Page 155 of Heartache Duet

“Aww.” I pout up at Connor and rub his arm. “I’m going to go.”

“All right.”

I lean up, kiss his cheek. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” he says, but he’s looking at his dad. I make it to his door before I hear Connor say through a chuckle, “Dad. What’s wrong?”

“I’m just so proud of you, son. You earned this. You did this.”

CONNOR

Dad spends the rest of the evening on the phone to whoever will listen to him go on and on about me getting in to Duke. To say that he’s proud is an understatement, and to say that I’m happy to make him feel that way would be the same.

We sit down and have a celebratory feast together, his phone continually buzzing while mine sits stagnant. Besides Ava, I haven’t told a soul, and I think I’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible. With playoffs coming up, I want to keep my focus on the team that’s helped me get noticed.

Dad’s phone sounds, and he answers on the first ring. “He did it!” he almost shouts. “He got into Duke!”…“I know, I’m ecstatic!”…“All on his own!”

I smile at his exuberance, but the fact is, he’s wrong. There was no way I could have done any of it without his support or without his final push to do it all for the girl next door.

I pick up my phone.

Connor: Hey, can I come by later?

Ava: Of course! You okay?

Connor: Yeah, I just need to tell you something.

Ava: Should I be scared?

Connor: No, just text me when you’re free.

Ava: Ok

It’s close to ten by the time Ava messages me.

Ava: I can sit out on my porch now?

Connor: I’ll be there in five.

“Hey there, Duke Blue Devil,” Ava sings as I walk up her driveway.

“Damn, that sounds good,” I laugh out. She’s sitting on her porch, a blanket around her, with her hands wrapped around a mug. “Look at you all bundled up.”

“It’s cold,” she says, sliding over a tad so I can sit next to her. She reaches under the bench and reveals another mug, handing it to me. “Hot chocolate?”

I take it from her, blowing at the rising steam. “Thank you.”

“Marshmallows?” she asks, digging in under the blanket to get a bag of marshmallows.

Holding the mug out between us, I say through a laugh, “Jesus, what else have you got under there?”

She drops a few marshmallows in and says, “I have one more thing, but it’s a surprise.”

“Is it a naked surprise?”

“Connor!” she squeals, knocking my side with hers.

The hot chocolate spills over the lip of the mug, burning my hand. “Shit!”

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