“Ma’am, are you okay?” he asked as he held out his calloused hand to help her up.
Everything in her body trembled. “Thank you,” Ava murmured as she dropped her hand in his and he slowly pulled her to her feet. Vaguely aware of her surroundings, Ava noticed the cameras pointed in her direction and shuddered. She didn’t understand why anyone would even bother taking her picture, other than for their own amusement at her complete lack of co-ordination. “I’ll be fine,” Ava repeated as she steadied herself and brushed her hands on her butt, trying to dislodge the dirt.
When he reached out and brushed her hair off her forehead, Ava felt herself rock backwards again on her heels, but the stranger caught her shoulders and held her still. “That’s quite an egg you have on your head, ma’am. You should probably sit for a minute.”
“Ava.”
“Excuse me?”
“Ava. My name is Ava, as opposed to ma’am.”
“Nice to meet you, Ava. I’m Scott. Now, let’s get you sitting down.”
Without waiting for Ava to object, he led her through the dispersing crowd and helped her onto the nearby park bench. When he turned and went to grab her purse, for the first time Ava got a good look at the helpful stranger. He wore worn, faded jeans that were tight in all the right places, a blue and white checked shirt, and brown boots. The once navy baseball cap couldn’t contain the black hair that curled out the back and the stubble on his chin made him look dark and dangerous, only to be contradicted by the caring, compassionate hazel eyes that gazed intensely at Ava as he handed back her purse.
“Thank you, Scott.”
“My pleasure, ma’am…I mean Ava. Now is there anything you need? Water? Sugar?”
“No, thank you. I’m fine. Just embarrassed.”
“Is there someone I can call? I mean, I heard you on the phone to your boyfriend but he seemed pretty bossy. If you’d rather not be here when he arrives…”
“No, no. It’s fine, really. Jake isn’t my boyfriend. More like an overprotective big brother. Speak of the devil—”
Ava locked eyes with Jake as he jogged towards her, the black jacket billowing behind him. “Geez, girl. You gave me a bloody heart attack. You okay? You look like shit!”
Ava heard Scott suck in his breath at Jake’s honest words. Ava had no doubt in her mind that she did, in fact, look like shit. She had a feeling though, that Scott was old school and he didn’t like women being spoken to like anything other than ladies. Ava watched as Jake and Scott sized each other up. They couldn’t have been more apart if they tried. Jake was the ultimate business man—suit, tie, expensive watch, where as Scott looked more like he’d just climbed off the tractor—jeans, boots, and the country charm oozing from his pores.
Forcing herself to her feet, Ava stepped between the two. “Scott, meet Jake. Jake, Scott.” She made the introductions quickly. Jake didn’t back down, so Ava continued. “Jake, Scott helped pick me up and got me over here. I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me.”
“You sure?”
“One hundred percent.”
“Okay then.”
“Okay.”
Turning to Scott, Ava stole another glance at his beautiful eyes before she had to force herself to blink normally. “Thank you so much for your help back there, Scott. Without you…well, I guess I’d still be on my butt. So thanks.”
With a crooked smile, Scott touched the tip of his hat, “You’re more than welcome, Ava. Now you take care.”
“I will. And thanks again.”
Scott walked away and barely a breath later, Ava had lost him. He’d blended into the crowd and vanished. Reaching out with trembling fingers, Ava touched the bump on the top of her forehead and wondered if she’d imagined Scott completely. He was the sort of man most women would dream about.
“Ava!” Jake’s voice brought her back to reality. Shaking her head, Ava dropped her hand and clutched her bag. “Are you sure you’re okay? I mean, I can take you to the hospital if you need to.”
“Please, Jake, I’m fine. No need to overreact.”
“Fine then. Let’s get you home.”
“Do I still have one?”
As soon as the words flew from Ava’s mouth, she realised how bitchy they sounded. That had never been her intention and she never wanted to guilt Jake into anything. It’s why she always insisted on paying a little more rent than they’d originally asked so they’d use an agency rather than have a private arrangement. It kept personal and professional separate. It’d worked too, right up until today when Jake had dropped his bombshell.
