27 Truths: Ava's story (The Truth About Love Book 1) (11 page)

Then I fall asleep.

My eyes sting when I open them and look at the phone that is ringing on the charging dock on my nightstand.

“Hello?”

“Breakfast better include bacon.”

“Yeah, sure,” I say, throwing my feet over the side of my bed.

“Leaving the gym in fifteen minutes. We need anything at the store?”

“Logan, you’ve been home longer than I have, so you tell me.”

“Sausage gravy,” I hear Luke say in the background.

“Anything real and unhealthy,” Dad chimes in. “And for God’s sake, don’t tell Tessa.”

“How about you’ll eat whatever I make and like it?” I say, and they all laugh. “Logan, am I on speaker?”

“Sure are.”

“Nice, jackass.” I hang up the phone then run into the bathroom and jump in the shower.

After my shower, I throw on leggings and a sweatshirt over my panties and bra. Then I pull on a pair of fuzzy socks because my feet are freezing.

I run down the stairs and skid past T’s sunshine in a box, bat my way through balloons, and go out to the garage to look in the freezer. I grab a roll of breakfast sausage and a package of bacon. Then I quickly walk into the kitchen and throw them both in the microwave before hitting Google on my phone to get the recipe.

I run around the kitchen that I haven’t cooked in since this summer and find pots and pans. I grab flour out of the cupboard and butter and milk out of the fridge. When I measure the milk, there isn’t enough, so I shoot Logan a text telling him to pick some up. This should buy me enough time to brown the sausage.

When they arrive, I grab the milk and dump it into the simmering butter, sausage fat, and flour mixture.

“Holy shit, Ava.” Logan laughs. “You’re cooking!”

“Great observation, Einstein. I do live alone in the city. A girl has to eat.”

“That’s my girl.” Dad kisses my cheek, and I look over at him. “Sausage gravy would send Tessa into a tizzy.”

“Because you had a heart attack? Yeah, she probably wouldn’t be pleased.” I shake my head, smirking to myself.

It’s turkey sausage, and he’ll never be able to tell the difference.

“What can I do to help?” Luke asks.

Logan snickers. “She’s got it all under control.”

And he’s right; I do have it all under control … until I feel Luke’s eyes on me and nearly burn the last four pieces of toast we have in the house.

After they eat, Dad reminds us that we are watching a movie at Harper’s house. He tells Luke he hopes to see him there, and Luke agrees to show up. Dad leaves happy after that.

Logan takes off upstairs to find his phone charger, leaving me alone with Luke.

I am doing the dishes when he walks up and starts to rinse them.

I look at him, and he looks at me.

“What?”

“You never hang out here. You certainly never offer to help do dishes,” I whisper.

“Well, it’s a new day, Ava.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He narrows his eyes at me. “It means what I said.”

“It’s a new day, Ava,” I mimic him.

“Told you I was in a bad place the other day.”

“You mean the past two days?”

“Seems about right.” He looks at me and stares at my eyes for a moment. “Mark on your eye’s gone, huh?”

“Oh, my God, is this all because of that? It was an accident, Luke.”

“No. Ava, it happens. Men like me don’t get careless.”

“Luke …” I shake my head. “It was—”

“Careless and stupid. Pissed me off. Said some things. Won’t take them back. Those things needed to be said.”

I turn away and start washing the dishes again.

“You’re good. I’m good,” he states, and I look back at him. “Dangerous game we were playing, Ava. Can’t do it anymore.”

I look away and start scrubbing the same pan I have been since he stepped up to the sink.

“I do appreciate you not saying anything to my family or yours about what I said.”

“I wouldn’t want to hurt them.”

“I know that.”

I look up at him again. “I don’t want to hurt you, either.”

“Know that, too.”

“Luke,” I sigh. “You need to tell me what you want.”

“I want to go back to that night in the pool and take it all away.”

His words sting, and I am sure he sees that.

“I was good to you then. We were”—he pauses—“buddies. I overstepped. If I could take it all back, I would.”

“But—”

“No buts, Ava. If I could go back, I swear I would never—”

“You ready?” Logan asks as he barrels down the stairs.

