Page 10 of Yes, Love

I laughed and shook my head, hitting her with my American accent again. “Yeah, dude. Maybe. But, whatevs.”

Ava covered her face with both hands and mumbled through her fingers. “I will never say ‘whatevs’ again. That is so cringy.”

“No, it’s cute.” Where the hell did that come from? An hour ago on the pier, I’d considered silencing her constant whingeing with a light shove into the lake. Now all of a sudden, she was cute?

But she was being cute. She was acting like a normal fairy instead of an evil one. And the storm had washed away enough of her makeup that I could see a light dusting of freckles on her tiny, slightly upturned nose.

Ava lowered her hands and gave me a thoughtful look. “I think we got off on the wrong foot, Dominic. I feel like we can get through this thing and at least be friends.”

I nodded slowly. “I think you’re right. I was a bit of a prick when we met.”

Ava raised a single eyebrow. “And at the party.”

I rolled my eyes, a smile forcing its way onto my face. “And maybe a bit on this date.”

“Yup.” Ava folded her arms, giving me a look that seemed torn between a smile and a glare. Then she cleared her throat. “And you know, maybe I was a brat.”

I pinched my thumb and pointer finger together. “Just a bit, Ava.”

“Okay, truce?” Ava held out her slender hand.

“Right.” I shook her hand as my phone dinged with a notification. I almost dropped my phone when I saw who’d just sent me a text.

Lucy.

“Is everything okay? You look like you just got some big news.” Ava watched me and sipped her coffee.

“Uh, it’s Lucy.” I opened the message and let the disappointment settle in my chest. She looks so lush. I’m happy for you, mate!

“Ah, is she jealous?”

I shoved my phone back into my pocket, not meeting Ava’s gaze. “She’s happy for me.” And she’d just called me mate. That was like a knife to the heart. I’d not heard a word from Lucy for three months, and when I finally did, she called me her mate.

Ava pursed her lips and nodded. “Hey, I’m sorry I brought her up earlier. I didn’t mean anything by it, or maybe I didn’t understand how raw this still is for you. But look at it this way; when you truly love someone, you want their happiness, so this is probably a good thing for you.”

“You don’t have to look out for my feelings. She’s over it.” I downed the rest of my tea and stood suddenly. “You finished?” The pain of my heartbreak was resurfacing at a rapid rate, and I needed to get out of there.

“Sure.” Ava’s voice was soft. “Look, it sucks when the person you love doesn’t choose you. Trust me. I get it.”

“Right.” What did Ava know about not being chosen? As she’d so aptly pointed out at our staged meet-cute, she could walk into a room and have any guy she wanted.

As we stepped back out into the rain, I tugged my jacket off and handed it to Ava. She gave me her real, brilliant smile and slid into it, right as a couple of teenaged girls caught sight of her. “Ava Mills! OH MY GOD! Can we get a picture?”

And then Ava’s real smile was gone. She donned her mask and transformed back into the woman I saw in all of her videos. I was curious about the Ava behind the mask, but it seemed like too much effort to peel it back.

I had my own shit to deal with.

Six

Ava

Sienna wanted me to meet her at the bar for our weekly lunch date. Ugh. There was a good reason I’d never stopped by ‘69 before. It was awkward enough seeing Evan at the wedding. Now I was walking into his bar, and he was obviously there because his Camaro was parked out front.

I glanced at the car as I passed it in the lot and remembered the last time I’d seen it. It was the night Evan dumped me.

He’d pulled up my driveway, and I’d excitedly rushed out to see the car he’d finished restoring with his dad. But when he shut off the engine and climbed out, there was something wrong with his face. His usually laughing blue eyes looked cold and dead.

I still remembered the way it felt when he told me it was over and drove away in his sexy new car — like he’d reached into my chest, ripped out my heart, and then run over it.

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