AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I kissed her goodbye and then got into my car and left her house. As I was pulling into my garage, I looked down at the license plate on the rear of Avery’s Audi and shook my head at myself. I knew it wasn’t Avery who’d stopped in front of Stevie’s house when she was mowing. The tracker app didn’t lie. But on that day, I was still unnerved by the fleeting thought that it actually could have been Avery parked in front of Stevie’s house.
My concern had nothing to do with me so much as it did Stevie. I didn’t want her to have to deal with Avery’s crazy behavior again. She’d already dealt with some of it when she met Avery at Mystic Bar. As far as the real driver of that red Audi in front of Stevie’s house was concerned? I still wondered who it was, why they’d acted so strangely, and also why their license plate was missing.
I walked into the living room and then the kitchen but didn’t see Avery anywhere. When I turned around to leave the kitchen, she rounded the corner and came to an immediate stop.
“Why are you back?” I asked her.
“Nice to see you too.”
“Don’t even try that with me. Why are you back? What do you need?”
“I just wanted to come home.”
I half-laughed. “Right.”
I walked off to go get my suitcase out of my Blazer and came back inside to find Avery waiting for me in the hallway.I immediately turned away from her and headed into my bedroom. I didn’t think she was following me, but when I looked over my shoulder I saw her leaning against my doorframe.
“What the hell do you want?” I spat. I was in no mood for her games and she was already playing them.
“Where’d you go to need your suitcase?”
“None of your business.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not. You don’t tell me anything about where you go or what you do.”
“Do you want me to tell you?”
“I used to but I don’t give a damn anymore.”
Avery crossed her arms and sighed. “Well, wherever you went, I hope you had fun. You obviously worked on your tan while you were there.”
I shook my head in disgust at her and then unzipped my suitcase on top of my bed. Avery kept standing where she was while I unpacked it and after I was done, I walked past her to go make myself a Hendricks and tonic. When I opened the kitchen cabinet to get my gin, I noticed Avery had replaced the bottle of vodka that Bash had poured out and a third of it was gone. I pushed it aside, grabbed the Hendricks, and then set it down on top of the counter next to my glass of ice. I’d just finished pouring in two shots and was about to squeeze in some lime when Avery came walking into the kitchen, stopping a few yards away from me.
“I like your new tattoo, but I don’t like it that you’re not wearing your wedding band. Why aren’t you?” she asked, ignoring what I’d just told her about my life being none of her business.
I finished making my drink and took a big gulp of it while staring straight at Avery. I’d almost started to walk away again, but I was curious about something.
“What is my tattoo?” I asked.
“A flower with some kind of masculine-looking design around it.”
“What kind of flower?”
“I don’t know.”
“You really don’t recognize it?”
“No.”
“Or the design?”
“No, Zac.”
“Of course you don’t. Not even after seeing all the pictures that I’ve shown to you of Scottish thistle and Celtic knots.”
Avery sighed. “I just forgot is all. I remember now, though.”
