“We’re here,” Marie whispers in my ear. I jump, I must have fallen asleep on the drive because the sun is hanging slightly above the mountains.

“Personal space much? I know I’m a sexy bitch and all, but you need to back off.”

“Was that an offer?”

“Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep,” I snark back.

Just the thought of someone other than Charlie and Amber touching me, makes my skin crawl, but I need to do something to get my mind off the pain.

“Who said I wasn’t willing?” She raises her perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me. “Let’s go, I blew off the rest of the night to hang out with you. You can buy me breakfast.” She places a chaste kiss on my cheek before turning toward the building in front of the car.

Oh, little Maria wants to play. Maybe this is what I need, a quick screw to forget the pain. A flash of Amber’s beautiful eyes and pouty lips suddenly cloud my vision, bringing tears to my eyes. I always knew she could do better than me, and now she has, at least it’s with someone that I know will love her as much, if not more than I ever could.

I take the time to appreciate the fine specimen before me as I climb out of the car. She has long black hair with legs for days covered in skin-tight jeans. My eyes focus on her grabbable ass as she shakes it for my pleasure, I’m sure. She turns to look over the shoulder, obviously catching me staring,

“Are you coming or do you plan on hiding in the car for the rest of your life?”

“Keep your panties on, better yet, take them off when we get inside. Maybe I can make up for your missing work.” I force the words out of my mouth with a strained smile, but she doesn't notice.

She has beautiful brown eyes with a bright smile covering her face, immediately reminding me of Charlie. How his tanned, strong, callused hands felt when he held me. The pain that suddenly slices through me causes my steps to falter. Shaking the thoughts from my mind, I am able to continue walking and follow Maria into the diner.

“Well, isn’t this cute,” I smile as I take in my surroundings. It's a small diner, a truck stop place, but not covered in grime like you would imagine. Small booths line the outside wall with a neatly kept bar top and stools in the center.

“Good Morning ladies, would you like a booth? You are more than welcome to seat yourself at the bar,” a cheerful voice chirps. I turn to notice a slip of a girl with menus in her hand.

“Booth, please,” Maria says forcefully, grabbing my hand.

Hmm, interesting. I’ve known this chick for maybe two hours, and she is already trying to lay claim. She may be more trouble than she is worth so there won't be a quick fuck in our future, but I decided to roll with it, intertwining our fingers as she leads the way toward our seats.

Once we are seated, menus are placed in front of us, “I’m Katie, and I will be your server today. What can I get you ladies to drink?” Katie, seriously. They’re following me everywhere, aren’t they? The point of this little excursion was to forget, not to be reminded of what I left behind. Thoughts of Katie’s crumpled form in my arms suddenly fill my mind. She is why I left, I don’t want to be in that much pain. I know it will happen eventually, I had to leave before they could break me.

“Avery? Did you want something to drink?” Maria’s voice brings me out of my haze immediately.

“Coffee, black. Keep that shit coming, will you?” Maria and Katie both chuckle at my statement, they have no idea.

“Sure thing! I’ll even make you your own pot, you're not a morning person are you?”

“Not even a little bit,” Katie heads back toward the kitchen, leaving us alone.

“I guess this is the sappy movie point where I spill my guts, and you make it all better?” I say with a laugh.

“You can say that or we can make other plans,” she slowly slides her hand across the table, caressing my fingers with hers.

“And what might those entail?”

“Heading to my place and me fucking you senseless, nothing too crazy. The typical Saturday night if you want.”

Well damn, this girl gets right to the point, doesn’t she? I open my mouth to tell her about Amber and Charlie but stop short. They’re my past, living their happily ever after. I can have who and whatever I want. The old Avery is back in business, no strings, nothing. Just lots of fucking.

“Well then, feed me first. Then we can see what happens later.”

I give her a wink and my best smile, thankfully she buys it and looks down at her menu to order. Suddenly my phone starts ringing in my bag, I ignore it.

“You better answer that, someone is trying to get a hold of you. It rang non-stop on the ride here.”

“Nah, nothing that can’t wait,” I respond, looking down at my menu. My heart is yearning for it to be Charlie or Amber. Desperate to find me after I left, possibly missing me as much as I miss them, but I know that won't be the case.

“Whatever you say, but someone must be looking for you.”

“If you want that fuck later, I suggest you mind your damn business. Got it?” I growl through my teeth, slamming the menu down on the table. Suddenly, I’m not hungry anymore.

“Alright, my bad. Just was wondering why a beauty like you was getting picked up from a gorgeous beach house at the crack of dawn.”

“Again, none of your business.” I open my mouth to continue, but am interrupted by my phone ringing again. I will deal with whoever that is later, not now, I just can’t.

“Are you ladies ready to order yet?” Katie chirps from beside me as she places my coffee mug on the table.

“No, this is all I need at the moment. Thanks.” With a smile, she turns to Maria to take her order.

I turn to stare out the window, lost in my own thoughts. As my phone starts ringing again, against my better judgment, I decided to answer. Reaching into my purse, I check the caller ID and see it’s Katie. My finger hovers over the ignore button as Maria speaks “Look, I want to get laid, but someone is looking for you, desperately, judging by the number of times your phone has rung. Maybe you should hear them out?”

