Page 76 of Falling for Autumn Again

“One—I brought a peace offering.” I hold up the Coke and pizza.

“Ew,” she says. “Pineapple does not belong on a pizza, Ezra. You know that.”

“Of course it does,” Phillip says from my phone. See?Honest opinion. I knew he wouldn’t let me down.

Autumn’s eyes bounce from me to the phone in my right hand. “Excuse me?”

“Phil, this is Autumn.” I hold my left hand out for her to see the face of my best friend.

“Right,” Phil says. “Childhood love. Girl of your dreams. You might have mentioned her.”

Autumn blinks. “Um—no. Not girl of his—”

“That’s her,” I say. “Autumn, meet Philip—”

“Your crazy college roommate who has zero taste in pizza.Got it.You mentioned him.” She speed-talks, gulping down those last three words.

“Can we come in?” I ask, my arms still full.

Her eyes widen on me. But all she says is, “I’m not eating that.”

“Guess what, they forgotallthe pineapple. It’s just a cheese pizza.”

“Liar,” Phil and Autumn say in unison.

Autumn’s eyes dart to my phone with her echo. She takes the pizza from my hands and I walk in behind her all the way to the kitchen, setting Phil on the counter before grabbing the Cokes beneath my arm and handing one to Autumn.

She drops her drink to the countertop and picks up my phone, smothering a virtual Phil into her stomach. “Why are you here? Why ishehere? Why are you letting him call me the love of your life?” If those eyes were daggers, I’d be a dead man.

“I can still hear you guys,” Phil says, though the sound is muffled as Autumn has him pressed into her abs at the moment.

She sets my phone back on the counter and doesn’t hide her glare. She doesn’t care what Phil thinks of her. And I love that about her.

“I have a question that I thought you’d both like to weigh in on.” Here we go—if Autumn Green is going to share an opinion on anything, it’s this.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Autumn

I’m stilla little ruffled from hiding in Ezra’s closet. My heart hasn’t decided yet if it’s staying in my chest or making a run for it and now he’s here—in my kitchen, with icky pizza, college buddies, and apparently a question.

“I’ve been thinking about visiting Mav.” Ezra sits at my kitchen table, laces his fingers together, and waits.

There’s a short pause, and then Phil and I both explode at the same time.

“Are you insane?” I say, while Phil’s excitement is at the other end of the spectrum. “It’s about time!” he says.

Dumb Phil.I knew Ezra was wrong about that guy.

“Have you ever even met his father?” I ask, taking the phone from the counter and sitting next to Ezra at my table. My humiliation from before is forgotten; it’s replaced with pure annoyance.

“How could I? Ezra hasn’t seen the man in a decade.”

“And there’s a reason for that.” I shake my head. He doesn’t even know what he’s suggesting, what he’s encouraging Ezra to do.

I do know. I watched Ezra get screamed at. I watched himwalk out of that house with bruises beneath his clothes and cuts above his eye.

“Dr. Appleby always said he should go back too,” Phil says.

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