Page 100 of Heartache Duet

“A thing?”

He shrugs. “Just a basketball thing. It’s not important.”

“It sounds important,” I murmur, shoving his knee gently with my foot. “Tell me.”

He holds on to my ankle, tugging gently. With a smile, I get down to his level, sit sideways on his lap. He nuzzles my neck. “I missed you,” he says, kissing me there.

“I missed you, too.”

He exhales, slowly. “Sorry about first period and being late. I know our time together is so limited, but…” he trails off.

I lift his head in my hands, look in his eyes. “It’s okay; I know you’re busy. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” He shakes his head. “Nothing,” he repeats. His eyes search mine, his features falling with every second that passes. “I just miss you is all.” But that’s not all, and I can see it in the way he looks at me, the way his lips tremble.

I hold his face in my hands and release the words I’ve held on to all night. Words I’ve been looking forward to saying to him. “I love you, Connor,” I tell him. “God, I love you so much.”

CONNOR

I swallow down the pressure that had been building inside me and stare at the soul that causes my heart to beat. Where my world begins and ends. I hold her to me, afraid to let go. “I love you, Ava… with everything I have.”

I keep my eyes closed, hiding the fear in my heart.

What if I do all this?

Risk it all.

And still fail?

What happens to Ava?

To her mom?

What happens to us?

FORTY-TWO

ava

“We need to do something,” Trevor whispers.

I look down at the floor. “I know.”

“So… what are we going to do?”

Lifting my gaze, I look at my mother sitting on the couch in the same clothes she’s been in for over a week. She’s been refusing to shower, and no amount of convincing seems to work. “I don’t know.”

“It’s getting bad, Ava.”

“The smell?”

He shakes his head. “That, too, but just… her. She’s getting worse,” he says, his voice hushed as we stand in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. On the kitchen table behind me, another dinner is left untouched.

“It’s fine,” I argue, trying to convince myself more than anyone else. “She’ll be okay; it’s just… a phase.”

My phone dings with a text.

Connor: That game just about killed me. About to hop in an ice bath if you want to join me?

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