Page 72 of Moonshot

I know I need to slow my roll, so I don’t scare her that I’m moving too fast. But after everything that happened with her recently, on top of our breakup and thirty-day separation, I don’t want to be apart from her any more than I have to. I’m already out of town two days a week.

We’ve managed to spend alternate Sundays with our families. We’ve enjoyed one weekend making dinner with Carolyn, and this past Sunday, we had a cookout with my mom, Rob, and Emmaleigh. My family was over the moon spending time with Ava. Especially Em. She deemed the two of them instant besties. And Ava was so patient with her. My sister can be a little over the top. It was good to see, as my mom had said Em hadn’t been feeling well recently. I chalked it up to girl stuff that I wanted to hear nothing about. I mean, she certainly seemed fine Sunday.

“Hey, old man. I’ve been waiting for you for like an hour. The boys had to keep me company so I wouldn’t realize how much of my time you’re wasting.”

“Oh, whatever. I had to run back to the house to get the keys. I thought they were on my keychain, but I must have put them back.” Zach extends the worn leather keychain to me and gives me a knowing swat on the shoulder.

“Trevor was introducing me to your newest recruit, Alex.”

“Yeah, I think he’ll make it.”

“Hey, I’m standing right here,” Alex bellows.

“You rookies are all the same. Think you know everything. You keep your eyes and ears open and your trap shut, and I think you’ll do okay.”

“Oh, good grief,” Alex grunts. Trevor just laughs with the look of a guy who’s been in Alex’s shoes before.

“You taking your girl to Zach’s cabin,” Trevor asks.

“That’s the plan. She’s getting a little stir crazy in the house. But she has one more weekend before she returns to work. I thought a getaway to the mountains would do her good. Speaking of mountains, when do you head to Sycamore?”

“Two weeks. It was good meeting you, man. You need to come and visit. Zach said he’ll come.”

“Hell, if Zach goes to see you in mountain country, he might not come back.”

“Nobody’d miss me,” Zach says with a little too much seriousness in his tone.

“That’s some bull, and you know it. You better get your ass back here,” I say, smacking his arm. “Thanks for these.”

“The place better not reek of sex the next time I’m up there.”

I stretch out my hand, offering to return the keys. ’Cause hell if I’m promising that.

* * *

“Oh, Mick. I’m so excited about this getaway with you. I’m feeling so much better and was growing tired of the inside of the house.”

“Well, once you see this place, you may want to turn back. It’s pretty rustic.”

“It’ll be perfect.”

Holding Ava’s hand as we make our way toward the cabin, it feels reminiscent of our drive to the Nationals game. Except without the jitters. Thinking back on that day, I was so nervous. It was easy being with her. No forced conversation or awkwardness. But it was so new. We’ve been through so much since then. Good and bad.

“I love this area,” Ava says, pointing out toward a pond with a small mountain as its backdrop. “I haven’t been out here much.”

“Yeah, it’s gorgeous but pretty remote. Zach and I usually fish near Lake Anna, about an hour away from your place. There’s also a place in Yorktown we like to go to. But his cabin is northwest of Lake Anna. There’s a small lake nearby and some hiking. But that’s it, really.”

“He comes out here all alone?”

“Zach does just about everything alone. Sometimes he brings Otis. That’s why I asked if you had spare sheets.”

Ava gives me a look of shock. “Wow. I didn’t realize Zach was gay. Not that it matters, but I just kept picturing a grumpy loner who was built like a lumberjack.”

“Haha. Your description is right on target. But he’s straight as an arrow. Otis is his dog. He probably sleeps with him.” I chuckle. Pulling her sweet hand to my lips, I give her a peck and a wink as we continue the drive through God’s country. There’s nothing but pastures, hay bales, roadside farm stands, and old houses that look as if they should be condemned intermingled between large plots of land with gorgeous plantation houses and bright red barns.

Resting my hand on Ava’s upper thigh, I try not to let my mind wander too much to what awaits us. She’s feeling better, and I plan to make up for lost time. There’s still too far left in our journey to get a hard-on now. And I don’t want to finally get my hands on her on the side of a dirt road.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” I can’t believe I’m doing this.

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