Page 72 of Unexpected Love

Shaking myself from my thoughts, I join everyone at the table, sitting next to Ava and across from Quinn. They’ve already moved onto brighter topics, and I try to join them. I try like hell to stop thinking about all the reasons her parents and Brian won’t take no for an answer.

A few hours later,I’m lying in bed staring at the ceiling with Ava curled into me. There’s a peace in me at the feel of her pressed against my side, knowing she’s safe where she is right now. But another part of me worries about what happens when she’s no longer by my side. What happens tomorrow when we’re both at work? Her parents and Brian are staying in town for a reason; they aren’t done trying to talk to her. Will they ambush her at work? Will Brian try to hurt her again?

“Promise me you’ll call if you need me,” I say into the darkness.

I feel Ava shift against me as she lifts her head, but it’s so dark in the room neither of us can see much of anything. “What do you mean?”

“Just, if something happens, if your parents or Brian show up at the bookstore or somewhere else, and you don’t feel safe, promise you’ll call me.”

“Oh.” Ava rests her head back on my chest, her arm around me squeezing lightly. “I called you all the way from Harborview when I needed you.”

“I know.” I bend my head, pressing my lips against the top of hers and taking a deep breath. Apple and vanilla fill my nose, bringing another wave of comfort over me. “I just…I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to me. I won’t stop living my life, but I’ll be smart. I won’t go anywhere alone, and I’ll be mindful of my surroundings.”

“And you’ll call me if you need me.”

“And I’ll call you if I need you,” she repeats, turning her head to place a kiss over my heart. “Thank you for worrying about me.”

“Of course I worry about you.” I squeeze her. “You’re important to me.”

“You’re important to me, too. More than I thought possible.” She shifts again, moving her body up my side slightly so she can press a kiss to my cheek. “Thanks for not giving up on me.”

“Oh, you’re more than worth it.” I roll to my side, keeping her in my arms. I can’t see her clearly in the dark, but I can see enough to know she’s studying me.

“How did we end up here? When neither of us was open to something real?” she whispers as she brings her fingers up totrace the side of my face—starting at my forehead and working her way down to my chin.

“Hmm…my mother would say it’s because we weren’t looking for it that we found it.”

“But neither of us has ever really looked for anything serious.”

“I don’t know, Rebel. All I know is that I don’t want to give this up.” I pause for a second, trying to decide if I should give it all to her. It’s not a lie if I stop there, but at the same time, is it true honesty if I hold it in? I know I’m giving her the power to hurt me, but I trust she won’t.

“I’ve never felt at peace the way I do when I’m with you.” I roll again so she’s beneath me, my hips cradled by her legs. “Have I told you that I haven’t needed an alarm clock since before I got home from the army? I always set my alarm, but it hasn’t actually gone off once in the last three years. Not until this morning.”

“I’ve never been as comfortable with someone else as I am with you—not even Declan. I feel like I can tell you anything, and you won’t judge me.”

“I won’t,” I whisper.

“I don’t know how we got here, but I’m thankful we did. I don’t know if I believe in fate or a higher power, but being here in this town and with you might make me believe.”

And in this moment, I fall in love with Ava Day. I won’t tell her—not yet. There’s no way she’s ready to hear those words, but I’ll show her every day for as long as she’ll let me.

Starting right now.

I bring my lips to hers and kiss her like she’s my salvation. Like I can’t live without her. And I wonder: have I really been living, or have I simply been surviving? Just going through the motions up until she entered my life.

I don’t know, but I won’t waste time thinking about it. Not when she’s here and not when she makes me feel like this—like my life just got a hundred times better with her in it.

Yeah, this might make me believe in something bigger than us, too.

twenty-nine

AVA

The feelof Gage’s arms around me in the morning might easily become one of my favorite things if I let it. And if I’m being honest, I want it to.

Gage and I might have an official title, but that hasn’t changed anything about how we interact with each other. He’s definitely more open with touching me out in public, but then again, I quite enjoy that it’s no secret we belong to each other. I like belonging to someone.

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