I down my nip of whiskey, but Isaac’s remains untouched.
“Come on,” I say in a long drawl. “That deserves a drink.”
“Not necessarily,” Isaac responds. “I could think of far worse things than the woman I love only being with me.”
“It’s not that,” I reply. “It’s the fact I fucked her against the wall, in my childhood bedroom, without preparing her first. I hurt her.”
Even with the thick slur impeding my voice, I can’t miss the shaky rattle inhibiting my vocal cords. Although I’ve said I never wanted to have sex with a virgin before, I’m not upset Ava was a virgin. I’m angry that I hurt her.
Isaac peers into my eyes before he downs his nip.
“You think that’s bad, wait until you hear the rest,” I huff. “I announced her impurity to a room full of people that included both sets of our parents.”
Isaac leans over the bar and snags two full-sized glasses off a wire rack. Remaining quiet, he fills them to the very brim, emptying the three hundred dollar bottle of whiskey.
“Is that the reason you have busted knuckles?” he asks, returning his eyes to me.
I nod. “The guy she brought to my sister’s wedding is a fucking douche. I was already struggling to keep a rational head when they were dancing. So when the bartender told me he was bragging about taking Ava home topop her cherry, it fucking killed me. I didn’t want him to touch her. I hate the idea of anyone touching her. I want to be the only one who gets to touch her,” I slur as the heaviness on my chest turns lethal.
“Then be the only one,” Isaac says, making me realize I rambled some of my quiet thoughts out loud, instead of keeping them in my head.
“If she is truly the one girl you want, don’t wait. Because if you lose her, you’ll regret it every day of your life.”
Isaac lifts his glass of whiskey to his mouth and guzzles down a large portion of his serving. My brain signals for my hand to reach for my glass. But no matter how many times I stretch out my arm, my hand refuses to grasp the glass. Nothing Isaac said was shocking to me. Ava’s always been the only woman I’ve wanted. She will always be the only woman I’ll ever want. Our connection is so strong, it couldn’t even be broken with years of absence.
I just hope I can get her to forgive me.
Twenty-Three
Hugo
I shake my head when Hawke waves a beer in front of my face.
“I’m good,” I say, gesturing to the red plastic cup in my hand, half full of soda.
He places the bottle onto the table in front of me. “In case you change your mind,” he says, taking the seat next to me on the double-seater love swing in his backyard.
He takes a swig out of his beer. “So what’s the deal? I’ve never seen you turn down free beer before.”
My nose scrunches as I lift my shoulder into a shrug. “I learned the hard way that drinking makes you do stupid things.”
“Stupid things or people?” he asks, snickering.
I nudge him with my shoulder. “Do you need a reminder about the number of times I saved you from chewing your arm off in the morning? You have the worst pair of beer goggles I’ve ever seen a drunk man wear. When you’re drunk, you think Betty White is hot.”
Hawke chuckles a full-hearted laugh. “Come on, even if I wasn’t drunk, I'd tap that. She’s a silver fox.”
“Would have tapped that. Would HAVE,” he adds on when he catches my furious glare.
He smirks against the rim of his beer before taking another swig. “I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been transported to an alternative universe,” he says, leaning deeper into the chair.
“It’s the pregnancy hormones running through her body; you’ll soon adjust,” I jest.
He smiles. “I’m not talking about Jorgie. I’m talking about you and Ava.”
My heart freezes at the mention of Ava’s name, but thankfully, my outward appearance gives no indication to my heart’s betrayal. I haven’t seen Ava the past week, but don’t think that’s from a lack of trying. After leaving Isaac in the desolate bar, I hailed a cab and headed straight to our apartment building. I don’t know if Ava was inside her apartment, but she refused to open the door, even with me threatening to kick in it.
For a woman who gains the devotion of every man when she enters the room, when she wants to remain hidden, Ava becomes the invisible woman. I’ve stalked her apartment, her work place, and Jorgie’s house numerous times the past week, and I still haven’t seen her. All I want is the opportunity to apologize for my appalling behavior.
