Page 1 of Yes, Love

One

Ava

The tentative knock at my front door startled me, and I dropped my phone, letting it clatter against my marble desktop. That couldn’t be Jeanie, my publicist. She would have already barged in and started barking orders at me. It had to be Sienna. She was the only one in my life that would knock on my door like that.

It wasn’t always this way.

I pushed my pathetic hurt away and stood to answer the door. Sienna and I had both made our choices, some horribly wrong, but we were working on restoring what we’d lost. I pulled open my front door to find my ex-bestie chewing on her bottom lip and staring at me with anxious eyes. God damn it, she was stunning. I felt a flash of jealousy but pushed it down. No jealousy. We’d promised.

“Hey, girlie!” I gave her a bright smile and stepped back. “Come in!” We had a weekly lunch date on Tuesdays at 12:30. Sienna was early.

“Hi, Aves. Ava.” Sienna let out a breath that pushed her shiny, chestnut tresses out of her hazel eyes. I didn’t miss the fact that she corrected herself after calling me by my high school nickname. We weren’t there yet. I wished we were. “I know I’m early,” she continued. “I texted, but I guess you didn’t get it. Evan needs extra hands at the bar this afternoon, so I need to get back by 2 at the latest.”

Evan. Her husband. My ex-boyfriend. I’d just attended their wedding reception two months ago. I smiled and pretended it didn’t still sting to see the two people that I’d loved more than anything building their beautiful lives sans me.

I didn’t belong in the middle of their perfect day. I was the villain in their precious little love story — the manipulative bulldozing bitch that stood in the way of their happiness for years.

“Sorry.” I headed toward my office to get my phone, Sienna following close behind. “I didn’t see the text. I was busy replying to hundreds of comments and messages because Jeanie says my engagement is way down.” I rolled my eyes. Why did fans have to be so fickle? Why did they have to unfollow and abandon me for having a chill week of not responding to comments? Sometimes my fame exhausted the shit out of me.

I grabbed my phone and slid it into the pocket of my black jumpsuit. I turned to smile at Sienna. “My phone was going off like crazy, so I haven’t even looked at my texts yet. We can go now, though.”

Sienna raised a single eyebrow at me. “Don’t you dare give me the Ava Mills Official smile.”

I rolled my eyes and mimed unscrewing my beauty blogger smile.

Sienna’s darling, melodic laugh filled my entryway, and a real smile slid onto my lips. Fuck. I missed my best friend. She grounded me like no one else. “Shall we?” I gestured toward my front door.

“Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” Sienna winked at me before sliding her sunglasses on and heading for my porch.

“God, you’re a dork.” I laughed and followed her to her car. She insisted on taking turns driving and paying, even though I made tons more money than she and Evan did at their bar. I laughed and refused at first, but Sienna grew herself a serious backbone in our time apart. She won.

After a quick drive, we were seated at a cute little seafood bar overlooking Lake Washington. I glanced around the busy restaurant and braced myself for fans to approach. Jeanie taught me how to spot the ones that were about to fangirl and ask for a picture. She also told me, “Always smile graciously and say, ‘Of course!’” No one in the vicinity was eyeing me. It looked like I was in the clear.

I turned to Sienna and accidentally flashed her my fake smile. “So, how did you hear about this restaurant?”

Sienna ignored the faux smile and replied, “Uh, Charlie and her boyfriend always pick up fish and chips from this place and bring it back for family dinners. They literally serve the best cod I’ve ever had.”

Ha. Family dinners. Like, I knew Sienna was a Cox now. I went to her damn wedding. But it was still jarring to hear her say it. I used to go to Cox family dinners. I used to think that I was going to be a Cox. It wasn’t like I was still in love with Evan or anything. I’d tasted much sweeter fruits since high school. It was just weird to hear Sienna talk like this.

My perfect smile didn’t slip from my face, and I asked, “Is Charlie still dating that delicious older guy?”

Sienna laughed. “Burke? Yeah. Did you meet him at the wedding?”

I nodded. “Good god, I could lick that man from head to toe.” I pretended to wipe drool from my chin.

Sienna laughed again. “Charlie will hardcore mess up your face if you ever say that in front of her.”

I shrugged. “Charlie never liked me anyway.” Evan’s little sister hardly tolerated me when I was dating her brother. She adored Sienna, though. Everyone loved Sienna. Shit. Jealousy again.

Sienna did not attempt to dance around my feelings and pretend that anyone in Evan’s family actually liked me. Instead, she changed the subject. “How are your parents?”

“They’re good.” I took a sip from the glass of water in front of me. “Disappointed in all of my life choices, but good.”

“What do you mean?” Sienna furrowed her brow in confusion.

I let out a dry laugh. “Si, you know they’re still mortally wounded by the fact that I never finished college.” I didn’t mention that they were worried the spotlight was too much for me. They still saw me as a fragile little fourteen-year-old girl. I couldn’t blame them for that. I’d scarred them for life.

“Yeah, but you make way more money now than you would have going to college and being average. Nothing about you has ever been average, Aves.”

---