Page 28 of Endlessly Yours
I frowned as I stared at my friend. “Of course I am. But the girls are more important.”
“They are important, but so are you. You need to take care of yourself.” And she gave a pointed look towards the men on the field, and I glared at her.
“Taking care of myself does not mean letting one of them help me with it.”
“Well, since most of them are married, I don’t think it’s just one of them.”
“Ava.”
“What about Callum? He’s been giving you looks. And I saw the way that you two hit it off last time he was here.”
I turned and looked at Callum Ashford, the man that I had indeed clicked with quite well when he had first come to visit his new niece over a year ago.
However, it hadn’t been that type of clicking. Instead, he had just been easy to talk to. Maybe there could have been a spark, but my heart had been going in a different direction, even though I had yelled at it for doing so. And from the way that Callum pointedly didn’t talk about a certain someone in his life, I had a feeling so did his.
Yet, every time he looked at me, he winked or brushed my hair from my face or gently ran his finger down my upper arm.
However, I knew he was just screwing with Brooks.
But why?
“I don’t have time to think about men. Or anything like that. And I am grieving, Ava. My sister’s gone, and I hate it. But I have to focus on the girls. Who I’ve abandoned today so they can hang out with people who aren’t me. And because everybody thought I could use a break.” I ran my hands over my face. “I have no idea what I’m doing with my nieces. Every single day I feel like I’m learning something new and just trying not to fail.”
Ava reached out and gripped my hand. “You’re not failing. You’re in a situation that doesn’t have any answers. You are so strong, my friend. And I hate the fact that you’re going through this. But you’re not alone. We’re all here. You know that, right?”
Tears pricked my eyes, and I swallowed hard, leaning over to rest my head on Ava’s shoulder. “I know. And I know I could never imagine what my life would be without you. Thanks for everything.”
“Now, drink this other glass of water, and go stare at some half-naked men. Because we don’t need to be melancholy right now. We could be melancholy later and in perpetuality.”
My lips twitched, but I knew she was right. It was time to focus on the quiet moments because nothing truly felt quiet or sane anymore.
I quickly drank another sip of my water before standing up with the others and cheering on the game in front of me.
While it was technically flag football, some of the guys slammed into each other for fun.
I did my best to keep my gaze off of Brooks, however, because the more I stared at him, the more I was afraid others would notice.
Because nothing good could come from me wanting Brooks.
He clearly didn’t want me, and I didn’t have time to want him.
And that was the same thing, right?
Or, at least, close enough.
Callum came over after a moment and lifted his chin at me. “Hey. Having fun?”
I looked down and studied him, my gaze traveling over his very nice set of abs and the way that he looked like he could have been molded from clay or something much harder, but yet, there was no zing. It wasn’t like it was with Brooks. And that was a problem.
“I’m just glad you guys aren’t hurting each other. Though, you do look a little hot.” He raised a brow at that, and I rolled my eyes before handing him a water. “Go have fun out there. Don’t break anything.”
“No promises, baby girl,” he called out, and my cheeks blushed as a few people I didn’t know wolf-whistled at that.
“Baby girl?” Ava mouthed.
“Shush,” I whispered.
“I have so many questions right now,” Aurora whispered as she came to my other side. “Like, when did that start?”
