Page 14 of Never Die for a Sinner
“What about me?”
“What are you going to do now that it’s over? Try to go back to the DEA?”
“I’m still figuring it out.”
“Well, don’t wait too long,” he says, and I get the feeling the asshole’s not just talking about work. “Sometimes the thing we want the most is right in front of us.”
AVA
Thank you for taking me to see the bunnies.”
“Anytime, Ava from the main house,” Alex chuckles with a smile. It’s been our running joke for the last few months since I met him. Mostly because I live in the main house and he, who lives in an apartment in the small town a few miles away from the lodge, can’t fathom what that must be like.
I hate to tell him, but it’s definitely not all it’s cracked up to be. You can’t even get any sleep.
Alex works security here at Oak Ridge Lodge, and today, he found a nest of baby bunnies hiding out and waiting for theirmother to return. He brought me down to see them, and they were the best thing I’d seen all week.
Over the last few months, he’s become a good friend and someone I can talk to when I’m annoyed about something in the house that I’d rathernotdiscuss with Mila. I love the girl, but she tells her giant husband everything.
“I’m sorry to say, the only bunnies I can show you are made of dust. But it was nice to get out of the house for a bit.”
“About that . . .”
“Uh-oh,” I chuckle. “Don’t tell me you’ve got another business proposal to discuss?”
He chuckles, scrubbing a hand through his dirty-blonde hair.
“No, nothing like that this time.”
“Well, then what is it?”
“Bobby’s holding a party next week,” he says. “I was wondering if you wanted to go?”
I can’t help but cringe at the thought of going to a party.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea . . .”
“Come on, Ava. Come out with me and enjoy yourself. You can’t let them keep you locked up in there forever.”
“No one’s keeping me locked away,” I chuckle, though he’s not that far off the truth. Escaping Cross Estate unnoticed is like trying to swim away from Alcatraz.
Suicide.
“Who’s going?”
“Everyone from the lodge . . . Me . . . I was hoping you’d say yes, as kind of . . . like a date.”
I freeze at the mention of the worddate, my hands clamming up.
“We’ve talked about this, Alex. We’re . . . friends.”
He chuckles, but it’s far from humorous.
“When are you going to stop friend-zoning me, Ava?”
“I’m not,” I lie. “I’m just saying, what if things get awkward?”
“I’m not proposing. I’m just saying we have fun together. What’s the harm in seeing where things go? I’m a nice guy, aren’t I?”
