Gavin finally pushes away from the wall to cross his arms in front of him and glare at me. “If we’re going to talk about pussies, how about we discuss the fact that you are in love with Ava but you’re too chicken shit to tell her.”

Drew stares at me with wide eyes, holding Duke up right in front of my face. “Oooooooh, burn!”

“I am NOT in love with Ava,” I scoff.

Right? I’m not in love with Ava. Why would I be in love with someone who doesn’t even like me?

“You’ve checked your phone fifteen times in the last half hour looking for a missed call or a text from her,” Gavin accuses.

“Dude! I just don’t want to miss out on drunk anal!” I argue. Drew pulls Duke away from me and scratches the top of his head with Duke’s fist. “Good call. Drunk anal is awesome.”

“She told Charlotte you guys talked about your dad and that she opened up to you about how much she hates her job. Ava doesn’t talk to people about shit like that unless she really trusts them and cares about them, and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t talk about your dad issues with just anyone,” Gavin says.

“Awwww, do you have daddy issues?” Drew asks with a laugh.

I punch him in the arm. “Fuck you, I don’t have daddy issues.”

“He found out his dad isn’t his real dad, and that his mom was a slut,” Gavin tells Drew.

“Ahhhh, I love sluts,” Drew muses.

“Why don’t you just admit that you’re in love with Ava?” Gavin questions, both of us ignoring Drew as he uses Duke to scratch his ass.

“Why don’t you use Duke to propose to Charlotte?” I fire back.

“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll use Duke in my proposal if you tell Ava you love her.”

The room is silent while Gavin and I stare each other down.

After a few seconds, I hold my hand out to him and he takes it. “Deal.”

Drew places Duke on top of our joined hands and wraps his free arm around Gavin’s shoulder.

Shit, what the f**k have I gotten myself into? I’m scared shitless to even think about the fact that I might be in love with Ava and now I have to come right out and tell her? I have to do it though. I have to get my feelings in check because it is absolutely imperative that Duke is a part of this proposal.

“This is the happiest day of Duke’s life!” Drew announces as he squeezes Gavin’s shoulder in excitement. “FISTING, FOR THE MOTHER FUCKING WIN!”

Duke – 1, Tyler - O

Chapter 21 – All the Feels

“Dude, get a camera.”

“Is this heaven? Did we die?”

“Seriously, get a f**king camera!”

Whispers from across the room bring me awake and I immediately regret opening my eyes when I’m hit with the bright morning light streaming in through the window.

I am never drinking again.

“Don’t make any sudden movements or they’ll scatter like wild animals,” I hear Tyler whisper.

Ignoring the pounding in my head, I squint and look down at myself.

“Why am I na**d?” I speak with a raspy, hung-over voice.

Feeling an arm tighten around my waist, I look over my shoulder, watching Charlotte yawn before opening her eyes and staring right at me.

“Are you na**d?” she asks in confusion, pulling back and looking between us. “Jesus Christ! Why am I na**d too?”

Scooting away from her, I finally notice we’re both curled up on the floor in between the couch and the coffee table. Empty bottles of beer and vodka are spread all around us, including one dead soldier of vanilla vodka shoved into the couch cushions. Memories of last night after we left the restaurant and came back here float through my mind. Charlotte, Rocco and I all got into a cab, stopped at a liquor store and then spent the rest of the night drinking ourselves into oblivion. Well, I was already there and by the state of undress between Charlotte and I, it looks like she followed very quickly. I have a vague recollection of Rocco telling us vaginas were gross and we felt the need to prove him wrong.

Where the f**k is Rocco?

“It’s like p**n and Christmas morning, all rolled into one,” Tyler whispers in wonder.

Charlotte, finally realizing where we are and that we’re not alone, screams so loud I have to cover my hands over my ears to stop my head from exploding.

“TYLER! Turn around! Turn around right now and stop staring at me!” she shouts, attempting to cover her boobs and crotch with her hands while she frantically yanks the couch cushions off and holds them in front of her.

