Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

AVA

Gabriella made sure I knew as soon as she hired me that she was going to squeeze as many fancy dinners as she could into the wedding lead-up. She has a thing for them, carefully curated from an obsession with Bridgerton , both the novels and the TV series, and a healthy addiction to the Bachelor franchise. When I'm not the one planning, I fully support it.

Tonight's dinner is for the wedding party and their plus-ones. It's supposed to be a fun, laid-back thing (despite the formal dress code) where we all listen to the music for the wedding and approve a final playlist for the DJ. I won't have an actual plus-one for the wedding—I'll be too busy for a real date—but it's a nice excuse to invite Dalton to hang out. We've been texting back and forth the last week, but Dalton's hanging back. He's hinted we should get together but won't come right out and say it. And I don't blame him. Jett was always in the background of our friendship, in high school, in college—before and after the breakup—it makes sense that he'd be cautious, given that Jett is back in my life again. And considering what Dalton witnessed the night I found out I was allergic to avocados, he's probably not sure what to think of our relationship. All I know is that I doubt Jett and I will be able to be friends like I thought we could that night. Not if he thinks I'm trying to break him up with Hayden out of jealousy. Not if this heat between us keeps building. I feel like it's an all-or-nothing situation and Jett wants nothing.

Which my heart is finding difficult to accept, no matter how much I lecture it.

Tonight is also a chance for me to watch how Hayden behaves around Gabriella. If everything is chill, if they talk and can put what happened after college behind them, maybe I can trust that everything will be fine. I don't feel good about her, though, especially after she replied with a laughing emoji to a critical but polite comment on her latest post with the councilwoman. I try to believe that if I stay ahead of things, it won't be a repeat of what happened with Mrs. Page. I'll be able to nip this in the bud in time.

When I walk into Colby's dining room, I'm reminded of the last dinner I attended with Jett, and not just the uncomfortable conversation afterward. The way we kind of flirted as I set the table. Okay, maybe not flirted exactly, but the same easy, comfortable vibe from the night I was poisoned by an avocado. How close we felt when he asked me about the The Hope Sanctuary Alliance situation. If Gabriella hadn't come in, if the conversation about Hayden hadn't re-driven the wedge between us, it would have felt so nice to confide in him about that. Given how heatedly he reacted to learning about the online trolls calling into question my qualifications to plan Gabriella's wedding, I imagine he would have said the same things Gabriella has all this time. I imagine I might have actually believed him.

There were times at the picnic when simple friendship felt easier for us, but the electricity that danced between us was difficult to navigate around, at least for me. I don't know what to do with it, especially because I suspect Jett wants to ignore that it exists .

Or maybe it doesn't exist for him at all. Maybe it's just me.

Dalton hasn't arrived yet when Jett gets there with Hayden. Good heavens, they make just as striking a couple in person as they do in the photos Hayden's posted. Her dress is a simple knee-length number with a blouson top and draping dolman sleeves. It's black and stunning in a way that only an almost six-foot-tall woman can achieve. I have no idea what Jett thought when he saw her, but my breath catches, and I ogle her for longer than is probably proper. I'm worried about moving my gaze to Jett.

As I should be.

His suit is tailored so well that the man could be walking down a runway. It's jet black, like Hayden's goddess dress. His shirt is pristine, and his tie is blue and black. Go Pumas. He never wore suits like this back in college. He had one from high school that his mom had bought him for his older brother's wedding, but once Jett started training for college football, that one never fit quite right again.

He does not have that issue now.

If anyone's wondering, I ogle him far longer than I did Hayden. Definitely not proper.

And Jett catches me.

When that man smiles … How did I manage to leave him? It's like the sun itself is beaming around Colby's foyer. Jett slides his hand down into Hayden's—which dims the effect a little—and moves toward me.

Ever wonder how to make a five-eight woman in heels feel small? Have her stand next to Jett and Hayden.

"Ava?" Jett says when they approach. "This is Hayden Reid."

He has a smug tone, like he thinks I won't be able to help myself from liking this woman with her stunning dress and her delightful smile. And maybe I would have if I hadn't read the way she subtweeted a Houston councilman a couple of days ago. He supports a local school district's decision to vote down a book-banning measure, and Hayden tried to make her vague repost look sweet by adding a "bless his heart" in the mix. I know how Jett used to be about social media, and I doubt much has changed. His surprise that people were saying I only got the job planning Gabriella's wedding because I slept with him says he doesn't spend a lot of time on Instagram or other social media apps—I'm sure he hasn't seen that side of Hayden.

"Hayden, so great to meet you." I plaster on a smile and hold my hand out, and I'm not sure if I'm gratified by the way Jett's smile slips when he recognizes how fake mine is. "Ava Lemmon."

Hayden's smile is all sweetness as she takes my hand and puts her other hand over it. "The ex," she says with a cheerful but wicked gleam in her eyes.

Jett and I are surprised by this. It's not surprising she knows. She was tagged in the same viral photo Jett and I were, but it's bold of her to call it out like that. She laughs at both of our wide-eyed reactions.

"I'm sorry you got mixed up in that" is the only thing I can think of in response.

She shrugs. "I already knew about you." She turns to Jett and her smile widens. "I definitely did my homework before going out with you, honey." Her light Texas accent gets deeper as she says honey. It would be disarming if I didn't have years of experience with women just like her from my wedding and event planning. "Your social media feed is … light. A few scrolls backward and Ava was in all the pictures."

He grimaces, but the expression quickly disappears. He's been a lot more active on social media lately, especially in posting pictures of him and Hayden that have fans excited about a look into a little bit of his private life. And in the last week he's been reposting more of Hayden's pictures to his account.

If I weren't controlling my reactions with a death grip, I would have gasped at the pain that shot through my heart just thinking of the pictures of us that are so easily accessible. I haven't scrolled back that far .

And they're still there, according to Hayden.

As much as he's ignored me the last seven years, he didn't erase me.

"You caught me," I say with a light laugh of my own. I have no idea what to follow this with. I want to wonder why Hayden would throw this out there, but it's all over her interactions online. Taking people off guard with her sweet meanness. Is that a thing?

Movement behind her catches my attention, and blessedly, Dalton walks up to join us. He lays a hand on my back and leans in to kiss my cheek. "You good?" he asks in a low voice.

"Yeah," I whisper back, but I hope he sees the gratitude in my eyes when he pulls away, hand resting lightly on the small of my back.

Jett tenses.

"Hey, Jett," Dalton says, holding out his hand, smiling in that welcoming, cheerful way he always did. Dalton once told me back in high school that he knew I was all Jett's and there was no point in rising to a fight with him.

Jett shakes his hand, and he even smiles back, but his shoulders don't relax. "King," he greets him, just like when they played football together.

I turn to Dalton. Time to get us out of this weird situation. "Dalton, can you help me with something?"

"Of course." He lifts his hand in a wave. "Good to see you," he says to Jett. He nods at Hayden and follows me away.

"Is this a real something you need help with, or was that code for ‘Rescue me right now'?" he asks as we walk away. He drops his hand from my back, falling into step beside me.

"Rescue," I say. "For all of us. That was so awkward. Let's go stand by the table and pretend to inspect the place settings."

He laughs. "I'm sure that will be so convincing."

"I doubt Jett will call us on it. He wanted out of that as badly as we did." I glance over my shoulder to confirm my suspicions, but Jett's eyes are on me, even as he's facing Hayden, listening to whatever she's saying now. I quickly turn away. No more ogling. Look where that got me before.