Chapter 19 #2
“No biggie. It helped me, too. There is always that moment in a storm when you feel like it’s never going to end.
That this is what the world will be from now on.
” It wasn’t just storms that got him like that.
Fall nights affected him that way, too, mainly because it had been November 5 when his mom had left him.
That night he hadn’t slept a wink, willing her to come back to him, promising that even if she brought another abusive boyfriend with her, he’d accept it. Be as good as he could be.
God, what a mess he’d been. Some days he felt like he’d left that messed-up boy in the dust, but most of the time he had to acknowledge that a big part of who he was had that boy at the heart of him.
“I’m glad. So, rummy. This time we’re not allowed to talk about anything but pop culture stuff. Favorite movies, books and songs. That kind of thing. I’m not going to ruin another rummy game.”
“You didn’t ruin the last one. Things just got…intense. That happens around you,” he said.
“I try not to let it,” she admitted. “But if I see something, I’ve got to say it.”
“Which is probably why you are a good therapist. So, favorite song?” he asked as she dealt the cards.
He learned she loved pop and R&B and that his favorite country artist was hit-or-miss for her.
She teased him about The Lord of the Rings.
She’d only read the books but hadn’t been able to sit through the movies.
He promised her she was missing out and invited her to a marathon when the blizzard was over.
Which she accepted.
“The Scholastic Book Fair started my addiction with reading. That and my mom would always buy us a book but not always a toy. So she made books appealing.”
Books were a hallmark of his teen years. He’d learned more about the world from reading than he had from anything else.
“Grandmother took me to the library,” Chay admitted. “I was behind when I first got here because my mom hadn’t always made getting me to school a priority.”
“I bet it was difficult at first,” Ava said.
“Some, but the teachers were understanding and Grandmother used to teach me at night. I caught up with reading and math pretty quickly. She always said that as long as I could read, I could figure anything out. That’s proven true.”
Ava had already liked Aponi, but she loved her a bit more hearing that.
Chay had mentioned that he felt like his grandmother had felt obligated to keep him, but that story right there showed she hadn’t felt that way at all.
She knew he’d only shared that because it was a deep-seated fear, like her own that she couldn’t have too much happiness.
It wasn’t rational, but it was still powerful all the same. “What’s the first book you can remember reading that you loved?”
“Um…I guess it was Percy Jackson,” he said. “He has a rough home life and school’s not easy for him, but it turns out he’s the son of Poseidon…I mean, I related on so many levels.”
“I can see that. Are you trying to say you might be a demigod?” she tasted.
“I couldn’t reveal it if I were. What about you?”
“Probably Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I didn’t have a tight friend group like they did, but I wanted it. When I was reading that book it felt like…I did.”
“Yeah, reading does that,” he said. “I hope Bug likes reading.”
“That’s why I try to give her books to play with and read them to her,” Ava said.
“Good plan. So…that’s books and music and we’ve covered movies,” Chay said as he won their second game. Ava had won the first. “What’s next?”
“Hmm…sports? Except I’m not really into them. I mean, I watch the Super Bowl, but more for the commercials and halftime show,” she admitted as she shuffled the cards and got ready to deal again.
“I watch them, but not fanatically. So we are pretty matched on sports,” he said.
“We are, aren’t we? Do you think we’re compatible?
” she asked. It seemed to her that Chay just fit all the missing parts of herself.
But was she missing something? Love was blind.
Ava knew that to be true from her own life as well as some of the sessions she had with her patients.
But with Chay this felt…like nothing she’d experienced before.
She wanted them to be perfect together. To fit each other like a missing puzzle piece. Was that asking too much?
“On some things,” he said. “But pop culture stuff isn’t really a make-it-or-break-it thing. Even if you hate the Lord of the Rings movies, I still like you.”
“Thanks. Even though you didn’t have any snacks in your house, I still like you,” she said with a wink.
“So I’m hearing you can be bribed with snacks?”
“Oh, hell yeah.”
“Hands-down favorite?” he asked, picking up the cards she’d dealt him, but his mind wasn’t on the game.
His mind was her. On how easy it would be to lift her into his arms and roll her under him on the couch.
To let his hands roam up and down her body while his mouth explored her neck.
Gracie had dozed off, so it was almost as if they were alone.
“Bugles with spray cheese. My mom used to make them for us when we were kids,” she said.
“You have the worst nutritional habits,” he said.
“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. What’s yours?”
“Hot Cheetos.”
She gave a shout of laughter. “I have bad habits. Those things—”
“Are delicious. I won’t allow any slander against them.”
“Sure, whatever you say,” she said with a big grin on her face.
He couldn’t resist her a moment longer. Moving carefully, he pulled her into his arms and onto his lap. She straddled him her hands on his shoulders, her center nestled against his crotch. Her breath smelling of chocolate pudding and coffee brushing over his face.
“You forfeit the game? That means I win two to one,” she said.
“Fine,” he said, tipping his head back as he pushed his hands into her hair. He drew her head forward until their mouths met.
The last thing he was thinking about was card games…but he was thinking about favorites.
That this might be his favorite blizzard ever.
That Ava was his favorite woman as they fell to their sides and clothing was rearranged until his hands were on her bare flesh.
He loved the sound of her muffled moans as she arched against him, loved the feel of her nails biting into his side as she moved them both until he could get inside her.
Loved the way she tightened around him and then called his name as quietly as she could as she came. He loved everything about this woman and knew that there was nothing that would stop him from claiming her as his. Not just temporarily, but forever. He needed Ava in his life.
With her by his side, he could see himself parenting Gracie and having the family he’d never really dreamed he’d find.