Page 82 of Muddy Messy Love

What a stellar idea. I’ll bookmark that for later. “I could expand my collection. Incorporate smaller thrown pieces. Vases, mugs, bowls. And fast too. This is exactly what I need.”

I scan the wheel for a price tag and pray I can afford it. Professional wheels like this cost a bomb, and sometimes thrift shops assign near-retail prices. Especially when they look this new. Faint grey digits grace the small sticker on the bottom of one leg. “Two hundred dollars.” It’s not nothing but still a bargain.

“Can I help you, girls?”

I whip my head up to see an older woman in an apron with fluffy dark hair standing next to Jen. I return her smile. “Does this work?”

“Sure does. All our electrical items are tested before they hit the floor.”

My heart tap-dances as I climb to my feet. Squealing, I grab Jen’s elbows and jump up and down.

“You’re mad. You know that?” she says.

“All artists are. But when you have talent, you’reeccentric,not mentally unstable. It’s the polite term.” Grinning, I look back to the shopkeeper. “I’ll take it.” I itch to hug her but refrain.

Clearly amused, she nods towards the counter. “Follow me. Will you be taking it today?”

“Absolutely,” I say, picturing where in my studio it will sit.

Jen tugs on my jacket sleeve. “Will it even fit in the car?”

“I’ll make it fit,” I throw over my shoulder.

But Jen groans. “Please don’t get me killed.”

“Trust me. Liam will never even know.”

Then again…on second thoughts…he might. The wheel looked way smaller inside the store. “If we just angle it a little more to the…” The leg finally slips past the chassis, and we rest it upside down on Betsy’s back seat. I release a breath. “There. It’s in.”

“Finally,” Jen says. “You owe me a bowl for that. A big-arse one for my dresser. Preferably purple. With elephants.”

I smile and slam the car door shut. “Done.”

“Aves?”

The deep voice freezes my blood, and Jen and I exchange panicked looks before we turn towards it. “Slade,” I bite out, stepping away from Betsy—away from him. “What are you doing here?”

Fidgety and beady-eyed, he smirks. “Saw Liam’s car. Thought I’d say hello. Was expecting him, but I guess it’s my lucky day.”

Jen huffs. “No way he’d talk to you after what you did to Aves.”

Slade jerks his chin towards Jen with a sneer. “Go fuck yourself, Jen.”

I stiffen. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

“I don’t wanna talk to her at all. I wanna talk to you.”

I scan him up and down, taking in the tattered bottoms of his tracksuit pants, his sallow face, the dark rings under his eyes. He looks…sick, and that alluring spark has vanished. It’s like I’m seeing him for the first time—beyond those tanned muscles and that sly, sexy smirk. There isn’t superficial beauty potent enough to hide an ugly soul. Slade is poison, and the dismal future we would’ve had if my former dreams came true flashes through my mind like a horror film.

“I’ve got nothing to say to you.” I give him my back and meet Jen’s gaze, silently pleading she gets in the car and unlocks my door so we can go.

“Why? Does your fancy boyfriend forbid it?”

My brows furrow, but I don’t take his bait. I keep my gaze fixed on the door handle and bite my lip.

“You think you’re too good for me now? Is that it? Think you’re fucking better than me, AveryLee?” Slade says my name with venom, and my stomach sinks. I once told him how I hate being called Avery Lee. How only Mum calls me that.

I snap my eyes to his and inhale a deep breath, gathering every scrap of confidence I own. “No, Slade. IknowI’m better than you. Stay the hell away from me. I never want to see you again.” The passenger door finally clicks, and with trembling hands, I climb in and slam the door shut, smacking down the lock.

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