“So, this is the part where I pour my heart out to a complete stranger,” I smirk as I answer the phone.

“Hey, Kit Kat! How’s it hanging?”

“Don’t you hey me! Where the hell are you? Amber and Charlie are beside themselves looking for you! If they weren’t so busy helping me stop my life from falling apart, we would all be searching for you. Where the hell did you go?”

I have to pull the phone away from my ear, she is so loud, the action causes Maria to smirk.

“I wanted to see mountains.” The same excuse I gave Danny to tell Amber and Charlie when they woke up looking for me if they ever were. No need to elaborate further, I’m met with silence from the other end.

Maria raises her eyebrow at me, but I continue to wait for Katie to respond. She knows better than to try and get information out of me I don’t want to share. With a sigh, she continues, “Why did you leave, Avery?”

Tears immediately spring to my eyes as the pain comes back to the front of my mind. Maria reaches across the table, gripping my hand in support, I hold on for dear life.

“I can’t hurt like that Katie. What happens when he gets tired of me. He’ll leave just like my dad did. It’s easier this way. He will take care of you and Amber. I left you in good hands. Give it time, you’ll forget about me soon enough.”

“What are you talking about, Avery? What happened?”

“Doesn’t matter. I just want them both to be happy.”

The pain has become unbearable making it hard to breathe, tears spill down my cheeks.

“Avery, you didn’t see how devastated Charlie was when they noticed you were missing or the lost look in Amber’s eyes when she noticed you weren’t in the room with me. The three of you need each other, accept it.”

I huff at her response. They put on a good show, she saw what she wanted, nothing more. Suddenly, Katie yells into the phone.

“Forget the two of them, I need you! Who is going to help me kick some sense into Logan when I find him, huh?”

“What do you want his ass back for anyway? He lied to you.”

“Let’s just say I’ve got a better understanding of his reasons now.”

“Well, look at you, Kit Kat. When did you become the one with all the answers?”

Amber and I have always been there for Katie, especially when it comes to love. Her insecurities about her weight and outward appearance have always held her back, settling for what she thought she deserved. In reality, she deserved the world, Logan better be ready to give it to her. Especially now after what he has done to her.

“About the time you started running, thinking that we don’t all need your crazy ass. You’re the glue that keeps us together, Avery. Now get your fine ass back here before I have to come find you!”

I hang up the phone without another thought. She is right, I’m not a runner. I fight for what I want. The problem is right now I want them. I want them to love me to the point of insanity, just like I love them. If they don’t, well, I’ll deal with that when and if I have to. For once, I can’t beat my way of thinking into someone, that shit is terrifying.

I feel Maria give my hand a squeeze, having completely forgotten that she was even here.

“I guess I’m not gonna get to fuck you? Damn, what a shame,” she gives me a wink and a smile that lights up the entire room, just like Charlie.

“Yup, gotta make things right. I’m not a runner, just took a kick in the butt from an unlikely place to get my head on straight.”

“Fair enough, but you still owe me breakfast. Let me eat and then I’ll take you where you need to go. This is going to be the most expensive Uber ride in history,”

Without hesitating, I respond, “Worth it.”

We pull up in front of my place a few hours later than I wanted, having hit traffic on the way. Apparently, people don’t understand that I have shit to do. Maria turns in her seat, “Here you go, all safe and sound.”

We both climb out of the car. “Thanks for all this, you went above and beyond as an Uber driver. I’ll make sure to give you a great recommendation,” I say with a smile, causing her to smile in return.

She reaches in to give me a hug, I’m shocked at first, but immediately reach around and squeeze her back.

“Get your grubby little hands off her!”

Maria pulls back raising her hands in surrender. “I take it that’s what you were running from.”

I turn to find a very pissed off Amber making her way towards us, followed closely by Charlie.

I chuckle, “You could say that.”

Before I can say anything else, Amber is lunging for me and slaps me across the face before screaming at Maria, “You homewrecking, Uber Driving, whore! How dare you show your face here!”

Thankfully, Charlie arrives, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her toward him, while I hold my burning cheek. Maria backs up slowly toward the car. “I don’t know what you think is going on, but nothing happened. Not for lack of trying.”

“Bitch, so help me, don’t say another goddamn word,” there is a fire in Amber’s eyes as she speaks. She’s more pissed than I realized, she never uses foul language unless we’re handling business in the bedroom.

“You!” Charlie points at me. “Into the damn house. I need to calm her the fuck down while your new friend gets the fuck out of here.” Charlie throws Amber over his shoulder before heading back into the house.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t take me up on my offer,” Maria says from her car. Damn, I completely forgot she was still here while watching Charlie and Amber make asses of themselves.

“Yeah, I guess not. Sorry for the crazy, honestly, I didn’t expect this kind of welcome when I came back here.”

“Things are not always how we expect. If you need a getaway car, I’m only an Uber call away.” With that, she pulls away from the curb with nothing but a wink. I stand there watching her leave until her car is nothing but a small speck in the distance.

Taking a deep breath, I turn toward the house and head to the front door. No sense putting this off any longer, hopefully, this will be a happy reunion and not one that will end in my heart breaking any further than it already has.