If anything, the distance had made it worse.
And the worst part? She didn’t seem to notice. Or if she did, she didn’t care. She’d only texted me once since our last night in the barn, and when I’d brushed her off, she hadn’t tried again. She hadn’t stopped by the job site or shown up with lunch after my camp sessions with the kids. She hadn’t given me a single indication that my absence mattered to her at all.
Which was exactly what I wanted. What I’d been aiming for.
So why did it piss me the fuck off so much?
Irritation was simmering under the surface, but when I’d run into an old high school buddy, Colton Hughes, at the grocery store, he’d invited me to a party he was throwing at the river and I’d stupidly agreed to go.
Now, as I pulled up, I wondered why I bothered. The only person I was itching to see was Ava, and I doubted having to play nice with others was going to improve my mood any.
The river party was in full swing by the time I got there. Someone had strung lights through the trees along the bank, and a bonfire crackled near the water’s edge. Half of Meadowbrook’s summer crowd was scattered across the sandy beach—mostly other kids I’d gone to high school with, some who’d never left Meadowbrook and others who were home for the summer like me.
The more people I saw from high school, the more I started to wonder if Colton had invited Ava.
I grabbed a beer from a cooler and told myself I wasn’t looking for her, even as my gaze bounced over every brunette, searching.
And then I spotted her.
She was standing right at the edge of the water with a group of girls we went to school with, her head thrown back in laughter at something one of them said. She was wearing a crop top that showed off her toned stomach and a pair of cutoff shorts that did nothing to hide her long legs that had been wrapped around me more times than I could count.
It took every ounce of willpower to look away before I did something stupid. Like walk over there and put myhands on her in front of everyone. Or tell the whole damn town that she was mine.
She’s not yours, I reminded myself.She was never yours. That’s not the deal.
I took a long pull of my beer and forced myself to find a spot on the opposite side of the bonfire. Far enough that I couldn’t hear her voice, but close enough that I could still see her if I turned my head.
I didn’t turn my head.
For about ten minutes.
When I finally gave in and looked, my blood went cold. Jackson Cline had materialized next to her like a bad rash, with his too-white teeth and asshole swagger. I’d known Jackson since middle school—he’d been a douchebag then and he was a douchebag now. He was the kind of guy who peaked in high school, but he acted like he was God’s gift to women.
And now he was smiling at mine like she was his next conquest.
Over my dead fucking body.
I ground my molars as I watched him leaning into her space, one hand bracing on the large rock beside her, like he was boxing her in. She hadn’t moved away, but she hadn’t moved closer either. Her smile looked polite. But at this point I couldn’t tell if that was really how she felt or how Ihopedshe felt.
She’s fine, I told myself.She can handle Jackson fucking Cline.
But then he touched her. His smarmy fingers slid down her bare arm, and red flooded my vision.
I was moving before I made the conscious decision to do so.
I couldn’t just stand by watching another man touch the woman I?—
I couldn’t finish the thought.
“Ava.”
She turned at the sound of my voice, and something flickered across her face. Surprise, maybe. I couldn’t tell, and right now I didn’t care.
“Liam.” She said my name with the utmost control like I hadn’t been inside her only nine days ago. “I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
“I couldn’t stay away.” I didn’t look at Jackson. Couldn’t. If I looked at him, I’d do something I’d regret. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
Jackson finally registered my presence, his expression shifting from confusion to irritation. “We’re kind of in the middle of a conversation, man.”
