Page 16 of The Comeback

She blinks at me innocently. “Claro. But why can’t y’all hang out together?”

“We can. We’re adults.”

She starts walking again but talks to me over her shoulder. “Then why are you taking a Let’s Ride to avoid the family room?”

“Gab. They’re going to be forever, and I’m not in love with the guy we’d be waiting for.”

“Ahhh, yeah. Of course. I thought you were going to do dinner with me and Colby.” She widens her eyes and tilts her head innocently.

It’s so hard not to react. Yeah, we talked about doing dinner after the game. Probably just takeout at Colby’s place because he’ll be exhausted. But Gabriella is so setting me up for something. “Oh yeah. We did.” My tone is chill.

We’ve just made it to the top of our section, and she turns to me. “Ava, it was so long ago, and if things are fine with you guys, what’s wrong with the possibility that he’ll come do dinner with us? The only reason you left back then was worry that your relationship would jeopardize his future career. That’s not a thing anymore, so what is so wrong with seeing what happens?”

“Ha!” I point a finger at her. “I knew it.”

“You’re not answering me.” And it drives me nuts because, although I should’ve won this round with her, she’s the one with her hand on her hip, not admitting anything and waiting for me to explain why me hanging out with Jett is a bad idea. Why I’m resisting Gabriella’s attempts to match us back up. Because on the surface, she’s exactly right. Jett was talking about quitting football so he could get a job to pay our bills. He’d even talked about both of us going back to Houston to finish school so things would be easier to afford. I couldn’t let him do that. I left to save him from himself.

But running out on the guy you’re going to marry? That leaves a lot of baggage to sort through.

“Jett still has feelings about us,” I say evenly. “And not the good kind. I don’t want to be on some kind of weird double date.”

Gabriella has arguments. I can practically see them rolling through her brain, but she takes a deep breath and nods shortly. “Okay, fine. If it’s okay with Colby, how about we invite other people and then it’s not just the four of us?”

I hold back a groan. That’s not where I wanted her to go with this.

She’s already pulling me along to the family room, and the plan is set before I’ve even put up a real argument.

It’s fine. It’s totally fine. If Jett criticizes the wedding again, I’ll just calmly ask him to take his concerns to Colby and Gabriella. They’ll set him straight about being the ones to ask me to do this, and I won’t have to worry about his criticisms getting back to Rutledge.

Finding a way to be friends is far more complicated than I thought it would be.

CHAPTER 9

JETT

By the time Coach has given us a few quick comments and I’ve showered and cleaned up and head to the family room to meet Jenna, Devin, and my dad, the game has been over for thirty minutes. When I walk in, my dad, Devin, and Jenna are talking to Gabriella and Ava. The expressions on Ava’s and Jenna’s face say that they’ve picked up right where they were before Ava broke up with me. I’m not sure how to feel about it. My ideal way of handling this would be to avoid Ava as much as possible to lessen any possible drama or distractions that might come up. But she’s closer to Gabriella than I realized, and there may be no way around spending time with her.

When I saw her next to Gabriella at the beginning of the game, I worried it would affect my game. But I played an even better game than last week. Was I showing off? Look how over you I am. I’m playing better than ever.

Colby comes out behind me, and Gabriella moves to him, Ava stepping away with her, although she stays at a polite distance while Gabriella and Colby hug and kiss.

“Great game, little bro,” Devin says, giving me a high-five and then a pat on the back.

“Great job getting the ball out quick to the edges. You really let your receivers run today.” Dad hugs me, stepping back with a proud smile that he’s worn at the end of every game for the last three years. It doesn’t get old, and it always makes me grin back.

“Thanks, guys.” I let the tension that’s been building since I saw Ava in the room ebb a little more and give my full attention to my family. Well, I try. As we talk, Jenna darts glances between me and Ava, her expression guilty, like she was caught talking to the enemy. Now I’m the one feeling guilty. Jenna’s friendship with Ava shouldn’t be forbidden just because Ava and I broke up years ago. It’s been so long, and I’ve got to be an adult about the whole thing. I walk with my family to the door, and once we’re far enough away, Jenna leans into me.

“Have you guys talked?” she asks, her voice hushed.

“Yeah…” I shrug.

She frowns. “Like really talked? Settled the past?”

I sigh. “It was a long time ago. I don’t think we need to rehash it.” But her words remind me of Miss Maggie’s insistence that I deal with the hurt and anger.

“The way you were glaring at her earlier says you need to do something.”

“I wasn’t glaring,” I insist. I’m tired. She must just be misinterpreting my expressions.

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