Page 180 of Heartache Duet

I’m always telling her that I hate taking up her lunch break, but I have a feeling she prefers my company over everyone else’s at this school. “It’s kind of at a standstill at the moment. I’m still trying to process it all, to be honest.”

“Well, there’s not much time left, so you better start making the dream work. Have you told anyone yet?”

I shake my head. “No. I don’t want to until everything is in place.”

“I’m proud of you, Ava. You’ve come a long way from the girl who used to come in here fighting the world around you.”

“Oh, I’m still fighting,” I assert. “But now, I refuse to back down.”

She smiles, a hint of pride. “And how are things with Connor?”

I frown. “I think I broke him...”

With ten minutes left of the lunch break, I leave Miss Turner’s office, my heart beating fast in my chest. If ever there was a time to find the courage to do what I need to do next, it’s now. Because like Miss Turner said, if I truly want what my heart desires, I need to fight for it.

I wipe my sweaty palms on my skirt, pacing the space just outside the cafeteria doors. My eyes drift shut while anxious energy vibrates through my bloodline. “Just do it, Ava,” I whisper, then roll my eyes. I talk a big game for someone scared shitless to enter a fucking room.

Without another thought, I enter through the glass sliding doors, my head held high. I don’t look around me or stop when the volume drops. Instead, I march over to Connor, noticing Rhys’s eyes widen and motion to me. Connor turns his head and then stands slowly. “Sit!” I order. It comes out harsher than intended, but it’s too late to take it back.

His eyes soften, the corner of his lips lifting in a smirk.

Pulse in my eardrums, I wait until his ass is back in his chair, and then I sit across his lap, my arm around his neck. I can feel his smile across my shoulder as his hand goes to my waist. Behind me, Karen giggles. “Damn, girl. Way to claim your property.” But that’s not what this is about, and I hope Connor knows that. I’m here because… because it’s time to stop hiding. And because I want to be.

His hand drifts up my back, to my nape, and he holds me there, his nose trailing up my neck, lips stopping just under my ear. His exhale warms my entire body, and I shiver when he kisses me there. “Hello,” he says, his voice gruff. And that single, stupid word sends a blush right to my cheeks.

I dip my head until my mouth meets his, and I kiss him quickly. “Hello,” I return, then bite my bottom lip to stop my smile.

His eyes are bright, a complete contrast to this morning, and this… this is the reason I’m here. Because I want to do whatever I can to take away his heartache, just like he’d done for me so many times before.

I pull his tray closer to me and lift an apple. “Are you going to eat this?”

He shakes his head, his smile unrestrained. “Take it. All of it. Anything you want. Whenever you want it.”

EIGHTEEN

ava

“Do you mind if we watch Connor’s game?” I ask Mom as she settles on the couch with a blanket and her tablet. She’s started reading for pleasure now, which is a huge step, but I wonder how it’s possible she can remember what she reads but can’t remember the life-changing moment that happened only yesterday.

“Yes, Ava. You don’t need to ask my permission to watch your boyfriend,” she mumbles, rolling her eyes.

“He’s not my—”

“Quit it,” Trevor cuts in, setting up the TV for me.

“Quit what?” I huff out.

“Lying to yourself.”

He has a point.

The stream starts just as the team walks onto the court, and Connor—he runs out holding the balloon—still inflated—that I’d left on his porch earlier. He squeezes it until it pops, then shoves the remains down his pants. I bust out a laugh at the same time Trevor says, “Your boy’s weird.”

“You are!”

“You sure feel passionately for a boy who isn’t your boyfriend.”

I sit on the floor between the couch and the coffee table and watch the game. Even Trevor seems interested. Maybe because it’s the first game of the playoffs and if they win this and the next, they go to regionals. It’s only halftime but St. Luke’s is a much stronger team, and the scoreboard proves it. If Connor weren’t playing, I’d be bored out of my mind.

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