To My Future Cheating Husband

LXVIII. Some words are better left unsaid

Ava's POV:

I scoff.

"Love Eli?" I wave off her nonsense. "I mean, I like Eli. He's a good guy, but love?" I shake my head. "No."

Winnie stares at me.

"No!"

She tilts her head slightly and lifts an eyebrow.

I stood up, "I don't feel that way towards Eli."

She wiggles her eyebrows.

"Winnie. I may look young, but I'm way too old for him." I clapped and pointed at her, "That's it! That's why I didn't sleep with him. It's weird. It's weird!"

Her lip tilts upward lightly, "You're getting pretty defensive for someone who isn't in love."

"Look-" I straightened my arms to get her to listen, "I was in a fuck up marriage for years, and then, I ran into this sweet boy. So, can you blame me for being stupid?"

She raises her palms, "I didn't say anything about being stupid."

I place my hand against my head and walk from one side to the other side. "You get what I'm saying, right?"

"Um- sure." She throws a jelly bean into her mouth. "You're not ready."

"Yeah."

Winnie sets the bowl on the table. "Chill, Ava. I understand." She gets up and places her hands on my shoulders. "I understand." It's not what she said, it's how she said it that gets on my nerve.

The doorbell rings.

I smacked Winnie's hands off and made my way towards the sound. With one eye out the peephole, I saw a familiar young man. Steadily, my feet move back.

"Who is-"

Quickly, I shush Winnie.

"What?" Winne whispers. She walks towards the door and peeps through the hole. Her eyes widen as she looks at me. She points at the door.

I grab her wrist and drag her to the other room.

The doorbell rings.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" Winnie asked.

"Um- no."

"What?"

"I need you to tell him I'm not here."

"Pardon?"

"I need you to tell him I'm not here," I emphasize.

"How am I supposed to convince him that?"

"I don't know!" I pushed her to the front door.

I peek through the cracks and watch as Winnie opens the front door. "Hello."

"Hey, Winnie."

Eli's voice - raspy.

"How may I help you?" Winnie asked.

"Is Trev around?"

Strained.

"Trevon?" Winnie tilted her head.

"Yeah. I'm supposed to meet him."

Breathy.

"I don't think he's here," Winnie responded.

"Mind if I come in and wait for him?"

Is it puberty?

"Um- sure."

Footsteps filled the room, and I cleared my sight. Maybe it's because I'm crouched on the ground, but Eli looks a bit taller. I watched as Eli kicked off his shoes, and with one hand in his pocket, he ran the other one up his neck.