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“Alexa …”
“Fuck,” she mumbles beneath her breath.
“You can thank our baby sister for deleting the footage before Dad saw it.”
Ava’s cheeks turn bright red as she lowers her gaze and quietly exits the room, closing the door behind her.
Masen is pacing Ava’s room, making the silence uncomfortable. Not once have we discussed telling our families, knowing everyone will have an opinion. It doesn’t seem right when I don’t even have my own opinion yet. Everything between us is new, and I’m still trying to process it all.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Maybe we should just tell everyone,” he suggests with frustration.
My eyes snap to meet his deep stare. “Tell them what, exactly? That we’re sleeping together?”
“That we’re seeing each other.”
“Which everyone will think we’re just fucking since you’re not one to be in a relationship.”
“And neither are you,” he argues back.
My pulse races, fueled by anger. “I don’t have a reputation for sleeping around.”
“Why do you care what other people think?”
“I care, okay!”
“Right, what you really care about is hurting my brother,” he lowers his voice, but I hear the resentment just as loud. “Just admit it.”
“Of course, I don’t want to hurt Cruz.”
“So this boils down to my brother and me. That’s my competition.”
I throw my hands up in the air. “There’s no competition. I’m not in love with Cruz.”
The second it leaves my mouth, Masen stills his movements. I turn away, unable to look at him as my muscles clench and my breath is caught in my throat.
“We should go,” I say faintly. “Before someone sees or hears us.”
I leave the room first and walk past Ava, not stopping to say anything. My feet move quickly outside, straight to my parents’ bar where Uncle Julian is serving drinks. When he’s designated bartender, you know Nikki is involved. He makes Rocky think he’s drinking shots but waters down the liquor to avoid him getting blind drunk.
“Addison,” he greets me with a warm smile. “Soda?”
“Tequila.”
He cocks his head. “The hard stuff. Is everything okay?”
“It will be after a few shots.”
The bottle comes out, and I down the first. We chat for a little bit about school until he willingly pours me another. Just as I’m about to drink the second, Dad joins me.
“We’re not repeating the last event when you drank Haden under the table?”
I shake my head, pursing my lips. “I’ve been studying a lot this week.”
Yeah, I studied Masen’s body and how beautiful the man is naked. Am I in love with him? Fuck, why did I even mention the goddamn word?
Haden puts his arm around me. “Leave the girl alone. It’s nice to find a drinking buddy.”
