Free Touch & Go by Mira Lyn Kelly Page B

all the reasons why he’d never risk what he had with Ava by getting greedy and trying to turn it into something more.
    For crying out loud, if Jasper couldn’t do it—and the guy had had a pretty exemplary record as a boyfriend prior, complete with multiple long-term relationships and not even a hint of commitment aversion—Sam didn’t even want to think about how bad a guy with his own track record could fuck up. So, he didn’t cheat, but it was pretty easy not to dick around when most of his relationships could be counted in hours, with the few standout exceptions stretching into weeks. Okay, he’d gotten pretty serious about Shannon at the end of high school, but hell, he’d learned his lesson with her.
    His empty bottle hit the bar.
    Yeah, Sam wanted more of what Ava had given him. But he wouldn’t risk what they had to get it. And if it took some time before he was able to look at her without seeing something he wasn’t going to get again? So be it. They had all the time in the world.
    —
    There was something different about the way Sam was looking at her tonight. It was in that extra instant their eyes held. In the single beat when his gaze dropped to her mouth, lower, before flicking back up to where it belonged and then away. And each time
different
reared its ugly head, all the parts of Ava working in concert to protect her from a hope that could break her—well, they got all warm and tingly and distracted from the task they’d been dedicated to for nearly two decades.
    Which was bad. Because deep in that most betraying, hopeful heart of hers…she knew
different
wasn’t what she hoped it would be. And yet she couldn’t resist the pull of it. Couldn’t be the one to look away first. She couldn’t stop her breath from catching every time she noticed his eyes moving over her lips.
    She wanted more.
    But for all the
different
she was getting off Sam, one thing was the same. He wasn’t doing anything about it, and she was getting more restless by the second.
    “Ava, you need to lay off the sauce,” Tony said, leaning an elbow on the bar so his body became a physical barrier between her and Sam, who’d turned away as soon as Tony slid between them.
    What she needed was to take the edge off.
    And her mind kept drifting back to the solution she’d stumbled upon while shopping for a sexy bachelorette party gift for Maggie. One wrong click and she’d found herself in the back end of a website with all kinds of edge-easing alternatives. Why hadn’t she just clicked “buy” instead of staring at the offerings with her mouth hanging open and her pulse in overdrive?
    “You might be right,” she conceded. It was probably true about the booze. She’d been sucking down longnecks like lemonade all evening, trying to numb something that had only managed to get a little achier than usual.
    “No ‘might’ about it, Ave. You’ve got an oddly available look about you. Even when you’re looking at me. Time to belly up to the water trough before I have to make Sam carry your pert ass home.”
    Ava nodded, and gratefully accepted the water Tony passed to her.
    Pouring the cool liquid back, she felt it evaporate on her tongue when Sam pushed back from the bar, stretching his arms out to the side and then rubbing his hands over the back of his head so the muscles of his shoulders, upper arms, chest, and back all got in on the action.
    He was hands down the hottest guy she’d ever seen.
    And this image of him would be the one she pulled to mind when she arrived home, powered up her PC, and ordered herself some relief to be delivered next-day air.

Chapter 11
    Pushing through the turnstile with hip-cracking speed, Ava rushed for the L exit and then hit North Damen at what she’d like to think was an inconspicuous clip. But even if it wasn’t, who the hell cared? The entire Wicker Park community could see her sprinting with her suit skirt riding up her thighs and her commute sneakers burning up the street, and