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Ava smiles at me. “Hey, Harry. I had no idea you were joining us.”
Us?
Us, as in my younger brother and the woman I desperately want to fuck?
What living hell have I just stepped into?
“Hey, old man.” Ryden pushes on the leg of an empty chair with his foot, sliding it toward me. “Grab a seat and join in on the fun.”
It takes me all of two seconds to realize that Ava and Ryden are not only enjoying lunch together, but they’re splitting a goddamn sandwich.
I know Ava left the ball in my hands, but I had no idea my brother ducked in to steal it from me when I was preoccupied with work.
“Can I get what they’re having?” Roxy giggles as she talks to the waitress. “Harrison will probably have a garden salad with no dressing and grilled chicken.”
I nod toward the young woman standing next to the table. “That’s fine.”
“Fruit punch for me to drink,” Roxy adds. “The red one.”
“No punch,” I direct that to the waitress. “Water for both of us.”
She jots that down on the pad in her hand before she takes off.
“I had no idea you two were friends.” Any hope I had of controlling my raging jealousy is gone. “This is a cozy lunch.”
Ava’s gaze shoots in my direction, but her lips stay closed.
Ryden pipes up, ignoring what I just said, and me, for that matter. “You’re already texting like a champ, Rox.”
Roxy darts to her feet. Her hand disappears into one of her pockets before she flashes a phone in the air. “It’s safe and sound right here.”
“What the hell?” I shoot a look at Ryden. “You gave her a phone?”
Ryden barely offers me a glance before he focuses on the broad smile on Roxy’s face. “She needed one. I want her to be able to text and talk to me when I’m on the road.”
I can’t argue that point with him because she misses him like crazy when he’s away.
“I have four numbers in my phone,” Roxy says proudly. “Ryden, Joslyn, Mommy, and Harrison.”
“I have more than that,” Ryden brags like it’s some kind of competition.
“She’s nine,” I remind him.
“Can I have your number, Ava?” Roxy asks quietly.
“Absolutely,” Ava says before calling out her number.
I watch Ryden like a hawk to see if he adds it to his phone, but he doesn’t.
The little bastard probably already has it. That’s how he ended up here with Ava.
Roxy carefully adds the number to her phone. “I’ll text you, Ava.”
“I’m counting on that.” She smiles.
I’m counting on having some time alone with her right after this lunch is over. I want to know where things stand between my brother and her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Ava
Jealous Harrison Keene is a treat for my nipples and other private parts of me.
He pulled me aside as we left the diner to tell me he wanted a word with me.
I wasn’t shocked.
Based on his body language and the scowl on his face, it was apparent that he had jumped to the wrong conclusion about Ryden and me. He thought we were on a date when in reality, before Harry and Roxy arrived, Ryden was telling me how he wanted to arrange piano lessons for his youngest sister.
I appreciated that he asked me for a recommendation. I was just about to direct him to The Anna Donato School of Music when he confessed that he wanted her to take piano lessons because he had missed his chance when he was young.
It seems that one of the most promising stars in the NHL wishes he could play piano.
“Ava.” My name snaps off Harry’s tongue as we exit the subway.
It was his idea to take the crowded train to my apartment. I didn’t complain because I had the chance to sit across from him while he stewed in his feelings.
Before today, I never would have pegged him for the jealous type, but that has to be what’s happening here.
“Yes?” I answer him in the sweetest voice I can muster.
He glares at me. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
I rake him from head-to-toe taking in the casual yet insanely hot sight of him. Who knew a man dressed in jeans and a gray sweater could be so divine?
“Enjoying what?” I ask as we ascend the concrete steps that take us up to the sidewalk a block from my apartment.
“Did you know I was going to show up?”
I laugh that off as I move to avoid a man running toward the steps. “How would I have known that?”
“Ryden knew,” Harry says brusquely as we set off toward my apartment building. “He knew that I would bring Roxy there.”
Shrugging a shoulder, I keep walking. “You should be discussing this with your brother, not me.”
His large hand wraps around my bicep, stopping me in place.
I gaze up at his face. I feel like I’m looking into the eye of a powerful storm. There’s intensity in his expression that I’ve never witnessed before.
