Kiss Me Not (Kiss Me 1)

“Morning, Halley!”

I jumped at the sound of Anton Wright’s voice. “You scared the life out of me!”

He chuckled, rubbing his hands on the stained apron that covered his front. “Sorry, darlin’. I thought you knew I was here.”

“I guessed, but I was too busy smelling your lavender.” I grinned and stepped away before the scent was embedded in my skin for the next week. “Is Reagan here yet?”

“She was here with Ava about ten minutes ago. She told me to ask you to head over to the food stalls. Something about coffee being on her and if you brought whiskey, it’s a bonus.”

I grimaced. “Oh, dear. It’s like that.”

He winked. “Are you going to stop by and get something? In fact—you don’t have to buy. You’re stuck with my son for the week. The flowers are on me.”

Laughing, I took a step back. “Well, if I knew I would get free flowers for babysitting his ass, I might have considered doing it a long time ago.”

Anton laughed and waved me goodbye as I turned in the direction of the food stalls. While most of the attractions were spread out evenly, a huge section of the fair was for food only. It was where the Ferris’ barbecue stall was, but there was every other kind of food you could imagine.

My stomach rumbled. I knew for a fact that Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence had a stall for their crepes this year, and I would kill for one with strawberries and Nutella.

Maybe when I was done being a good friend.

“I’m done with him!” Ava said the second she saw me. She looked exhausted, and her red-rimmed eyes gave away that she’d been crying already today. Her glasses only enhanced the tired air that hummed around her. “That’s it! No more! I mean it!”

Reagan met my eyes. “She’s been telling me that for twenty minutes.”

“Because it’s true!” Ava rammed her fist against the table.

“Mind the coffee!” Reagan grabbed my cup and handed it to be. “Here. Before The BFG over here spills it everywhere.”

“It’s nice to know you care about me so much.”

I sighed and sat down. “Ava, we love you, and that’s why we’re going to be honest with you. You’ve been here a thousand times before. You and Butler don’t work. You keep going back to him only to boomerang back to here. Don’t you think it’s time to move on?”

Reagan raised her eyebrows. “See? She agrees with me. Butler is a hack.”

“I didn’t say he was a hack,” I said quickly. “But I do agree that the relationship has run its course. You do nothing but fight.”

“I know.” Ava sniffed. “I don’t even think I love him, you know? I just… he’s comfortable. I guess I always figured that we’d work it out and it would be okay, but you’re right. It’s done, isn’t it? It’s never going to work.”

I nodded slowly, reaching over and squeezing her arm.

“No, it’s not,” Reagan said firmly. “Besides, we all know that, like Halley is hopelessly in love with my brother, you’re hopelessly in love with Ethan.”

I choked on my coffee. “I am not hopelessly in love with your brother!”

“I am not hopelessly in love with Ethan!” Ava said only a beat after I did. “I cannot stand him!”

“Can I have him then?”

“You want to date my brother’s best friend?” Ava’s dark eyebrows shot up. “Go ahead. Then you’ll see how much of an insufferable asshole he is.”

Reagan leaned forward. “See, this is how I know y’all love them. You both hate them. You’re hiding your feelings behind hatred because it’s easier than admitting you want to ride them like motorized bulls.”

“The only part of your brother I want to ride is my foot into his balls.” I put my coffee down on the table and pushed my hair behind my ear. “Being attracted to someone does not mean you’re in love with them.”

Except I was. Kinda. A little. And I was pretty sure Ava was actually in love with Ethan, but that was none of my business unless she was willing to admit it.

And, unlike Reagan, I wouldn’t press her on it.

It was like freakin’ good cop, bad cop over here.

“Whatever you say,” Reagan said. “How’s it going, listening to him kissing other women for hours?”

“We’re not here to talk about me. We’re comforting Ava,” I said quickly.

Ava barked a short laugh. “Come on, you can make me feel better. How bad is it?”

I groaned, slumping forward. “It’s not even the kissing. It’s the who. Lindsay Rinna was front and freakin’ center, ready to pucker her ass-lips up to kiss him.”

Both of their faces scrunched up. We’d all been on the receiving end of Lindsay’s wrath in high school.

“He’s not interested in her,” Reagan said. “Nobody with a brain cell is.”

Even Ava shook her head. “There’s no way. She’s too high maintenance for him. Preston is too chill to deal with her dramas.”