Page 34 of Verdict

My blood turned cold. A giant knot took up residence in my stomach, and I pushed my plate away, suddenly losing my appetite.

"Yeah, I took her to dinner a few nights ago," Cohen casually threw out.

My stomach churned.

"And….?" Beckham prodded.

"And. I don't know. It was okay." I wasn’t sure if Cohen was holding back for my sake.

Shane shook his head, disappointed. "Dude. She was hot. How was it just okay? Did you at least take her home?"

Cohen narrowed his eyes. "Can we not talk about this around the girls?" he said as he glanced toward Aria and me.

I held my hands up. "Don't filter your guy talk on my account."

Aria looked over at Cohen. "Yeah, I have no idea what y’all are even talking about.”

Maddox pointed his fork at Cohen. "See. They're chill. Now, did you take her home or not?"

I tried not to pay attention—instead, my eyes burned a hole into my plate.

"If I said it was just okay, why would I take her home?" Cohen countered.

Maddox scoffed. "Bro. You've taken a girl home for a lot less."

Shane and Beckham exchanged amused looks.

Aria muttered something under her breath that made Drake choke on his drink.

Needing to remove myself from this conversation, I stood up, grabbed whatever empty dishes I saw, and took them to the sink. I began cleaning off the dishes when Cohen approached. "Hey, you don't need to do that."

I shook my head, "It's no problem. You got us all dinner; I can at least do dishes." I focused on the plate I was scrubbing.

"I didn't take that girl home, Ava," he said quietly.

"It's none of my business if you did or not. You’re single, you can take home whoever you want." I continued scrubbing, still unable to look up at him.

He placed a hand on my arm. I regrettably loved the warmth that spread through me.

Fuck my body's reaction to this man. My body’s a traitor.

"Ava. Does it bother you that I went on a date with someone?" he asked softly.

The tone, the gentleness, made something twist in my chest. Like he thought I might break. Like he felt sorry for me.

It pissed me off.

"No? Why would it bother me?" I rushed out, still scrubbing, a slight edge to my voice.

"Are you sure? Because you won't look at me, and you've been scrubbing the same plate for the past five minutes."

I quickly set the plate down and grabbed another. I blew out a steadying breath before bringing my eyes to meet his. "Yes. I'm sure. You should go out and have fun. You've been in the baby trenches with me long enough, Ellie's getting easier."

His brows pulled together as he searched my face. He went silent for a beat.

"Okay." He lingered a moment, as if waiting for something, but I stayed quiet. He frowned, turned, and headed back to the group.

I hated his response—hated how it made me feel.