"Look, whatever your friend told you, I have nothing to do with any problems you had with Rob." It seemed best to get it out in the open.

"Bulls.h.i.t. My cousin saw him kissing you at the Grove."

f.u.c.king small town. No question, this looked bad, but I refused to accept the home-wrecker tiara. Whatever my feelings for Rob, I'd indulged none of them while he was taken. "After you broke up, because you accused him of cheating."

"So I gave him the idea? Rob's slow, but he's not clueless. In other words, f.u.c.k you."

I sighed. My feet hurt, and my mom was waiting for the d.a.m.n milk. "How, exactly, do you see this conversation ending?"

"With you admitting that you're a b.i.t.c.h and a blight on womankind."

With some effort, I swallowed a scorching retort, mostly because we were attracting an audience. "Agree to disagree. If you'll excuse me-" She wrenched on my arm, whirling me around, and it f.u.c.king hurt. "Get your hands off me."

"Don't walk away. I'm not done talking."

"Well, I am."

"Don't you think you owe me something after stealing my boyfriend? Everyone knows you're desperate, a college dropout." Her gaze dropped to my stomach. "Oh, I see. You're hoping to trick poor Rob into thinking the kid's his."

"Nice. And I'm the b.i.t.c.h in this situation?" I spoke the b-word deliberately, and she reacted by slapping me so hard I saw stars.

Lifting a palm, I touched my cheek incredulously. "Did you seriously just hit me?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, I smacked her back. No turning the other cheek. I tried to be f.u.c.king reasonable; I tried to leave, but no. She was furious and wanted to kick my a.s.s. So fine, bring it. Avery grabbed my hair and pulled, so I yanked on her earrings. She landed a kick on my shins, which was so third-grade that I rolled my eyes. I stumbled back and laid hands on a cold tray of abandoned nachos. When she came at me, I flung it at her and burst out laughing at her murderous expression as the goopy orange cheese slid down her pretty blue jacket.

"That's enough out of you crazy b.i.t.c.hes," the cashier shouted. "Keep it up and I call the cops. How'd you like that?"

Avery's eyes narrowed. She glanced between me and the redneck behind the register. "What did you say to me?"

"I'm wondering if you want to repeat it, too." I picked up a jar from the aisle next to me. "Because if I heard you right, I'm about to get crazy with the Cheez Whiz."

Other customers were backing out of the store, and when Avery grabbed a withered old hot dog off the rack like it was a lethal weapon, the clerk actually cowered. What he thought she could do to him with that, I feared to ask. Tonight, I would not be buying milk, obviously. Weighing the situation, I took a few breaths, wondering what Avery would do. She was still glaring at the cashier. I picked up a handful of napkins and wiped the c.r.a.p off her coat while everyone watched. In my opinion, we'd created enough of a scene.

"Let's get out of here," I said.

"No s.h.i.t."

Outside, Avery stood, breathing hard, with one fist still clenched around that desiccated wiener. I was surprised when she didn't immediately tackle me and shove me face-first into the dirty snow. Instead, she hurled it into a distant bank and impressed me, reluctantly, when it sank in to make it look like a phallic Jabba the Hut. Then she let out a bloodcurdling yell. When she spun toward me, I braced for round two, but she didn't rush me. She only stared.

"What?" I demanded. "You want to trash me some more?"

"Why did you have to ruin everything?" Her plaintive tone made me feel horrible.

I could handle her fury, but the idea that she might be hurting bothered me. Though it was technically true I didn't cheat with Rob, I'd wanted him while they were together and I'd bonded with him emotionally while she was gone. I couldn't feel 100 percent good about the situation. Maybe I could explain, set the record straight.

No peace of mind until I try.

"We didn't finish up in there. You want to go to Patty's for coffee? I'm buying."

She looked like she thought this was a trick, but then she did a double-take, staring over at my ride. "Is that...Rob's old truck?"

"Yeah. You can take your car."

Then she made a quick decision. "Okay. See you there."

