me right into his path.

One that leads right to his bedroom…

VISIT

www.emmahart.net/frenemies

order!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emma Hart is the New York Times and USA

TODAY bestselling author of over thirty novels and
has been translated into several different languages.

She is a mother, wife, lover of wine, Pink

Goddess, and valiant rescuer of wild baby
hedgehogs.

Emma prides herself on her realistic, snarky

smut, with comebacks that would make a PMS-ing
teenage girl proud.

Yes, really. She's that sarcastic.

You can find her online at:
www.emmahart.org
www.facebook.com/emmahartbooks
www.instagram.com/EmmaHartAuthor
www.pinterest.com/authoremmahart

Alternatively, you can join her reader group at

http://bit.ly/EmmaHartsHartbreakers.

You can also get all things Emma to your

email inbox by signing up for Emma Alerts*.
www.emmahart.net/newsletter

BOOKS BY EMMA HART

Standalones:

Being Brooke

Catching Carly

Casanova

Mixed Up

Miss Fix-It

Miss Mechanic

The Upside to Being Single

The Hook-Up Experiment

The Dating Experiment

Four Day Fling

Best Served Cold

Tequila Tequila

Catastrophe Queen

The Roommate Agreement

The Accidental Girlfriend

Kiss Me Not

The Vegas Nights series:

Sin

Lust

Stripped series:

Stripped Bare

Stripped Down

The Burke Brothers:

Dirty Secret

Dirty Past
Dirty Lies

Dirty Tricks

Dirty Little Rendezvous

The Holly Woods Files:

Twisted Bond

Tangled Bond

Tethered Bond

Tied Bond

Twirled Bond

Burning Bond

Twined Bond

Tricky Bond

By His Game series:

Blindsided

Sidelined

Intercepted

Call series:

Late Call

Final Call

His Call

Wild series:

Wild Attraction

Wild Temptation

Wild Addiction

Wild: The Complete Series

The Game series:

The Love Game

Playing for Keeps

The Right Moves

Worth the Risk

Memories series:

Never Forget

Always Remember

Document Outline