“Just tell her you guys can start fresh. No sex deals. No conditions. No ultimatums. Ask her what she needs from a relationship. And tell her what you need too. Then find a compromise.”
“Were you always this wise?”
She clicks her jaw and winks. “Yes. Just thank God you’re finally listening.”
“All right,” I say, “carry on.” I shoo her away with both hands. “I’ll call her right now.”
“Uh, no, my friend.” Lennox makes a face like I’m ridiculous. “I’m staying right here so you don’t fuck this up. I’m invested now. Put it on speaker.”
I place my phone on speaker and call Avery back. It barely rings once.
“Hey, Finn? Is that you?”
Lennox’s mouth gapes open and my heart sinks ten floors. I know that voice so well, but it’s not Avery’s.
“Nora?”
“Yeah. Hey.”
“Why are you answering Avery’s phone?”
“She forgot it in the car last night when we left the club.”
“She left with you?”
“Yeah. I just got it charged. Can you believe her passcode is one-one-one-one?”
“Nora, don’t go through her phone—”
“Calm down, Finn. I’m just trying to return it. Yours was the only number I knew. Do you want to meet me and come pick it up for her?”
Lennox scoffs. “Uh, no. I’ll come get it,” she interrupts.
“I’ll stop by Avery’s to let her know,” I mutter.
“She’s not home,” Nora responds. My jaw twitches in agitation. I’m trying not to jump to conclusions, but all of this seems very calculated at the moment. “We stopped at Dex’s and then took her to the airport. She caught a flight last night.”
“A flight where?” I ask. “What did she say to you?”
“Finn, I’ll come by with the phone in just a bit. Okay? I’m on my way. We can talk…about everything.”
Nora ends the call and I look at Lennox in disbelief.
Lennox waits for me to say something, but I don’t. Mostly because I’m having a mild panic attack. What the hell could Nora have told Avery that made her book a last-minute flight?
I thought we were okay…
Fuck.
Lennox wanted to stay, but I told her it wasn’t necessary. I’m not sure what Nora thinks is going to transpire, but I can almost guarantee it’s incorrect. She’s sitting at my kitchen island with a hopeful smile on her face.
“Nothing happened, Finn. And I didn’t throw you under the bus.”
I give Nora a once-over. She looks a little thinner. She always loses weight when she’s around Morgan. It’s stress.
“Do you want water?” I ask, pulling two bottles from the fridge. I slide one her way. “Out of curiosity, what the hell would you have to throw me under the bus for?”
She drops her eyes to the counter. “That’s not what I meant. I just told her that Morgan has a long history of poking your buttons. And you’re not the violent type. Thank you, by the way.”
“For what?”
“Not putting him in the hospital,” she replies. “I know you wanted to. I like to think you refrained for me.”
“No, I refrained for me.” I have two choices right now. I can blow up at her and be an asshole for manipulating me and the circumstances like this, but all that would do is prove I’m not over us. And believe me, I’m over it.
“May I have Avery’s phone?” I ask.
“Oh, yeah,” she says, reaching into her purse and sliding it over. “It’s fully charged. Someone named Mason keeps blowing her up about some big meeting that got bumped up.”
I quirk one brow. “You went through her messages?” I feel a twang of guilt, wondering if Nora saw all the flirtatious, dirty messages Avery and I have been sending each other for months, but why do I need to hide it? Avery is my good thing. She’s not a secret. I’m not a two-timer. Despite how determined Nora was to make me one.
“No, I didn’t. Just the notifications have been popping up like crazy. I thought someone died.”
I flip the phone over, face down, so it’s not a distraction because I’m tempted myself. I want to know that Mason is only texting Avery about business, but I can’t violate her privacy like that. That’s the worst way to start a relationship; I know firsthand. And now that I have what she came for, I want her to leave.
“I know you’ve wanted to meet up and talk for a while. But I don’t have anything new to say, Nora.”
“Finn, look, I know it’ll take a long time to build up trust again. I get that. But I really am sorry about everything. I’m here—whenever you’re ready. I can be patient. Morgan and I are done for good this time. That’s why we fought at Cass’s birthday. I saw you, and I just knew…I’m never going to stop loving you.”
“I’m glad—”
“Me too—”
“No, I’m glad you’re done with Morgan, and I hope you mean it this time because he doesn’t deserve you. But neither do I—”
“Yes, you do, Finn. You’ve always been good to me, and I know I didn’t appreciate it at the time.” She reaches over the kitchen island separating us. The gold bangles on her hand jingle as she holds out her hand. But I don’t take it.
“What I mean is I deserve better.”
Her eyes instantly fill with tears, and I’ll admit that it hurts to see her cry. I’m not a dick. I loved this woman for a long time, and I don’t like seeing her pain. I hate that I’m causing it. But for once I have to put myself first.
“Things with you and Avery are going to fizzle out, Finn,” Nora says with a new tone. “You freaked her out.”
She’s baiting me. “What did she say to you? Where is she?”
I went over to Dex’s house to make sure Nora wasn’t lying to me. Avery is indeed gone. Even the back door is locked, which is the smart move if she’s leaving Dex’s house unattended. But I also know Avery would never let a job go unfinished. Dex won’t be home for a few more weeks. I know she’s coming back.
“She said Las Vegas is overwhelming and she doesn’t like it here. She went to go get her best friend who just lost her job…Polly something—”
“Palmer,” I correct.
“Yeah, she’s just flying out to Albuquerque to meet her, then they are driving back to Vegas together. They’ll stay here for a few weeks, and then she’s going home, Finn. She wants to go home. She didn’t tell you any of this?”
I’m not sure what hurts more. To officially hear this news from Nora, or the fact that Avery told Nora all this in the first place.
“No, she didn’t.”
“I can wait until things settle down, after summer so you and Avery can have a clean break, and then we can pick up where we left off.” She looks around and chuckles. “I can fix this place back up because you’ve turned it into a man cave. Where are the curtains I picked out?”
“Nora, whether or not Avery and I work things out—which let me be clear, I really want to work it out with her—you and I are done. It’s not that we can’t fix what we broke. It’s that I don’t want to. I know what it feels like to connect with someone in a new way now, and I can’t go back.”