First and Forever (Heartache Duet #2) - Jay McLean Page 0,71
and move just far enough away that Connor can’t hear the conversation Trevor, Mom, and Krystal are having with the doctors.
“Hey, MVP!” I greet, hoping he can’t hear my forced smile through the phone.
“Rhys said you aren’t at school today…”
“Wow, are you checking in on me all the way from Georgia?”
“No, Ava,” he says, his tone serious. “He called about something else and just mentioned it. What’s going on?”
“Nothing, babe. Mom’s doctors are here—”
“Why?”
“It’s just a general check-up; it happens…” I continue to lie because I don’t want him worrying. “Did I not tell you? It’s been scheduled for months.”
He blows out a breath. “No, you didn’t,” he replies, his voice softening. “So, nothing’s wrong?”
“Everything’s fine,” I assure, and add, “I’m sorry to worry you.”
He sighs. “It’s all good.”
“What are you doing, anyway?”
“I’m waiting around at the airport.”
“What time do you land?”
“Five. I’ll probably be home around eight. Dad wants to have dinner and then—”
“You’ll come over?” I ask, my smile genuine this time. “Please?”
He laughs once. “Yeah, of course.”
“Stay the night?”
“I was planning on it.”
I sigh, letting his voice fill the void in my heart. “God, I miss you,” I tell him, at the same time he says, “God, Ava, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”
We both laugh into the phone, a single second of clarity in an otherwise cloudy existence.
“I have to go,” I tell him. “But I can’t wait to see you.”
“Hey, Ava?”
“Yeah?”
He’s silent a beat. “I don’t think I realized how much I loved you and how much I needed you until this weekend. You mean everything to me. And I just want you to know that.” He hangs up before I can say another word and I look at my phone, stare at it, wondering what the hell just happened. I hold a hand to my stomach, try to settle the butterflies there.
“Ava?” Trevor calls out, bringing me back to reality—a reality full of fear and uncertainty.
Connor
Dad’s as proud of me in person as he was on the phone, and after everything that happened with my mother, it only creates a heavier weight on my chest. I wish I could be as happy to see him as he is to see me, but there are questions, so many of them, and I don’t know where to start. But more, I don’t know if I want to.
Nothing good could possibly come from opening up the wounds of our pasts.
Nothing.
I sit at the kitchen table, watching him watch me, a smile on his face, his eyes lit up with pride. “You were perfect, Connor. Every second you were out there. Not a single mistake.”
I scarf down my meal, not bothering to answer, and look at the clock.
“Damn, did I not give you enough money to eat while you were gone?”
I almost choke on the steak and cough, thump my fist against my chest to clear it. Then I wipe my mouth with a napkin and down my entire glass of water. “Sorry,” I tell him. “I told Ava I’d come by after dinner.” And as much as I appreciate my dad, he doesn’t kill my pain the way she does. But… “I’m being rude. You went through all this trouble, and… I’m being a shit. Sorry.”
He laughs under his breath, shaking his head, and pulls the plate away from me. “Go.”
“No, Dad,” I rush out, bringing the plate back. “She can wait.”
“But you can’t. Can you, Connor?”
I shrug, my heart filling with hope at the thought of seeing her again.
Dad stands, takes my plate with him. “Go, Connor!” he laughs out.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
I don’t ask again. Instead, I grab my phone, already texting her when I close the front door.
Connor: I’m coming over now.
Ava opens the door the second I step foot onto her porch, and she’s so much more than I remember. Four days. It’s only been four days, but it felt like a lifetime, and going by the way her cheeks lift with the force of her smile, the way she pushes me back a step so she can close the door behind her, and the way she jumps into my arms, her mouth going to mine, she felt everything I felt. I tighten my hold on her thighs while her legs go around me, her hands on the side of my face as she tilts her head, her tongue meeting mine, and this. This is exactly what I needed to forget everything else.