Chapter 1 Ava
“Ava? Are you even listening to me?” Mia snapped at me as I looked up from my phone.
“Yes,” I lied. “I completely heard you.”
My friend narrowed her hazel eyes at me as a frown marred her face. Thick auburn hair hung in waves over one shoulder, and I envied her hair color as the sun picked up the highlights of chestnut and toffee, which shone through the natural red hues of her hair.
“Well, what did I say?”
“Um . . .” I winced at her glare. “I don’t know, I was reading the stats from this weekend’s game,” I explained hurriedly.
“Why? Was there a yard that you missed on Saturday?” Mia mocked as she rolled her eyes.
“Rushing or passing?” I teased her as she took a drink of her soda.
“Ugh, who cares?” Mia threw her hands up as she laughed at me. “As long as they move it down the field, does anyone care how?”
“Yes!” I answered with a long-suffering sigh.
I loved football. Even after my less than spectacular experience on Saturday morning, I was not letting that deter my passion for the game, and I still watched in the afternoon.
Mia, who had been my best friend since we were four years old, knew I adored the sport.
“How can you still not know this after fifteen years?”
“Because, Ava, darling, I stopped listening to you talk about football when we were about, hmmm,” she pretended to think about it, “four?”
“You’re full of shit, Mia Davis,” I laughed as I swung my bag of chips at her.
“Am not,” Mia giggled as she snatched my chips off me and stole a handful.
“I thought you were off carbs?” I smiled knowingly as I lay back on the grass, enjoying the afternoon sun.
“I am,” Mia moaned as she lay beside me. “I’m just so cracking hungry.”
I snort-laughed at her terminology. Mia refused to swear, and her alternatives always made me laugh. I closed my eyes against the bright August sunshine. “What did you read this time to tell you carbs were bad?”
“It was in the college newspaper.”
One eye popped open as I turned my head to look at her. “Serious?”
“Yes, Hayley’s health piece this week was about how carbs destroy your weight loss goals.”
I rolled onto my side as I looked at Mia. Even lying on the grass in a short jean skirt and a pale pink T-shirt, she was stunning. “Mia, what are you losing weight for this time?” I saw her frown of annoyance at the inflection of my voice and belatedly realized she was hangry. Shit.
“This time, as you put it,” she shot me an annoyed glare, “I need to lose eight pounds.”
I cast my eye over Mia’s frame. She was taller than me by about two inches, and her five-eight height allowed her to have some of the best legs I’d ever seen on a female. “Where do you have to lose it from?” I teased. “You have nothing spare to lose, Mee.”
“I think I’m carrying excess water.”
“I think you’re an idiot,” I replied with a smile as I rolled onto my back again and closed my eyes.
“Whatever,” Mia muttered beside me. “Anyway, as much as I am wonderful to talk about, I was asking how you were?”
“I’m good.”
“You’re full of poop.”
I grunted in amusement. “Honestly, I’m good.”
“You never talk to me,” Mia complained. I didn’t answer; I did talk, I just didn’t have much to say. Mia stood suddenly. “Okay, I need to go get a salad or something before I start chowing down on the grass.”
“Try eating something more substantial than a carrot,” I advised as my hand dipped into my bag of chips.
“We’re not all you, Ava,” Mia snapped.
“Ugh, pleeeease go eat a baked potato or something,” I groaned as I sat up and looked at her, shielding my eyes from the sun. “You’re horribly bitchy when you’re hungry.”
“Are you coming?” Mia demanded. I swear her foot almost stomped the grass.
“No. I have Leitch next, and you know I need to find my Zen before he starts telling me I’m a terrible failure in his class.”
“Oh.” Mia frowned as she looked down at me. “I might eat candy if you’re not with me.”
“Then eat candy!” I laughed at her answering eye roll. “Grab some peanut M I recognized the tone of her voice.
“Is that why you’re mad? Because I ditched you? ” she asked me quietly.
“Mia, I’m not mad. I’ve told you a hundred times.
You met tall, dark and, unfortunately for you, dreary.
I wasn’t that drunk, and I walked home to the apartment.
