As far as giving fucks went, I was a fan of not giving any at all.
Big, big fan.
Something clattered against the doorframe, and I jerked my head up. Ethan was carrying a small animal carrier, and my eyes narrowed at the sight of it.
“What is that?” I asked, eyeing it as he brought it into the kitchen.
“It’s an animal carrier,” he said, eyes flashing with laughter.
“I can see that. What’s in the animal carrier, genius?”
“That will be Mr. Prickles.”
“And who, or what, the fuck is Mr. Prickles?”
He set the small carrier on the kitchen island. “He’ll be a hedgehog.”
My eyebrows shot up so far I think they went into orbit. “A hedgehog? You have a hedgehog?”
He had a fucking hedgehog?
I peered into the carrier. A small ball of blonde needles was attached to a little body, and when it unrolled, a little dark, pointed head stuck out. Black beady eyes blinked at me, and fuzzy little ears twitched.
He had a fucking hedgehog.
I glared up at him. “Did you think to mention the fucking hedgehog?”
“Leo said he told you.”
“Leo didn’t tell me a damn thing. It’s not like I asked, either. I never expected you to show up with a fucking hedgehog.”
“You can just call it a hedgehog, Ava.”
“I’m gonna call you something in a minute!” I put my mug down a little too hard, sloshing coffee over the granite countertop. “You should have told me you had a pet!”
Ethan shrugged. “I checked the lease and called the landlord. He said it was okay.”
He was also a balding sixty-something man who hated me because I’d refused to date his son, so he probably would have said yes even if it wasn’t allowed.
“I don’t care. It’s not unreasonable to be pissed off that nobody thought to tell me at the very least.” I folded my arms and focused my best glare on Ethan. “It’s rude and inconsiderate. I didn’t have to let you take my spare room. I did it out of the kindness of my heart—”
“Oh? So you have some kindness in there? You hide it well.”
“—and I am not afraid to come into your bedroom and break your nose while you sleep,” I finished.
“Oh, Jesus,” Leo muttered, dropping a box by the coffee table. “Are you still fighting?”
“You can shut up! You’re on my shit list!” I pointed at him and stormed around the island. “A hedgehog, Leo!”
“Ah.” My brother almost stumbled over the box as he backed up. “I didn’t know he was definitely bringing it. I thought he’d take it to his mom’s.”
“And why didn’t you?” I rounded on Ethan, hands on my hips.
He shrugged, completely unbothered by my rage. “She refused to take it.”
“So if I refuse? Is that fair game?”
“No. This is my apartment, too.”
“No, it’s not!” My voice reached a pitch only dogs could hear. “This is not your apartment. You’re renting my spare room for a few months until you pack up and piss off again.”
His lips tugged to one side. “Actually, I don’t know if I’m leaving yet.”
“Why?” Leo muttered, rubbing his hands down his face. “Why today?”
I jerked my head between them both. “I’m sorry? Did I just hear you right?”
“I don’t know what you heard,” Ethan said. “But if you heard me say that I don’t know if I’m leaving yet, you heard right.”
I opened my mouth to yell at him, but the anger and shock that fizzed through my body were too strong. I said nothing, so I clamped my jaw shut and ground my teeth together.
My hands waved, and it was all I could do to stop myself from reaching out and slapping Ethan for this. My brother, too, for that matter. I didn’t know what kind of shit Ethan was pulling, but first the hedgehog, and now this?
No.
I was pissed, and I had to leave.
I stormed past them both into my bedroom and quickly changed out of my pajamas into jeans and a tank top. I grabbed a hair tie instead of brushing my hair, along with a sweater, my keys, my phone, and my wallet. I stuffed everything into my pockets, then headed back out while I swept my hair into a topknot.
Ignoring them both completely, I walked right out of the front door and slammed it behind me. It echoed through the empty hallway, and I looked up and down it before I headed for the stairs.
I had made a terrible mistake.
***
I was going to take out an ad in the Creek Falls Herald newspaper. It would be for The Wright Bouquet, and it was going to say, “Great for flowers! Shit for sympathy, unless someone is dead.”
Yep. Coming to Reagan was not the best idea. Then again, I was at the tail end of a whole bunch of bad ideas, so one more didn’t seem that much in the grand scheme of things.
“Did you specifically tell him no pets?” she asked, cutting a rose stem.
“No, but—”
“Did you tell him he could only stay for three months?”
“No, but—”
“There you go, then.” She put down her cutters and looked at me, eyebrows raised. “You didn’t lay out your terms. He’s using the terms of the tenancy agreement, which he has every right to do.”
I frowned at her. “Whose side are you on?”
“I’m on the side of the law, Ava.” She carefully trimmed another rose stem and laid it with the rest of the bouquet she was putting together. “Your tenancy agreement says something, and he’s using that against you.”
“I knew I should have gone to see Halley. She would have at least pretended to be sympathetic.”
“Why didn’t you then?”
“You’re closer to my apartment now.”
Reagan snorted. “Look. You said he could move in. We all knew this was a bad idea, and you did it without talking to us first. You can be mad at him for not being entirely truthful at you, but you can’t be mad at him if you didn’t explicitly state it either way.”
“I didn’t know he had a hedgehog when I said yes.”
“How did he get a hedgehog? Why does he have one?”
I sighed and rested my chin on my hand. “I have no idea. I didn’t ask. I stormed out, instead.”
She glanced at my hair. “I guessed.”
I stuck my middle finger up at her. “They blindsided me. Leo knew about it all and didn’t give me a heads up. It’s one thing to live with Ethan for a few months, but longer? I can’t do it, Reagan. Can’t you move in with Noah so I can have your apartment?”
She barked out a laugh and wrapped the bouquet in the plastic. “Uh, no. We’re not there yet. I don’t think Halley and Preston were totally there, but they did it for me.”
“Really?”
With a nod, she tied off the bouquet and said, “Preston’s stayed with me a couple of times. They’re both used to their own space, and it’s taking some adjusting. I offered him the apartment back because I don’t want to be the reason they have issues, but they’re both happy. They’re not majorly fighting or anything, so…” She shrugged and handed me the bouquet. “In the one by the window.”