Lahat ng Kabanata ng Pretend to be mine : Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

Avon only did this work when he was forced into it or had nothing else to do to keep him occupied, and Lucas knew it. “So I’m guessing from the look on your face that you didn’t go to San Francisco last weekend? Did you even try to fix it?” Avon kept his eyes on his computer and attempted to keep his voice level. “Leave it alone, Lucas.” Of course he’d thought about trying to fix it. But what was the point? Lucas stood up, thank God. “Fine, keep brooding. But you’d better have pulled yourself together by the time we go to San Francisco this weekend.” Avon head shot up. What the hell was he talking about? Why the hell would he be going to San Francisco? Lucas laughed. At, not with him, he was pretty sure. “The American Association of Pediatric Hospital Medicine Conference? We planned it, like, two months ago? We’re the only two junior peds from this hospital who get to go? We leave tomorrow?” Avon laid his head down on his desk, lifted it, and banged it back down. Luckily, th

“I’m growing to like elevators quite a bit,” she said as the doors opened for his floor.He fumbled in his pocket for the door key and realized two things. One: he wanted to pick her up and throw her on his bed again. Two: he really had to pee. Shit. He’d better make it quick.He pulled her inside the room.“Don’t move. Give me one second. I’ll be right back.” He flew into the bathroom and hoped that the look on her face hadn’t been irritation or—oh God—a change of heart. Maybe she’d remembered she was mad at him? That thought made him zip his pants quickly, in case he had to convince her to stay.When he opened the door, she wasn’t standing in the entryway where he’d left her. She hadn’t left, had she? He looked around the room and . . . holy shit.She was propped up against the pillows on the bed, wearing that leather jacket, those heels . . . and nothing else. He unbuckled his belt.“I thought I told you not to move?” he asked her as he approached the bed.She nodded, her fingers

Lucia and Nolan and their deputies huddled and came up with an acronym (Supporting Teens Through Arts Rehabilitation, or STAR, a name she and Nolan knew they’d be mocked about forever), a deadline (the city council meeting in July), and a schedule of community meetings to hopefully garner support. This all meant Lucia was at work until eight or nine the whole week, and spent a few more hours working at home on her couch every night. She probably would have worked a few hours less that week if she hadn’t been texting with Avon in between every meeting, but she couldn’t help it. His texts always made her smile, made her relax after tense moments, and sometimes made her blush. Him being so far away was starting to make her go crazy. Why couldn’t she drive straight to his house from one of her long workdays to get rid of some of her frustration in the best possible way? Why couldn’t she wake up with him in her bed in the mornings, so at least she’d have those five minutes befo

His irritation washed away when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He grinned at the text from her: a picture of a pile of doughnuts, arranged and stacked like a wedding cake.Look at what they had at the community meeting!He walked into the hallway to text her back.They obviously don’t know you that well. None of them have sprinkles.After two more texts, he gave up on the party and disappeared out the back door to get to his car. He called her before his car was out of park.“Hey!” she said, that warm sound of laughter in her voice. Was she laughing because of his texts, or was she out with other people?“Hey! How was the meeting?”He heard noise and chatter in the background. When she said a muffled, “Be right back,” the noise receded. So she was with other people.Not that she wasn’t allowed to go out when he wasn’t there, but he’d sort of pictured her sitting home on the couch missing him.“It went really well, I think! I hope we have lots of parents and teachers on our side. Get

Lucia took another sip of her wine and fought the urge to lay her head on his shoulder. Then she wondered why she was fighting it. She curled up against him, and he put his arm around her. “Yeah, so did I, but Sunday there was another meeting and it was . . . different.” He rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “That doesn’t sound good. What happened?” She attempted to not sound as defeatist as she felt as she told him everything. “Lucia , this is just one group of people. You don’t know that they represent everyone in the hills,” he said when she was done. “Plus, now you know exactly what you’re up against, and this will make you all the more prepared for battle.” She smiled, buoyed by his confidence in her. Maybe she should have called him on Sunday night. “I know, it’s just . . .” She took another sip of her wine and put her glass down on the table. She twisted her fingers together and didn’t look at him. “What is it? Tell me.” She finally looked up. He smiled at her, with s