22. Avery
22
AVERY
T he steady thwack of a hammer wakes me the next morning. I roll over in bed, disoriented by the unfamiliar bedsheets. Then I remember where I am, and a smile spreads over my face. I must have fallen asleep last night after we made love. It’s the first time I’ve stayed at Ed’s, and my stomach flutters thinking about what that might mean.
I’ll have to do the walk of shame across the street and face questions from Mom, although I suspect she already knows what’s been going on. I’ve spent so much time over here.
Ed’s side of the bed is empty, and I wonder if that has anything to do with the steady thump of a hammer that ricochets through my skull.
It’s coming from somewhere outside, and I pull the curtain back to look. Through the condensation on the window, I glimpse a figure in the front yard. There’s a man in a suit hammering a post with a sign attached to it into the ground out in front of Ed’s house.
I bunch my fist and wipe the window, clearing a steak through the condensation.
I squint at the sign and make out the words For Sale .
My fist freezes on the windowpane. Ed’s selling the house.
Realization hits me like a ton of bricks. He wasn’t clearing out Jake’s things just for the auction. He was clearing them out because he has no intention of staying. He’s going to sell the house and leave town.
My hand shakes as I drop the curtain. Nothing we’ve done together means anything to Ed. I’ve been a fool. I’ve fallen for him and he doesn’t feel the same, which is what Paige warned me about.
I dress quickly and head downstairs. The bare walls take on a sinister new meaning. Ed isn’t going to redecorate, because Ed won’t be living here.
The door bangs open and Ed and the suit stare at me, startled.
“You’re selling the house?” I storm over to Ed, not caring that my bare feet sink into the wet grass.
He says nothing, of course. He just looks at me with a troubled expression.
“Are you leaving Hope?”
His gaze darts to the real estate agent, who’s looking extremely interested in his hammer.
Ed takes my elbow and tries to guide me into the house, but I shake him off. “Just answer me, Ed. Nod your head if you’re leaving town.”
His gaze finds mine, and he lifts his shoulders in a shrug.
“You don’t know? But you’re selling the house?”
He nods at that.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
He takes my arm, and I shrug him off. But this time I do move toward the house. I don’t want my parents to hear the words I want to throw at him.
He closes the door, and I spin around as soon as it shuts behind us.
“All this.” I indicate the empty walls and the empty entryway where furniture once stood. “Selling off Jake’s furniture . . . it’s so you can sell the house and leave, isn’t it? You never had any intention of staying.”
He eyes me warily and there’s pain in his expression, but he doesn’t deny it.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Ed indicates his mouth and lifts his shoulders, and it’s the first time he’s ever showed that not being able to speak bothers him.
“You could have written it down. There are other ways to communicate, Ed. You were happy to leave love notes posted to the window for me to read, but you didn’t ever think to write by the way, I’m selling the house and leaving town ?”
He reaches in his back pocket for his notepad but comes back empty-handed. He looks frustrated and tries to move past me, I assume to find his notepad, but I block the way.
“I don’t want to see your excuses, Ed. You’re a coward. You think you’re a big tough Navy SEAL, but you’re really a coward who’s too scared to stick around.”
My chest heaves with the hurt and I grit my teeth, willing the tears away.
Ed told me not to expect anything from him. He wrote it down clear as day. And stupid me let my heart get carried away.
But I will not let him see that. I can do casual, I remind myself.
I hold my hands up. “I know this is casual. It’s only sex.”
He looks hurt and like he wants to say something, but I don’t want to read his excuses.
“It was good while it lasted. I wish you a speedy house sale.”
I pull the door open and rush down the stairs. The real estate guy looks very busy on his phone as I stride past.
It’s only when I’m in my house, back in my room with the curtains firmly closed, that I let the tears fall.
I’m a stupid girl for falling for a guy who told me not to expect anything from him. Paige was right. I’m not cut out for casual.