At this hour, people were crowded into the lobby because Patty made awesome pancakes and sometimes the only thing right in life was eating breakfast for dinner. Luckily, I got there in time to snag the last two-person booth and Avery hurried in a few minutes later. She shucked off her stained jacket with a grimace. I felt bad.

"Sorry about that."

"I lost my s.h.i.t. It could be argued that I had it coming."

Before we could say more, the waitress came to take our order. I got the pancake special and coffee, figuring it had been that kind of day. Avery was more carb-conscious and went for salad and hot tea. No wonder she was a sylph.

"Okay, let's try this again. Without slapping, hair pulling or projectile food."

She nodded. "But if you tell me nothing's going on with you and Rob, I'm leaving. Because it's not really about him anyway. It's..."

"What?"

"You just don't do that, you know?" By that, I guessed she meant screw somebody else's boyfriend. "What I had with him wasn't perfect, but he was mine."

So she was sad that Rob had broken up with her; her ego was bruised more than her heart, but I understood her feelings. In her situation, I'd be upset, too.

Reality could be so hard to explain. "Let me lay it out for you. Have I been half in love with Rob for most of my life? f.u.c.k, yeah. In fact, it's kind of embarra.s.sing. But that kiss your cousin saw? It was the first time he touched me like that. After you broke up. You don't have any reason to believe me, but hey, I have no reason to lie. We're not friends, so if I wanted to hurt you, I'd say we did it like monkeys the whole time your back was turned. I'm honestly trying to clear the air, swear to G.o.d."

"So...I just hurt him by a.s.suming the worst? I mean, when Jillian saw you together before, that was seriously just driving lessons?"

I nodded. "Before that happened, he never talked about breaking up. He was yours, not mine. And I was jealous, but I wouldn't do that. To anyone."

She tilted her head. "Why not? I'm the town b.i.t.c.h, remember? n.o.body likes me because I think I'm better than everyone else."

It didn't surprise me that she knew what people said about her. Avery had an unpleasant personality, and she was never shy about expressing dissatisfaction. I suspected her att.i.tude might be a front, though I had no idea what it was covering.

"That doesn't mean you don't deserve to be happy."

For a few seconds, she just stared at me. "Are you for real?"

"Most of the time. Except for Wednesdays, when I'm imaginary."

The laugh started in her eyes, popped out of her mouth in an actual giggle. When she unwound, Avery wasn't bad. Didn't mean I wanted her dating Rob, but maybe she wasn't as awful as everyone claimed. Just then, our food arrived, curtailing the conversation for a moment. I dug into my pancakes, as it seemed like a long time since lunch.

She played with her salad for a few minutes. "I'm sorry I hit you."

"Sorry I hit you back. And about the nachos."

A smirk curved her mouth. "Actually, the whole thing was kind of fun. I've never been in a fight before. My parents would die."

"Not very ladylike," I admonished. "Think of your dignity, Avery."

"I will cram my dignity down the throat of the next person who mentions it."

"Ouch. But I get the feeling you're not this angry about Rob-that it's more of a symptom. You want to tell me what's going on?"

Startled, she c.o.c.ked her head. "Ten minutes ago, you said we're not friends."

"No, but we could be. If you want." The impulsive words surprised me as much as her, but she had such a lonely look there for a minute that I couldn't help it.

Hesitating, she murmured, "I'm not sure how it works. I stopped making new friends years ago."

"No offense, but that's kind of sad." And that's coming from someone who finds it a ch.o.r.e to go to a party with new people.

"I know."

"So explain your deal. Why are you stuck in Sharon and why are you so mad about it?"

She was the kind of girl everyone expected to blast out of town at the speed of light, head to an Ivy League school and never come back unless somebody died. Maybe not even then. Instead, she'd gotten a job at the bank straight out of high school, and she was living at home. From what I remembered, something had happened our senior year, but her family hushed it up and n.o.body ever knew exactly why she missed two weeks of school.

"It's my own fault," she said quietly. "Everything is."

That was the last thing I expected to hear. "What?"

