Chapter 17

Tanner

The sun was shining through the windows, and I rolled over to face Ava, her sweet face sleeping soundly in the covers. She was so beautiful with her long, dark hair sprawled out above her and her fair skin highlighted by the natural rose of her cheeks. Her pouty lips were pink and looked a little chapped from the five o’clock shadow I had forgotten to shave before she came over. Everything about that moment was flawless, and I didn’t have even a second thought about having her spend the night at my place. In fact, she lit up my life in a way I couldn’t even begin to understand. I ran my fingers down her shoulders and kissed her forehead. She smiled and snuggled back into the blankets, falling back asleep.

I figured I would make us some breakfast, so I crept out of the bed and pulled on some shorts and a sweatshirt before walking out into the living room. It was still rainy and gray outside, but it didn’t dampen my mood at all. Knowing Ava was in the other room was enough comfort for me to keep my spirits high. As I stepped into the kitchen to check out what food I had in the house, the house phone rang, which was strange since the only person who called that was the security guard if I had a visitor. I picked up the line and took in a deep breath.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Johnson,” he said. “You have a visitor. A Mr. Dean Markus to see you.”

“Uh, shit,” I said. “Okay. Give me five minutes and then send him up.”

I hung up the phone and looked around the apartment, running through the living room and picking up all of Ava’s belongings. How the hell was I supposed to get Ava out of the apartment when Dean was in it. This was bad, really bad. I ran through the living room and down the hall, turning the corner and flicking the light on. I shook Ava, feeling bad for waking her but panicking.

“Ava,” I said. “Wake up.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Your father,” I said breathlessly. “He’s downstairs. They are sending him up in five minutes. I brought all your things in. I'm going to try to get rid of him as fast as possible, but you have to hide in here.”

“What the fuck is going on?”

“I don’t know,” I said, pulling on a pair of khakis and a sweater. “I don’t even know how he knew where I lived.”

“Oh, God,” she said, looking panicked.

I sat down next to her on the bed and kissed her on the lips trying to calm her down. I cradled her face in my hands and forced her to look me in the eyes. Immediately, I could feel her muscles relax.

“Don’t worry,” I whispered. “Everything will be okay. I’ll take care of this, okay?”

“Okay,” she said taking a deep breath.

We both looked up as the elevator in the hall dinged, and there was a knock on the door. My heart was racing, and I kissed her deeply one last time before walking out of the bedroom and closing the door behind me. I smoothed down my hair and did another quick look around the living room to make sure everything was cleaned up. I walked over to the door and took in a deep breath, pulling the door opening and smiling big as Dean appeared in front of me.

“Hey, man,” I said happily. “This is a nice surprise. Come on in.”

“Thanks,” he said looking worse for wear. “I’m sorry to barge in like this.”

“No, man,” I said. “You’re fine. What’s going on?”

I led him over to the couch, feeling like he had something pretty serious to talk about. At first, my heart began to race, but then I realized if he knew anything about Ava, he would not be calm like he was. Instead, he looked hurt, almost betrayed, and I could tell from his red eyes that he had not slept the night before. He sat on the couch looking around the room but not actually seeing anything. He put his elbows on his knees and hung his head down, shaking it back and forth.

“What’s going on, Dean? Is everything okay?”

“I caught Lindy fucking the pool boy last night,” he said, choking up. “I just walked in and found them together. It was fucking terrible.”

“Holy shit, man,” I said sitting down next to him. “I am so sorry. That’s fucking horseshit. After everything you’ve done for that woman, and she does this to you?”

“I know,” he said weepily. “We fought all night and then I left. I didn’t really know where else to go. I couldn’t tell Ava, not yet. It would break her heart. So, I came here.”

“You made the right choice, Dean,” I said, glancing over at my bedroom door.

“I don’t even know what to do at this point,” he said taking in a deep breath. “I’m completely lost. I never thought I would have to go through this. I mean, I knew other guys who had gone through it, but I really thought it would never be me. Not Lindy.”

“Absolutely,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re a good man, and you’ve always been there for your family. It was your biggest sacrifice.”

“I just don’t know what happened,” he said, putting his head in his hands. “This is really messed up.”

“What can I do?”

“I don’t know where to go,” he said. “Would you mind if I stayed here for a few days and cleared my mind. I need to figure this all out before making some rash decision.”

