Page 153 of Only Fate

Most of ours cut straight to River.

He winces, his face flushing, and I can tell he’s replaying Ava’s words in his head.

“We’re so happy for her,” Lauren, Ava’s mom, says.

Gage, Lauren’s dad, nods in agreement.

Though I can tell he also has mixed feelings about it.

“What?” River asks, setting his beer on the table. “Surely, you’re not going to take it?”

Ava looks away, running her finger along the rim of her cup. “It’s a huge opportunity. I’ll be working under a really great mentor.”

“But this is your home,” he says, the hurt clear in his voice.

Ava steps closer to him. “I’ll still come home on the weekends and stuff.” She does a once-over of the brewery. “You all know I’ll never fully move away from here.”

“Yeah, but …” River is quiet for a moment, searching for the right words.

He finds them—I can tell.

He just doesn’t want to say them in front of other people.

“No.” He shakes his head.

“Well, that’s a very insightful response,” Ava says.

“You know what I mean,” River argues. “You can’t leave us.”

Man, I feel bad for the guy.

“He means you can’t leavehim,” Mia points out.

Ava steps closer to him. “You travel for work all the time.”

River downs the rest of his beer before answering, “Yes, but I always come home. This isour home.”

Ava starts walking to him but suddenly halts, as if she just now realizes they have an audience. “Nothing is official yet,” she tells the room. “I told them I’d give them an answer when I decide.”

River looks like he’s been told the worst news of his life.

He needs to get his head out of his ass, stop wasting time, and admit he wants to be more than friends with benefits.

“How about another round?” Jax asks, breaking the tension. “We have a new beer we’ve been working on. You guys want to be my testers?”

“Hell yeah,” Ava says, her excitement somewhat fake.

River rubs the back of his neck.

Just as Jax starts passing out beers, Foster comes up behind me.

“Happy birthday, bro,” he says, slapping me on the back.

“Thanks.” As I move in my stool, I see a blonde woman standing next to him.

“Oh my God, Sydney!” Callie yells, jumping off her stool and rushing toward us. “I didn’t know you were back in town.” She hugs Sydney tight and says something about how much she’s missed her into her shoulder.

“In case you didn’t hear, this is Sydney,” Foster says to me, my abuela, and mother. It seems everyone else knows her.

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