“Yep,” Luke says, looking at me.

“Where are you two off to?” I look between them.

“Double date.” Logan grins. “Two chicks at the gym.”

I look away and nod. “Have fun.”

Luke takes his time putting on his boots while Logan saunters out the door.

“If I could take it back, I would.”

“But you can’t,” I say.

“No, I can’t any more than you can take away last night.”

“You did that!” I seethe. “You—”

“Shh.” He scowls. “Christ, Ava.”

He shakes his head as he stands up and walks toward the door.

“Luke,” I call out to him, and he looks back.

“No more,” he reiterates.

I feel my lip quiver as I nod.

“Good girl.” He turns and walks away.

When they pull out of the driveway, I sink down on the kitchen floor, holding the pan I made sausage gravy in while staring at the balloons floating around the kitchen.

No second chances.

Easier said than done.

Luke spoke to me more today than he has in years.

Luke wishes he could take it all back, make it go away.

I can’t help thinking that, if I hadn’t been such an idiot, he would have been in my bed last night. More importantly, he wouldn’t look so torn about us.

Us?
God, what is wrong with me?
I ask as a smiling sun floats toward me.

I reach for my phone when I get a message alert.

Harper: Piper would love for you to come play.

At this moment, I know that is the distraction I need.

Me: Be there in an hour.

I arrive at Harper and Maddox’s home just before noon and am greeted with a great big smile and the warmest hug from Piper. Immediately, I feel better.

“Your hugs could save the world.”

She takes my face in her chubby little hands and says, “Are you sad?”

I shake my head, and she nods.

“Wanna play?”

“I would love to.”

We spend the day in the family room, watching
The Nutcracker
and singing and dancing. She is wearing her pink tutu, and I am wearing her white one, which looks absolutely ridiculous. It almost covers my ass.

Dad and Tessa walk in an hour into our playtime, and Dad laughs as we both leap and twirl and fall. Gracefully, of course.

Lunch is almost ready when Dad pops in and holds out the crown I used to wear.

“You’re missing a piece to your costume, Ava.”

“This is not a costume, Daddy. We are singing, dancing princesses, right, Piper?”

She is looking at the crown on my head like it is the most amazing thing she has seen.

“Would you like to wear it?” I ask, taking it off.

She smiles. “It’s yours.”

“You know,” I tell her, walking over to my bag and pulling out a pair of sunglasses, “I used to wear this crown every day. It didn’t matter if people thought it was ridiculous; I refused to take it off.”

“Except for bath time.”

I look up to see Logan in the doorway.

“Yes, except for bath time.” I laugh. “But I grew up and went to school and then college, and then I got a job. I can’t wear it anymore, because”—I pause, trying to choose my words carefully since every girl deserves to believe in fairytales and happy ever afters—“it got a bit too small for my big head.”

“You got that right.” Logan laughs.

I toss him a glare then look back at Piper. “So now, I think, if it fits you, you should wear it every time you need to feel sparkly.”

“Do you think it will fit me?”

“There’s only one way to find out.” I place it on top of her platinum blonde curls.

Dad gasps, and I do the same.

Her blue eyes widen. “Does it fit?”

“Oh, Piper, it fits beautifully. In fact, I think it was made for you.”

“But it was yours,” she says as she turns and looks in the mirror.

“But I grew up, and it hasn’t fit on any other little girl’s head as perfectly as it does yours. So it’s now yours. It chose you.”

“What will you wear?” she asks me.

I put on my sunglasses and push them up on my head. “Sunglasses are the new crown.”

She laughs. “Not the same.”

“Maybe not, but I will tell you a secret.” I curl my finger toward myself, gesturing for her to come closer. She leans in, and I whisper in her ear, “You can never steal a girl’s inner sparkle no matter how old she is.”

“So you don’t need a crown ’cause you’re older now?”

“Exactly. And when you get to be my age, you won’t, either.”

“Can I have your sunglasses when I get older and the crown doesn’t fit my big head?”

I laugh and nod. “Of course you can.”

She throws her arms around me and whispers in my ear, “Thank you, fairy god-Ava.”

Her words seem to make me a bit emotional. “You’re very welcome. Thank you.”

