First and Forever (Heartache Duet #2) - Jay McLean Page 0,24
a surprise.”
“Is it a naked surprise?”
“Connor!” she squeals, knocking my side with hers.
The hot chocolate spills over the lip of the mug, burning my hand. “Shit!”
“Sorry!”
I hiss, setting the mug on the floor, and then shake out my hand. I lick the liquid off my fingers and glance up at Ava. Her lust-filled eyes are fixed on my mouth, my hand, her breaths becoming shorter.
Busted.
I smirk. “Can I help you, you creep?”
Ava blinks and comes back to reality… a reality where I’d happily have her lick my entire body. She clears her throat. “Turn around.”
“What?”
“Turn. Around.”
I shake my head. “No.”
“What do you think I’m going to do?”
“I don’t know. Pour scalding hot liquid all over me.”
She rolls her eyes, then says, “Fine.”
Her back to me, she reaches into the blanket again, and I watch her pull out a balloon—this one blue. Her shoulders rise with her inhale, and then she blows into the balloon, making it expand. It takes her a few seconds to knot the end. When she’s done, she turns to me, holding the balloon between us. I take it from her and read the black marker.
Connor Ledger
#1 Boo Devil
“I love it,” I tell her honestly, my smile stupid. “It’s the greatest gift I’ve ever gotten.”
She giggles, takes a sip of her hot chocolate. “Better than that sweet truck sitting in your driveway?”
“So much better,” I laugh out, swapping the balloon for my own hot chocolate. I take a tiny sip.
Her front door opens, and Trevor comes out, looking down at his phone. When he lifts his gaze, he says, “Hey, bro. Congrats.”
“Thanks, man. Appreciate it.” We do the standard—weird—universal jock handshake.
He says, “Hey, did you know that according to—”
“Stop,” Ava warns.
His eyes narrow at her. “I’m talking to Connor.” He switches his focus to me. “Did you know that according to Huffington Post and The Daily Beast, Texas A&M is the happiest campus in the nation? The entire nation, Connor.”
I don’t know what his angle is, but my mind’s pretty set on Duke. “I did not know that,” I respond.
“Huh.” Trevor nods, then shrugs. “Just thought I’d mention it.”
He goes back into the house without another word, and I turn to Ava. “What was that about?”
She’s rolling her eyes, her head moving from side to side. “He’s trying to get me to go to Texas A&M.” She fist pumps the air. “Gig ‘em, Aggies!”
“Wait, did you get accepted?”
Nodding, she says, “I got early acceptance to a few places.”
“What?! You didn’t tell me that.”
“It happened, you know, when we weren’t really on speaking terms. It caused a lot of drama.”
“Yeah? How so?”
She sighs, just as a gust of wind blows by, forcing her wild hair to bounce all over the place. She tries to control it, but another gust comes, and her brow dips, frustration forming on her lips.
I set the mug next to me on the bench and take off my hoodie. Then I stand in front of her, order, “Arms up.” With a giggle, she does as I ask, and I slip it over her head, making sure her hair is restrained under the hood. I sit back down, glance at her just in time to see her sniffing the fabric. “Why are you so obsessed with me?”
“It smells nice,” she says through a laugh. “Like post-shower jock and teen spirit.”
“How many jocks have you sniffed?”
“Oh, God,” she moans. “Like, so many.”
“Huh.”
Her rumble of a giggle forms deep in her throat.
I tap her blanket-covered leg with the back of my hand. “So, you got early acceptance to a few places…?” I ask, bringing us back.
Nodding, she says, “I kind of hid the letters from Trevor.”
“Why?”
“Because,” she sighs out, staring ahead. “I didn’t want him pressuring me to go. And he did exactly that, and my mom got involved and said some really harsh things. I ran out of the house, and a few hours later you found me sitting outside my old house.” She tilts her head to face me, wearing a sad smile.
“I’m sorry that happened.”
“It’s okay. We’re dealing with it all now.”
“So, you got a few early acceptances?”
“Uh huh,” she says as if it’s no big deal.
“Where to?” Please say Duke. Please say Duke. Please say Duke.
She inhales deeply. “Just Texas A&M, University of Florida, and UNC.”
“That’s kind of massive, Ava. Like, even if you don’t go, that’s…”
“Huge,” she finishes for me. “And it’s not as if I’m not proud of myself, because I am. I know how hard I worked for it. It’s