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I didn’t.
I clenched my fist, grabbed my keys, and left.
And you know what? For a few seconds, I really fucking hated myself. I hated that kissing her had made her feel like that. I hated that it’d been my choice to kiss her. That, in reality, I hadn’t given her a choice about it—I was going to kiss her, and if she’d kicked me in the balls, I would have taken it.
I’d changed our relationship. Any idea that we could brush it under the rug was now shattered. We were irrevocably changed.
And it was all my fucking fault.
***
I had no idea what was going on in this game. I was finishing my third beer, and even though I’d been watching the game for an hour, I couldn’t even tell you with any certainty who was playing.
I’d almost been sent home from work. My finger was still sore, and I’d blamed my lack of concentration on that, because it wasn’t like I could discuss this with anyone.
The person I’d talk to about relationships, the person I trusted with my life, was the one person I couldn’t mention this to.
Leo.
He’d fucked with me before about Ava. I think he knew that I was attracted to her, but that was it. It wasn’t groundbreaking information—Ava was absolutely beautiful, and I wasn’t the only man in the world. Even Preston and Noah admitted she was hot.
Just like Halley and Reagan were. I could appreciate good-looking women and be attracted to them without wanting to kiss them.
I still couldn’t tell Leo I’d kissed his little sister. Being attracted to her was one thing—sticking my tongue down her throat and upsetting her afterward was something entirely different.
I was ready for the black eye I knew I’d get if he ever found out.
“I’m gonna get another beer. Anyone want one?” I looked around the table and was rewarded with three resounding yeses.
I got up and headed for the bar, thankful for a bit of breathing space. I needed to take a moment by myself to get my shit together before the guys questioned what the fuck was wrong with me.
I placed the order for the beers and leaned against the bar. I didn’t know what I was doing here tonight. I didn’t want to be here.
I wanted to be anywhere but here.
I wanted to find a time machine and go back to a time before I kissed Ava. Before I lived with her. Before I knew what it felt like to have her sighing into my mouth and my cock pressed against her stomach.
Jesus. I had to stop thinking like that.
I paid for the beer and grabbed all four bottles. Only Noah and Preston were sitting at the table, and the bar erupted in an angry shout. A glance at the screen told me they didn’t agree with a penalty.
The story of every football fan’s life.
I set the beers down and sat down. “Where’s Leo?”
“Stepped out to take a phone call,” Noah answered. “So. How did your chat with Ava go?”
“What do you mean?”
“After you kissed her,” Preston answered.
I froze. What the fuck? “How the fuck do you two know that?”
Noah smirked at me. “Have you met our girlfriends? Ava’s best friends? The Three Musketeers? The three women who will take the place of their elders and terrorize this town when we’re all dead and gone and there’s nobody to control them?”
“I like how you think we control them now,” Preston drawled before turning to me. “His point, however convoluted, is correct. Ava told Halley and Reagan, and I can’t speak for Noah, but I was going to move out last night if she didn’t finally fall asleep.”
Noah snorted. “I stayed at Reagan’s last night and had to give her Benadryl pills. She thought it was Tylenol.”
“Shit.” I put my elbows on the table and buried my face in my hands briefly. “Does Leo know?”
“Nah. It’s not our place to tell him. That’s between you and Ava.”
Preston nodded in agreement. “We figure you can’t talk to him about this, so while he’s on the phone, talk to us.”
“Plus, we’re dating her best friends. It’s the ultimate inside track to a woman’s brain.”
“Women don’t even know their own brains,” I replied. “But your hearts in the right place.”
They both chuckled.
“It went shit,” I admitted, wrapping my hands around the beer. “I told her I’ve been attracted to her for years, and she all but admitted that she has feelings for me. We both hid it because of Ethan. I’m staying on my mom’s sofa tonight.”
Noah shook his head. “Reagan’s has an early start for a wedding tomorrow. You can take my spare room. You don’t need to sleep on your mom’s sofa.”
“Thanks, but—”
“You’re staying at mine. Just keep your underwear away from my dog.”
I wasn’t going to ask.
“What are you gonna do now?” Preston asked. “You gonna do anything about it?”
