Thank God.
“I don’t care, you know,” Leo said, stopping under one of the streetlights. “I’ve known for ages that you had feelings for him. It was the only explanation for why you hated him so much.”
I swallowed, looking down at my feet. “It was easier to fight him than anything else.”
“I know. I just wish you would have been honest with me, Aves. All this shit could have been prevented if you’d just told me.”
“I didn’t know what to say,” I said softly. “He was adamant that you couldn’t know we’d kissed and that it couldn’t happen again, but…”
“But you kept on coming back to it.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“And tonight it broke down because you went out with Butler.”
“We had a huge fight last night.” I tucked hair behind my ear and shrugged. “He stayed at Noah’s two nights ago, and we kind of made up yesterday over food.”
Leo’s lips twitched.
“Then he texted me, and we had a huge argument, and I just gave up,” I admitted sadly. “I knew it would never happen because of you.”
Leo laughed, shaking his head. “Jesus, you two are fucking idiots. More than I thought.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ava, I lied. I don’t have a one-bedroom apartment.” His eyes twinkled. “I have a two-bedroom place. I knew Ethan had feelings for you. I knew you needed a roommate. I deliberately said I only had one bedroom to see if you’d finally get over yourselves.”
My jaw dropped. “What the hell?” I shoved at him. “This is all your fault!”
“Yeah.” He grinned.
“Don’t look so happy about it, asshole!”
He put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels. “I didn’t think I’d be such a big issue. I figured you at least would tell me what had happened. Obviously, I underestimated Ethan.”
“All of this could have been avoided. Oh, my God.” I ran my hand through my hair and unlocked the car. “I can’t believe this.”
Leo shrugged as he got in. “I didn’t expect you both to be so stubborn about it. I definitely didn’t expect you to start a war where you steal each other’s shit.”
That made two of us.
I put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking bay, then turned in the direction of his apartment. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“Go home, Ava. Go back to the apartment and talk to him. It’s not too late for you two to fix this. If I wasn’t involved, you’d already be dating.”
“Does he know you basically orchestrated this?”
“No. Tell him I’m going to the gym in the morning if he wants to spar with me there, but I’ve got a date tomorrow night, so no black eyes.” Leo grinned across the car.
I sighed. “That poor woman.”
He laughed. A few minutes later, I pulled up alongside the front of his building and put the car into park.
“Know what you’re gonna say to him?” Leo asked.
I shook my head. “I have no idea. I’ll figure it out. I think.”
He leaned over and kissed the side of my head. “For what it’s worth, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather see you be with.”
I smiled. “’Night, Leo.”
“See you later, Aves.” He got out of the car and waved, then disappeared inside the building.
I pulled away from the side of the road and did an illegal U-turn to go back toward the bar. Nobody was around since it was late, and even if they were…
Well, we’d all done it.
My mind whirred as I drove. This whole situation was all kinds of fucked up. I was still struggling to see how my relationship with Ethan had changed so drastically and now knowing that my brother was a part of it…
I was angry.
That was it. I was angry. I was angry that Leo had tricked us into living together. I was angry that he knew we had feelings for each other. I was angry that both of us had made the decision not to tell Leo. I was angry that it’d caused all this upheaval.
One little misunderstanding. Miscommunications. My brother thinking he’s a smartass.
If everyone involved had just been a little more honest, me included, this would have been a much smoother ride.
Now, I didn’t know what would happen. The only good thing to really come out of this was that I knew where my socks were.
It really was the little things.
I pulled into my parking space and shut off the engine. It was completely silent now, and I closed my eyes for a second to savor it.
I had no idea what I would be walking into when I went upstairs.
I couldn’t get upstairs.
It was now past eleven, which meant the door was locked, and Ethan had taken my key.
God freaking damn it.
I pulled my phone out of my purse and texted him.
ME: Are you awake?
Thankfully, he replied quickly.
ETHAN: Yes.
ME: The door is locked. I need you to buzz me in.
ETHAN: Now?
ME: Like 1 minute.
ETHAN: Ok. I’ll unlock the apartment door.
ME: Thanks.
I got out of the car, dragging my purse after me. I locked it and headed for the door which, thankfully, he had unlocked.
It didn’t take me long to walk up the stairs to the apartment. He’d kept his word there, too. The door was unlocked, and I let myself in. My key was in the door, so after locking it behind me, I took a moment to reattach it to my keychain.
That was better.
The apartment was empty. A gentle humming noise, like a muffled TV show, was coming from Ethan’s room.
He was awake.
In his room.
I hesitated.
We had to talk. There were no two ways about it, and honestly, I wanted to talk to him. I was tired of the misunderstandings. I was tired of the miscommunication.
We owed it to each other and to ourselves to get this situation all cleared up.
I kicked off my shoes before I padded across the apartment to his room. Squeezing my eyes shut, I knocked lightly three times and waited.
“It’s open,” Ethan said after a second.
I pushed it open and poked my head in. He was lying on his bed, shirtless, wearing nothing but his boxers, and his laptop was resting on his nightstand.
“Can we talk?” My voice was soft.
He shut the laptop and nodded. “Want me to put some clothes on?”
No.
Not really.
“It’s fine. If I feel too dressed up, I’ll just take my pants off, too.”
“I’d be okay with that.”
I dragged my lower lip between my teeth, fighting a smile.
He didn’t bother fighting his. He sat up and patted the bed for me to take a seat. “We have to talk, so let’s get it over with.”
I perched on the edge of his bed. “You told Leo.”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Good question.” He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. “The idea of you getting back together with Butler—even that you considered it—made me realize I had to take that chance. The worst thing that could have happened was that he’d be fucking furious, and I’d promise not to date you, and it’s not like you and I are in a good place right now anyway, so it couldn’t get much worse.”