And I would be—if Landon had been honest with me from the beginning.
“Like I told you Friday night,” Ava says, walking toward me. “I’m really sorry I lied to you. Liam didn’t want me to be involved because he knew it would put me in an awkward position. That, and he knows I’m a crappy liar.”
A laugh bubbles up inside me. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I would make an equally crappy lie detector. I guess that’s just another gene I never inherited from my grandfather.” Can’t say I’m too sorry about that.
Despite everything, it feels good to be able to talk to Ava. She’s the only friend I have who I can discuss my family with. My real family, not the fictitious one I tend to mention when asked.
“You’re not by any chance here to tell me I should forgive Landon for lying to me, are you?”
Ava snorts a laugh. “Definitely not. You have every right to be pissed at him. He should have been honest with you to begin with.” Her face softens. “While Landon and I might not have known each other in college like I told you we had, I have known him for several years. And the Landon I know doesn’t generally lie, unless it has to do with his job. That’s just the nature of what my husband and his team do.”
Ava and I hug and it feels like a billion pounds have been knocked off my shoulders.
“So what’s going on between you and that dreamy boyfriend of yours?” Kiera asks, entering the classroom as Ava and I step away from each other.
“What do you mean?”
Don’t look at his classroom. Don’t look at his…
Oops. So much for that plan. I did a much better job not looking that way while I was talking to Ava about him.
Kiera tilts her head to the side as if trying to get a good read on me. “Usually, you two are inseparable. Today you were doing everything in your power to avoid him. Not to mention you remind me of an ant who’s been dropped in a bucket and desperately wants to climb out.”
Yep, that pretty much sums it up.
She looks at Ava for confirmation.
Ava shifts on her feet, suddenly looking like that ant too. “I should probably get back to my class and double-check everything’s okay.” She can’t get out of the room fast enough, and I do my best not to laugh.
“I realized that we were rushing things and…” I say to Kiera, “and maybe dating a colleague isn’t a good idea.”
Sounds like a reasonable explanation.
Too bad Kiera doesn’t buy it. “This doesn’t have anything to do with your abandonment issues, does it?”
“I don’t have abandonment issues.” I pick up the picture book left on Anton’s desk and leaf through it. I’ve always loved this illustrator’s work. It’s similar to my style, but also very different.
“So you’re saying that after what happened with your fathers and ex-boyfriend, you’re not scared that the next guy will do the same thing? That’s why you’ve been avoiding dating until recently when you met Landon, isn’t it?”
The brush strokes look so real, you would never guess it was done on the computer.
“Chloe?”
I let out a hard breath and walk to the bookshelf in the reading corner.
“Like I said, I don’t have abandonment issues.” Not anymore, at least.
Now I have the-boogeyman-will-kill-any-man-I-love issues.
You know, the same issues every red-blooded American woman has.
Or not.
“Right. And the next thing you’re going to tell me is that your eyes are bloodshot due to allergies.”
“You never know. I could be allergic to…um…Christmas trees.”
Smooth, Chloe. I mentally roll my eyes.