“I didn’t give you a crown.”

“No, Piper, but you gave my crown a chance to shine again.”

She smiles as if she gets it. She gets that it’s time for me to move on from my naive and childlike ways. Let’s hope I can not only talk the talk, but walk the walk.

I stand up. “I’ll be back in just a minute.”

I walk through the kitchen and see Luke standing at the sink next to Harper as I make my way to the bathroom. A tinge of jealousy hits me, but I have no right. He doesn’t love me, and we are done.
No do overs,
I remind myself.

I look in the mirror and realize I look like hell. I need sleep, like a week’s worth of it. I love home, but right now, I would give anything to be back in the city where the idea of home makes me miss it, because this trip, home’s reality isn’t all it used to be.

When I walk out, Piper is twirling in a circle, and I watch Luke watch her. He is smiling at her, and I automatically wonder if he is thinking of when we were younger.

He looks up and nods at me then nods at her. Then Luke Lane smiles at me, and his smile breaks my heart. His smile tells me all I really need to know.

Once upon a time, Luke Lane loved a little, stubborn, delusional girl, and that little girl was me. My fairytale happy ever after always included my black-haired, blue-eyed knight in shining armor, and that knight was Luke Lane. Then I grew up and convinced myself that it wasn’t a fairytale after all. It was fate.

I twisted fate to make her story come to life, but fate fought back this week, and now I am looking at a man I still love, but who doesn’t feel the same. And now I have to walk away. Not just for me, but for him. And not for the version of him who broke my heart, but for the version who was truly a knight in shining armor to a little girl so many fairytales ago.

I turn to walk toward the door, needing another minute to myself. A moment in the cold December air to frost over the emotions that keep flooding me.

When I look up, I see T, who immediately looks away.

“Hi,” I say nervously in response to the coldness that seems to be coming from him.

“Hello,” he says without looking at me.

“Okay, then.” I walk past him.

I can’t get out the door fast enough. When it shuts behind me and then opens when I have taken the three steps it takes to get off of the back porch, I look back to see T walking toward me.

“Okay, then, what?”

I shrug and smile and then frown and curse, “Damn it.” I turn back away and start walking.

“Then my assumption is right?” he yells at me.

I wipe away the tears and keep walking.

When I feel a tug on my elbow, I look back into his angry eyes that soften in reaction to what I guess is the way I look. He shakes his head.

“Don’t be mad at me,” comes out in a beseeched sound.

“Angry, no. Upset, most definitely.”

I shake my head. “What did I do?”

“Ava, I sent you—”

I cover my mouth when the realization hits that I never sent a thank you. “I loved it.”

He rolls his eyes and turns his head. “It was childish. I should have—”

“No”—I reach up and grab the sides of his face—“it wasn’t. It was perfect. It was so perfect.”

“What is the status of your relationship with Luke Lane?”

I shake my head. I won’t lie, but I won’t give him what he is asking for.

“Ava …” he says in a soft tenor.

“I don’t have a relationship with … him.”

“When did it end?”

“There never was a—”

He turns away.

“Wait!”

He looks back.

“We grew up together,” I say slowly.

He nods then turns and walks away again.

“T!”

He holds up his hand and shakes his head as he walks back into the house.

I squat down, fist my hair, and scream inside. I can’t seem to catch a damn break. Can’t he just let it be?

When I look up, Liam is walking down the driveway, so I stand up quickly and turn my back to him as I pull by sweatshirt up and wipe my eyes dry.

He walks up and holds his hand out. “Let’s walk.”

“You alone?”

“Yep. You wanna talk?”

I shake my head, and he gives me a half-smile, squeezes my hand, and we walk in silence until we get to the pond and the bench that overlooks it.

He uses his gloves to wipe off the bench. “Sit?”

I do, and he sits next to me.

Liam is and always has been calm. The older he gets, the calmer he seems. Right now, I need to borrow it.

He looks over as I look at him and takes in a deep breath. “Luke Lane’s home.”

“So I’ve heard,” I say.

He chuckles silently and throws his arm around the back of the bench. He uses his hand to pull my head against his shoulder.