Wrapping one arm around her waist, Jake led her towards his illegally parked Mercedes and helped her into the front seat. “Ava, you’ll always have a home.”
Ava’s head sank. Jake was so reassuring in his words she knew he’d upend the world to keep her going. To make sure she had everything she needed, if she let him. This time she couldn’t. This time Ava had to save herself. She just needed a minute to figure out how to do it.
Jake slipped behind the wheel and navigated the streets like a pro. He knew which shortcuts to take, which roads didn’t have speed cameras, and how to avoid the school zones. Before she knew it, Jake had parked in a spot right out the front, leapt from the car, and was now standing there holding her door open.
As Ava trudged up the stairs, Jake at her heels, she wondered how much longer she’d be making this climb. Her apartment was being sold. She had to move from the only place that ever really felt like home. She had to find somewhere else to live. She had to pack. Falling through the door, Ava looked around and grunted. She didn’t want to pack her life into boxes.
“You okay, Ava?” Jake asked with a questioning look.
“Honestly, no. Everything is falling apart. I’m falling apart. It’s just all…fucked!” Ava ranted, instantly feeling better.
Jake walked into the kitchen, pulled open the freezer grabbed a long forgotten bottle of vodka, and poured Ava a healthy dose. “Down that!” he directed.
“Jake!” Ava snorted admonished. “It’s barely midday! I can’t start doing shots!”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere. Now drink!” Grimacing, Ava gulped down the shot, scrunching her face as it burnt down her throat. “Better?”
“No!” she coughed.
“Need another?”
“Fuck no!”
“Someone’s got a potty mouth on them today!”
“Okay, Jake. I’m drunk. I’m tired. And I have a huge lump on my head. I’m not having a great day. So if you just want to hit me with it, we can get it over with and this can officially become the worst day of my life.”
“Ava…”
“Tell me. How long ’til I’m homeless?”
“It’s not like that? And what do you mean homeless?”
“Exactly what I said. How long?”
“There’s no rush for you to leave, Ava. It’s not like we’re going to kick you out on your arse. But from what I hear, you already have a better offer.”
Pissed beyond comprehension, Ava pushed back from the bench, sending the chair toppling to the ground with a thump. She was about to explode. Unfortunately for Jake, if he stayed where he was, then he was more than likely going to be in the front row.
“Is…that…why…you’re…doing…this?” Ava seethed as she began pacing.
“Ava, no!”
“Fuck off, Jake. Seriously, just get out. Please go. I’ll be out by the end of next week. That work for you?”
“You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do. I’ll figure something out and hand the keys back next Friday. Then you can do what you want. Now please, I need a shower and some sleep. I’ll talk to you later.” Ava squeezed her eyes closed, willing herself not to cry. It was all too much and she needed a moment to herself to fall apart.
Ava watched as silently, Jake rose and shuffled towards the door. She could see he didn’t want to go, but was going to do as she’d asked. At least for now. “If you need anything, Ava, d
on’t hesitate to call.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry, Ava. Don’t feel like you need to leave that quickly, though. You know how long these things take.”
The door snapped shut and Ava was alone with her pounding headache. She wished she hadn’t swallowed the shot, but it just seemed like the easiest thing to do to shut Jake up and the quickest way to make him go away. After washing down two aspirin, Ava grabbed a bag of frozen peas before she slumped on the lounge and dropped the bag on her head, closing her eyes willing away the rest of this day.
Chapter 41
Tyler
Crouched on his knees with a dustpan and brush, Tyler swept up his mess. It hadn’t been the smartest idea to put his fist through the wall, but at the time he couldn’t stop himself. After cleaning up, he washed his hands and poured himself a glass of icy water in an attempt to cool his raging temper. It wasn’t working. Nothing was. He was beyond pissed and angry.
