I don’t take the bait. “Among other things.”
“Why are you being so secretive?”
“I’m not, am I?”
“Yes,” she scowls. She lets out a breath and her features soften. “If there was something going on between you and Leo, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah. But there’s not. We’re just…”
“I know, I know.” Liv rolls her eyes. “You’re just friends.”
“Yep. Just friends.” Technically. I think. Sort of.
“So he’s not the reason you broke up with Zander?”
I’ve been waiting all week for her to ask me this question. Honestly, I’m impressed it’s taken her this long, considering how suspicious she’s been of Leo since she met him. I get it. She needs someone to be the bad guy. Someone to blame for pulling me away from her and Zander and O-Chi. But the only thing Leo has done is show me what it feels like to be around a guy who respects me.
“I broke up with Zander because he was making me unhappy,” I assure Liv. “Not so I could be with Leo.”
She considers me a moment while I steadily meet her eyes.
“Okay.” She takes one last sip of her water. “It’s freezing in here. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Avery has putme in charge of the medicinal chocolate again, so on my way to her apartment, I stop by the little corner drugstore and pick up some M&M’s. I also grab a Ghirardelli bar, seventy-two percent cocoa, for anyone who might need the strong stuff, e.g., me.
Aaron and I show up at Avery’s at the same time and together we enter to find her and Leo deep in a game of chess. Aaron rips off his coat and sits down to watch, enthralled. I drop onto the sofa next to Leo and surf my phone.
“Not into chess?” Avery asks me.
“Nope. But anytime you all want your asses kicked in Scrabble, just let me know.”
A few minutes later, Avery smugly sings, “Checkmate.” I may not know much about chess, but I do know what that means—she’s about to win. And sure enough, she does.
“Good game,” Leo sighs as he flops back against the couch cushions. As usual, he did a number on his hair while he was thinking. My fingers itch to comb it back in place, but instead, I pat him on the knee and smile condescendingly. “Better luck next time.”
He fakes a growl and gets up to pour Aaron and me some of the mead he brought for a ritual offering.
“By the way,” Aaron says, taking a glass from Leo. “I have some news.”
Leo’s eyes double in size. “You got an interview?”
Avery squeals and orders Aaron to his feet for a hug.
“Anyone gonna fill me in?” I ask. Avery bounces on her toes and Leo bro-hugs Aaron, back-slaps and all. “Interview where?”
Avery answers, “At the Peabody.”
“ThePeabody, Peabody? In Baltimore?”
Aaron nods as he straightens his glasses and eases back into the squeaky desk chair. “I applied for a Master’s in computer music.”
“Get out of town! That’s fantastic!” I take my turn hugging him, although I don’t make him get up.
We toast his achievement, then keep drinking and talking while Avery clears the coffee table for our ritual.
“So, Betts—” She peers at me, side-eye. “Howareyou?”