“Jesus, could you guys keep it down? I’ve got the worst headache ever,” Rocco complains, stepping out of the kitchen, holding his hand against his head.

“OH MY GOD WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!” Tyler screams, covering his eyes. “I JUST SAW A GAY PENIS! MAKE IT GO AWAY, MAKE IT GO AWAY!”

Oh, that’s right. Rocco felt left out after Charlotte and I got na**d.

Rocco laughs and leans against the doorframe. “Honey, my penis is the same as yours.”

With his hands still shielding his eyes, Tyler shakes his head frantically back and forth. “FALSE! My penis prefers the pink and yours likes the stink. Put that thing away!”

Rocco sighs and goes in search of his pants.

Unlike my sister, I’m not one to shy away from nudity and I couldn’t care less who’s in this living room right now. I need water and aspirin STAT.

Pushing myself up from the floor, I work out the kinks in my neck resulting from a night spent on the floor and head towards the kitchen.

As I walk past Gavin and Tyler, Gavin averts his eyes from me and Tyler smacks him in the arm.

“I told you not to make any sudden movements. Now our chance of seeing real-life sister p**n is ruined and filled with g*y penis. RUINED!”

Gavin rushes over to Charlotte and helps her up from the floor and down the hall to their bedroom. While I rummage through their cupboards for a bottle of aspirin, Tyler comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.

“So, I was thinking-”

“No, Charlotte and I will not recreate that scene for you later tonight,” I interrupt him as I find the bottle, unscrew the top and shake three pills into my hand.

Tyler moves away from me, grabbing a glass from the counter and filling it up with cold tap water. He hands it to me and smiles. “Even though I believe you should seriously reconsider, I was actually going to suggest something else.”

I pop the pills in my mouth, grab the glass from his hand and chug the entire thing. He takes the empty glass from my hands, refills it and hands it back. My heart stutters as he reaches out and slides his hand down the top of my head before cupping my cheek.

“Ava, will you go on a date with me?” he asks softly as he stares into my eyes.

Everything that happened last night with Charlotte and Rocco comes rushing back - the missing shoe, shoveling pasta in my mouth with my hands and the fact that I can’t deny my feelings for Tyler any longer. Standing in the middle of my sister’s kitchen without a stitch of clothing on, I suddenly feel more na**d than I ever have in my entire life. I really do love this guy, as crazy as it sounds. I should tell him, I should just blurt it out like it’s no big deal so we can move on and this moment won’t be so uncomfortable anymore.

“A date? Are you serious?” I say instead.

Tyler nods, leaning in to place a kiss on my forehead. “Yep, a real date. I want to do something special with you, Ava. We can do whatever you want, as long as it’s just the two of us.”

I close my eyes as his lips leave my forehead and change my mind about blurting how I feel about him right now when I’m na**d and have the hangover from hell. I suddenly realize I want to do something special for him, as well, something to show him how I feel so that when I do finally get the courage to tell him, it will be extra special.

Leaning up on my tiptoes, I kiss his cheek. “I think that’s a great idea. Don’t make any plans for tonight around seven o’clock.”

Putting the finishing touches on the table, I stand back to admire my work. Not too shabby for someone who just learned how to cook today, if I do say so myself.

“Alright, the lasagna has about five minutes left to cook. When the timer goes off, take it out and let it sit on the counter for about another fifteen minutes before you cut into it,” Molly tells me as she comes out of our parent’s kitchen.

Thank God for my baby sister. Being in culinary school, she was able to stop by in between classes and help me whip up dinner since I’m pretty much clueless in the kitchen unless I’m baking dessert. Molly is majoring as a pastry chef, but she’s a genius with food no matter what she’s making. She also let me know that our parents are out of town for two days so that I could sneak over here and have a quiet night alone with Tyler without having to worry about Gavin or Charlotte interrupting us.

