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My heart drops. “No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do!” she yells. “God, just when I thought things were too good to be true, you—” The front door opens, interrupting her. She cowers, her arms going around her waist.
Trevor pokes his head out and says, “She wants to talk to you.”
“I’ll be there in a second,” Ava whispers, her intake of breath an attempt to regain some composure.
“Not you,” Trevor says, looking over at me. “You.”
I swallow, nervous, and wait for Ava to step aside so I can move past her. Jo hasn’t gotten up from her seat, but her gaze lifts and locks on me when I enter the kitchen with Ava only half a step behind me.
“Pwa-pwa-” She blinks hard. Once. Twice. “Pwamise just you, me, Ava, and Trevor?”
I make a cross over my heart with my finger. “I swear to you, Jo. I would never do anything to make you uncomfortable.”
It’s silent a long moment, Ava, Trevor and I waiting to see what she says or does next. I can hear Ava breathing heavily next to me, and so I take a risk and grasp her hand in mine, relief washing through me when she lets me.
Jo stands. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Ava practically squeals.
Jo nods. “Okay, Connor, six-five, weak jump shot. Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” I agree.
Her gaze shifts to Ava. “Don’t yell at Connor, baby. He’s a good boy.” She stops in front of me, pats my cheek. “Handsome, too.”
Ava lets out a single disbelieving laugh. “Okay, Mama.”
“I’m going to bed,” Jo says, kissing her daughter on the cheek.
As soon as she’s in her room, I turn to Ava. “I’m sorry,” I rush out. “I shouldn’t have ambushed you all like that, it just came out, and I couldn’t stop, but I should have run it by you first. And you’re right. I can’t just show up and expect to make a difference. It was stupid to think I could.”
“Well, technically…” Trevor says, “you kind of have. I mean, Mama Jo even thinking about leaving the house is a big deal.”
“Trevor’s right,” Ava says quietly, pouting up at me with those lips I’m dying to kiss. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’m just so invested, and I take everything personally.”
“I know, and I get it.”
She sighs. “Mom’s right; you are a good boy.”
I smile from ear-to-ear. “And handsome, too. Don’t forget that part.”
SIXTEEN
ava
“Ava, stop!” Connor says, grabbing me by my shoulders to stop me from pacing. We’re at the bleachers during lunch, and my anxiety over tonight has me on edge. “You need to trust me, okay?” He’s trying to bite back a smile, and it makes me want to punch him in the face.
Or kiss him.
I can’t fucking decide.
I inhale a huge breath and hold it a moment before releasing it slowly. Looking up at him, I order, “Tell me the plan.”
He groans, his entire body deflating. “We wait until it’s dark. I’ll text you when I’m minutes away. You open the door. We go on a covert mission to get your mom into my truck, which has the darkest legal tint, by the way, and then… we go…”
“Go where, Connor?”
