Chapter 16
Richard cast his eyes about his and Emmitt’s cramped cabin. Andie sat sideways on Trenton’s lap, her legs dangling off the side as they spoke in hushed tones. Memphis sat on the opposite end of the couch, surveying the room with the curious lift of his brows. Emmitt leaned against the wall, feet kicked out while he twiddled a guitar pick between his finger and thumb.
And there, looking isolated across the way, sat Ava, a nervous smile on her face while her legs bounced.
“Thanks for meeting us here before we head over to the party,” Richard started.
“It’s weird that we’re doing this without Maverick,” Memphis pointed out.
“Yeah,” Richard nodded. “That part will make sense once you hear me out.”
Andie gasped. “He’s not going to be able to have children, is he? Did you talk to the doctor? Trenton said that, with this type of injury, some guys can’t even…”
Richard felt his chest and neck getting hot. “It’s not that. The doctors think that he’ll be…fully functioning once he heals up. This, um…this isn’t about him.”
“Oh, thank heavens,” Andie said. “So if this isn’t about Maverick, why are we leaving him out?”
“It’s about the chick he likes,” Emmitt guessed from across the room.
All eyes darted over to Emmitt, and then to Ava.
Memphis’s face scrunched up. “Huh?”
Emmitt’s guess threw Richard off track. “What doyouknow about it?”
“Enough,” Emmitt said flatly.
Richard worked to get himself back on course when Emmitt muttered something else.
“Doesn’t take a genius.”
Richard shot his brother a glare, figuring his late-night rendezvous hadn’t gone unnoticed by his trusty old roommate. At least he hadn’t said anything to any of the others, from what he could tell anyway.
He reached an arm out to Ava and gave her an apologetic grin. “Emmitt’s right. Ava and I have feelings for each other. We have for a while now and we’ve just been…hiding it as best as we can.”
Ava stood to her feet and glanced over the room. “This is sort of an awkward situation. We don’t want it to cause any problems,” she assured. “I really care about Maverick, and I never once led him on, but—”
“I can attest to that,” Memphis piped. He gave Richard a knowing look. One of thoseyou-lucky-deviltype of looks. “Maverick was persistent,” he explained. “Not in the typical Maverick way or anything, but he made it known that he liked her, and she made it known that she wasn’t interested. You were always really sweet about it though,” he blurted while turning back to Ava.
“Thanks,” she said with a nod.
And then, in front of everyone, Richard slipped his fingers through Ava’s.
Andie squealed and climbed off Trenton’s lap. “I’m so happy for you guys,” she said, shock coating the words. She hurried over and wrapped one arm around Richard and the other around Ava in a three-way hug.
She gave them a good squeeze, and Ava giggled.
“I thought I was going crazy,” Andie said as she pulled back and grinned back and forth between them. “I swear I detected something between you guys, but since Richard is so…serious—”
“And stubborn,” Memphis piped.
Emmitt raised a finger. “Anddifficult.”
“That’s enough,” Richard said with an eye roll.
Andie’s grin only grew. “I just assumed I was seeing things.” She sighed, looking like a satisfied cat that just devoured an entire den of mice.
Ava took a moment to survey the faces in the room as hints of a smile pulled at the corner of her lips. “No one in here is upset about it then?”