I turn around to thank her for her help and she’s already disappeared like the ninja she is. With a shake of my head, I look down at myself to make sure I didn’t get any food on my new dress. All of this – having a romantic date, cooking dinner for someone I love so I can tell him I love him – it’s all new to me, so obviously that required a new dress. Luckily, Nordstrom’s sent over a new Jessica Simpson black and white scallop lace tiered dress for me to blog about yesterday. Not cut nearly low enough and far from slutty, it isn’t a dress I would normally wear, but it’s perfect for tonight. It’s simple and elegant and I feel pretty. It’s nice to feel pretty once in a while, especially when you’re gearing up to pour your heart out to a guy and hoping he doesn’t laugh in your face.

The doorbell rings and I take a moment to give one last look at the beautifully set table, ensuring everything is in place. I rush to the door and open it to find Tyler standing there in black dress pants and a white button-down shirt. I’ve never seen him in anything but a t-shirt and jeans and this is a sight to behold. It takes me a full minute to recover the breath he’s stolen so I can speak, but he beats me to it.

“You take my breath away, Ava Gillmore.”

I giggle like a little girl and for once, I’m not even ashamed to admit it.

“You’re looking mighty fine yourself, Tyler Branson,” I tell him, holding the door open for him.

Closing the door behind him, I take a few slow breaths to try and calm my racing heart. I am so out of my element here. I should have asked Charlotte to stand outside in the shrubs next to an open window so she could feed me my lines all night.

When I turn around, he’s clutching a square box in his hands that has a big red bow on it.

“I figured flowers were a bit too tame for a woman with sex toys in her blood and the rubber fisting mitten is just better suited for a second date, so this will have to do,” he explains, holding the box out for me to take.

With a smile I can’t contain, I grab the box and untie the bow. Lifting the lid, my eyes widen in surprise and my jaw drops when I see what’s inside.

“I hope those are the right ones. I remember you saying you’d been trying to get them for months but they were sold out everywhere,” he tells me quickly, taking the box back and pulling out the most beautiful pair of shoes I’ve ever seen.

“Christian Louboutin black suede Strass Decorapumps with Swarovski crystals,” I mumble in awe as I reach out and lovingly pet the shoes Tyler holds in his hands. “How in the hell did you find these?”

I watch as he gets down on one knee and wraps his hand around my calf, lifting my foot up to his bent leg so he can remove the black patent leather Mary Janes I put on earlier. He slides the Louboutin on my foot and I suddenly feel like Cinderella. He does the same with my other foot and then stands back up to admire his work.

“Damn, your legs look f**king hot in those things,” he says with a whistle.

“Seriously, Tyler, how did you find these and how did you afford them?” I demand.

I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but these shoes were even out of my price range and I’m a shoe whore.

“You’d be surprised what the guys in the warehouse at work can get their hands on,” Tyler explains as I walk around the foyer, testing out my new shoes. “Bill knows a guy who knows a guy. I’m pretty sure they’re stolen and quite possibly have the previous owner’s blood on them, but I didn’t figure you’d mind. Felicia asked me if I wanted any meth and Rob told me he could get his hands on some whale sperm. I passed on the meth but I’m seriously considering the whale sperm.”

I don’t even bother to question the absurdity of the need for whale sperm, instead launching myself into Tyler’s arms and peppering his face with kisses.

“This is just…I don’t even know what to say. I love… these shoes. I love them so much it scares the hell out of me,” I tell him, completely chickening out.

I have the feels. I have all the f**king feels and I can’t say it!

He wraps his arms around me and smiles. “It’s okay, babe. My love for these shoes freaks me out a little bit, too. They are fantastic and totally hot shoes. I’ve grown really attached to the…shoes.”

Oh, my God. What is he saying? Is he feeling all the feels with me?

Before I can analyze his statement, he pulls back and grabs my hand. “It smells amazing in here, what’s for dinner?”

I can do this. I can totally do this. I’ll wow him with my delicious food and when he’s in a food coma, I’ll tell him that I love him.

Piece of cake.

Chapter 22 – No Kink? No Problem.

“I never meant to put him in an actual coma! Oh fuck, I killed him, didn’t I?!”