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She wore impossibly high heels and an impossibly short skirt, and her dark auburn hair was pushed back by a pair of designer sunglasses perched on top of her head.
Michael stood, stepping between us. “Emerson,” he said, his voice guarded, “this is Ava.”
I smiled, but I was pretty sure I just looked like I was baring my teeth. “So very nice to meet you, too.”
As we stared each other down, I realized I was being petty, immature, and unreasonably jealous, but any girl who has ever faced competition over a guy knows what it looks like when she meets it head-on.
I had a horrible feeling I was going down.
Twisting around to the kitchen island to take a section of orange gave me a moment to compose myself. When I turned back, Ava and Michael sat together at the table, her hand on his knee. I turned back around.
I’d squeezed my orange into juice.
Taking another paper towel from the bunny holder, I used it to wipe away the stickiness dripping through my fingers. Dune broke the silence with his deep voice. “So, Emerson’s moving into the Renegade House?”
“Just a day trip,” Michael answered. “Nate, close your mouth.”
“I thought you guys got here last night? I heard voices late,” Nate said after swallowing loudly.
I turned around in time to see Michael move Ava’s hand back to her own lap. She poked out her bottom lip, and I wondered what I was missing.
“Cat, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” he said. “Alone. Do you have any time today?”
“I do.” Cat’s forehead creased slightly as she looked from Michael to me, then back at Ava. “Let me take care of some things upstairs and I’ll be right down.”
Dune stood and pushed his chair back. It screeched on the hardwood floor, the sound putting me on edge. More on edge.
“I should go get our gear together. Water’s waiting.” He disappeared for a second before popping his head back into the room. “Nice to meet you, Emerson.” He looked at Ava and was gone again.
“Water?” I asked. “What does he mean by that?”
“Oh, just that Dune’s got some skills when it comes to aquatics,” Nate answered. “Legendary skills.”
“He’s got some legendary skills of his own.” Michael pointed at Nate. “Not only is Nate a mass consumer of protein, he’s—”
“Ah, let’s save the details for another time. As for the protein, I’m trying to build bulk. It’s not going very well.” Nate pointed to his bony chest and grinned. He unfolded himself from his chair, all skinny arms and knobby knees, and followed Dune. Leaving me alone with Michael and Ava.
She stared at me coldly before sweeping her hair over her shoulder and returning her attention to Michael. There was nothing cold about the way she was looking at him. “I need to see you. In my room.”
She lived here?
My stomach dropped. Now I understood Cat’s comment. She was surprised Michael had brought me here, considering Ava lived in the house. Last night I’d curled up on his lap and poured my soul out to him.
I’d been emotionally naked with him on the couch while Ava had been asleep upstairs.
And from the way she was looking at him, they were way more than friends.
Chapter 27
Michael’s gaze moved from Ava to me, lingering on my face, probably assessing the damage. “Let me get Em … erson taken care of. I’ll be up in a sec.”
Take care of me? Is that what he’d tried to do last night?
He was still staring at me when Ava stood up.
“Don’t be long.” She walked past me without a glance.
