Page 81 of Ties That Bind Us

Nick

Ava disappeared into the house and I had half a mind to follow her. I knew she was frustrated, but I couldn’t get into the finer details right now. This was my brother’s graduation party and it really wasn’t the time or place.

A long time ago, Gina and I had been together. I even thought I wanted to marry her. But we were children, barely eighteen, and we had no idea what we really wanted. I had drunkenly proposed to her one night but called the entire thing off once I sobered up. It was stupid and immature, and that was why I had never brought it up to Ava. I hadn’t given Gina a second thought in ten years, and that was practically a lifetime ago.

I stood outside impatiently waiting for Ava to come back out. I fully expected her to come to her senses and apologize once she realized how irrational she was being. She hadn’t even given me two seconds to explain, just demanded details about my sex life in front of my entire family.

When I saw Gina slip out of the house with a smirk on her face, I got an uneasy feeling.

“Nick, hey! I was just looking for you.” She smiled and touched my shoulder softly. I moved away, frustrated she hadn’t taken the hint already. The entire time we had been here, I was trying to subtly show her I wasn’t interested, but apparently she wasn’t getting it.

“I was actually trying to find Ava, have you seen her?” I asked, my tone clipped. Gina had been back in my life fifteen minutes and was already causing issues. I could only imagine the scene that would come if Ava walked out and saw Gina caressing my arm like that.

“I just saw her by the bathroom, actually. Her ring is beautiful, by the way. I told her it was much bigger than the one you gave to me.” She giggled, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

“You told Ava about that?” I narrowed my eyes at her.

The innocent grin on her face told me she knew exactly what she was doing. “I figured you would have.” She shrugged. “You should tell a girl about all your previous engagements before you propose to her, you know. It’s only right.”

“Gina, we were engaged for thirteen hours and I was drunk the entire time. I never would have proposed to you if I had been sober,” I hissed, furious that she would take it upon herself to tell Ava something like that.

“Oh please.” She rolled her eyes. “You know we would have gotten married eventually. Once you came to your senses and settled down. Aren’t you marrying her for a treaty, anyway? That’s what I heard.”

I shoved my hand through my hair in frustration. “I’m not having this conversation with you, but if you must know, I am marrying her because I adore her and worship the ground she walks on. I have never loved anyone like I love Ava, and now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find her.”

I brushed past Gina and headed into the house.

“Ava?” I called impatiently. I didn’t want another second to go by with her believing Gina’s shit. I had to find her.

“Ava!” I called again, louder this time.

“I’m right here,” Ava said, peeking around the wall of the kitchen. She was standing next to my mother and a few of her friends.

My mom looked back at me in confusion. “Is everything okay, sweetie?”

“Everything is fine, Mom. But Ava and I actually have to get going.” I kissed her cheek, trying to disguise my anger as much as possible. I didn’t need my mother on my back about Ava and I having problems. “Thank you for a wonderful party.”

“Love you both.”

“We love you too.”

I grabbed Ava’s hand and we headed to the front door.

“Would you slow down? You’re being ridiculous.” Ava glared at me, jerking her hand back once we were outside.

“I’m being ridiculous?” I scoffed. “You’re the one who is jumping to conclusions.”

Ava chuckled. “I don’t think you can call it jumping to conclusions when I’m spot-on. She’s your ex-fiancé, Nick? Seriously?”

I rubbed my temples. “Can we just get home and have this discussion?”

“Whatever you want.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

It was a long and silent ride home from my parents’ house. I whipped into the garage and Ava was out of the car almost before we were stopped. Fury radiated off of both of us, each of us thinking the other was in the wrong. When we got inside, Ava made a beeline for our bedroom and slammed the door sharply. I followed close behind her, ready for whatever fight was about to ensue.

I turned the handle but it was locked.

“Ava, open the door. We need to talk.” I gritted my teeth.

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