I watched him in high school. Knew his reputation. Knew he was wealthy, privileged, and mean.

He ran the show back then, a partier and a player.

Then he came back from college, back to the town I never left. He's different now.

He comes into the bar, and I know his routine.

I know which stool he'll pick.

I know his favorite drink. I know which sports team he'll want on the television screen.

And I watch as he gets hit on.

Sometimes he leaves the bar with a woman. Sometimes he doesn't.

But I'm always there, tending to his drinks. He gives me a smile and a polite nod back.

Then one night, after a long appraising stare, he asked, "Ava, why are you single?"

I leaned in, told him a lie, knowing the truth.

What I didn't know was that my world was about to shatter after that night.

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?

** A 42k novella written as a standalone from two characters in the Fallen Crest/Roussou universe.