“I have been,” I admit, resting my palm against the middle of my chest. “If something sparks in here when I’m working on a new composition, I know it’s a winner.”
Smoothing a hand over the front of her white blouse, she smiles. “It’s not the same, but when I see Sean, I feel a spark in my chest too.”
I step closer to her. “I’m glad you found each other, Callie.”
“Me too,” she says. “I hope you find what we have, Ava. It’s the very best feeling in the world.”
I move to embrace her. “I will one day, but that’s years away. I have a lot of life to live before then.”
I’ve spent most of the day working on my new composition. It’s flowing easily, and as I’ve sat at the piano and worked my way through the ideas sifting through my head, I kept glancing up to see the plants that Callie dropped off yesterday.
Sean showed up two hours after she left last night with Italian food and the framed print of the playground.
We ate at my dining table and reminisced about the days we spent at the playground before he hung the print on a nail left by the last tenant. It’s not in the exact center of the wall, but it’s perfect in my eyes.
I sigh when I hear my phone chime again.
It’s been interrupting me all day with messages from friends back in London and a couple of random text messages from my dad about starfish and moonshine. He found a starfish in a gift shop near the beach in Orlando. He snapped a picture of it for me and sent it along with a message about our first trip to the coast when I was a kid.
The second message was about how the man living in the condo next door to my parents’ home offered him a shot of moonshine. I laughed as I read it because my dad can’t handle even a drop of alcohol.
Expecting another text from my dad, my breath catches when I see the name on my phone’s screen. I read the message quickly.
Harrison: Are you home? I have something for you.
I’ve been daydreaming about something of his for days now, but I need to file that under ‘never-going-to-see-that’ in my mind because his naked body will always be out of sight for me.
I take all of one second to contemplate whether to tell him I’m home or not.
Ava: I’m home. Is that something a surprise?
I jump off the piano bench to stretch my legs. Looking down, I realize I’m still wearing only my panties and the T-shirt I put on after I showered this morning.
I take off toward my bedroom to slip on a pair of jeans and a short sleeve blue sweater.
Just as I finish running a brush through my hair, my phone chimes again. I scoop it up from where I tossed it on the bed.
Harrison: A big surprise.
If he were anyone but Sean’s best friend, I’d ask if that big surprise is his cock, but Harry won’t play that game with me. That’s partially my fault because the day after my birthday, I agreed with him that we could never put ourselves in a compromising position again.
The more time I spend with him, the more I wish I could have a do-over on that decision.
I respond to his text with a message that I hope will bring a smile to his face.
Ava: Give me a hint.
While I wait for his response, I reconsider my hair. I let it dry on its own, so it’s wavy. Normally, I’d embrace that by touching up the waves with a curling iron, but I opt instead to twist my hair into a messy bun at the base of my neck. Then I apply a coat of mascara to my already-long lashes and a touch of powder on my forehead and nose.
My phone steals my attention away again, but this time it’s ringing. Harrison’s name appears on the screen.
Sucking in a deep breath, I connect the call with a push of my finger. “Hey!”
“I’m in front of your building, London,” he says in that deep, way-too-alluring voice. “Let me up.”
I hang up immediately and press the button on my phone to trigger the lock on the building’s front door to open.
I wasn’t expecting to see him today, but I can’t turn him away. He’s Sean’s friend, after all, and in some way, I think he’s slowly becoming mine too.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Harrison
I work to hold my jaw in place because fuck me, Ava is so goddamn gorgeous that my mouth is about to fall open.
I thought red was her color, but this sweater that is the same hue as her eyes is stunning on her.
She’s a vision after the hellish day I had.
It was so fucking stressful that I clocked out at four, went home, worked out, showered, and cooked.