Chapter 63

When I approached Baron and the children, they cheered and hollered at my arrival. I couldn’t help the wide smile that stretched my lips across my face.

“Ava,” Baron’s voice boomed over the cheering children. “What a pleasure seeing you here.”

I grinned back at him, “What game are you all playing today?”

Cherry, a little girl who was only about six years old, replied, “We’re playing ‘Horse’ with the basketball!”

“Well, can I play?” I looked between the gaggle of kids and Baron, making sure to look a little longer in Baron’s eyes as I asked for permission.

“Do you know the rules?” Baron challenged with a smirk.

“I do not.” I admitted with a laugh, and the children started trying to explain the rules all at once. They dragged me towards the basketball court, gripping tightly onto my clothes and prattling on about the rules to their ‘Horse’ game.

It seemed easy enough to understand, given a dozen small children shouted the rules at me in chaotic cries and squawks.

We all played together until Mrs. Hudson started calling the children in for lunch. I was losing terribly, not very good at shooting basketball, and had already been taken out of three games at the time I was there.

Baron was winning, obviously. He always made it to second place, and then he’d let one of the kids win officially. It was sweet of him. I smiled every time he pretended to miss the last shot and sulked away so disappointed. Only I saw, when his back was to the cheering children, the cheeky smile that graced his face.

The kids ran inside at Mrs. Hudson’s calls, leaving Baron and I out on the basketball court on our own.

“You seem better,” Baron commented once the children were all inside.

“What?” My head whipped around to look at him. He wasn’t looking at me, dribbling the basketball on the blacktop.

“When you got here earlier, you looked a little pale and upset.” He shrugged and looked at me. I mean, he really looked at me. Like he saw straight through every facade I’d ever put up.

It was a little chilly.

“I had a fight with Ethan, sort of,” I ran a hand through my hair, brushing the front pieces back away from my face.

“You two seem to fight a lot,” Baron gave me a pointed look, a million unsaid things drifting between our gazes. I tried to pretend it didn’t bother me how good he was at reading my emotions, reading my thoughts.

“We’ve been having some challenging situations since we first got married,” I admitted as carefully as I could. I didn’t want Baron to know the full truth about the circumstances of our relationship, it was far too embarrassing. I could tell him little bits and pieces about it, though.

“Since the beginning?” He dribbled the ball slower, using most of his concentration to focus on me.

“I guess,” I leaned against the brick wall of the school and crossed my arms over my chest. “I think he has feelings for someone else now, though.”

Baron walked over to me and used one arm to prop himself up against the wall so that he could look at me while we talked, “And you’re sure? It’s a bold claim and Ethan seems to care a lot about you.”

I looked at my feet, debating whether or not I should continue to confess to Baron. I liked him a lot. Maybe, after the divorce, I could try to see if there would ever be any feelings between us that were more than platonic.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I shook it from my head. There was no way I could replace Ethan so quickly, so callously. Baron was no Ethan, and that made him a good friend.

But, a friend was all he could be.

“I don’t know how I feel about Ethan - about anything.” I told him. It was scary to say out loud, scarier to tell another person.

“Do you love him?” Baron asked suddenly, his voice stern and his eyes met mine.

“I don’t know-” I stuttered out, the words catching on my tongue. I just told him I didn’t know.

“Have you ever loved him?” He clarified, placing a hand on my shoulder, his eyes boring into mine so intensely that I had to look away.

What was he trying to get me to say?

I stared at the pavement, observing the cracks that grass grew out of and the little ants that trailed along the sides of it. Anything to distract myself from Baron’s questions.

“Well?” He prodded again to get me to answer. I lifted my head to meet his gaze.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, a little frustrated. “I don’t know for sure. My mind is confusing.”

Baron nods his head as though he understands, though I highly doubted he completely did. He pushed himself away from the wall and moved so that he was standing right in front of me.

“You can divorce him,” He suggested. My eyes shot open wide. He said it as though he was suggesting a new restaurant or a movie I haven’t seen yet - like it was something casual, something easy.

I stared at him. That’s all I could do is stare.

Divorce was completely out of the question, especially considering we’d do that in less than a year, now, anyways. If I brought it up to Ethan, I didn’t think he’d take it well.

Plus, there was a little nagging voice in the back of my head that told me that I did love Ethan, that I could never leave him, and if there was an option I wouldn’t even leave him after the year was up.

Though, none of that was realistic. Not with Olivia in the picture, not with the contract.

“No,” I say sternly. “I would never divorce Ethan over silly doubts of my own.”

Baron shook his head, “I don’t understand you. If you’re unhappy, leave.”

I raised my eyebrows, glaring at him just enough to let him know I was unhappy with the way the conversation had turned.

He lifted his hands in surrender, then his expression morphed into a mischievous smirk.

“Well, let’s get your mind off him, then.” He threw the basketball in my direction and I barely caught it. It slapped against the palms of my hands, and I furrowed my brows.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“I’m going to teach you how to get good at ‘Horse’ because the way you played today was absolutely awful,” Baron chuckled as he led me back over to the blacktop. “You were always the first one out, now that’s just atrocious.”

“I tried my best!” I defended myself with a shocked laugh.

Baron grinned at me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me towards him so that he could show me the proper way to hold the ball when trying to make a basket.

He got behind me, pressing his hips against the bottom of my back, and whispered in my ear as he pointed up at the backboard of the hoop, showing me where to aim.

His hands drifted from my shoulders down to the dips of my waist. I was about to turn to tell him to back off so I could shoot, but when I looked over my shoulder the words died in my throat.

Ethan was standing a mere five feet away from the two of us. His expression was hard and cold. His eyes were dark and dangerous.

Ice shot up my spine.

“Ethan-” His name escaped my lips in a nervous gasp.