Chapter Five
Avery glanced at the caller ID on her cell, and pressed the button to ignore the call. It had been five days since the confrontation with her ex at the coffee house, and his calls had started that same night.
Jacob had been furious when the shrill of her phone had woken them up in the middle of the night, but she’d been even more pissed off.
Not only had he called her a whore in front of Jacob and her new friends—something she hadn’t been prepared for—but he actually had the audacity to think she would accept another lousy night with him when she was obviously with Jacob.
Of course, that was the real reason for his call. Even though he’d dumped her, for another woman no less, he couldn’t stand to see her with someone else. His insanely huge ego wouldn’t allow it, and that was the laughable part. If she had been alone in the shop, he probably wouldn’t have bothered her at all, and the truth of that thought annoyed her even more.
She’d been beyond stupid to stay involved with him for so long, and she wanted him out of her life for good. She picked up her phone and did what she should have done years ago.
She blocked his number.
An invisible weight lifted off her shoulders, and she was happy to have the closure, even if it was only one sided. In her heart she knew she never wanted to talk to the loser again.
Jacob, however, she did want to talk to, and she opened up her message app to read his last text.
Whatever worries she’d had about what would happen when they both went back to work had been unfounded. Though they didn’t go out every night, which was fine with her, she did see him every night, and it wasn’t always about sex. It was about being a couple, and she loved it.
I love him!
The thought shocked her, but only for a moment. Deep down, she knew she loved him, but it was the first time she’d admitted it to herself. The best part was, she was pretty sure Jacob loved her back. Even though they’d only been dating a couple of weeks, his words and actions screamed of forever.
Granted, she didn’t have a lot of experience in the long-term department, but Jacob was different from anyone she’d ever known—in addition to his special abilities—and she believed in him.
She reread his last text and smiled.
It was a few simple words to let her know he had an important work issue to deal with, and that he’d be running a few minutes late for dinner, but they were his words, and they were perfect.
She glanced at the time, and started cleaning off her desk.
In order to get caught up from the week, and to get a jump on the following week, she’d stayed after school and worked on grading papers and preparing her lesson plans. It had been a longer day, but she preferred to stay longer one day a week instead of adding on an hour or two every day.
She had just finished zipping her bag when she heard someone step into her room. Normally she didn’t worry about being alone in the building after six on a Friday night, but a slither of fear raced down her spine. When she looked up to see her ex blocking the door, that fear escalated.
She didn’t understand it, she’d never been afraid of him before, but her instincts told her to run. Because that wasn’t possible, she opted for calm instead.
“Hey David,” she smiled. “You startled me. What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you,” he said, stepping further into the room, “and you won’t take my calls.”
“Sorry, I’ve been busy,” she said, “but this isn’t a place to talk. In fact, you can’t be here. You’re not a student, parent, or staff member, so you’re technically trespassing.”
“Let’s go back to your place then,” he said. “I really want to talk.”
Um…no.
That was never going to happen. She knew he didn’t really want to talk, but that that twinge of fear still lingered, and she could think of only one way to get him to leave her alone for good.
“I’m not going home, but if you want to talk, we can get a drink at Cafe Maria. I have a couple other things to do here, but I can meet you in the bar in about thirty minutes.”
“Thirty minutes? Can’t we just go now? What am I supposed to do while I wait for you for thirty whole minutes?”
Seriously? What did she ever see in this guy?
“No, we can’t go now, and do whatever you want to do. It’s not my problem. If you want to talk, then that’s when I can talk. Take it or leave it.”
Leave it. Leave it. Leave it.
“Fine,” he reluctantly agreed. “I’ll see you in half an hour.”
He turned to leave, and Avery breathed out a small sigh of relief, but it was very tiny. Now that she’d lied about not being ready to leave, she had a few more minutes to waste, and she still had to walk to her car alone. Normally, that wouldn’t bother her, but she wasn’t one hundred percent sure David would actually leave even though he’d said he would.
She picked up her phone and thought about texting Jacob, but she knew he was busy with work, and she didn’t want to bother him. Now that he was gone, her feelings about David seemed silly, and either way, she knew she would see Jacob at the restaurant in a few minutes.
That’s the reason she told David to meet her there.
