He glares at me, startled .
“Excuse me ?"
I heave myself from my barstool, trembling with rage. I know I need to keep my voice down or risk those two guys in khakis leaving Aden yet another bad Yelp review, but I have had quite enough of this. If patient begging won’t work, I’ll try convincing him another way .
“You heard me,” I hiss, pointing at him. “You’ve got a job to do, so do it! You’re supposed to have my back. And if you can’t do it with a good attitude for real, fake it ! ”
Snatching my purse off the counter, I stalk back out of the restaurant before I can say anything else. The hostess swerves out of my way, alarmed .
When I am back on the sidewalk, my anger dissipates like air being let out of a balloon. I’m suddenly tired, so tired. I don’t understand why everybody thinks it’s their right to fight with me .
Our families may have fallen out six years ago, but we’re about to have two brand-new family members in the immediate future, like it or not. It’s not the twins’ fault that all the adults are behaving like children .
I won’t stand for it, I decide. I am done trying to beg everyone for a little bit of support, walking around on eggshells, wishing everyone wasn’t angry at me. I’m done hiding in my apartment because I am the walking embodiment of everybody’s hurt feelings. I had nothing to do with this feud, and I’m done feeling responsible for something that really had nothing to do with me at all .
Everybody’s going to have to get on board. All the adults are going to need to stifle their objections and give me the help and support I need right now. It shouldn’t be my job to coddle a bunch of other adults, especially the ones who aren’t currently growing tiny humans inside them .
I want to shout: Just grow the hell up and get on board !
Chapter 39
ETHAN
W hen I hear the elevator door slide open, I can’t help but smile. Now that Ava has a pass card for my condo, she can come up here anytime. All she has to do is touch the card to the reader in the elevator and she has access to everything. My condo, my private garage, and a bunch of other things she doesn’t even know about yet .
She could walk through my bottling plant in Malaysia, or a couple of very exclusive nightclubs in Seattle. There are three more houses along the Pacific coastline that the card unlocks, and two more office buildings. That card gets her free parking at half the garages in San Francisco. She doesn’t even know. I can’t wait to tell her .
It’s nice, having somebody with a sort of backdoor key for everything. Even if we never talk about it, I sort of like knowing it’s there. Of course, Perry and Ben have similar kinds of access cards. But it is not the same thing .
Only Ava. She’s the only woman who has ever gotten this close .
“Hi honey, I’m home!” she calls out playfully. I walk over to her, taking her hand and pulling her toward the patio. It’s an unseasonably warm night, and we can even see the stars. It’s perfect .
“Where are we going?” she asks, confused. “Ethan? Are you okay ?”
My heart is racing, and my core is trembling. I want everything to be perfect, and I don’t want to ruin it by opening my mouth too soon .
We reach the center of the patio, and she looks around, startled by the candles, the soft music playing through hidden speakers, the soft scent of eucalyptus wafting up from Golden Gate Park. I guide her to the center of the patio and drop to one knee in front of her, taking her hand in mine .
“Ethan? What are you doing ?”
Sliding the box from my pocket, I open it in front of her, grinning like some kind of idiot .
She scowls, clenching her jaw .
Not exactly what I was expecting .
“Ava,” I begin, my voice a little too loud,
“we’ve known each other for such a long time. Now at this new point in our life, I want to — ”
“Why are you doing this?” she whispers urgently .
I stop, awkwardly trying to remember where I was in my prepared speech .
“Now at this new point in our life …”
“Ethan!” she interrupts impatiently. She stuffs her hands under her armpits stubbornly. “Why are you doing this ? ”