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I never should have come here.
“Ava!”
She jerked her head around, her eyes widening with shock as she parted her pink lips.
Butler turned his head and glared at me.
I motioned for her to come over. She had no idea that I was here and even less idea that I was going to bullshit my way through this conversation.
Ava apologized to a customer and came to me. “What?”
“I left my key in the apartment. Can I use yours?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “I realized when I was gonna drive here. Can I use yours?”
“Ugh.” She sagged. “It’s on my keys in the back room. When are you leaving?”
I checked my watch. “An hour? I haven’t been here long.”
“I finish not long after that. Can’t you just wait?”
“And see you say goodbye to your boyfriend? No, thanks.”
She glanced at Butler. “He’s not my boyfriend, and you know it.”
“No,” I said, my gaze trained on hers. “I don’t.”
“Do you need anything, or are you just here to annoy me?”
“Bucket of beer, please. If Leo has a tab, put it on his.”
She made an agreeable noise and turned away. Butler was still staring at me, but I made a point of pulling my phone from my pocket and scrolling that until Ava put the ice-filled bucket in front of me.
“No tab. Thirty dollars, please.” She held her hand out, her bright eyes focused on me.
Slowly, I pulled out my wallet and handed her the money. I made sure to let my hand linger on hers as I handed the money over. Her fingers all but wrapped themselves around mine as she took the money from my hand.
“I have a ten-minute break in five minutes,” she said, slipping the bills away from me with a flourish. “Come back then, and I’ll get you my key.”
“Thanks.” I half-smiled and grabbed the bucket. “As long as I don’t interrupt your conversation with your boyfriend.”
Rage flashed in her eyes. “Go. Now.”
I carried it back over the table after weaving in and out of people. Halley shot me a look and Reagan smirked, but it was Leo who questioned me.
“Did she talk about Butler?” he asked, plucking a bottle out of the bucket.
“No. I left my keys at home,” I lied. “She said she has a break in five minutes, so I’m gonna go get her key.” I peered over my shoulder at the bar. She was now completely ignoring Butler and serving a large group of guys.
I grabbed a beer and settled into my chair. I didn’t know what I was going to say to her in those five minutes while I got the key I didn’t need.
The only thing I knew was that I was not fucking comfortable with the dick that was her ex-boyfriend being so close to her. While she fucking smiled at him.
Nah.
Not happy.
Not at all.
Not that it mattered. I had no right to feel how I did either way. All I was allowed to feel was the annoyance that she hadn’t yet returned the insoles to my shoes, and I was wearing the world’s most uncomfortable sneakers.
At least you could mix and match socks. I hadn’t taken all the left ones, after all. I’d taken them at random. That didn’t apply to insoles. The damn insoles were fitted to each shoe specifically.
Both Reagan and Halley sent questioning glances my way. I ignored them both and focused on the game. I had no fucking idea what was going on, and I really didn’t care. I just needed the clock to time down the next five minutes
Not that I had any idea what I was going to do. If I’d even do anything at all.
“You know they had dinner earlier, right?” Reagan said, looking at Leo. “On her break.”
Leo’s expression tightened. “Why? They broke up ages ago.”
Reagan shrugged. “We tried to tell her it was a bad idea, but she didn’t listen to us. She’s got a stick up her ass about something and she’s digging her heels in.”
Halley wrinkled her nose up. “She’s being stubborn as hell.”
My jaw clenched. I knew what Ava was doing. She was trying to make some kind of stupid point—I knew she didn’t want to date Butler. I knew she had feelings for me because she’d told me, but then again, was it my business?
I was the one who said nothing could happen.
I was the one who’d made that decision.
I answered my own question: I had no right to feel the way I did.
But that was the problem with feelings—they didn’t fucking care about your rights.
“I’m gonna go get the key,” I said, standing up.
I pushed my way back to the bar where Ava was serving someone. She finished up and caught my eye, motioning for me to follow her. She slipped out from behind the bar and guided me to the back where she pushed open a door marked with ‘Staff Only.’
