Page 170 of Heartache Duet

“And for the jersey,” she says, tugging on the fabric.

“Sure.”

“Okay,” she says through a giggle, sliding across and opening the door.

“Hey,” I rush out and then stop because I didn’t really have anything to say. I’m just not ready to be apart yet. “You think maybe we can work on that multimedia assignment?”

“Tonight?”

“Or now…?”

She glances over at her house and then back at me. “I don’t really know what state my mom will be in.”

“Of course, yeah,” I reply, nodding as I stare past her, trying to hide my disappointment.

“If you give me a few minutes, I can find out and see…”

“Yeah?”

“Uh huh.” She can’t seem to stop smiling, and I can’t either. And neither of us can take our eyes off each other.

If the world ended and I died right now, I’d be pretty damn happy. I’d be an eighteen-year-old virgin, sure, but still… I’d be happy.

I wait out by my truck while Ava goes into her house. She opens the door a few minutes later and waves me in.Exhilaration knocking on my flesh from the inside, I grab my bag from the car and make my way in. “You must be Connor, six-five, weak jump shot,” a woman, I assume is Krystal, says in greeting.

“Damn, what’s with the women in this house?” I retort.

Krystal laughs, squeezes Ava’s forearm as she passes. “Have a good night, sweetheart.”

Once Krystal’s gone, Ava turns to me. “Mom’s having a zero-day, so…”

Ava had explained the rating system of her mom’s temperament and emotions to me before. A zero-day means nothing. The way Ava explained it, it’s as though her mother is a shell, and inside, she is empty. Which sucks, but it’s far better than a negative day.

“She’s in the kitchen working on her speech words, so is it okay if we sit with her there? Just so I can—”

“Of course,” I cut in. I follow Ava into her kitchen, where her mom sits at the table with a bunch of flashcards in front of her. She picks up one. “Cat,” she says, looking at the picture.

Ava offers me a sad smile. “Did you want a drink?”

“Sure, thanks.” I drop my bag on the floor and take a seat opposite her mom. “Hey, Miss D,” I say quietly.

Miss Diaz looks up, then right back down, picks up another card. “Dog.” She moves it to the top of a pile on her right at the same time Ava places a plastic cup of water in front of me.

“Thanks,” I say.

Miss Diaz picks up another card, and I notice now they’re all pictures of animals. “Tuttle,” she says.

Ava sits next to me. “Turtle,” she corrects.

“Turtle,” Miss Diaz states. This card goes to a pile on her left, thicker than the one on her right.

“Do you have any idea what particular murder you want to focus on?” Ava asks me.

“Not really,” I answer.

And Miss Diaz says, “Murder.”

Ava smiles over at her. “That’s not on your cards, Mama. If Connor and I are a distraction, I can ask him to leave.”

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