"Different how?"
"Close." She tilted her head, thinking. "The way they talk to each other. The teasing. The way Maya just... hugged me. Like it was nothing."
"They're like that with everyone." I leaned back, stretching my legs out. Caught Ava's gaze dropping briefly before she looked away.
Interesting.
"It's nice." She was quiet for a moment, fingers moving through Watson's fur. I recognized that expression. The one she got when she was deciding how much to tell me. "I haven't talked to my family in over a decade."
"Why not?"
She took a sip of her beer, buying time. "Growing up, my parents were... controlling. My father, especially. He had my whole life mapped out before I could walk. The schools, the career, the kind of person I'd marry. Everything down to the last detail."
"And you didn't stick to the map."
"I stuck to it for a long time, actually. Longer than I should have." She traced the rim of her bottle with her thumb. "But I wanted emergency medicine, not surgery. I wanted to help people who actually needed it, not just the ones who could afford it. That wasn’t an option to him."
"What about your mom?"
"She's never had an opinion my father didn't give her first." There was no bitterness in her voice. Just a fact. "I think she wanted to reach out, in the beginning. But that would have meant disagreeing with him. And she doesn't do that."
Watson stretched, hopped off her lap, and padded toward his water bowl. Ava watched him go.
"I left when I was eighteen. Took out loans, got scholarships, built everything myself." She shrugged. "It was easier than trying to earn love that came with conditions."
I let that settle between us. Eighteen years old, walking away from everything she knew. Building a life from nothing because nothing was better than what she'd had.
"He's started calling again," she said. "Out of nowhere. Three times this month."
"You gonna answer?"
"I don't know. Part of me wants to know what he could possibly want after all this time. The other part knows it doesn't matter. Whatever it is, it'll come with strings."
"It always did?"
"Always." She looked at me then, something unguarded in her expression. "I forget sometimes what it's like. Having people who actually want you around. Not because you're useful. Not because you fit some idea of who they need you to be. Just... because."
The way she was looking at me. Open. Unguarded. Like she was trusting me with something fragile. It took everything I had to keep my distance.
"You have that now." My voice came out rougher than I intended.
She tilted her head, waiting.
"Shane, Maya, Zoe. They already like you. You're not on the outside looking in." I held her gaze. "You're part of it, Ava."
Something flickered across her face. Surprise, maybe. Or hope. "Thank you."
The moment stretched. Something shifted between us. A tension that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with want.
My eyes dropped to her mouth. Her lips were slightly parted, and I found myself wondering what she'd taste like. Beer and something sweeter underneath. Whether she'd make a sound if I kissed her. Whether she'd pull me closer or push me away.
I leaned forward. Ava's breath caught.
And then Watson jumped back onto the couch, landed directly on her lap, and started kneading her thighs with his claws. The spell shattered.
"Ow—Watson, stop?—"
The moment was gone. I laughed despite myself, and Ava was wrestling with the cat, who looked extremely pleased with his timing.
