Page 270 of Heartache Duet

My hands lift, cover the shame pinking my cheeks.

Fingers circling my wrists, he pulls my hands down and links our fingers. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“You’re too beautiful to be hidden.”

I almost lick his face. Almost.

“So, we order in?” I ask, releasing his hands to get to my phone. “What’s good around here?”

He shoves his hand in his pocket, pulls out his phone. “I got you.”

I take his phone, hide it in my bra. “I’m paying!”

“Hmm.” He eyes his phone, his hand out to retrieve it, but stops an inch away. “How did my phone get luckier than me?”

With a giggle, I hand it back to him. “Let me pay, though. Honestly. I invited you here; it’s only fair.”

“Can you afford it?” he asks, genuinely concerned.

I nod. “I don’t pay for anything here besides food and travel. The house, all the bills, it’s covered. And I get a cut of Mom’s benefits.”

“A cut?” he asks.

“Most of it goes to Trevor. We’re trying to get as much of his debt cleared before he has to start paying off his student loans.”

Connor grimaces. “That sucks.”

I nod. “So, let me pay?”

“Fine.”

We order pizza and pasta and clean the kitchen while we wait for it to be delivered. When it arrives, we sit on the couch, with the Investigation Discovery channel on the TV.

“Did you keep in contact with anyone from school?” I ask him.

He nods, finishes chewing his food before answering, “I talk to Rhys and Karen, but that’s about it, and it’s that kind of weak social media conversation, you know?”

I shrug. “Not really.”

He chuckles. “Oh, shit. I haven’t told you. You know the whole Peter and Mitch thing?”

Anger flares, only for a second, before I nod.

He says, “So Rhys and Karen were over at my house—Rhys punched me a few times because he was still kind of in love with you, by the way—”

“What?”

“It’s irrelevant,” he says, flicking his wrist. “Anyway, Rhys and Karen were at my house when Mitch showed up to confess. Karen heard it all and smashed his face in with a wooden tray. Broke his nose.”

“Shut up!” I laugh out, my eyes wide. “That did not happen.”

“It absolutely fucking happened. Though I’m not sure if the tray broke his nose or if Dad did when he pretended to look at it.”

“No,” I gasp.

His hand settles on my bare thigh. “You are deeply loved, Ava,” he says, his tone soft. “And if you ever feel up to it, I think you should reach out to Karen. She misses you a lot.”

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