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“Now about this game—”
“Let’s just start out with seven seconds at a time and go from there?”
My voice was high and quick. I’d cut him off to set the rules. My heart was pounding against my chest.
“You really think seven is a good number to start with? That’ll be enough?”
No.
“Yes.”
He nodded and huffed out a smile. “I’m going to make you regret your rules.”
I hoped so.
The sound of the cabin door opening brings me back to the present. I look up and see we’re given the green light to exit the plane. I rise from my seat and shuffle forward. I’m starting to sweat. I need to get my checked bag, then head outside to meet Kova. Adrianna is about two weeks away from giving birth to a miracle child, and of course Xavier will be there to witness it. That’s where his thoughts probably are, and where mine should be too. But they’re not, and I’m stuck in a riff of emotions as I’m about to face my past yet again. I want to see him, but I don’t.
CHAPTER 2
Avery
I grab the handle of my luggage and lug it off the rotating table. It slams to the linoleum.
Between the lupus and kidney disease, the measures Adrianna had to take to conceive were extreme. But she was ever determined. Her pregnancy is considered high-risk. It hasn’t been easy on her, but thankfully she’s got a team of doctors monitoring her health. However, Adrianna has become increasingly panicked lately. She’s been on bed rest for the last few months and growing more antsy than ever. She keeps saying she’s not ready, but I know she is. I had to remind her that her fear is every new parent’s fear—that they won’t be prepared to handle a newborn. She’s scared, worried her maternal instincts won’t kick in and she’ll fail. We talk on the phone eighty-seven times a day, and on impulse I asked if I should fly out early. It was more so a joke until it wasn’t. I ended up booking a ticket that night, and two weeks later, here I am. Being my own boss has its advantages, like planning my schedule around Adrianna’s delivery.
My suitcase rolls behind me as I make my way to the double doors that lead outside. Kova should be waiting at the curb by now. I chew on my bottom lip, my eyes scattering around the arrivals area looking for Kova’s SUV. My brows scrunch when I don’t see his truck yet. He’s a stickler for timing. It’s unusual for him to be late.
I pull out my cell phone and see it’s still on airplane mode. I turn it off and a slew of messages and emails come through in seconds. A notification from Kova pops up. Opening the text message, I quickly read his stiff words. The hair on my arms stand tall.
Be there soon. Ria had a fall.
My heart drops. Immediately, I phone Adrianna.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I blurt into the phone before she can greet me.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she reassures me. “I wasn’t paying attention and tripped earlier. My balance was a little off. I busted my knee up pretty good when I went down. I hit my head. I have a headache, but I’m okay. Kova keeps checking me for symptoms he read about on the internet. He’s becoming neurotic, Ave.”
I grin into the phone. My shoulders sag. “As he should be. Are you really okay? Need me to bring you anything? What did you trip on?”
“My own feet. I broke my fall, but my head nicked the front of the love seat on the way down.”
A chuckle rolls off my lips. “How did you trip over your own feet? Belly in the way and you couldn’t see?”
She huffs under her breath like she’s aggravated with herself. “Looking at Kova,” she grumbles.
A real laugh escapes me this time. “What do you mean?”
“He’d just showered and came out of the bathroom naked. I was getting ready to leave our bedroom when I did a double take. I turned around to get a better look at him. I wasn’t paying attention because I was staring so hard and I tripped.”
All these years later, and Kova and Adrianna are still in the honeymoon phase.
“Let’s blame it on your out of whack hormones.” I smile. “When is my knight in shining armor coming to pick me up. I hope I don’t faint at the sight of him too.”
Adrianna laughs. “Well, you might faint, but it won’t be at the sight of Kova.”
A horn honks in the distance and the echo makes me jump. A set of tires screech. My brows furrow as I catch sight of a sports car zipping around the curve. It hangs close to the right lane then disappears behind a truck before cutting a car off to slide into the middle lane. That’s what I call “little dick energy.”
“Did Kova get a new car?” I ask, not seeing his still.
