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“She doesn’t exactly have the best track record, Ava.”
“You don’t know her.” She gives me a stern look.
“I know how she has treated people. I’ve seen it. She gave Lily shit for years.”
“So automatically, she’s guilty then?” she fires back. “She had absolutely nothing to gain by telling Logan, but I assure you, Lily definitely did. She knew what trouble it would cause, and she was hoping it would be enough to break us apart.”
“She’s never done anything like that before. She has never given me any reason not to trust her.”
“And Lyndsey has never given me any reason not to trust her. Just because she isn’t quiet and meek like Lily doesn’t mean she isn’t capable of being loyal to the people she cares about.”
I blow out a long breath. This conversation is getting off track, and at this point, it doesn’t matter who told Logan. He knows, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s for the best.
Taking Ava’s hand in mine, I give it a gentle squeeze. “I don’t want to fight with you, baby. He knows, and how he found out is irrelevant at this point.”
“I don’t want to fight with you either, but Lyndsey is my best friend, and she means a lot to me. I can’t help but defend her.”
“I know. But I can’t help but wonder sometimes why you are friends with those people.”
“Why?” She looks at me with a frown, and I shrug.
“You are so different from what they are. You have kindness and compassion that they seem to lack.”
“I know what they are,” she replies soberly. “I don’t like the way they treat people, but they weren’t always like this. When I first became friends with Lyndsey, she was very different from what she is now. She was kind and sweet to everyone, but when she turned ten, her father left, and everything changed. He walked out on her and her mother without saying goodbye and never returned. After that, she was never the same. She was angry all the time and started lashing out at people at school. I’m not trying to make excuses for her, but everyone deals with their demons differently, and as for everyone else, Well, they just follow her lead. Everyone but Eric and me. I know she comes across as harsh and ruthless, but there is a good side to her. When Blake died, I completely shut down—” Her voice drifts off while she stares out to the water, suddenly lost in her own thoughts as if reflecting back on that time.
I think back to those days in middle school when I would watch her standing among her friends looking so detached from everyone around her. I always wondered what was going through her mind during that time.
Giving her hand a reassuring squeeze seems to snap her out of her daze, and she continues, “I barely talked to anyone for weeks and would sit in my room staring at the wall. Lyndsey would come over and sit with me every day. She never pushed me to talk as she knew I needed to grieve and would sit with me for hours. Just having her there was a huge comfort. So was Logan’s. He was there through everything and would take me down to the lake some days, just to get me out of my room.”
Jealousy once again rears its ugly head at the mention of his name, but I stamp it out quickly. Now is not the time, and I really need to let that shit go.
As if sensing my tension, she turns to me with a knowing look. “I’m sorry I couldn’t answer your question about how I feel about him. The truth is I’ve been trying to figure it out myself. When I lost him, I didn’t just lose my boyfriend; I lost someone who was like family to me. He was familiar and comfortable but with you—” She pauses, looking at me intently. “With you, it’s so much more. You make me feel at peace but alive at the same time. There is comfort in your presence, but there is also passion and fire. What I feel for you is something I haven’t experienced before. I’m falling for you too, Mason, but I’m scared. When I lost Logan, I lost a friend. If I lose you, I feel like I will lose a part of myself that I won’t get back, and it scares the absolute shit out of me.”
My heart hammers in my chest as I take in her words. She has bared her soul to me, and it’s the most precious gift I’ve ever received. I rub my thumb over her knuckles. “You will never lose me. Never.”
I reach up and cup her cheek, turning her face to mine and placing my forehead against hers. “I love you, Ava.”
She sucks in a breath and starts to pull back, but I grip the back of her neck, holding her in place.
“You don’t have to say it back. In fact, I don’t want you to. Not until you are sure you mean it. Until then, I will wait. I just want you to know how I feel and that I will be right here, holding your hand every step of the way.”
She relaxes under my touch, and a drop of water hits my cheek, sliding down and running under my chin. More droplets fall, and I glance up to the sky, my eyelids blinking in reflex to the steady increase of raindrops descending from the darkness above.
Looking back to Ava, I press my lips to hers, and she kisses me back in an all-consuming kiss. We wrap our arms around each other as the weight of the rain starts to bear down on us.
Suddenly, the heavens open up, pelting us both with a heavy downpour, and we pull apart. “This is the second time we ended up wet on this dock.” Ava smiles.
Letting out a chuckle, I help her stand then take her hand as we make a mad dash to the house.
ChapterNineteen
AVA
We rip off our shoes and leave them outside, then quickly make our way through the door. My whole body hums as the warmth from the fire Mason lit earlier caresses my wet skin.
“I will grab some towels,” Mason says, tossing his glasses on the table and removing his shirt, throwing it on the floor with a slap.
Removing all of my clothes except my bra and panties, I head over to the fireplace to warm up.
