AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I am. He is part of my past.”
“How does he feel about that?”
“I don’t know. I never asked him.”
William pulled at her shirt wanting her to pick him up. She relinquished the baby to Brooke who put her in her crib. Ava took William into her arms and kissed his chubby cheeks. He clung to her neck as she carried him to his room. He wanted to show her his toy cars. She spent several hours at Brooke’s house and when Alicia picked up the twins she went there to spend time with them.
When she arrived back at the pool house, it was early evening. She had eaten dinner with her brother’s family. David was watching TV in his running attire.
“Did you go running this evening?”
“I was going to, but my ankle is hurting. I rolled it a few weeks ago.” Talking about it apparently made it hurt because he started to rub the area.
“Are you icing it?”
“I don’t think I need it. Can you look?”
She slid his sock down, and the outer ankle looked swollen.
“You need ice. I’ll get it for you. Take your sock off.”
He removed his sock, and she came back with a bag of ice that she placed on his ankle. He put his foot on her lap, and she held the bag on it for him. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. He took her kindness for attraction. Minutes later when she removed his foot from her lap, he pulled her to him and kissed her. Ava pushed against him, but he held her fast to him waiting for her to respond. She finally pulled his waistband open and dropped the ice bag down his pants. He jumped while yelping how cold it was.
“Good, you idiot. How dare you do that to me. I told you that I’m with Xander. I love him, and this is not going to happen between us.”
She rose from the couch and went into her room, slamming the door as she passed through. She searched for her phone. Xander hadn’t communicated with her. Nothing, not a text, call, or email. What was his problem? She could not locate her phone and thought she might have left it at either Brooke or Michael’s house.
She went up to the main house to use her parent’s phone. She met Felice in the hallway who told her that Xander Wilder had called. Her heart leaped into her throat. What did he tell her? Felice told her that he had a question about a file she had worked on the week before and to call him when she got the chance. She breathed a sigh of relief until Felice told him he could call her direct at the pool house. Fuck, fuck, fuck, he is going to be so pissed now that he knew she was in the pool house.
She needed to find her phone and quick. The last thing she wanted to do was have an ugly conversation with Xander on the phone in her father’s house. She called Michael first. He said her phone was on the table in the dining room, but they were going to bed in a half hour. She begged him to let her come by and get it. He relented and told her to come.
In her car, after she picked up her phone she found several angry texts and three missed calls from Xander. He didn’t leave any voicemails. She knew that meant he must be fuming at her. Now he knew. Why was it such a big deal? But it was because, number one, she had lied to him and number two, he was right. David was in love with her, and he seemed hell bent on getting her to love him back.
She dialed his number hoping he would answer, and she could explain.
“What?” The rage in his voice was apparent.
“Let me explain.”
“Ava, how the fuck are you going to explain lying to me? Did you tell me you weren’t going to sleep in the pool house just to shut me up? Then you go and do it anyway.”
“I didn’t tell you because I knew you would give me an argument. I didn’t want our last night together before I came down here to be like that.”
“So you prefer to lie to me? You were so right. I don’t know you, you have changed so much since we were last together. The Ava I knew back then wouldn’t have lied to me. You seem to do it without any consideration for my feelings. The things you told me you did while we were apart are making me realize that I’m not sure I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“What? You can’t mean that. This is a small thing, and you’re blowing it out of proportion.”
“Don’t you accuse me of blowing this out of proportion. I have a right to be angry. You aren’t honest. I’m to the point of being disgusted with you.”
She had no clue what she could say to make it better. He had caught her in a lie, and she was only making it worse by trying to double talk him.
He continued, “You know what, you picked the perfect profession. You know how to argue your way out of trouble. But I can’t believe anything you say. How can you do this to me? I loved you.”
“Loved me? What does that mean?” She cried.
“It means I’m not sure I can do this anymore. I’m not sure I want you for always. You have become morally bankrupt,” he said quietly.
The tears silently rolled down her cheeks as she heard the click of his phone. He had disconnected the call without waiting for her to say anything further. What was she going to do? She couldn’t stay down here knowing her relationship hung in the balance. She was going to sleep on it and then decide if she should go home in the morning. She could always say that something came up and she needed to go home. Her family would understand as long as it was plausible.
She carefully drove home because she was crying so hard she could barely see what was around the bend on the dark country roads. Fortunately, David was asleep when she got there, so she was able to go to her room without offering him an explanation for her tears.
Sleep did not come the entire night even with exhaustion. Xander hated her now. His words stabbed into her core. She had put the seed into his head, and it grew. She was a different person than he knew five years ago. But had she changed that much?
