Page 26 of Beauty Beneath the Sorrow
“Speaking of tattoos.” I gesture at the infinity symbol tattoo on her wrist. “When are you going to get that removed?”
Avery clicks her tongue. “We weren’t talking about tattoos.”
Oops.I roll my eyes. “Fine. I was staring at Carter.”
She chuckles briefly, but then quickly looks down with a fallen expression. “I will eventually.”
“You haven’t given up hope, have you?”
She purses her lips together. “It’s not about him.”
I scoot my chair closer to hers. “Are you sure, babe?”
Avery has only shared bits and pieces about her upbringing with us. And we know very little about the meaning of this tattoo, only that he was the love of her life—a man who saved her in every way you can save another person. There’s a lot of hurt and trauma there. But I don’t think she’s ever gotten over him—whoever he was.
“Yeah, I will. In my own time,” she dismisses me.
I rest a hand on her leg. “Or you could never get rid of it. I mean, who says you have to?”
“I’m seeing Dave. I’ve moved on.”
I scrunch my nose. “The dentist?”
“Why do you guys always call him that?” She shoves a loose hair behind her ear.
“Heisa dentist.”
Avery’s expression tenses. “You say it like it’s a bad thing.”
“Not that he’s a dentist. He’s dull, babe, and not for you.” I cross my legs, yanking the hem of my skirt lower. “Why waste your time?”
“I don’t want to talk about this. He’s going to give me a good life. He’ll be loyal, and I know I won’t get hurt,” she argues.
“You won’t get hurt because you don’t love him,” I call her out in the only way I know how—honesty. It is what it is. But Avery is not over her childhood sweetheart, and she hasn’t even begun to unpack that baggage yet.
“Lina,” she says my name like a warning. I guess I should drop it.
“Fine, we don’t have to talk about it. But I love you and I want you to be happy.” I rest against the back of the chair and fold my arms across my chest.
Her eyes lower, and she cocks her head to the side. “What about you, Miss Love Skeptic? Are you happy being perpetually single?”
I’m different from all three of my friends. They have the ability to find love, are kind and open to it, and deserve the world. But I’m more of a realist, and I don’t operate within that perfect little love bubble. It’s more complicated for me. “Okay, all done.”
“That’s what I thought,” she quips with satisfaction.
“Avery, Lina.” A voice so smooth, it pours over me like warm honey.
Avery looks up between our two chairs. “Hey, Carter.”
My throat runs dry—again. I turn around and plaster an exaggerated smile on my flushed face. “Hello, gentlemen,” I greet all three pilots, but my eyes get pulled back to the same pair ofintoxicatingly deep ones that had me trapped a second ago.
“Where are you ladies headed?” Carter asks both of us, but his focus is solely on me.
I feel a small bead of sweat drip in between my breasts. Airports are not this hot, and I wore my sweater today, not expecting to run into him or his—heat.“I’m off for a two-day leg in about an hour.”
“Same,” Avery adds. “What about you guys?”
The other two pilots tell us their routes, but I don’t hear any of it. I’m waiting to listen to that smooth voice again.
