Nineteen
Travis
A knock came at my cabin door just as I stepped out of the shower. Raking my hands through my hair, I wrapped a towel around my waist and headed for the door. I wasn’t expecting anyone and my parents were still in Florida, so I braced for the worst. I started running all sorts of scenarios through my head, like the fact that Breathline Energies had sent someone to intimidate me face to face. I wiped the water off my face one last time before I opened the door, prepared to intimidate them with my body that was still red from the hot water.
But instead, I found Ava.
Her eyes scanned my body, taking in the water droplets dripping down my form. I stood there in shock, watching her as she studied me. She was in a pair of tightly-woven jeans and a black top that fell off her shoulders. There were silver earrings dangling from her ears, accentuating her slender neck. It took awhile for her eyes to meet mine. She took her time devouring me. Undressing me in her mind’s eye as a flush crept into her cheeks.
Then, a small giggle fell from her lips.
“What?” I asked.
“Don’t suppose you’re up for dinner?” she asked.
“Dinner?”
“Mhm. I came to invite you out to dinner, but I see you were a bit… preoccupied.”
“Just a shower. Nothing else,” I said.
“Care to put on some clothes?” she asked.
“Do you want me to?”
Her eyes hardened onto mine. I could tell she was debating what I had said. Taking it to heart and making her decision carefully. She swallowed thickly, her body tensing underneath my gaze. I stepped away from the door, giving her space to come in if she wanted.
But all she did was shake her head.
“I’m hungry. I figured we could talk over food,” Ava said.
“Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be ready,” I said.
“Good. That’s the first time I’ve ever made the first move. I was concerned it would backfire,” she said.
“The first move? I’m pretty sure I was the one that asked you to dinner first.”
“At your cabin, sure. But this is us going out somewhere. And I made that move because you don’t have a cell phone.”
“I have a landline,” I said.
“No one has a landline,” she said with a grin. “Do you want me to drive, too? I could pay. You could put on a pretty little skirt and show off those toned legs of yours.”
“You done?” I asked.
“Maybe. Do you want me to be done?”
I grinned at her as a chuckle fell from my lips. I ushered her into the house so she could wait for me, her body drifting into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, making herself comfortable.
She looked good, making herself at home.
I quickly got changed, then we piled into my truck. I drove us into town and took Ava to this hole-in-the-wall diner that made everything from scratch. It was the best place in town to eat, even though the atmosphere was far from fancy. But even though Ava grew up in the family she had, she didn’t strike me as the kind of girl that was impressed with stuff like that.
“Everything’s homemade?” Ava asked.
“Everything. Even the sauces and the bread,” I said.
“I take it they locally source their meat?” she asked.
“Yep. They don’t do business with anyone that doesn’t live within thirty minutes of Kettle,” I said.
“Damn. I can’t eat anything that isn’t within twenty minutes of the town limits.”
Her giggle was phenomenal. All night, we went back and forth like that. We talked about her love of books and how she still wasn’t sure if she wanted to get an education. I told her I felt college was overrated and how someone could get a decent two-year degree now and go on to live fantastic lives. Ava poked at my college memories and I told her stories of my wilder days. Days when I traveled and stayed up until four in the morning drinking with the guys on campus.
She hung onto every word I said.
“This was a wonderful surprise,” I said.
“I’m glad you think so,” Ava said. “I was hoping you would be up for dinner.”
“At first I thought you might’ve been someone from the rival company who had come to intimidate me,” I said.
I watched Ava lock up as her eyes slowly panned up to mine.
“Are they still giving you trouble?” she asked.
“Not since the letter. But our lawyer did draft a harassment lawsuit and send it back to them.”
“What did it say?” she asked.
I was concerned with the questions Ava asked. Up until this point, the only thing she had been concerned about was the destruction of the mountains. But now, she seemed more concerned with pertinent details. I knew who her father was and I knew he owned Breathline Energies, but now I was concerned Ava was a mark.
I was concerned Ava was someone her father had sent.
“Just the basics. Stop now or we file,” I said.
“Did it work?” Ava asked.
“Don’t know. We haven’t gotten a rebuttal or anything.”
I could tell there was something Ava wanted to say. Her eyes screamed it, but she kept her mouth shut. Our food came and we ate in relative silence, the playful banter between us gone. I hated that she had shut off on me. I hated that this invisible wall was between us. Why did this lovely woman have to be from the family that was burying my father into the ground? Why did things always have to be so difficult?
“How are things going with your father?” I asked.
“I’m not really sure,” Ava said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean they are what they are. I’m coming and going as I want, but every time we are in the same room, it’s a collision of forces. My mother’s being pulled in two different directions and my father is trying to regain control of his family. It is what it is.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Not your fault.”
“You look beautiful tonight.”
“You think so?” she asked.
“I do.”
She looked up at me as a small smile crossed her cheeks. The check came to the table and I handed the waitress some money. I told her to keep the change, then I offered my hand for Ava to take. She looked at it for a second, debating on what her next move needed to be.
Then she took my hand and let me lead her out of the diner.
We walked back to my truck, her hand slipped delicately in mine. The silence that hung between us was comfortable, but still shook with a twinge of things unsaid. I guided Ava to her side of the truck and opened her door, but she was reluctant to get in.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
I turned toward her and watched her hand approach my face. She cupped my cheek, the warmth of her skin heating mine. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fall into it. I allowed myself to relent to her direction. She guided my face to hers, our lips hovering against one another’s.
“Men making the first move is overrated,” she said with a whisper.
Then our lips connected underneath the twinkling stars.