Page 100 of The Keeper and I

“What happened?”

He looked away. “She told me she loves me.”

“And that’s a problem because…”

“I didn’t say it back.”

Ava snatched her airplane pillow from around her neck and smacked him over the head with it. He grunted in surprise, but she didn’t stop. She pummeled him relentlessly with her pillow, striking any place she could reach. She managed to get a few blows to his face despite him putting his hands up.

“You! Dumb! Mother! Fucker!” she cried, each word accentuated with a strike.

“Ava!” he protested, dodging a hit to his left cheek. “People are staring!”

“You think I give a fuck?” She nailed him in the chest.

“Fucking Christ…”

She stopped to catch her breath. “Have you completely lost your mind? She’s the woman of your dreams, and you’re too much of a pussy to say three little words?”

His face grew hot when a couple walking by turned their heads at her volume.

“Ava,” he said, lowering his voice. “You don’t have all the information.”

“What’s the rest then?” she demanded.

“She told me that because she loves me, she wants to give up the job in America and stay here, a job she’s wanted for ages.”

“Is that supposed to convince me you’re not a fuckhead? Because it doesn’t.”

“But she—”

“Oh no, the woman I love loves me so much, she doesn’t want to leave me,” she said in a mocking voice. She folded her arms over her chest and scowled. “Boo-fucking-hoo, J. Your life issohard. I feelsobad for you.”

“Listen!” he insisted. “If she gives up that job, she’ll resent me. I know it. And we both know what resentment does. I can’t let us end up like…like…”

“Mum and Dad?”

He nodded.

Ava heaved a sigh. “You really are a pussy.”

“I’m trying to do the right thing,” he said, becoming indignant. “It’d be selfish of me to ask her to stay.”

“You aren’t asking, you knobhead. She was trying to tell you what shewantsto do,” she retorted. “D’you really think she doesn’t know her own mind?”

“I think it’d be a mistake.”

“And you know best, do you? It’s 2024, J. Women can decide for themselves.”

“What if she hates me for it down the line?”

Ava glowered at him. “When are you gonna stop making this about you?”

“This isn’t about me at all!”

“Isn’t it?” she cried. “Laci put herself out there by telling you what was on her mind, on her heart. And you shat all over it because you’re so afraid of getting hurt. Well, guess what, J? People are gonna hurt you no matter what happens. People are arseholes. Might as well be with the arsehole you love.”

“Don’t call her an arsehole,” Jordan said. “I’ll thump you even if you are my sister.”

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