Page 131 of Heartache Duet

Rhys shakes his head. “Not like that. He just means we know him through Ava.”

“No,” Mitch deadpans. “I mean, let’s be real. He’s probably fucked the daylights—”

“Watch your fucking mouth,” I warn.

Mitch laughs. “What’s it to you? As if you and Karen aren’t—”

“We’re not,” I cut in, shoving Karen’s hand off my shoulder. I push off Rhys’s car, my eyes searching for Ava. It doesn’t take long to find her. Head lowered, she comes down the school steps gripping the straps of her bag. She notices Peter’s car and smiles at him the way she used to smile at me. He gets out to greet her with a hug that lasts too long, and I feel the moment my shoulders deflate. He keeps his arms around her waist while she pulls back, her hands pressed against his chest, and I wonder if she feels the same thing there—at the place where life lives—as she felt with me. Finally, he releases her, and then she’s on her toes, her eyes wild, searching for something. They land on me, and my pulse becomes volatile. My breaths stop as she walks toward me, and everyone and everything around me is silent. All I hear is the thumping of my heart. One beat. Two. She stops a few feet in front of me, her gaze lowered as she white-knuckles the straps. “Hey.”

I manage a “hey” back.

Her eyes lift to mine. “Do you have a minute?”

I swallow my nerves. “Sure.”

She takes a step back, implying I follow, and so I do. Because I’d follow her to the ends of the fucking earth if she’d let me. “That was quite a speech Brown praised you with,” she mumbles, looking at her feet as we stroll toward Peter’s car. He’s leaning against the hood, his arms crossed, eyes on us.

“It was possibly the most embarrassing moment of my life.”

Her laugh is short. Sharp. “It’s kind of a big deal, though, so I get why he wanted to announce it to the world.”

I shrug.

“Anyway,” she says, stopping halfway to Peter’s car. “I um…” She blows out a heavy breath, then shakes her head. “It’s so stupid now that I’m here…”

“What’s going on?”

Her throat bobs, and she reaches into her pocket. “I got you something.” She reveals a handful of bright orange balloons. With her voice low, she says, “You said once that it was your lucky charm.” Her eyes meet mine, anguish pooling in their depths. “And I thought you might be nervous, so they’re there if you want them or need them—if they mean anything still.” She holds them up between us, but I can’t move.

Can’t speak.

Can’t look away.

“I knew it was stupid,” she mumbles, turning to leave.

“No. I want them!” I quickly grab her arm. “Please?” I hold my hand out, palm up, and she places them there. I can see the black marker mixed with orange, and the weight in my chest doubles.

“I should go,” she says quietly. “Peter’s waiting.”

I nod. “So, what’s with that? Are you guys…?”

“No,” she laughs out. “God, no. He’s staying with me over the break.”

“Oh.” Jealousy is a bitch. “He doesn’t have his own home?”

She’s quiet a beat as she chews her bottom lip, and I push away the memories of me doing the same to that lip, in my bed, with her half-naked and on top of me while she looked down at me as if our love knew no boundaries. “Trevor’s going away with Amy—”

“His ex?” I interrupt.

Her eyes widen, just a tad. “You remember?”

I nod again. “I remember a lot.” I remember everything. And a part of me hates that I do.

“They’re back together now, so that’s kind of cool,” she tells me, looking over my shoulder where Peter is waiting for her.

When her eyes meet mine again, I say, “So, what you’re telling me is that people can break up, but there’s hope they can find their way back to each other again?”

Ava stares. Right into me. “Good luck at the invitational, okay?”

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