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And it seems like he’s disappointed in me. Somehow disappointed that I’m trying to do the one thing that will help him.
And it makes me doubt myself, and everything I’ve done.
Damon is cold to me, and Dad is disappointed.
I just want to go.
Damon messages back immediately, confirming his driver is on his way.
I close Dad’s door behind me as I step out onto the sidewalk, and I nearly run headfirst into someone.
I look up. It’s not justsomeone, it’s Luke Abbott.
My ex. Outside my house.
26
AVA
What the hellis he doing here?
Luke, I realize up close, hasn’t changed a single bit since he broke up with me. He’s still the same guy I thought I’d fallen in love with once upon a time, and the very same guy who shattered my heart just a few weeks ago, although that feels like an entire lifetime ago now when I think about it.
I’d noticed all that in The Oak, but it’s even more true when he stands mere yards from me outside Dad’s place.
That spiky blonde hair. That tall, muscular physique that betrays a childhood spent playing sports. Those green eyes of his.
He hasn’t changed, even if our relationship has.
He’s handsome, I’d give him that. It’s one of the reasons I once found him attractive. But now - as I close the front door of my family home with him waiting unannounced for me - that hulking handsomeness seems a hell of a lot more intimidating than a turn-on.
It takes me a moment to process that he’s standing right here, outside my dad’s place. This isn’t a fluke or a random twist of fate; Luke definitely knowsexactlywhere my dad lives, so his presence here is not a coincidence at all.
He’s been anticipating catching me here off-guard...
“Have you been waiting for me?” I ask him, my voice wavering as I try to figure out why he might possibly be here.
I don’t know what I’m feeling when I see him. This boy broke my heart simply because he couldn’t bespottedaround town with a girl whose dad is known for being in gambling debt. He dumped me simply for his goddamn reputation, but there’s still a part of me that loves him. A part of me that loves the time we spent together. There’s still a part of me that is that little teenage cheerleader who fell in love with the high school star quarterback.
“Yeah,” he says to me. “I’ve been waiting for you, Ava.”
I shake my head. Despite signing that contract with Damon, I still have enough self-respect to not allow myself to get trapped by my ex.
“Go,” I tell Luke with as much authority as I can muster. “I don’t want you here. I don’t want to see you. Ineverwant to see you.”
Luke’s eyes roll, his arms folding firmly across his chest.
Crap.
The telltale sign of a triumphant smirk plays on his lips. He’s come here to reveal something. Surely. The signs of a man with a secret to expose are written all over his face, and I can’t help but feel a sense of intrigue mixed with trepidation, as I’m certain he’s come here with something he’s so very eager to share.
“I know about you and Damon Penmayne,” he says.
And there we have it. His big grand reveal.
That’s why he’s here.
Double crap.
