AVA POV(⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠ ⁠)

“THE EXPERIMENT IS A FAILURE, BUT AT LEAST IT’S OVER.” I SUCKED DOWNthe rest of my cranberry vodka. I’d nursed it for so long all the ice had meltedand it tasted like fruity water. “Thank God.”“Too bad.” Bridget looked disappointed. “I was looking forward to seeingAlex lose his cool.”“He still can. The experiment isn’t over yet.” Jules wagged her finger inthe air.Unease crawled down my neck. “Yes, it is. We decided on four phases:sadness, disgust, happiness, and fear.”“There are five phases.” Jules’s hazel eyes sparkled with mischief. “Thelast is jealousy, or did you forget?”“I never agreed to that!”We were at The Crypt, Thayer’s most popular off-campus bar, for onelast hurrah before classes started Monday. Students had started trickling back,and the bar was way more packed than earlier this summer.“But it’s the best one,” Jules argued. “Don’t—”“Ava.”I stiffened at the sound of my name said in that voice. The voice that usedto whisper to me at night and tell me it—he—loved me. The voice I hadn’theard in two months, not since he showed up outside the gallery one day inJuly and demanded I speak with him.I tilted my head until hazel eyes clashed with my dark brown ones.Liam towered over me, handsome and preppy as ever in a navy-blue poloand khakis. He’d cut his hair, the blond strands no longer the mess of softcurls I’d loved running my fingers through, but shorter, closer-cropped to hisskull.My peripheral vision revealed my friends’ reactions to his unexpectedappearance in one sweep: nervousness on Stella’s face, trepidation onBridget’s, anger on Jules’s.“What are you doing here?” I told myself I didn’t need to be scared. Wewere in public, sitting smack dab in the middle of a crowded bar. I wassurrounded by my friends and Booth, who eyed Liam like he’d like todropkick the guy.I was safe.Still, my skin tingled with unease. I thought Liam had given up his questto win me back, but here he was, looking at me like nothing had changed.Like I hadn’t caught him with his pants down and buried inside a strangeblonde the night he’d claimed to have a “fever.” I’d dropped by his apartmenthoping to surprise him with chicken soup and ended up being the onesurprised instead.“Can we talk?”“I’m busy.” I could smell the alcohol on his breath, and I wasn’tinterested in talking to a sober Liam, much less a drunk one.“Ava, please.”“She said she’s busy, asshole,” Jules snapped.Liam glared at her. They’d never gotten along. “I don’t rememberspeaking to you,” he sneered.“See if you remember when I stick my—”“Five minutes.” I stood, my shoulders stiff.“What—”“Ava—”“Are you sure—”My friends all spoke at once.I nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be back in five, okay? If I’m not—” I glared atLiam. “You can come looking for me with torches and pitchforks.” He’dhover all night unless I spoke with him, and I’d rather get it over with.“I have more than torches and pitchforks,” Booth growled.Liam flinched.I followed him outside the bar and crossed my arms over my chest.“Make it quick.”“I want you to give me another chance.”“I’ve already told you a thousand times—no.”Frustration bled into his face. “Babe, it’s been months. What do you wantme to do, fall to my knees and beg? Haven’t you punished me enough?”“It’s not about punishment.” For someone who’d graduated *** laude,Liam couldn’t seem to grasp such a simple concept. “It’s about the fact thatyou cheated on me. I don’t care how long it’s been or how sorry you are.Cheating is unacceptable, and we are not getting back together. Ever.”The frustration morphed into anger. “Why? You got a new man?” hegrowled. “You have new **** and you don’t need me anymore, is that it? Inever knew you were such a ****.”“Fuck you.” My heart pumped fast. Liam had never said such nastythings to me. Ever. “Your five minutes are up. This conversation is over.”I tried to leave, but he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back. It was thefirst time he’d laid a hand on me out of anger.My heart was racing triple-speed now, but I forced myself to remaincalm. “Get your hands off me,” I hissed. “Or you’ll regret it.”“Who is he?” Liam’s eyes were wild, and I realized with a sinkingstomach that he was not only drunk but high. A dangerous combination. “Tellme!”“There is no other guy, and even if there were, it’s none of yourbusiness!” I wished I’d brought my pepper spray. Since I hadn’t, I settled forthe next best thing: kneeing him in the balls. Hard.Liam released his hold on me and doubled over in pain. “You *****,” hewheezed. “You—”I didn’t wait to hear what he said next. I fled back to the safety of the bar,my pulse roaring in my ears.I can’t believe that happened. Liam had never acted so out of control.He’d been persistent and kind of douchey, but he’d never physically hurt me.By the time I told my friends what happened and they ran outside toconfront Liam over my protests, he was gone, but my queasiness remained.You think you know someone until something happens that proves younever really knew them at all.

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