Aveke (Hardcover)

<p>I watched him in high school. Knew his reputation. Knew he was wealthy privileged and <em>mean</em>.</p><p>He ran the show back then a partier and a player.</p><p>Then he came back from college back to the town I never left. He's different now.</p><p>He comes into the bar and I know his routine.</p><p>I know which stool he'll pick.</p><p>I know his favorite drink. I know which sports team he'll want on the television screen.</p><p>And I watch as he gets hit on.</p><p>Sometimes he leaves the bar with a woman. Sometimes he doesn't.</p><p>But I'm always there tending to his drinks. He gives me a smile and a polite nod back.</p><p>Then one night after a long appraising stare he asked Ava why are you single?</p><p>I leaned in told him a lie knowing the truth.</p><p>What I didn't know was that my world was about to shatter after that night.</p><p><br></p><p>Something else I didn't know: would the man I watched all those years help put my heart back together... or smash it into pieces?</p>