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“Ladies, I hate to cut out early, but I have a long day at work tomorrow,” I said.
“All work and no play makes Daddy a dull boy,” Terice said.
“Yeah, Daddy,” Hunter said, grinning.
I shot him a look as I stuffed my wallet back into my pocket.
“Ladies, it was wonderful meeting the two of you. Hunter, make sure they get home safely. And I don’t mean your home,” I said.
Then, without another word, I left.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on, Logan.”
I sighed as I stepped out onto the curb and braced for the stale swill of Manhattan air that kicked up underneath my nose.
“What?” I groaned.
“Why are you leaving?” Hunter asked.
“Because I want to.”
“Dude, that woman was ripe for the taking. She was completely into you. And I know you. If you wanted to stay out, you’d just go into work a little later. What’s really going on?”
“What’s really going on is that none of this feels right, Hunter!”
I raked my hand through my hair as a growl left my lips.
“That girl in there is only a sophomore in college, and you don’t give a shit! But I do, Hunter. I care that she’s only nineteen. I care about the fact that all she wants is sex. And do you know who else I care about?”
“Fuck me, man. Really?”
“That’s right. Really. Ava. I care about Ava. In fact, I love Ava.”
“You what now?” he asked.
“Yeah. I said it. I love Ava. I’m in love with Ava Leary. I’ve never felt this way before, with any girl. But I feel that way about her. And you might think she’s a rebound, and she might think she’s a rebound, but I know better. I know she’s not a rebound because I’m head-over-heels in love with the woman!”
“Then you should go get her.”
I whipped my head around and found Terice leaning against the doorway of the bar.
“What?” I asked.
“If you love her, you should go get her,” she said.
“Dude, just listen to me for a second,” Hunter said.
“No, you listen to me. My relationship with Camilla was a joke. I knew that from the start. I wanted it to be something more. She was fun and funny and wild and carefree, but I don’t work well with someone like that, not for the type of life I want for myself. And I’m not interested in one-night stands like you are with random women from the bar—no offense.”
“None taken,” Terice said.
“I want Ava, and only Ava. And I need you to understand that. I need you to accept it. I need you to support it. It’s going to take a lot to get her back after all we’ve been through. I’m going to need my best friend for that,” I said.
Hunter’s eyes danced between mine before he shook his head and snickered.
“Then what the hell are you still standing out here for?” he asked.
I smiled and wrapped my friend up in a hug before I clapped his back.
“Thank you. Seriously. Thank you for finally siding with me,” I said.
“Go on. Get out of here. Go get the woman of your dreams. And when the two of you get married, I expect to have a seat at the front of the house!”
“You’ll be my damn best man, Hunter.”
“That means I’ll be in charge of your bachelor party!”
“Negotiable!” I exclaimed.
I sprinted for my car and clamored into it. If I was going to get Ava back after all the bullshit that had taken place, then I needed something big, something huge. But it still had to be intimate somehow. Ava wasn’t the kind of girl that enjoyed big, grand gestures for everyone and their mother to witness. She enjoyed gestures that came from the heart, those that were small in stature but big in meaning. It had to be perfect. It had to be worth her time. It had to be well-placed.
Luckily, I knew just the place and the time to make it happen.
All I had to do was place one phone call to make sure it was all right.
Ava
Walking up to Camilla’s apartment door, I sighed. Clutching the small box of her things in my hand, I prepared myself for the closing of a chapter in my life. Camilla had been my best friend for years. I’d known her longer than I’d known anyone else in my entire life aside from my parents. But I couldn’t deny the things that had transpired and the things she had said to me. Whether they were meant to hurt and harm or they were meant as truth, none of that mattered any longer. The mere fact that she would say them—or was possibly capable of the actions behind her words—broke my heart.
I couldn’t be around that kind of toxicity any longer.
After knocking on her door, I heard her padding across the floor. I closed my eyes and righted my mind, putting myself in a mindset to walk away. All I had to do was hand her the box, tell her good-bye, and head back to my car. But when she flung the door open and grabbed my wrist to pull me into the apartment, confusion washed over my features.
