Page 32 of Along Came Amor
Ava huffed out a laugh, which had been his goal. But then her mouth pinched tight, and her gaze cut away before she answered in a subdued tone.
“It was fine.”
He propped himself up on his elbow to get a better look at her face. “Did something happen?”
Her chest rose and fell as she let out a long sigh. “You could say that.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She fingered her “Ava” necklace—the only thing she wore—and didn’t meet his eyes. “I, um, I saw my ex today.”
“Oh.” Roman’s brows rose and he suddenly understood, although he wished he didn’t. “Where?”
“I was getting coffee before I caught the train to work,” she said. “I usually make it at home, but I wanted to splurge, you know? Get a fancier drink. Before I could even take a sip, I turned around and there he was, standing right between me and the door.”
Roman’s heart broke for her. “Did he see you?”
She gave a hollow laugh. “Oh yeah. He was already staring right at me, so I know he recognized me from behind.”
Roman’s mouth tightened. So the asshole had seen her, and then hadn’t said anythingorleft, knowing that she’d turn around and spot him. Probably also knowing how it would affect her and letting it happen anyway. What a dick.
But Roman didn’t want to make this about him, so he kept those thoughts to himself and only asked, “Did he say anything?”
Her lips twisted bitterly. “Yeah.” She dropped her voice to mimic her ex’s tone. “‘Hi Ava.’ That was it.”
“And what did you say?”
She shrugged. “I just said, ‘Hi Hector,’ and left. Then I threw my drink out.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t throw it at him.”
Her lips curved slightly, but she looked sad. “I’d never make a scene like that.”
Roman had the feeling there was more she’d wanted to say to the guy, but she wouldn’t do that in public, either. He hesitated, not sure how she’d respond to comforting, but it wasn’t in his nature to hold back when someone was hurting. He reached out and twined his fingers with hers. She gave him a squeeze and didn’t let go, which he took as a good sign.
“It really threw me off,” she admitted after a moment. “I accidentally handed out the wrong quiz and only realized it when three kids started crying because the questions were about material we haven’t covered yet.”
“I’m sure they were very relieved to hear it was a mistake.”
“They were, but I felt terrible for stressing them out. I let them rip the quizzes up and toss the pieces in the air like confetti, which they loved, but it meant I had to sweep the room during lunch. At the end of the day, one of my students even asked if I was okay. I said I was, but... I wasn’t okay. I’mnotokay. All because I saw stupid Hector at Starbucks.”
The brittle tone of her voice snapped something in Roman and he stopped worrying about comforting her too much. He pulled her into his arms and tucked her head against his chest. To his immense relief, she slipped an arm around his waist and cuddled closer.
“It’s ridiculous,” she muttered. “It’s going on two years, and most of the time, I don’t even think about him. But running into him unexpectedly... it was like all the old pain and grief came flooding back.”
Roman didn’t know exactly what had gone down with Ava and her ex-husband, and it didn’t seem like his place to ask, buthe wanted to make her feel better. “He can’t do anything to you anymore.”
She sighed, her breath fanning along his pecs. “Except for reminding me how I tried so hard to do everything right and I still failed.”
“Trying isn’t failing. You only fail when you don’t try.”
“Whatever you say, Master Yoda.”
Before he could commit fully to theStar Warsreference, her phone rang. Ava twisted in his grip to reach for it, but when she glanced at the screen, her face fell.
“Do you need to take that?” he asked.
She gave him a miserable look. “It’s my ex–mother-in-law, Gloria. Hector must have told her he saw me.”
