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I had made a terrible mistake.
***
I was going to take out an ad in the Creek Falls Herald newspaper. It would be for The Wright Bouquet, and it was going to say, “Great for flowers! Shit for sympathy, unless someone is dead.”
Yep. Coming to Reagan was not the best idea. Then again, I was at the tail end of a whole bunch of bad ideas, so one more didn’t seem that much in the grand scheme of things.
“Did you specifically tell him no pets?” she asked, cutting a rose stem.
“No, but—”
“Did you tell him he could only stay for three months?”
“No, but—”
“There you go, then.” She put down her cutters and looked at me, eyebrows raised. “You didn’t lay out your terms. He’s using the terms of the tenancy agreement, which he has every right to do.”
I frowned at her. “Whose side are you on?”
“I’m on the side of the law, Ava.” She carefully trimmed another rose stem and laid it with the rest of the bouquet she was putting together. “Your tenancy agreement says something, and he’s using that against you.”
“I knew I should have gone to see Halley. She would have at least pretended to be sympathetic.”
“Why didn’t you then?”
“You’re closer to my apartment now.”
Reagan snorted. “Look. You said he could move in. We all knew this was a bad idea, and you did it without talking to us first. You can be mad at him for not being entirely truthful at you, but you can’t be mad at him if you didn’t explicitly state it either way.”
“I didn’t know he had a hedgehog when I said yes.”
“How did he get a hedgehog? Why does he have one?”
I sighed and rested my chin on my hand. “I have no idea. I didn’t ask. I stormed out, instead.”
She glanced at my hair. “I guessed.”
I stuck my middle finger up at her. “They blindsided me. Leo knew about it all and didn’t give me a heads up. It’s one thing to live with Ethan for a few months, but longer? I can’t do it, Reagan. Can’t you move in with Noah so I can have your apartment?”
She barked out a laugh and wrapped the bouquet in the plastic. “Uh, no. We’re not there yet. I don’t think Halley and Preston were totally there, but they did it for me.”
“Really?”
With a nod, she tied off the bouquet and said, “Preston’s stayed with me a couple of times. They’re both used to their own space, and it’s taking some adjusting. I offered him the apartment back because I don’t want to be the reason they have issues, but they’re both happy. They’re not majorly fighting or anything, so…” She shrugged and handed me the bouquet. “In the one by the window.”
I carried it over to the storage thing by the window and put it in the hole. “They’ll get used to it. They were made for each other.”
“I know.” Reagan smirked. “I’m still waiting for your destiny spiel about Ethan living with you.”
“Don’t.” I held up a hand. “Destiny can fuck itself and its mother. There’s nothing destined about it at all unless it’s destined to medicate me.”
“You were the one who said yes to all this.”
“Before I knew about the spiky piglet and the extended stay in Creek Falls.”
Reagan shrugged. “You’re just gonna have to tough it out, girl. Sorry to say it, but you are.”
I sighed and slumped against the counter. “Ouch!”
“What?”
I lifted my finger to my face and removed the thorn. “Wayward thorn. Pricked me.”
“If you’re lucky, maybe your roommate will prick you.”
“Fuck off.”
CHAPTER TWO – AVA
Spiky Pigs And Shit
I shoved the front door open and set my gaze on Ethan on the sofa. “If you’re going to lie to me about living here, we’re going to have to set some hard and fast rules. The first one: the stinky, spiky pig lives in your bedroom.”
He peered over at me, one hand in a bag of cheese Doritos and the other tickling the hedgehog who was now lying on his chest.
It was quite a sight.
“How do you know he stinks?” he asked, licking his fingers and cradling the animal before he put the chip packet on the coffee table.
“I Googled. They need cleaning every day. I’m not doing it, and neither am I living in a smell of tiny animal who should be wild.”
“He’s a pygmy hedgehog. He’s bred to be domesticated.”
“His spiky bits could be made out of solid gold, and I still wouldn’t give a shit.” I put my purse on the island and looked at him. “You can send me Google links to them if it pleases His Highness, but my stance won’t change. That animal is not living in my living room, and I’d rather you didn’t snuggle with him on the sofa.”
“It’s ironic,” Ethan mused. “I have a hedgehog on my chest, and you’re still the prickliest thing in this apartment.”
