Reagan snorted. “I’m not going. I saved her the last time. It’s Preston’s turn.”
Halley sighed, already dialing on her phone as she left. “I knew I shouldn’t have come back after college.”
I laughed, and so did Reagan. She’d hated not being in South Carolina and had complained about it the entire time she was studying for her degree. There wasn’t a chance in hell it was going to happen, so she could run that line all she liked, but no.
“So, you’re really gonna talk to Ethan, then?” Reagan asked.
“Talk to Ethan about what?” Leo appeared from behind me.
I jumped out of my skin. “How long have you been there?”
“Just walked in with a few guys from work. Why?” He took Halley’s recently vacated seat and motioned to some guys by the door. “What are you talking to him about?”
“Her socks,” Reagan said without missing a beat.
“Your socks?” Leo raised an eyebrow. “Why your socks?”
“He stole them. You know we’re fighting. I just—it’s a long story. I have to start my shift. Reagan can explain.” I got up. “Is he coming in here tonight?”
Leo shook his head. “Said he’d see us tomorrow. You piss him off that much?”
“He knows I’m here until close. He’s probably going to mess up my Netflix some more,” I said dryly, getting up. “I have no idea what he’s doing, but as long as the hedgehog isn’t in my room, I don’t care.”
“You and that fucking hedgehog.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
* * *
ETHAN
Guys Don’t Kiss And Tell
I waited in my car for a good two minutes before I was ready to get out.
There was no way I was ready for this conversation. I had absolutely no fucking idea what I was supposed to say to Ava. Having all this time between yesterday morning and now where we hadn’t seen each other at all should have given me some perspective.
Nope. All it’d given me was another morning hard-on, another too-long shower, and now the urge to move to Cuba so I didn’t accidentally give in to my dick and do it all again.
I didn’t know what to tell her. I had nothing to tell her, despite being the one who said we needed to talk.
We did.
Fuck, we needed to talk.
But it was so much easier to say that than to actually do the talking. She was my best friend’s little sister—how the fuck was I supposed to explain myself? How could I explain my actions?
I couldn’t tell her that I’d wanted to do that for years. That the desire to kiss her had only increased since I’d moved into the apartment. That we couldn’t tell anyone because Leo was going to kill me.
That I had no idea why I’d finally given in and kissed her.
She’d want answers. I knew that. Ava would demand to know why the hell I’d kissed her, and I couldn’t give her a reason.
I knew moving in with her was a bad idea. That was the problem with being a bit of a nomad—I never knew how long I’d be in one place. Luckily, being a mechanic meant my skills were always in demand, and I was able to move around cities.
I hadn’t signed a lease in Creek Falls like Leo. He planned to stay for a year and figure out his life, but I hadn’t wanted to commit to that.
I’d planned on staying for a few months until after the new year, then I’d make a choice. I was only stuck in this apartment for six months if Ava decided to leave, and she wasn’t going to do that.
I rubbed my hand down my face. The way I felt about her was complicating everything. It made me want to stay, but on the other hand, it made me want to pack my shit and leave.
The truth was that Ava Parker fucking terrified me.
I wanted her as badly as she annoyed me. I couldn’t decide if the way I was feeling was an itch I needed to scratch, or if it was a precursor to something more. Kissing her had been damn stupid, but she’d taunted me with a fire in her eyes.
It was a fire I’d wanted to taste.
I still wanted to taste it. I wanted to wind her up again so she’d yell at me. When she yelled, her eyes shone, and her cheeks flushed with pink.
There was something weirdly sexy about it.
Mostly because I knew I deserved the yelling. Stealing one sock out of every pair was probably the pettiest thing I could do to her, but maybe it was only hot when she was mad because I found it so fucking funny.
Yeah. That was probably it.
Either way, we had to fix something. The smartest thing to do would be to end this little war we had going on. It was bringing us closer together, and after yesterday, getting too close would take us over the line.
To a place we’d never be able to come back from.
I dragged myself out of the car. The lights flashed when I hit the fob to lock it, and I forced myself up the flights of stairs to the apartment. The elevator was busted, and I made a note to call the landlord and get it fixed.
Stairs were for the birds.
I reached our apartment and let myself in. Ava was sitting cross-legged on the sofa with her hair in what I was now realizing was her at-home hairstyle. A.K.A, styled by Halley’s raccoons and tied up on top of her head by someone with no fingers.
She looked over from the TV and dug her hand into the bowl she had rested on her lap. “Hey. Did you get lost coming up the stairs?”
“Why?”
“I opened the window ten minutes ago and saw you pull in.”
Shit. “I got a phone call,” I lied. “Did you get lunch?”
She shoved popcorn in her mouth and pointed in the direction of the kitchen.
“Thanks.” I shut the door behind me and went to get it. I didn’t know what she’d grabbed me, but I didn’t care, because I was so damn hungry I’d eat just about anything right now.
I unwrapped the sandwich. It was a BLT, and I wolfed it down quickly. With my stomach full but still twisting with the conversation that was to come, I grabbed a water from the fridge and joined her on the sofa.
“What are you watching?” I asked, sitting down.
“Some documentary on the British Royal Family,” she answered, her hand back in the popcorn bowl. “But you don’t care about that.”
“If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have asked.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “But you’re not entirely wrong. I don’t have long.”
“Because you wasted half this time sitting in your car, pretending to be on the phone?”
“Wow. Call me out, why don’t you?”
“I did.” She grinned and put the bowl on the coffee table. She wiped her fingers on her yoga pants, and I had to admit that I was glad to see she was wearing a bra.
That was the last thing I needed—to be distracted by her.
“Fine.” I turned, my lips tugging to one side.
Ava adjusted her glasses, briefly pulling them off to clean them even though they didn’t look dirty at all.
She was stalling, just like I’d been in the car.
“You kissed me.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement, and it was a true one at that.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I kissed you.”