Page 43 of Why Not Now?

Chapter 14

Derek

Idon’tcallortext Ava the next day. A friends-with-benefits arrangement is not the same thing as a relationship. And I am already far too close to diving headfirst into a full-on relationship with this woman. I tell my friends what’s going on, partly because they should know that I’m fucking around with someone who works for us, but mostly because they’re my best friends and we tell each other pretty close to everything. Not the details, obviously, but the major life events.

Me deciding to only sleep with one woman for the foreseeable future is a bit of a major life event. Ava and I haven’t discussed not sleeping with anyone else—that’s also not really part of a friends-with-benefits arrangement—but I also know I can’t.

On Monday, Adalie and I agree to meet up at her place after I pick up Ava, since she’s coming to the Vancouver Christmas Market with us. Ava knows we’re meeting Adalie, but doesn’t know where we’re going.

When she’s done work, I go to her house where Lacey answers the door. I smile and say, “Hey, Ace. How did that math test go today?”

“Aced it,” she says with a grin, letting me inside. “He marked them all before the end of class and I got 98%.”

I hold up my hand and she high-fives me.

“I wish I could come with you guys today, but I have gymnastics.”

I sit on the couch, and she perches in the opposite corner.

“Ava mentioned you were still doing that. You still like it?”

She shrugs. “Not as much as I did when I was a kid. It gets really competitive when you get older, and I just like to have fun with it.”

“Then have fun. Don’t worry about the competition.”

“I guess.”

I can tell she’s not sure about my suggestion, so I explain further. “Listen, when I was young, my mom always said I could be a doctor. I got it in my head that she was telling me Ihadto be a doctor. What she was really saying was I could do anything I wanted. It took me a long time to figure out I didn’t want to do anything in the sciences. When I went to her and told her I wanted to switch majors, she said something I’ll never forget. She said,Life is too short to be doing things we don’t want to do. If it’s not fun, don’t do it.”

Lacey pulls her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. “You make it sound so easy.”

“There’s a big difference between simple and easy, Ace.”

Ava clears her throat behind us, and I stand, taking in her outfit. She looks hot in her forest-green sweater dress, dark leggings, and brown boots. She has a green scarf wrapped around her neck and is pulling on that jacket. The one thatisn’twaterproof. Her dark hair is braided and hangs over her shoulder.

I stare at her for a long minute, caught in my desire to forget taking her out and take her to bed instead. Then I shake myself out of those thoughts.

“The one and only Ava Calligan,” I say. “Ready to go?”

“Yes.” She zips up the jacket. “Do you mind if we give Lacey a ride to gymnastics?”

“Of course not.” I turn toward her. “You ready as well, Ace?”

“Just gotta grab my bag.”

She runs into her room next to the kitchen and Ava comes toward me. I want to take her in my arms and kiss her hello. But Lacey is going to come out any second and I have a feeling Ava doesn’t want her sister to know about us.

“You don’t have to worry about Lacey,” she says. “I’ve got everything under control.”

“You mean our conversation?” I shrug. “I was just offering a bit of advice from my mom. It helped me. I remember being sixteen and having no clue what I was doing.”

“You seemed to know what you were doing to me.”

I give her a skeptical look. “When I was sixteen, I spent half the year with a massive crush on you and no idea what to do about it.”

She doesn’t get a chance to respond because Lacey rushes out of her room. “Ready.”

We head to the car, and I open Ava’s door, then Lacey’s.

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