No big deal.” I forced a smile. “If anything, I ditched you, and you should be mad at me, but you’re not. And I’m not mad at you. All good.”
“Okay. But next time, you have to stick to the buddy system; you’re not supposed to walk home alone.” Mia crouched back down beside me, enabling me to see her properly. “Anything could have happened to you. You’re not invincible, Ava.”
She was right, and I might have been reckless if I had walked back on my own.
But I hadn’t been alone. “I solemnly swear I will break up your lovefest with whichever victim you’ve chosen, and I will not walk home alone when drunk, again,” I said, my hand raised to my temple in a three-fingered salute as I simultaneously crossed my fingers at my side for the lie.
Mia squinted as she considered my salute. “What is that even supposed to be? Boy Scout or soldier?”
I examined my hand and shrugged. “Which one do you want it to be?” I asked her with a grin, easing the slight tension.
Reaching over, she swatted my hand playfully, her smile chasing away her frown.
I licked my bottom lip as I half sat up and looked around quickly.
The grounds were busy, but there was no one really nearby.
“You definitely didn’t see me leave?” I asked her.
“No.” Mia’s smile was replaced by a look of sadness and worry.
“One minute you were talking to some dude with amazing blond hair, I mean, like it was totally shampoo commercial worthy, and the next you were gone.” She pushed her hair off her face as she looked at me.
“Hair guy was where I had seen you last, and I did go over and check, but he said you wanted fresh air and then you were heading home. I called and texted, but you didn’t answer.
” Mia huffed in derision. “But that’s not unusual, and of course, it turns out you didn’t even have your phone! ” Mia wailed.
So, I hated being available twenty-four-seven, sue me.
“Hey,” I said gently as I reached out and caught her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I was fine. I came home, fell into bed and died a thousand deaths when I woke up.”
Mia hastily covered her mouth to stop her giggle, but her laughter was not to be contained. “You looked so bad when I came home.”
“I felt so bad when you came home,” I agreed as I rubbed my forehead in memory of the misery that was Saturday. “Why do people repeat that process every weekend?” I shuddered in memory of my hangover.
“You don’t need to drink as much as you did,” Mia admonished gently. With a quick smile, she pushed herself to her feet again. “I’m glad you’re not peeved. I mean, I know you would have told me, you just, you know . . . I need to ask.” She saw my amused look and rolled her eyes. “Again.”
“I know, Little Miss Needy,” I teased her. “Now go feast on lettuce.”
With a shake of her head, Mia turned and started to walk away. “See you later, Ava!” she called over her shoulder.
“Not if I see you first, Mia!” I yelled after her. Her one-fingered salute over her shoulder was my goodbye, causing me to laugh loudly.
Grinning, I ate more chips and checked the time on my phone.
I had another twenty minutes before Leitch ruined my day with his harsh criticism of every word I wrote.
Mia’s continuous need to ensure she hadn’t upset the balance of any relationship was one of her biggest downfalls.
I knew this as her best friend, and maybe, in this case, it was justified.
And maybe if I had actually walked home, I would feel a little miffed, but I hadn’t.
Somewhere between leaving the party and arriving home before Mia on Saturday morning, I had fallen into Jett’s bed.
I couldn’t tell her, I knew exactly where her thought process would go, and even though I had no recollection of hooking up with Jett when I woke, my brain knew that what had happened between us was consensual.
Loud, wild laughter caught my attention, and my easy smile faded as I watched the group of guys cross the quad.
He caught my attention immediately as he walked with his brother, Gray, and their cousin, Ash. They were on either side of him, and they looked . . . godlike. A handful of other players from the team crowded them as they passed a ball easily between them.
Jett’s dark wash jeans were in the distressed style but still clung to his thighs, and I noticed when he turned to look over his shoulder that they sculpted around his ass.
A black T-shirt half tucked into his jeans hung loose on him but still managed to pull across his broad shoulders.
Dark sunglasses hid his eyes, but his trademark smirk was, as always, plastered on his too-handsome face.
Slipping my own sunglasses on so that I could observe them discreetly, I watched a group of girls flock to the three Santo men like bees to honey. I had no fear that they would look over at me; I could blend into the background like a pro.