“No.” She sniffs as she wipes her nose with the back of her hand. “I’m not giving up on us.”
I tap the counter with my fingers as I watch her tears drip from her face to her lap. Tears that have controlled me for too long. “I’m about to go on a run, so I think we need to wrap this up.”
It’s a lame excuse, but it’s better than get the fuck out of my house.
I grab Avery’s phone from the kitchen counter and slide it into my pocket just as a safety precaution. I know I just hurt Nora’s feelings. Who knows what she’s capable of? It’d take one picture of her in my home while Avery is away to give the very wrong impression of what this is.
I don’t even bother grabbing my headphones. I don’t need them. I just need a brutal run in this heatstroke weather to melt away my frustration at the moment. I pause at the entry closet after retrieving my running shoes.
“Nora,” I say as she passes me, lacing up my shoes, “I promise you, the minute you let the idea of us go, I mean really let it go, someone so much better for you is going to come your way. You’re going to be happy again. I know it. Take care, okay?”
She walks out the door without a response, likely shocked that she didn’t get her way.
37
Avery
“We have to make a pit stop,” I say to Palmer as I scour my email. We’re making the most out of the continental breakfast at her extended-stay hotel. There’s nothing like mass-produced hotel biscuits and gravy. This I can actually make. Gravy isn’t that far off from dip.
“Pit stop where?”
“Cancun,” I mumble as I read Mason’s panic-ridden email about how the presentation got bumped up and why the hell I haven’t been answering my phone. I quickly email him back, letting him know I lost it, and that I will meet him at Legacy Resorts by tomorrow. I don’t bother telling him Palmer will be with me. There’s no need for him to spaz out even more.
“How the hell is that going to work?”
I blow out a breath in frustration. I am so exhausted. It’s been the longest twenty-four hours of my life and not to mention not having my phone threw a real monkey wrench into things. I must’ve left it in the ride-share or dropped it at the Las Vegas airport. I’m not sure. All I know is when I got through airport security, I couldn’t find it anywhere. Luckily, I had my laptop with me, meaning I was able to effectively message Palmer with the airport’s Wi-Fi to tell her when and where to pick me up.
To my great shock and surprise, my Jeep is still perfectly intact. I was expecting at least a broken taillight judging by Palmer’s reckless driving.
“I’m going to have to call in a favor with Royalty Airlines, yet again.” It’s a perk from Dr. Ruth, my mentor, that I try not to abuse, but desperate times, desperate measures. She’s still able to fly anywhere, anytime for free, courtesy of her prior position with the company, and she extends this privilege to me whenever I want. “We park the Jeep in long-term parking at the airport, fly five hours to Cancun, do the presentation, fly back to Albuquerque, and drive back to Las Vegas.”
“Well, that sounds fucking miserable.”
“Yeah, it will be. Ready? Go check out at the front desk. We have to go.”
Palmer’s phone chirps in her annoying ringtone and she screws up her face when she snatches it off the table and checks the caller ID. “Hey, you’re calling me.”
She holds up her phone and clear as day, Aves with a heart is displayed on the screen.
“Finally!” I’ve tried calling my phone a few times, but it went straight to voicemail. Luckily, someone found it. I take the phone from Palmer’s hand and shoo her to the front desk. “Hurry,” I say before I answer the phone.
“Hello, this is Avery Scott. You have my phone.”
“Well, hello, Avery Scott. I do have your phone.”
I smile at the sound of his voice. “Finn. Where’d you find it?”
“Nora,” he replies. “I heard you’re in New Mexico.”
My heart knocks like I’m in trouble. It doesn’t look great. I ran out on Finn, then spilled my guts to his ex in a ride-share. But it was bizarre. She was so nice to me. Based on Palmer’s reaction to the whole situation, Nora was being a cunning bitch, but I was just pleasantly surprised she wasn’t openly cruel or snarky just because I was with Finn. I’ve had enough mean girls this summer tell me I’m not good enough for him. I was expecting the same from Nora, but it seemed like she understood the insecurity of being on Finn’s arm. The constant worry that someone was going to try and take what’s yours right from under you. I know she still loves him, but I’m glad she could be civil to me despite that.
“I have a lot of explaining to do,” I say simply.
“That you do, Queen.” But he chuckles, letting me know we’re okay. “Can we start with whether or not you’re upset with me?”
“With you? Finn, I screwed up. I should apologize. I, um…I think I found my limit.” I lower my voice. I know I didn’t say the word threesome out loud, but I’m still in a small breakfast crowd in a hotel dining room. And I don’t have time to explain my sexual exploration summer to this crowd of senior citizens.
“I’d say. We can talk about everything when you get back. But I wanted you to know that after last night, Nora told me you don’t want to move to Las Vegas.”
“It’s not what you’re thinking—”
“Ah, ah. Let me finish before you say anything else.”
My heart thumps with nerves as I lean into the phone. Can Finn technically dump me if we aren’t officially together?
“Lennox gave me some advice. She told me to sit down and make a list of all of my deal breakers for a relationship with you. So I tried, and I couldn’t come up with any.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t endure to be with you. Because”—he clears his throat—“you told me in the champagne room that my lips feel like home.”
I blush a little at my heat-of-the-moment declaration of affection. I meant it, though.
“Well, your heart feels like home to me. What I wanted you to understand is that the reason our sex is so good, Avery, isn’t because of what we’re doing, it’s because of us. And it’s going to change. We won’t always be going at it daily, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be head over heels crazy about you. Whether you’re in sweatpants or a mermaid costume, you’re still a queen to me. The hot moments are great, but so are the quiet ones. I don’t need dirty talk, threesomes, or any other kink you think you need to fulfill for me. I just want you to be exactly who you are.”
I suck in a breath. “Finn, please don’t make me cry in the middle of a continental breakfast.”
He chuckles. “Sorry I’m saying this over the phone, but you needed to know. If you have to be in L.A. for a while, that’s okay. We’ll make it work.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
How is it possible he’s this amazing?
“But I want to say all of this to your face, so when are you coming back?”