26. Dex #2
“No, it’s fine,” I assure her with a smile. “But I should get tested too. Let’s wait a few days.”
Ava groans and covers her face with her palms, but I can still see her crimson lips, and she’s smiling.
“Okay, I’ll be patient. I’ve been waiting for this moment since you were on the cover of Soap Opera Digest , so what’s another few days?
” She puts her arms around my neck and kisses me, then whispers, “I just want you so much.”
“Well maybe there’s something I can do about that,” I say. Then I shift down the bed and start kissing her inner thighs.
Two months later, it’s Ava’s thirtieth birthday, and she invites me to Saint-Tropez for a long weekend to celebrate, just the two of us.
It’s still early, but I’ve decided to give this relationship a shot.
Ava’s bright and motivated. Beautiful, obviously.
Maybe, with time, I could develop feelings for her.
I know I’ll never love anyone the way I love Sunny. But Ava and I might be a good match.
We have similar lifestyles, anyway. That’s something.
Saint-Tropez is fun, and relaxing, and a welcome change from LA.
But on our second day there, the paps catch us kissing on the balcony of our hotel suite.
Ava’s topless, her back turned to the camera.
I’m wearing a towel around my waist, my arms wrapped around her.
The press has a fucking field day. There’ve been rumors swirling about us for weeks, and now the world has the proof it’s been waiting for.
The pictures are everywhere. The news articles are salacious, with headlines like: “Ava and Dex have Steamy Sex in Saint-Tropez.” They’ve branded us the world’s sexiest couple.
I can’t help wondering what Sunny thinks about all this. Or if she even cares .
Ava, on the other hand, is thrilled. She’s been feeling uneasy about what turning thirty means for her modeling career but, according to her, sleeping with a man who’s four years younger is confirmation she’s “still fuckable.”
When we get back from our trip, she asks me to come home with her. She’s leaving for New York in a few days and wants to spend as much time together as possible. We’re both exhausted from the long flight and, after a quick shower, we crash on her bed. But in the middle of the night, she wakes me.
“Dex—something’s wrong,” she says.
I reach for the lamp on my nightstand and click on the light. When I turn to Ava, she’s doubled over, wincing.
I sit up and shift closer to her in bed. “Where does it hurt?”
“My chest…my stomach. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.” She shows me her trembling fingers. “The pain’s so bad, I’m shaking.”
“Let’s get you to the hospital,” I say, rubbing her back. Her skin is flushed, and her eyes are wide, and I can tell she’s terrified. I’ve been there before—so many times.
She shakes her head. “I have someone who’ll come to the house. His name is Dr. Keller.” She clutches her stomach and winces again. “Can you call him?”
I nod.
“Just promise me you’ll stay for the exam, okay? I really don’t want to be alone right now.”
“Of course, Ava. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”
She attempts a smile and hands me her phone.
I call Dr. Keller, and he arrives less than twenty minutes later. When I bring him to Ava’s room, he sits on the edge of the bed to examine her.
“Could you be pregnant?” he asks as he feels her abdomen.
Ava looks at me, and her eyes fill with tears. She bites her lip, worriedly.
I feel so bad for her. She must be in such terrible pain that she’s panicking and can’t think straight. Of course she isn’t pregnant—she’s on the pill.
Right?
“Ava?” I ask when she continues looking at me, avoiding her doctor’s question.
Finally, she turns to him. “Um…I don’t know,” she says. “It’s possible.”
My heart picks up speed.
“When was your last menstrual period?” Dr. Keller asks her.
“Well…my periods are kind of all over the place,” she says. “But I really think this is just an upset stomach. Food poisoning, maybe.” She shifts her position in bed and gasps from the pain.
“Are you still taking hormonal birth control?” the doctor continues, looking at her chart.
Ava just blinks at him without answering. There are beads of sweat on her brow. She looks like she’s going to be sick. “Excuse me,” she says, covering her mouth. Then she runs to the bathroom and, seconds later, we hear her throw up.
“I’m going to look in on her,” Dr. Keller says to me. When he enters the bathroom, Ava closes the door behind him. I hear them whispering, but I can’t make out what they’re saying.
I take deep breaths .
I pace the room.
What the fuck is going on? Could Ava really be pregnant?
I walk over to her nightstand, where she keeps her birth control pills.
I find the pack and open it. Maybe I’m crazy, but it looks exactly the same as when she showed it to me after our first date.
Half of the pills are taken, and the last one she took was on a Friday.
Today’s Tuesday. So the best case scenario is she’s skipped a few days.
But the worst case…
I sit on the bed again and try to wait patiently. Try to ignore the fact that my vision’s getting hazy.
Dr. Keller comes back into the room and suggests we give Ava a few minutes alone. Waiting for her to come out of the bathroom is torture. I’m convinced the doctor can hear my heart hammering from across the room, where he’s writing notes in her chart.
Finally, the bathroom door creaks open, and Ava walks out.
She’s holding a pregnancy test in her hand.
“It’s negative,” she tells me, mere seconds before I start hyperventilating.
She gets back in bed, and Dr. Keller completes his physical exam.
“I feel a lot better after throwing up,” she says to him. “It must have been food poisoning.” She turns and gives me a tentative smile, like she’s trying to gauge how upset I am.
I honestly don’t know what the fuck to feel—but I’m not having this conversation with Ava until we’re alone.
I can’t react like a normal person would in this scenario, because I’m not a normal person.
I’m Dex Oliver . My life isn’t mine anymore.
It’s entertainment. This doctor might be the most trustworthy person on the planet—but one of Ava’s staff could be listening outside the door, for all I know.
She has twenty-four-seven security at her home after a disturbing experience with a stalker a couple of years ago.
No, there’s no such thing as privacy when you’re a celebrity.
