AllFreeNovel
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“I’ll catch you later, all right?” I don’t wait for a response. Instead, I make my way through the already half-drunk party and start for the stairs where I know I can at least get some room to breathe. At the top are two hallways, and honest to God, I wonder if one of them leads to the servant quarters because the house is that big and that lush that it wouldn’t surprise me if they had full-time help. And also, where the hell are Rhys’s parents? Where the hell is Rhys?
I open door after door looking for the bathroom just so I can shut myself in and get a moment of peace. It’s not like I’m not used to partying; I had my fair share back home, but they weren’t like this. I find the bathroom, but it’s occupied. Mitch has a girl pushed up against the counter, his pants down and her legs around him. “Sorry!” I shout.
“Ledger! What’s up, man?” Mitch laughs. “You want in? I don’t mind sharing.” There’s not enough eye bleach in the world to stop me from slamming that door shut.
The next door I open is an empty bedroom, thank fuck. Illuminated by a single lamp on the nightstand, I do a quick sweep of the room before declaring it safe. I close the door behind me. Lock it. And sit on the edge of the bed.
I look at my phone. Still no message.
Then I look around the room again, at the navy-blue paint and the Wildcats! Wildcats! Wildcats! poster. My eyes narrow, trying to adjust to the darkness. My gaze catches on a large framed picture on the wall. It’s the basketball team, Rhys front and center. Realization sinks in. I’m in his room. And because I’m bored, and maybe a little curious, I start to snoop. I scan the books on his shelf and the clothes in his closet that’s the size of my room. The guy’s got good taste in kicks, I’ll give him that. He owns every pair of Jordans ever released, but only in the classic colorways. Not going to lie, I’m a little jealous. I wonder if he’d notice a pair or two missing…
I look over his desk, boring, and then the massive pinboard above it filled with photographs. Mainly of him. Not surprising. I scan the pictures, one by one. His parents are in them, along with a girl I assume is his sister. And right in the middle, the largest picture there… I look closer, but it’s dark, and my eyes… my eyes might be deceiving me. I unpin it from the board and take a closer look. He’s in his JV jersey in the middle of the court with a girl in his arms. She’s wearing a cheerleader uniform, her hair braided to the side, with his jersey number painted on her cheek. He has his arms around her waist, her arms around his neck, and I fight the urge to rip the picture in half.
A twist in my stomach has me searching for somewhere to sit. I find the edge of his bed again, flop my ass down, my eyes glued to the photograph. She’s the same Ava, but she’s different. Smaller. Younger. Less… broken.
My eyes snap up at the sound of the doorknob twisting. I stand, hide the picture behind my back, and gear myself for whoever comes through the door. “Why the fuck is this locked?” I recognize the voice as Rhys’s, and I mentally punch myself for getting caught.
The knob jiggles, and a second later the door’s open and his head’s poking through the gap. “Connor?” he asks, switching on the light.
I blink away the brightness. “Sorry, man. I got lost and… I just needed a little time out.”
Stepping into the room, he eyes me suspiciously as he closes the door behind him. “Are you stealing from me?”
“No,” I say quickly. “Jesus. No.”
His eyes span across the room, looking for evidence.
Please don’t look at the giant empty space on the board. Please please please.
But he does, and he sighs out loud. “What’s the deal with you guys anyway?” he asks, moving closer.
“What’s the deal with you guys?” I counter.
He chuckles. “I’m not interested in her in that way if that’s what you’re thinking. At least not anymore. Has she not told you about us?”
And because I suck at hiding my jealousy, I say, “She hasn’t mentioned you at all.”
“That’s not surprising,” he murmurs. “We didn’t exactly have the best timing.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means…” He rubs the back of his neck, contemplating. Then he opens his blinds, motions for me to look out the window, to which I comply. “See that house?” he says, pointing to a house only slightly smaller than his.
“Yeah?”
“Three years ago, Ava lived there.”
My eyes widen, move to his. “No shit.”
He nods. “I was so afraid to talk to her at first, because… well, you know what she looks like. She was so intimidating, and she had this fierceness to her like she wouldn’t take shit from anyone. When I found out she was crushing on me, too, I lost my damn mind.”
I know that feeling, I don’t say.
“We did a lot of back and forth trying to navigate our feelings. We were only fourteen at the time, so it was all kind of new to us.”
I don’t know if I want to hear anymore, but I nod regardless.
“Anyway, you know Karen?”