After Ava had stormed out of the restaurant, Tyler had patiently waited for her to come back. When their meals arrived, he hoped she would too. For forty minutes Tyler sat at the table alone, feeling like a loser waiting and hoping as his anger built. He wasn’t angry at Ava. He had no right to be. He was the asshole in this situation and he knew it. That fact didn’t make it any easier to accept though. After tossing some cash on the table, not even bothering to wait for his change, Tyler got in his car and headed home. Checking his phone, Tyler prayed for a word from her. Even if it was just her bitching at him and telling him what an ass he’d been he would have been happy. Anything but silence. His phone hadn’t been silent. But it wasn’t Ava that was filling up his message bank.
Katie: WTF did you do now???
Jake: CALL ME!!!
Jake: Stop being a pussy!
If Tyler hadn’t already felt bad enough, their messages sank him. News obviously travelled fast and Ava was obviously more upset than he’d imagined if she’d already gone running to his sister and one of his best mates.
“Fuck it!” he swore, running his hands through his hair before replying to Katie. She was the safer option out of the two. With Jake, there was always the chance he’d show up just to punch him in the face, not that he didn’t deserve it, but right now, he couldn’t deal.
Tyler: Ava called??”
Katie: What??
Tyler: How’d you find out?
Katie didn’t reply with words. Instead she sent him a link to Twitter. Nervously, Tyler opened the link and waited for it to load, chewing on his nonexistent fingernails. Then there it was. Photos, comments, and a story about Ava. Tyler felt sick. Even though the images were dark and grainy, he knew what he was looking at.
“What is this?” Tyler boomed down the phone.
“I have no idea. That’s why I was asking you, Tyler. Is she okay?” Katie’s worried tone sent Tyler’s heartbeat sky rocketing.
“I…I…don’t know…” The admission tasted like acid on his tongue.
“What do you mean, you don’t know? What the fuck is going on, Tyler?”
Tyler told her everything. From his proposal to move in together right through to confessing to the dumb, hurtful things he’d said, Ava’s reaction, and his greatest fears.
“You really are such a boy sometimes, Tyler. Do you know how many pregnancy tests I’ve had in the past?”
“What! I didn’t know you were even trying!”
“We’re not! What I’m trying to tell you, little brother is, any time a woman is sick or something’s not quite right, that’s one of the first things they test for. It’s has the most symptoms and is the easiest to rule out. Also, it’s the one that dictates what else they can do. If you’re pregnant, you can’t take a bunch of pills and hope you get better. So they always test for that.”
“Shit!”
“Yeah, shit!”
Katie’s words floored him. It made sense. Of course it did. The problem was, in the heat of the moment, in the moment when it mattered, Tyler had failed. Spectacularly.
“Tyler, I’m your sister, so I’m going to put it out there…would it be really such a bad thing if Ava was pregnant?”
Dropping the phone, Tyler threw up everything that was in his stomach into the kitchen sink. He could hear Katie calling out to him from his abandoned phone but he couldn’t pick it up. He couldn’t talk to her right now. Splashing his face, Tyler rinsed his mouth before sliding down against the counter ’til he was splayed out on the tiles, his legs stretched out in front of him.
“Tyler!”
With shaky fingers, Tyler picked up his phone and pressed it to his ear. “I’m here.”
“Fuck! Are you all right? Seriously. I didn’t mean to freak you out, I just thought I should ask. Someone should. I mean, have you even considered it? Especially since—”
“I know, Katie. Fuck me, I know.” Clenching his jaw, Tyler felt the frustration consume his body. He was vibrating. “I have thought about it, more than I want to. I can’t stop thinking about it. You and I both know I can’t…so it can’t be mine.” The urge to vomit again came like a tidal wave. Jumping to his feet, Tyler bent over the counter and hung his head in the sink.
“You’re an idiot, Tyler, and you don’t deserve her,” Katie said sadly before Tyler heard the dial tone.
