Page 18 of Accidentally Checked By My Brother's Best Friend

I hate that what she’s saying makes sense, and yet there is no way Duncan would ever agree with this. “What about David? David could do it.”

“Ava. Everyone knows your back story. They know he’s your best friend, not to mention your sister’s husband. No one would ever believe the two of you are a couple. Especially Nathan.” I tug my bottom lip between my teeth, knowing she’s right. “Besides, it’s you andDuncanin the photo, andeveryone is talking about it.”

I scrub my face with my hand again. “There’s no way he’d be willing to help me. Not after what I did to him,” I whisper.

“Based on how he was holding you in that picture, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing that manwouldn’tdo for you.”

Her words knock the wind out of me, kicking my heart into high gear and setting the wheels in my head spinning.

Could Duncan still have feelings for me?

Yeah, feelings of extreme dislike. Maybe even hate.

“Caroline, whatever you think you saw from that picture, I can promise you, that’s not what it was. Duncan would never—”

“Just give it some thought, Ava,” she encourages. “I’ll do my best to work on a Plan B if Duncan disagrees. But first, you need to see if it’s a definite no.”

The hurt in Duncan’s eyes when I rejected him has my heart dropping to my stomach. Maybe letting him reject me is only fair?

I drop my forehead into my palm. I can’t believe I’m even considering asking him to do this. It’s insane.

“Okay.” I sigh, chewing the inside of my mouth. “I’ll consider it.”

“Great!” Caroline delights. Based on her reaction, you’d think I just told her I’m all in. “Tell me what he said after you talk to him. Toodles!”

“Toodles?” Three beeps sound in my ear, and I pull the phone away to stare at the screen. Sometimes, I wonder about my agent and her frame of mind, like if she’s actually sane.

Another text from Nathan pops up, then another. I turn my phone off and place it on the coffee table, my hands trembling.

Nathan’s behavior needs to be addressed, and soon. Before, he does something more dangerous than call or text excessively.

A realization strikes me.

I’m more afraid of what Nathan might do than I could ever be of Duncan not agreeing to this arrangement.

If he says no, it’s only what I deserve. And I’ll figure something else out.

Chapter Nine

Duncan

“No,”IcutFinnoff before he can persist with this unhinged idea he’s calling about. I toss my duffle bag in the back of my Acadia and slam closed the hatch. Sliding into the driver’s side, I shut the door, scrubbing my three-day-old stubble. “I’m struggling to keep my head in the game as it is, Finn. Being part of something like this isn’t going to help me.”

Ava being at David’s is affecting every area of my life. It’s bad now; what would it be like if I agreed to ‘fake dating’ and had actually to spend time with her? Touching her, kissing her—

“No,” I say, firmer this time as I turn over the ignition. “Count me out.”

“Duncan,” Finn’s voice surrounds me in the car. “Her agent is really concerned about what Vaughn could do. Caroline told me that based on the number of times Nathan has reached out to her, he’s probably quadrupled that with Ava. She’s starting to get concerned for Ava’s safety.”

“And?” I ask mulishly. The thought of Ava being harassed has my gut churning, but she’s not mine to protect. She made it clear that that’s not something she’d want from me, despite what a snapshot in time may depict. “How do you even know Ava’s agent?”

Turning from the parking lot onto the highway, I head toward home.

This entire day has been one crazy episode after another. This call from Finn is the icing on the cake. It all started when I got to the Arena for film, only to have my teammates grilling me.

As for‘Tea Time’,it’s safe to say the guys had a field day with that one.

“Here’s our ‘brooding yet irresistibly handsome goalie’ now,” Spencer snickered when I walked through the locker room doors, causing everyone to catcall.

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