Page 173 of Heartache Duet

She nods, her arm going up in celebration. “Pepperoni pizza!”

I tap Ava’s leg under the table. “See that? Six syllables.”

* * *

We sit at the kitchen table downing slice after slice while Trevor and Ava banter back and forth and I do my best to keep up. Jo listens to their conversation, smiling occasionally. I put down my pizza and tell her, “So, Jo, I’ve been looking at old game tape of myself, and you know what I realized?”

“Weak jump shot?”

“Yep,” I lie.

“Because of your posture, right?”

“I guess so. But I can’t really tell and your living room—it’s not exactly the same as being in front of the basket, you know?”

She nods. “Yes.”

“So, I was thinking, maybe we could go to a court, and you could help me out?”

Ava and Trevor are suddenly silent, and Jo—she’s looking at me as if I’d just gotten Ava pregnant.

“Connor,” Ava whispers. I don’t know why she keeps whispering when her mom’s right there. “You know my mom doesn’t leave the house. Why are you asking her?”

I push my plate forward and settle my forearms on the table, leaning in so it’s just Jo and me. “Is it because you don’t like people looking at you when you go out?”

“Connor, enough,” Ava grinds out.

“Yes,” Jo whispers.

I suck in a breath, my mind racing when I ask, “What if we go at night when no one can see you?”

Jo blinks and then shakes her head, again and again, and she doesn’t stop.

“Connor, you should go,” Ava says, getting to her feet.

I ignore her and ask Jo, “And what if I promise you that there’ll be no one else there?”

Ava spits, “I mean it, leave!”

“Just let him talk, Ava,” says Trevor.

I add, “What if it’s just you and me and Ava and Trevor?”

Jo holds onto her amputated arm, hugging herself. “No, no, no, no, no.”

Ava physically pulls me up from my chair. Then, with her hands on my back, she pushes me out of the kitchen, through the living room, and right out her front door, slamming it shut after us. “What the fuck is wrong with you!”

I face her, my heart pounding. “What about you? You whisper shit in front of her as if she can’t hear. She’s not a kid, and you have to stop babying her.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” she yells.

“She’s a Marine, Ava. She’s stronger than you think!”

Her nostrils flare. “How dare you!”

“How dare I what? Try?”

“How dare you come into our lives and think that you’re going to make a difference! I’ve been dealing with this shit for three years, Connor!” She takes a breath, her anger heating her cheeks, burning liquid behind her eyes. “Remember everything I said in the car? I take it back!”

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