Page 138 of Imperfect Love

“I don’t need you to placate me.”

Her voice is no longer warm.

“Avery—”

“No. I need some space.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means I need you to get out of my face.”

I panic, mainly because this is out of left field, and I have no idea how to deal with complications like this.

“I have no idea how to deal with that.”

She looks at me but with no warmth. Not even hatred. This is indifference.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this.”

“Doing what?”

She does look perplexed now.

“Fine. You need me out of your face. I need you out of mine. I’m going out.”

I don’t like personal confrontations. Isn’t that why I ended up here? How I ended up hiding out in a house with Avery?

“Jon, what’s going on?”

I pull in a deep breath. “You’re talking about breaking and entering, then you get pissed at me for not doing exactly what you want.”

“No. That’s not why I’m irritated with you.”

“And you want to break off things because I don’t agree with you.”

“I don’t want to break things off. It’s just that…sometimes I need space to think. I thought you would understand.”

I draw in a deep breath, the panic easing just a bit. I study her for a long moment and realize from her expression she truly is confused. She isn’t talking about breaking off our arrangement, whatever that is.

“I do understand that.”

She cocks her head and studies me for a long second. “You do?”

The skepticism in her voice sinks into me. I get it. We’re two of a kind in this situation. We might not have much in common, but we both need quiet sometimes.

I pull her into my arms. “Yeah, I do. I’m sorry, but I don’t want you to get hurt. Breaking and entering is the wrong thing to do.”

She blows out a sigh. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Also, I thought your grandmother wanted to see you today.”

She did, but I was going to avoid her.

“You know you can’t avoid her.”

I smile and lean down to kiss her. I mean to keep it sweet, but something about Avery always pulls me into a vortex. I can’t seem to control my emotions around her.

“Always, but I will be back, just so you know you aren’t getting rid of me.”

The smile she gives me worries me. It doesn’t light up her eyes. It isn’t even one of her evil smiles when I know she’s plotting something. But she has asked me for space, and I will give it to her.