27 Truths: Ava's story (The Truth About Love Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

I don’t see Luke’s truck, but he will be there.
    “Damn,” Logan sighs.
    “It’s cookie time, Loggie,” I joke.
    “Remember, Santa loves snickerdoodles,” Dad says, looking at me in the mirror.
    I shake my head. “He likes cut-outs.”
    “Not anymore,” Dad says as he parks the SUV. “He likes snickerdoodles.”
    When we walk through the front door, we are greeted by the noise that surrounds the Ross family—laughter, talking, some music in the background—and it hits me. These people have always been my family.
    Logan shrugs off his coat and hangs it up on one of the twenty or so hooks lining the wall of the back entry then helps me with mine.
    “I raised a man.” Dad pats him on the back.
    “And a princess.” Logan nods at me.
    “Ha, ha.” I smile and nudge him with my elbow.
    When we walk into the expansive kitchen, Jade, Luke’s mother, is the first person to see us.
    “Ava!” She is the first of many to hug me, and I hug her back.
    “You’ve done something different,” she says, looking me up and down.
    I shake my head. “No, nothing.”
    “Hey, Ava,” London, Harper’s seventeen-year-old sister-in-law hugs me.
    “Damn, girl,” I gasp. “You look different. More grown up.”
    She grins. “I graduate this spring.”
    “Braces are off,” I comment.
    “Thank God.” She groans.
    After hugging Tessa, Harper, and Maddox, I try to hug their daughter Piper, who apparently is going through a Mommy stage and wouldn’t let me. Then I hug Maddox’s parents, Tessa’s parents, and then Tessa’s brothers and sisters.
    Tessa wraps an apron around me. “You ready to get down to cookie business?”
    “Sure am,” I tell her, pulling my hair free from the apron strap and tying it up in a bun on top of my head.
    Everyone is chatting, laughing, and drinking homemade wine. Christmas music plays in the background as we roll dough, cutting cookies into Christmas tree, snowman, Santa Claus, and star shapes.
    “Harper, where is everyone?” I ask quietly.
    “You missed most of them. Liam, Remington, Jackson, and …” She pauses.
    I smile. “And …?”
    “Luke. They all had dates.”
    I smile back as I feel my spirit being crushed and my heart breaking. “Well, good for them.”
    “Good for who?” Jade asks as she reaches for the wooden rolling pin.
    “The boys and their dates,” I answer.
    Jade looks at me and shrugs. “I suppose it’s time they all started thinking about their futures. Hopefully, Luke will find someone who keeps his butt here. He says he’s reenlisting again.”
    His sister Riley groans. “I don’t get it. Hasn’t he sacrificed enough?”
    “Some people are born to be soldiers,” Jade says sadly. “I just wish he’d stop volunteering to go to war.”
    “I just wish he’d stay away from that skank. God, how long has it been? How many times has she been married?” Luke’s youngest sister Lauren chimes in.
    Every one of them looks alike: black hair and blue eyes. But Luke is taller, bigger, and less talkative.
    “Twice,” Jade and Riley say at the same time then laugh.
    I hold it together for an hour before I tell them all I’m exhausted. Dad immediately feels my forehead like I’m five years old, and Tessa smiles when she sees him doing it.
    For some reason, I take comfort in their exchange. Their love is timeless.
    ***
    I lie in my childhood bedroom with my head at the foot of the bed so I can look out the window and see when Luke returns. If he returns. God, my stomach hurts. I feel physically sick knowing he’s out with that bitch Alexis.
    I try to remind myself that he loves me. I know he does. Then I wonder if someone told him about me and T, the drummer for Harper’s husband Maddox’s band. We never slept together, just kissed, talked, laughed, and spooned.
    I decide that he’s probably trying to prove a point to me. I decided he is trying to make me jealous. I decide I understand. And I decide, when I tell him I love him and he tells me he loves