Chapter 10 #2
“I said, can I help you pick the cake?” Georgie bounces up and down on her toes, her hands wound tightly in front of her as she waits for Ava to respond.
“Sure,” Ava says noncommittally before putting her hands on Georgie’s shoulders to stop her from bouncing. “But right now, I really need to talk to Anderson. And it’s a school night.”
“But it’s only eight o’clock,” Georgie whines.
“Don’t care,” Ava says. “Shower, pajamas, bed.” She taps Georgie on the nose, her lips curving at the ends. “Now.”
Georgie lets out a groan, heading to the bathroom with heavy stomps. She stops when she’s about to pass me, eyeing me up and down before raising a brow. “So, you’re a firefighter.”
It’s a statement, not a question, but I answer with a “yes” anyway.
“Is it true you guys actually use a pole to get to your fire truck?”
“Georgie,” Ava groans. “Go get ready for bed.”
“What? I can’t ask your husband a question?” Georgie huffs, crossing her arms.
“He’s not my husband,” Ava shoots back, but fuck, I like that word on her lips.
More than I should.
Georgie ignores her, turning back to look at me. “Do you all have to take turns sliding down it?”
“Georgie!”
“Fine! I’m going.” Georgie throws her hands up as she heads toward the bathroom. “Excuse me for being curious about the kind of backup that must cause in an emergency.” Her voice trails off, and I cough into my fist to hide the laugh bubbling in my throat.
“The way teenagers can go from one emotion to another so quickly needs to be studied,” Ava mumbles, more to herself than me, as she begins tidying her already spotless living room.
I didn’t notice when I got here, but now that things seem to be calming down a little bit, I realize the apartment literally looks like a showroom.
There’s not one thing out of place—kitchen counters clear of clutter, not a speck of dust to be seen, and perfectly fluffed pillows on the couch.
Walking back over to the kitchen, Ava straightens the toaster sitting on the corner of her counter, barely moving it a centimeter before letting out an exhale. “I’m so sorry,” she says.
She nods toward the chair at her kitchen counter, so I take a seat as she leans her elbows down on the counter, balancing her chin in her hands.
“Are you going to tell me what this is all about?” I ask, whispering in case Georgie can hear us from the bathroom. “I mean, I got the gist, but if we’re going to do this, I’m going to need the full story.”
Ava’s eyes widen again, just like they did when I told Georgie that Ava and I could get married earlier than planned—way earlier than I ever thought possible.
Before coming here tonight, I hadn’t even thought past what I was going to do if she slammed the door in my face after telling her how I feel about her, after asking—no, begging—her for a chance to have a relationship that goes beyond sex.
Marriage was something I was prepared to have to wait years for.
“Why do you keep acting like we’re actually going to do this?” Ava raises her brow, her whispered voice taking on an edge that flusters me more than I’d like to admit.
“I thought that’s what you needed from me.”
Ava groans. “You can cut the shit, Anderson. It’s just us.” Keeping her voice low, she still sounds pissed, and I’m too confused about what I did wrong to say anything. She takes my silence as its own answer. “Wait, you’re actually agreeing to this? To marrying me?”
My cheeks immediately flush, and the room feels like it just went up one million degrees. “I–I just want to help.”
Ava barks out a dry laugh. “And you’re willing to commit fraud?”
I shake my head, trying to get the blood pulsing in my cheeks to settle.
Maybe I should explain to her that this marriage wouldn't necessarily be fraudulent—not for me. Not with how much I want her to want me, even if it’s like this.
My lips part to tell her, but I close my mouth quickly, hearing how ridiculous the thoughts sound in my head and not wanting to know how much more ridiculous they would sound out loud.
If I tell her how I feel, this marriage becomes way more complicated than it already is.
Right now, Ava needs to strengthen her case with CPS.
She needs to focus on being the guardian Georgie needs.
Feigning nonchalance, I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t mind.”
I bury what I want somewhere deep and out of the way; it can wait, like it always does.
“This isn’t letting me borrow your car or running an errand for me,” she starts, her voice going back to normal when we hear the water running from the shower in the bathroom.
She stands to her full height as her head cocks to the side.
“This is lying to your friends, your family, the crew at the station, the government. No one can know that this marriage is a scam. It’ll ruin my entire case with CPS, and I’ll lose Georgie. ”
I nod. “I know that.”
She crosses her arms, and I’m distracted by the two curls that frame her face, the pieces of hair as stubborn as the woman wearing them.
Ava may know my body well enough to have me falling apart in her hands, but she doesn’t know that she’s met her match—I’m as stubborn as they come, just like her.
And I fight like hell for what I want.
For the people who matter to me.
And there’s nothing I want more than to call her my wife, especially if that means she doesn’t have to run into every fire alone—not when I’m right here to walk beside her.