Page 23 of Only Fate

Ava points toward me when Margo hands her the food. I give them a thumbs-up.

“I told Margo to charge the sandwich to you,” Ava says, stopping by my booth on the way toward the exit.

“Wait,” I call out.

She spins around to face me while narrowing her eyes. The poor girl is doing her best to hate me for her best friend.

“Forgot this.” I snatch the folded paper I prepared for Essie from the table and hold it up.

“Thanks,” she mutters, returning my way to take the paper.

I jerk it back, most likely looking like a straight asshole. “Has Essie been dating thishot datefor long?”

Something inside me tells me the date excuse is straight bullshit.

According to my Essie social media stalking, there’s no mention of a boyfriend. She was also guy-free at the pub. If she is dating someone and they didn’t show up to celebrate her firm opening, she should dump his ass just for that.

“Oh, it’srealllserious,” Ava says with a smirk. “In fact, I’m already picking out my bridesmaid dress. Pretty soon, their wedding will be all this town talks about. You should probably leave so you don’t have to see it.”

Some people are good at lying.

Ava is not on that list.

I snatch a fry and point it at her. “Maybe I’ll stay so I can crash the wedding. Give this small town some excitement.”

She smirks. “I’ll make sure we have extra security on her big day then.”

“ I’d better make sure I’m the groom.”

“You sure are cocky.” She steals a fry from my plate.

“Nah, not cocky. Determined.”

She snatches another fry and walks away without another word.

If Essie thought I’d simply hand over my email address, she was so wrong. She should know me better than that.

I lean back in my booth, deciding that I need to take this Blue Beech thing a step further. It’s time for me to look for a place to live here.

9

“Okay, I think this man is a psychopath, like the Riddler fromGotham,” Ava says, walking into my cottage, kicking off her sneakers, and handing me a takeout bag from Shirley’s.

“How do you know aboutGotham?” I ask.

“Your brother was obsessed with that show. But I must admit, the Riddler was always my fave. There was just something about him.” She dramatically sighs and fans her face. “Team Villain over here.” She holds up a folded paper. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist reading this. Hate me for it later.”

“Of courseyou couldn’t,” I say, faking annoyance. “I take it there’s more on there than a simple email?”

“Oh, his email is there, but I highly doubtgive me another chance Essie at groveling man dot comis a legit email.”

I snatch the paper, holding it in my mouth, and untie the takeout bag, moving into the living room. I drag the food containers out of the bag and unfold the paper while collapsing on the couch.

Ava follows my lead.

Two glasses of red wine sit on the coffee table. After she left to meet with Adrian, I poured them for us while waiting for herreturn. That was after she called me a chickenshit for not meeting with him myself.

Next to the wine is a bowl of popcorn.

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