So I do what I do best. I act. I play the role of the devoted boyfriend who’s taking everything in stride.
Not the one who’s fucking freaking out because the world-famous supermodel he’s been sleeping with for two months tried to trick him into knocking her up.
“Based on the rapid onset of your symptoms, and the duration and location of the pain, I believe you had a gallbladder attack,” Dr. Keller says. “Attacks are triggered by foods that are high in fat. Now, I know you keep a strict diet?—”
“I cheated this weekend,” Ava tells him. “We were in Saint-Tropez, and I ate cheese, and…” She looks over at me. “We had ice cream .” She whispers the words with complete and utter shame, like she’s confessing to a felony.
The doctor nods. “We’ll do an ultrasound first thing in the morning to confirm. In the meantime, sticking to low-fat foods should prevent another attack. But call me if your symptoms return.”
“Thank you, Dr. Keller,” I say, standing up to walk him out.
When I get back to Ava’s bedroom, her eyes are pleading. “Dex, let me explain. This isn’t what you think, I promise.”
I sit beside her on the edge of the bed, my body turned to face her. “What the fuck is going on, Ava?” I ask, my voice thin and raspy. I’m exhausted, and desperate for an answer that doesn’t make her as diabolical as I fear.
“Nothing, Dex, I swear. Dr. Keller just freaked me out with all those questions about pregnancy. Birth control pills aren’t 100 percent effective—even when you take them religiously—so my mind started spinning, and I thought maybe there was a slight chance, that’s all.
I keep some tests in my medicine cabinet and wanted to take one to be sure. ”
My heart sinks. I prop my elbows on my knees and let my forehead rest on my palms.
“What’s the matter, Dex?”
I turn to her and sigh. “I found your birth control pills in your drawer, Ava. You haven’t been taking them.”
Her eyes widen. “No,” she says, shaking her head. “No, Dex, you have it all wrong. That’s an old prescription. I switched pills a while ago.”
“Prove it,” I say. “Where’s the new pack?”
Ava coils her fiery hair on top of her head and secures it with an elastic band. I can tell by the way her eyes shift back and forth that she’s thinking. Finally, she shrugs. “It must be in my luggage somewhere.”
I turn to her packed suitcases, stacked in a corner of her bedroom. I walk toward them, then start to unzip the one on top.
“Dex, wait?—”
When I look back at her, she’s crying. I watch as she sweeps her long manicured fingers over her eyes, wiping tears from them. “Okay, fine. I lied. But…let me explain.” She bites her li p. “I’m in love with you, Dex.”
My fingers start tingling.
“We belong together,” she continues. “Can’t you see it? I mean, we’re the two most beautiful people in the world. Would it be so terrible if we had a baby?”
The room’s spinning. I sit in a chair across from her bed and close my eyes.
“You tried to trick me into fathering a child,” I say after a minute.
“Don’t you see how fucked up that is?” I pause for a beat, then shake my head.
“You were insatiable, too. You were all over me, morning, noon, and night. Now it makes sense. You just wanted to get pregnant.”
She sighs. “I think you’re missing the point here, Dex. I love you.”
My palms are sweating. I can’t speak. All I can do is stare at her. Time starts to slow, and I don’t know how long I’m silent for.
Her eyes narrow, and her expression hardens. “Dex, what the fuck? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
My chest tightens.
I need to get out of here. At this point, I’ll say anything to end this conversation, so I can go home. She’s not going to listen to reason, anyway.
“Look, Ava,” I tell her. “We haven’t been together that long. You might think you love me, but…I don’t think we’re there yet.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she snaps. “I tell you I love you and that’s your response?”
I stand and start pacing the room again. My stomach’s churning.
“Do you know how many men would kill to be in your shoes, Dex Oliver?” she hisses .
Shit. My hands are shaking. I shove them into the pockets of my $300 sweatpants and hope she doesn’t see what’s happening to me.
When I look back at Ava, I search her face for a hint of the woman I met at Leo’s party that night. But I don’t recognize her at all. She’s morphed into a different being right before my eyes. Something vile, and poisonous.
“Look,” she says, shaking her head. “I’m sorry I lied. I just really want a baby, Dex. And I can’t have a baby with just anyone . I’m Ava Elwood , for fuck’s sake.”
I gaze at her, dumbstruck.
“And you have to admit, our kids would be gorgeous,” she adds, her eyes softening again.
I’m barely breathing. “I’ve gotta go.”
“Dex, no! Please stay.” She slithers out of bed and across the room to where I’m standing. “Let’s get a good night’s sleep, and we can talk about this with clear heads in the morning.”
I turn away from her. “Ava, there’s nothing you can say that will make this right. I need to sleep in my own bed tonight.”
Fuck. I’m rhyming .
I don’t remember packing my things or putting my suitcase in my car. I barely remember driving myself home, but here I am.
The moment I lock the door behind me, I collapse.
That fiery hair…the way she hissed…and that venomous look in her eyes.
I’ve been pierced by a viper. It’s not just anxiety this time.
I see the headlines: “Dex Oliver Dies of Stress-Induced Heart Attack. ”
Too bad I never got help for that.
I promised Sunny I was fine.
I told her I was seeing a therapist, but I lied.
And now I’m dying?—
I’m dying.
I’m dying.
I’m dying.
…
I wake up in a heap by my front door. The sun’s streaming in.
I guess I lived to see another day.
I peel myself off the floor and stand facing the mirror. My troubled eyes and quivering lips are a dead giveaway?—
I’m a fucking mess.
I take my phone out of my pocket and open up my contacts. I consider calling Sunny. I consider calling my doctor, to finally ask for help.
But instead, I choose what I always do. I fix my mask.
I smile with my eyes, and I flash my movie-star grin.
I let Dex Oliver take it from here.