Page 16 of Ivory's Ruin Romance

“—Mom!” Ivory groaned.

Her mom laughed in response and carried the plate of cookies into the kitchen. “These look great, honey, but you shouldn’t be filling up on this stuff before dinner. You know how bad carbs are without eating real food first.”

Ivory pouted, remembering to fix her expression before she got caught. Arguing would only make things worse. Maybe carbs weren’t the best, but she was pretty sure they had to be consumed to have any kind of effect.

“Amy says to tell you hi, by the way,” her mom added, rummaging around in the kitchen.

Ivory stiffened.

“Um, that’s good to hear,” she lied.

Amy, meaning the person she once thought would become her mother-in-law. Not that she’d defended the relationship when her ex told her a long distance wouldn’t work. Going to Harvard was a big deal, after all.

Too big of a deal for her to get in the way. Too big of a deal for him to send a “how are you” text, and if she were being honest, that was just fine. Hearing from him now would only feel like rubbing salt in the wound. At least Jace had been cold from the beginning, like a therapeutic wake-up slap.

Maybe she’d had more practice at forgetting than she thought.

Looking down, she picked up her phone and forced herself to believe the words she sent in reply.

That’s okay.

Nia and Caspian’s party had nothing to do with Adrian. He’d probably forgotten her by now, anyway. She wanted to be there for her friends, and if this would show them someone cared, then nothing else mattered. Sucking up a bit of wounded, school-girl pride for a silly one-sided crush would be worth it.

Are you sure? We could have a girl’s night instead.

Movie nights had always been their favorite pastime—neither she nor Nia could naturally hold a conversation for long—and it’d be nice to share that dynamic again, despite not living two doors apart. But did that mean Caspian would end up being kicked out of his own apartment? Ivory frowned. None of those options sounded like what she’d envisioned.

And then, there was something else. She must be more of a masochist than she thought—because she wanted to see Adrian again.

Even if he didn’t want her.

Even if he felt absolutely nothing from their night together.

Even if she had to work to forget him all over again because, despite his demeanor, he’d never been cold. He’d been honest. Real—even when it hurt. Something she couldn’t help but want to experience again.

No, it’s fine. We’re all adults, and I want to celebrate with both of you together. I’ll bake a special cake if you let me borrow your oven ;)

She allowed herself a moment of excitement. Friends, cake, and her black knight? Finally, something to look forward to.

Okay. I’ll talk to Caspian about it.

Ivory clutched a pillow to her chest. Next semester might not start off so bad, after all. And she knew exactly which movie to watch tonight—one where the lead rode a motorcycle.

EIGHT

The soft tones of a chime rang through the salon as the customer walked out, and the glass door swung closed. On the other side, small white flakes drifted lazily down to the pavement, dusting the empty parking lot in pale monotone. At least the roads were still dry enough to ride on, and he wouldn’t have a problem getting home.

“Was that your last one?” his boss, Vera, asked. They’d been the only workers today. Not many people ventured out in the cold unless they already had an appointment.

“Yep, think so.” He refocused on sweeping up the scraps of hair from around his station.

Faint background music dispersed the silence as Vera clicked through the computer at the reception desk. Her natural silver hair fell around her heart-shaped face, bangs swept to the side.

“Been a slow day, not the best for business, I suppose, but I’m not complaining.”

Neither was he, with a fixed paycheck. A slow day also meant he might get to leave before the evening traffic and squeeze in some dinner before Caspian’s engagement party. Turns out all that pining had done his friend some good, after all.

“I meant to ask before we got busy,” Adrian said as he took out an alcohol wipe to sterilize his sheers. “Why didn’t you take today off? You’d have every right to.”

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