Fuck. Instantly, my stomach dropped, knowing Ava was in the other room, probably heard all of it, and I was going to have to get her out of the apartment without her father seeing her. How did I get myself into this shit? Of course, I couldn’t turn the man down. He was absolutely devastated, and we just got our friendship back on track after about a decade of fighting and bickering. I patted him on the shoulder and looked around.

“Of course, you can,” I said kindly. “I have a guest bedroom with its own bath, and I’ll get you a visitor pass so you can come and go as you please. You can stay here as long as you want.”

“Thank you,” he said with a sigh. “You’re a real lifesaver. I know we just started our friendship over, but it's really great of you to be there for me like this.”

“Always,” I said, nodding my head.

I had to think of a way to get him out of the apartment for a while so that Ava could make a break for it. This was not what I’d had in mind when I woke up. I was planning on fixing us a nice breakfast in bed and just relaxing with a lazy Saturday that I’d hoped to stretch to a lazy Sunday. We could eat, make love, take a nap and do it all over again, really relax and have an amazing time. I knew, though, that this was going to affect Dean hard, and he needed a place to be.

“Hey, man,” I said, a solution popping into my head. “It’s early, but do you want to go get a drink?”

“Hell, yeah, I do,” he said, brightening up.

“Awesome,” I said with a sigh. “Let me change and brush my teeth, and we can head out. You just make yourself at home.”

“Alright, man,” he said, leaning back.

I jumped up from the couch and hurried toward the bedroom, only opening the door a sliver before scooting in and closing the door softly behind me. Ava was sitting there in the bed, a look of bewilderment on her face. She was dressed and clutching her coat, shaking her head back and forth. I sat down next to her and pulled her into my chest. I didn’t know what she knew at that point, but I had to figure out a way to tell her.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I know this is crazy.”

“I just have no words,” she said sniffling.

“Look,” I said pulling back and looking her in the face. “Your dad said that—”

“I heard everything.” She shook her head. “Everything. I can’t believe my mother would do this.”

“I’m so sorry, Ava,” I said hugging her again.

This was not right. I should be there for her, not having her sneak out of my apartment like we were teenagers getting caught. She needed me at that moment, and I was starting out something special between us by tossing her to the side. However, with everything going on with her father, that was not the time to reveal to him our secret.

“I want to be here for you,” I said, lifting her chin. “But I have to get you out of here so your father doesn’t find out. I told him we would go get some drinks. I’ll take him a few blocks away, so you can take your time and get out comfortably. Text me when you make it home safely.”

“Whatever,” she whispered, shaking her head. “Just go, I want to get home.”

I felt bad, and she was obviously upset with me. She sat there and watched me as I pulled clothes out of the closet and got dressed. I brushed my teeth and walked back over to her, leaning over to kiss her lips. She turned her face away from me, tears pooling in her eyes. I sighed and kissed her cheek before grabbing my wallet and phone and creeping back outside. I shut the door behind me and stood there for a second, wishing there was some other way for me to be there for both of them. This was an absolutely impossible situation, and I had to choose between the two of them. This was going to take a toll on Ava, big time. I also knew there was a good chance that this would highly affect our future together, which was something I was really trying to avoid. It was becoming annoying how the universe seemed to push back against us, but I was determined to not let it win.

“You ready?” I stood there with my jacket over my arm looking at Dean who was standing at the window looking over the city.

“Yeah,” he said, turning around and faking a smile.

We walked out of the apartment and closed the doors. I locked them for show and stepped into the elevator, letting out a deep breath as the doors closed. Ava might be upset with me, but at least her father won’t find out about all this, especially not while he was going through something as traumatizing as his wife cheating on him. We jumped into a cab and I gave them the address of an Irish pub in upper Manhattan where we could get some breakfast and some whiskey at the same time.

Dean sat quietly staring out the window, and I tried to get my mind off the fact that I left Ava there to sneak out of the apartment. I wanted to text her but at that point, it was too risky, and I knew she was upset with me over all of this. I had made friends with her father, thinking it would help her out but it seemed to have backfired in my face. As much as I wanted Dean in my life, Ava had almost become more important, and now, I was regretting making the choice.

Hopefully, by the time we got back, Ava would be home, relaxed, and a little less in shock. It would be a long few days with Dean at my house and me unable to see Ava outside of work, but I would just have to survive it. Hopefully, Ava could remember that I cared about her, and this didn’t all come crashing down around me.