"Never mind. This was a bad idea." She stood up, leaving most of her salad untouched.

"Avery?"

"If you seriously want to be my friend, the first thing you'll learn is not to ask certain questions because I won't answer."

"It sounds like you have no friends at all," I said gently. "Because even I can tell something's eating at you."

"I thought Rob might get me out of here, that's all. Thanks for dinner."

"Did it ever occur to you that you don't need a guy for that? You're more than smart enough to go on your own."

"Spoken like someone who has no idea."

"Did Rob?" I asked.

She shook her head, already turning for the door. "Are you kidding? No. It was always easier to focus on his faults than mine. Tell him I'm sorry, by the way. And...I hope you guys can make it work." With that, she was gone.

Confused as h.e.l.l, I ate my pancakes in silence. A few minutes later, the waitress brought the check, wearing a conspiratorial look. "Dinner with Avery Jacobs? Did you lose a bet?"

Huh. G.o.d, if people talked about me that way all over town, I'd probably turn into exactly what they expected of me-a giant, snarling b.i.t.c.h. My brows went down. "Do you talk about all of your customers like this?"

She flushed. "Sorry. Let me get your change."

After she brought it, I hurried out to the truck, where I remembered I had no milk. Belatedly I texted my mom back: sorry, something came up.

Rob?

Wow. Where the h.e.l.l did she find that emoticon? I tilted my head, both revolted and impressed.

We are not having this conversation.

It took some finesse to start the truck in this weather, but I got it running, then I called Rob. "Do you mind if I come by tonight?"

"Please. I miss you." The simple words took the sting out of the rest of the day, long and confusing as it had been.

We needed to talk about so many things, but right now, Avery seemed the most pressing. I drove carefully from the pancake house out to his place. The trees overhead made it extracreepy, and I heaved a long sigh when I parked outside his house. Before I could get out, the garage opened, and Rob waved me in. Since the s.p.a.ce was clean, I didn't hit anything.

G.o.d, he was sweet. He gathered me close as soon as I hopped out. I could've stood in his arms forever, but the cold air made me shiver.

"You know you don't need to call, right? You can come over anytime you want."

"Yeah?"

Ignoring the rhetorical question, he shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it over the top of my head, then led us toward the front door. "Go inside. I'll close up out here."

As ever, the house was warm and inviting. First off, I noticed how gorgeous the dining room looked. He'd painted the walls according to sample cards I'd picked out, a sunny hue that complemented the natural wood. Now he had a table in place, and I recognized his handiwork in the craftsmanship. If I knew him at all, his home would end up like a showroom full of samples that people could admire and covet, just as I had with his bed.

You're smarter than anyone gives you credit for. Even you.

"Beautiful," I said as he closed the door behind me.

"I was just thinking that." Only I could tell he wasn't talking about the room.

I fought a blush. When I turned, getting my first good look at him, I stumbled in shock. "What happened?"

"Oh, this?" Sheepish, he touched a hand to his split and swollen lip. "Avery came by earlier. I thought she wanted to talk, but she popped me in the mouth and stomped off."

"Wow. Well, I don't think you'll have any problems with her in the future."

Alarmed amus.e.m.e.nt flickered in his expression. "You didn't kill her, did you?"

Quietly I summed up the encounter, and he touched my cheek gently, tilting my face toward the light. "G.o.d, I'm sorry she went off. Our breakup wasn't your fault."

"I wasn't sorry about it, and I didn't exactly wait the usual cooling-off period before I was making out with you in public."

"You're exaggerating that kiss," he chided.

"I'm not. You don't even know how long I waited for it."

"Since I just finished The Fallen Throne, I think I do."

Oh, G.o.d. "You kept reading that?"

"Every word. It's my favorite book now."

The quip nearly popped out-how many books have you read? Meant as self-deprecation, but that wasn't how Rob would take it. So I swallowed the urge to take refuge in humor as a defense mechanism. With him, it was worth some discomfort to meet my emotions head-on.