He’d have about five minutes to talk before Jacob got there, and then she would tell him to leave, and hopefully she’d never have to talk to him again.
***
Avery walked into the restaurant, and immediately spotted David sitting at the bar. He was chatting up a pretty blonde, and though she’d seen him in action before, she wanted to roll her eyes when the woman let out a loud laugh at something he said.
Honestly, her ex just wasn’t that funny, and she still didn’t understand why he’d once appealed to her—or any woman—in the first place. Luckily, she no longer cared, and hopefully their meeting would be even shorter now that he was engaged with someone else.
She sat at the bar on the other side of him and the blond so she could watch the door, and to her surprise, David turned and gave her his full attention.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Avery,” he said. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“No, you haven’t,” she laughed. She would have said more, but he kept talking.
“I have, and I want another chance. I got a new job that’s going to bring in lots of money, and I want to share it all with you.”
Right.
She wasn’t even addressing the “another chance” statements, but she did wonder what type of dumb job he had lined up this time. Over the years he’d come at her with all kinds of get-rich schemes, and she couldn’t help but ask what dumb thing he was doing now.
“What’s the job?”
“Bear Hunter.”
He was hunting bears now? What the hell?
The same twinge of fear she’d felt in her office settled over her as she thought about Jacob and his special abilities. Did David know about Jacob? Was he trying to kill Jacob? Could he? She needed to know more.
“Bear hunter? You mean a poacher? Because hunting bears is illegal.”
“It’s only illegal if you get caught, and I won’t get caught. A woman I met online wants a lot of bear skins, and she’s willing to pay a ton up front to get them. I’m meeting her at the club tomorrow night for a big payment, and then she’ll pay me double that for every bear skin I bring her.”
“Why?” she asked, trying to remain calm. “Why does she want bear skins?”
“Who the hell knows?” David laughed. “Maybe she wants wall-to-wall bear carpeting. I have no idea. All I know is I’m going to be rolling in a ton of cash very soon.”
Some of her anxiety lifted because she was sure he didn’t know about Jacob, and yet, she couldn’t relax knowing he’d be out in the forest wielding a gun at any type of animal, especially bears.
“David, don’t do this. Meeting someone like this over the internet isn’t safe, and what she’s asking you to do isn’t smart or legal. You’re going to get killed or arrested.”
“You worry too much,” he laughed. “I got this. Everything will be fine. You’ll see. Let’s go back to your place now.”
“No, we’re not a thing anymore, remember? I’m with Jacob now, and you’re with Carmen, and even if I wasn’t with him, we still wouldn’t be going back to my place. We’re over.”
“Carmen dumped me, just like he’ll dump you,” he sneered. “We belong together. No one will stick by you like I have.”
“We had sex,” she reminded him. “We were never together.”
“Semantics,” he shrugged. “You’ll be alone and calling me soon.”
“No, I won’t,” she stood. She was done talking to this idiot.
“Right,” he said, sticking out his leg to block her path. “It’s easy to be brave with another cock filling your cunt, but trust me. Your boyfriend will dump your fat ass by the end of the month, and you’ll be begging me to fuck you. But so will everyone else because I’ll be loaded by then, and frankly, you’re a lousy lay. I’d literally chose any other slut to fuck over you, so you’d better take what you can get now, because pretty soon I won’t be so generous.”
David turned back toward the bar as if their conversation was over, and Avery glanced toward the door in time to see Jacob staring at her with a murderous look on his face. Elation swamped her, but it was quickly doused when he turned around and walked out of the restaurant.
He’d left her? Because she’d been talking to David? When she’d been waiting for him to rescue her? Anger replaced her elation, and she planned to give him a piece of her mind, but first she had to deal with the loser sitting next to her.
“Don’t hold your breath,” she replied. “I have to go now, but I’ll give you this free piece of advice because I’ve known you for such a long time, and you are my friend’s cousin. This job is a stupid idea. Take the job, or leave it, I don’t really care, but don’t ever bother me again. Have a nice life, asshole.”
She didn’t wait for his reply.
She rushed out of the restaurant and tried to catch up with Jacob, but unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found. Sadness settled in her stomach like a tangible thing, but she refused to cry until she had answers.
Until then, she would pretend that everything was okay, and that Jacob had had a good reason for leaving her alone in a bar with her ex.