Pulling his head from the sink, Tyler yanked at his hair, irritating his scalp before taking his frustration out on the wall. Katie’s words haunted him as the tears streamed down his face. Ava hadn’t done a thing wrong. It was his own demons, his own insecurities, and his own fears that were destroying him from the inside out. And not just destroying him but destroying them. He needed those damn test results and he needed them yesterday. Had he have known the havoc he’d unleash on his own life, he would have found another way, a faster way to clear it all up.
Unable to stay still a moment longer, Tyler strode into his bedroom full of purpose and started tearing apart his wardrobe. If Ava was going to be moving in she needed more than a drawer or two. She needed half. After all, she already had his heart, what was half the closet?
With sweat pouring down his face and his shirt clinging to his chest, Tyler sighed. He should’ve done this months ago. His bedroom floor was buried under piles of clothes to be donated or tossed away when a relentless banging at his door started.
“I’m coming! I’m coming! Keep your pants on!’ he called out as he jumped over the piles and headed towards the door.
Slightly anxious of who was on the other side, Tyler cracked open the door only to be pushed backwards as Jake forced his way inside.
“Please tell me you’re not that fucking stupid, Tyler!” Jake spat as he made his presence felt.
Tyler stared at the man, barely recognising him. Jake’s face was flushed red, his tie askew, the sleeves of his white business shirt rolled up and his clenched fists hung at his side. But it was the menacing scowl that worried Tyler the most. Even though he had the height and weight advantage, he hoped it didn’t come to that. He wasn’t sure he’d win.
“Calm down, Jake,” Tyler tried. It was worth a shot.
“Don’t! Just don’t. Tyler, what the fuck did you do? I just picked her up off the street and basically carried her home. Where the hell were you? Why weren’t you the one she called?”
Each word was like a punch to his gut. Tyler knew he should have been the one there to catch her. It’s what he’d promised her. What he’d promised Jake. Hell, it was what he wanted the world to know. “Because I was the jackass she was running from.”
“I warned you—”
“I know you did. And if you want to punch me in the face right now, I’m not going to stop you. I fucking deserve it.”
Tyler watched as his words sunk in and Jake deflated. Gone instantly was the bravado and ferocity, only to be replaced with pity. Jake slumped onto the nearest barstool. “Got any beer?”
Raising a quizzical eyebrow, Tyler opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles. “Aren’t you working this afternoon?”
/>
“Not anymore,” Jake deadpanned as he flipped the cap off and gulping down a long swig. “You’re joining me?”
“After the morning I’ve had…hell yeah.”
Flopping onto the other barstool they sat in silence as they sipped their beer. Too agitated to sit still, Tyler began peeling the label from the bottle only to swear under his breath when it ripped into tiny pieces of confetti.
When Jake finished his beer, he pushed the bottle away before turning to Tyler, “What a fucking mess. You should see the fucking lump on her head. Stupid woman wouldn’t even let me take her to the hospital to get it checked.”
“What!” Tyler jumped up so unexpectedly that he knocked his half-finished beer across the counter and sent the stool clattering to the floor.
Tyler watched as Jake assessed him. “You really don’t know what happened, do you? Fuck, Tyler! I thought you did. Ava passed out in the middle of the crowded street.” Tyler could hear his teeth grinding and the blood roaring through his body. “She’s okay.”
“You don’t know that,” Tyler spat aggressively as he started pacing.
“Yeah, Tyler, I do. She called me so I went and got her and took her home. She’s got some scrapes and bruises and an egg on her head the size of a golf ball, but she’s fine. She was getting in the shower when I left.”
“I should be there.”
“Then why aren’t you?”
Noticing the hole in the wall, Tyler had the compulsion to give it a twin. Jake was provoking him, deliberately or not, he was asking the exact same questions that Tyler was asking himself. Questions he didn’t have answers for. Or maybe, he had the answers but he wasn’t ready to admit it.
On Dry Land (Swimming Upstream #3) Page 21