Page 42 of Beneath the Surface

“Yeah?”

“Why did we stop hanging out?”

His jaw clenched, and his eyes flashed with pain.

“You’re the one who stopped texting me,” he said in a clipped tone.

My throat constricted.

“Why did you let me?”

Micah had been a reminder of what had happened, and after the incident, I slowly checked out from our friendship, severing the last tie I had to that night.

How stupid had I been?

“I don’t like to be where I’m not wanted. I’ve had enough of it with my dad.”

His answer broke my heart, making me hate myself a little more.

We just sat there staring at one another, feeling the energy in the room begin to change. The tension got so thick it threatened to choke me.

“Ava,” Micah groaned as our faces got closer.

I’d made a lot of mistakes in my life, but this felt right. I was going to kiss Micah because I wanted to, and if I had stopped lying to myself, I would have admitted it long ago.

26

MICAH

Ava leaned closer, and my heart began to race. Was this happening? The thing I’d dreamed of for so long, that I thought would never happen?

“Ava,” I groaned, and she let out a breathy sigh. I angled my head forward, but then a thought crossed my mind that had me drawing back. “Wait. You kissed Grayson at the library, didn’t you? I don’t— It’s not fair to him,” I said, hating myself for my words because I was about to deprive myself of something I’d wanted forever.

Her lashes swept down, her eyes widening as she took in the fact that I was serious. “Micah…” she began. “Micah. Grayson is…Grayson. You know? He doesn’t do girlfriends. That kiss was just something that happened in the heat of the moment. But you—I want this. Do you want this? Do you want me?”

“Yes. Fuck, Ava, you don’t even know…” If we were going to do this, I couldn’t treat it like it was nothing, a throwaway moment like her kiss with Gray apparently was. Which meant I needed to confess my own secret. “I need to tell you something. You kissed Grayson. I…I kissed Cruz. Or he kissed me. It was…unexpected.”

Her eyes widened even further. “When did that happen?”

“After I’d been to your sorority house, when he drove me home. It came out of nowhere. I-I don’t really know how to explain it.”

A small smile curved over her lips. “Here I was, thinking you were both straight. Did you like it? Cruz is hot, isn’t he? If you like that bad boy look.”

“Uh, yeah.” I could feel my cheeks flushing. “I guess I liked it. I mean, it was weird, because he was a guy, and I thought we were both straight too, but…yeah. I guess not.”

She laughed, her eyes sparkling. “So that means in our little group, I’ve kissed Grayson, and you’ve kissed Cruz. That definitely means you and me should kiss next.”

My heart stuttered. She wasn’t serious. Was she? I cleared my throat. “Or Cruz and Gray could kiss.” We looked at each other for a second and then fell about laughing. “Yeah, maybe not,” I said when I’d finally recovered. “They’d kill each other rather than let that happen.”

Her laughter died away. “Enough about them. Can I see your bedroom?” she said, instantly changing the atmosphere.

My bedroom.Ava Hayes wanted to seemybedroom.I swallowed. “Uh, sure.”

As soon as we entered my room, she smiled, crossing over to my bed and seating herself on the edge, her long legs stretching out in front of her.

“Are you going to sit down?” She patted the bed next to her, and there was an offer I would never refuse. Not from her.

When I lowered myself to the bed, Ava scooted closer again. Fuck. Wasthis really happening? I couldn’t believe she was here in my childhood bedroom, the place I’d jerked off to fantasies of her, never dreaming that she’d actually be here, wanting to kiss me. Her lips parted, her eyes darkening, and my cock jerked.Fuck, yes. This was really happening.

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