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“Nope.” I turned on the coffee machine. “I start work at twelve, and I just got out of the shower. I didn’t know that I had to wear clothes to make coffee.”
“It would be appreciated.”
“Would you like some coffee?”
“Are you trying to butter me up?”
“Is that some kind of sex game you’re into?”
She reached over and slapped my arm. “You’re still wet.”
I chuckled. “That’s usually my line.”
Ava rolled her eyes and leaned against the island. “No. I don’t want a coffee, thank you.”
“Suit yourself.” I turned my back to her so I didn’t have to look at her anymore.
She was unfairly fucking beautiful.
Don’t get me wrong; right now, she was a fucking disaster, but she was a beautiful one.
Her black hair was tied into a bun on top of her head, but that bun looked as if a cat had compiled it and Wolverine himself had twisted the hair tie to hold it in place. Behind her glasses, her eyes were bloodshot, and the shadows under them would frighten away a mass murderer, and there was a huge stain on the front of her shirt.
I was doing my best to ignore the fact she was braless. Her nipples were way too distracting, and after what I’d just done in my room, it wasn’t exactly how I wanted to get the rest of my day underway.
“How are you feeling?” I asked. She’d taken last night hard, as anyone would, and despite what she’d tell you, I did care about her feelings.
“Fine,” she replied shortly, telling me that she was most definitely not fine.
Thank God I wasn’t stupid enough to question her use of the word ‘fine.’
“You’re talkative this morning.” Apparently, I was a little stupid.
“Do you want me to junk punch you?” she snapped.
I turned, eyebrows raised. “Jesus, can’t I make conversation?”
She pursed her lips.
Living together was going to be impossible.
“Look, we need to talk.” She put her cup down and rested her hip against the side of the island. She reached up and tucked some of her dark hair behind her ear, then sighed. “This is a bad i—”
Her phone buzzed on the counter, interrupting her. She snatched it up and groaned when she saw the screen, but she answered it anyway.
“Hey,” she said. “What’s up?…Yeah, he’s here.”
Ava quickly tapped the screen and put the phone on speaker because Reagan’s voice filled the kitchen.
“Hey,” Reagan said. “Noah just called me from work. He spoke to one of the nurses at the hospital.”
“About that woman from last night?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she replied. “It was an accidental drug overdose. They gave her some Narcan in the ambulance and saved her life.”
“Was the nurse allowed to say that?”
“No. He flirted it out of her, and yes, I am going to have his balls for that.”
Ava snorted. “You’ve had them since the day you met.”
“Not the point. I’m not happy.”
“I don’t imagine the almost-dead woman is happy either,” I said before they got too carried away. “Thanks for letting us know.”
“Don’t mention it. Hey, Ava, I’m slammed at the store this morning, and nobody can help me except Aunt Bethel. Can you come down for an hour and watch the register?”
Ava sighed. “Are you going to pay me?”
“I’ll give you ten bucks and buy you lunch.”
“Twenty, and I want real food, not a sandwich in a Tupperware box like last time.”
“Ugh. Fine. You’ve got a deal. Only because I don’t want any more doctor appointments in the book.” The line crackled. “Bye, Ethan.”
“Bye, Reagan.”
“I’ll see you in thirty minutes, Ava.” Reagan hung up.
Ava sighed and put her phone down on the island. “So much for my day off.”
I smirked. “What did you want to talk about?”
She waved her hand. “It’ll have to wait. I need a shower, and you need some clothes.”
“I don’t need clothes!” I called after her.
“Yes, you do! Before I throw up!”
Just for that, I didn’t go back into my room as I’d planned. Instead, I went over to the sofa and lay back, grabbing the remote to turn on the television. I watched twenty-five minutes of sports news before Ava came back out from her room.
Her black hair was now in a braid that hung over one shoulder, still wet, and she had her phone clutched in her hand. “You should know that I’m now the proud owner of a picture of your ballsac.”
I jerked, immediately covering myself. “What?”
She shrugged. “Leverage.”
“Leverage for fucking what?”
“The hedgehog.” She smirked. “Let the hedgehog run free, and I’ll do some freeing of my own.”
“There are laws against that kind of stuff, Ava.”
“Not if my friends happen to accidentally see it and then tell people you severely lack in that department. That’s not revenge porn.”
I glared at her. “You wanna play this game? All right, let’s play. Just because the hedgehog will stay in its cage, doesn’t mean I can’t mess with you in other ways.”
