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She could still say no. Tell us to hit the road. Get out of her face. But Jasper and Ethan smile easily, like this is all a done deal.
Cami whizzes by, notebook in hand, but slows long enough to throw in her two cents. “Av, you’ve been wearing that same blouse for four days. Switch it up, baby.”
Ava looks down at herself like she has no idea what she’s wearing.
“Um. Okay,” she says, suspiciously. “Were are we going, anyway?”
“London,” I say.
She bursts out laughing, and if I’m not mistaken, even snorts a bit. “You guys are too damn funny.London!” She turns back to her laptop, shaking her head in disbelief, and mumbling under her breath.
But Jasper, and his endless confidence, gently pushes her fingers off the keyboard and folds down the lid. Ava sits there, fingers poised like she’s about to type, but without anything to type on. “You deserve this, babe. You need to get away from here for a few days. And away from that sad little cactus,” he says, nodding at the dried-out, brown succulent.
Ava is mock-offended. “Hey, that cactus is my friend. She sticks with me through thick and thin.”
Joking aside, she hasn’t answered us and the wait is fucking killing me.
“What… what about my brother?” she says quietly.
We’re prepared for this.
“First of all, he’s not invited,” I say.
The laugher that follows lightens the mood.
“I talked to him, Ava. We all did. Told him if he had any sense, he’d thank us for looking out for you in a way he doesn’t. He should be grateful for us, the jerk,” Jasper says while Ethan and I nod.
“Well, well, well,” a voice says, dripping with mischief.
Lana’s joined us, possibly here to help us seal the deal. “Lucky girl. Invited by these three handsome devils,” she purrs. “I should be so lucky.”
“Um, you have my brother, don’t you?” Ava snaps back at her.
Lana purses her lips. “Like I said, I should be so lucky.”
Enough said.
Ava’s face turns pink, and it’s so damn cute. “Lana,” she squeals. “Really?”
Lana shrugs. “Don’t worry, honey. I won’t be seeing him again. Sometimes a one-nighter is best left as a one-nighter.”
Ava frowns. “Does Andy know this?”
Flipping back her movie-star hair, Lana laughs. “If he hasn’t figured it out by now, I think he will soon,” she says, and slinks back to wherever she came from.
Ava looks from one of us to the other again, like she’s still trying to suss out whether we’re full of shit or the real deal. After an agonizing minute, at least for me, she says something.
“Did Cami pack my passport too? Because I can’t go to London without my passport.”
Fuck yeah.
* * *
55
LEO
Ava is crammedin the backseat of an Uber, stuffed between Ethan and me, while Jasper’s in the front passenger seat.
