Chapter 38 Tanner
Tanner
He stirred in the middle of the night. The covers were on the floor, pushed away by overheated legs—either his or hers. When he felt for her and couldn’t find her, Tanner cracked open one eye, his chest hollowing at the thought that she’d left him again.
But she hadn’t.
Avery lay sprawled, more than a foot away, her red hair a tangled mess on the pillow, his t-shirt bunched around her hips. Fuck, he loved her in his clothes.
He loved her more against his body.
Tanner reached out, slid one hand between her thighs to cup her ass and dragged her toward him. His other arm slipped beneath her neck to pull her head onto his shoulder.
Better. He grunted with satisfaction, caveman-contented now his woman was closer and everything in him thrilling at the rightness of having her there.
Avery snuggled into the new position with a breathy murmur but didn’t wake.
Core to core, their legs entwined. Tanner’s fingers crept under her top until his palm was spread across her bare back.
The comfort of her skin tipped him back into sleep and he fell, surrounded by the scent of her in his nose and the feel of her everywhere.
“Jeez, tone it down a little, would ya?” groused Arlo, digging into a bowl of cornflakes. “Feeling a bit nauseated over here from the hyper vibes.”
Tanner hung an arm around Arlo’s shoulders and squeezed, happiness oozing from his pores. “Can’t help it, bro. I told my girl I love her and she loves me back.”
He was buzzing, bursting out of his skin, and he couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he walked into the utility room to turn the dial on the dryer so that Avery would be able to put her clothes on from yesterday once it was done.
Somehow, in the ten years without her, he’d missed her without properly knowing it.
Felt her absence without recognizing it.
Needed her, even when he thought he had it all.
“She said that, did she?” Arlo’s mouth ticked up at one corner when Tanner returned to the kitchen. “She loves you?”
“Not quite those words. I think I surprised her.”
“Hmm.” Arlo made a dismissive noise in his throat.
“What?” Tanner laughed and stretched, running his hands through his hair. He wondered if Avery would like pancakes.
“Not used to hearing the L-word coming from your mouth, that’s all. You’re not usually one for big feelings.” Arlo shoveled in another spoonful of cereal.
“This is different, man. Avery’s not like anyone else. She’s my endgame. This is it.”
“And you’re not worried she’s too smart for you? Or she might just be after the free cars and the lifestyle?” Arlo eyed him with speculation.
“I’m not stupid. And I love that she’s clever and capable and so fucking together.” Tanner shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, smile sliding a little. “Avery couldn’t be less impressed by my money—she’s no gold digger.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” Crossing to the sink, Arlo rinsed his empty bowl under the faucet. “I’m not trying to put doubts in your mind but I don’t want you hurt either. Not so soon after Lily doing a number on you.”
Tanner slouched against the kitchen counter. “Lily was different. I didn’t have these kinds of feelings for her. And Avery isn’t Lily. She couldn’t be less about the trappings. Look how she was with the Jeep.”
The sound of Avery and Mats talking in the foyer floated into the kitchen.
“Just be careful, man. That’s all I’m saying.” Arlo shrugged. “I’ve known you forever and I’ve got your back.”
Avery’s smile was tentative when she appeared in the doorway.
Dressed in a pair of Tanner’s sports shorts pulled tight at the waist and the same t-shirt she’d slept in, she hung back, glancing between him and Arlo, and looking as if she still wasn’t quite sure how to play this.
The novelty of her presence, fresh from his bed, was a strike to Tanner’s windpipe and he wished they were alone.
Fuck Arlo. If she wanted it, he’d give her the world.
“Hungry?” he asked gruffly, crossing the kitchen to twist a red strand of her hair between finger and thumb. His heart thumped an almost painful beat beneath his ribs.
“D’you know what? I am.” Avery’s shoulders relaxed and she gave him a private smile.
They made pancakes together, taking it in turns with Mats to cook, flip, and eat so everyone got to eat them hot. Arlo brought his laptop to the table, logging in to check his emails. He managed to chat and work with a multi-tasking focus Tanner envied.
“What’re you up to today?” Avery asked.
“Mats is joining me and the Rapids guys for a workout this morning,” said Tanner. “I’ve got to see the team doc after that and then there’s a meeting this afternoon. Couple of them might come back for a swim later. How about you?”
She swallowed a mouthful. “I need to push on with Jackson’s chairs.”
Arlo looked up from his screen. “Yeah, some of us have to put in the hours to earn the money, dude. We can’t all be taking the summer to chill out.”
Mats grunted. “I’ll remember I’m supposed to be chilling when I’m sweating buckets in the gym.”
“Let’s treat ourselves tonight and get takeout,” Tanner suggested, licking a smear of syrup from his thumb. “Whoever’s still here can join us. We’ll have an evening by the pool.”
“It’ll be like that party at the Colonnade in Boston when we all rocked up to the rooftop pool.
” Arlo’s face took on an expression of wicked reminiscence.
“Although I only remember the first part of it. The drink was flowing . . . and the ladies were—” Mats’s elbow to the back of his head had him changing what he was going to say. “—lovely.”
Tanner reached for Avery’s fingers and gave her a quick apologetic squeeze, but any disclaimer he might have made was drowned out by the sound of someone buzzing the front gate.
It turned out to be a package for Avery—a white shallow box, capital letters scrawled on the side.
“You’re getting mail here now?” Arlo’s eyebrows lifted.
“Just a few work supplies. Makes more sense than carting the heavy ones from home, but I don’t remember ordering anything this small,” Avery said, frowning at the package in Tanner’s hands. “Got any scissors?”
“Nope.” He butchered the cardboard with a single rip and a printed card flew out, falling to the floor.
Scooping it up, Avery read aloud: “‘Transform a loved one into a snuggly friend you can take anywhere.’”
They both eyed the gaping box with curiosity.
Nestled in a bed of packing peanuts was a soft toy.
A doll or a pillow? Tanner wasn’t sure. The plush figure-shaped item, just over a foot in length, wore a printed black corset and fishnet tights.
Its oversized head, beneath a sweep of red hair, had been personalized with a photograph of Avery’s face.
“Well, that’s . . . weird.” Tanner fought a laugh.
When Avery reached into the box to lift it out, the smile slid from his lips.
“What the fuck—” he said.
There was a torn piece of paper pinned to the doll’s fabric chest, and on it were three scrawled words: “He’s playing you.”
Avery drew in a tight breath and Tanner didn’t hear her release it. Her fingers pinched at her lower lip.
Peering over her shoulder, Arlo asked, “Who’s ‘he’? What does it mean?”
Her eyes, when she raised them to Tanner’s, seemed to tumble with a thousand thoughts all vying for position. “I think it’s you,” she said.
“What? Why?” Tanner frowned, at a loss trying to make any sense of the weird delivery or its message.
“I don’t know why.” Avery shoved the doll back into the box.
“I’ve had a bunch of really nasty text messages recently and my social media is getting trolled.
There have been more nuisance deliveries, too, and my car got egged the other night.
I thought it was just kids.” She looked around at the three of them, blinking rapidly.
“But there’s no reason for kids to send something like this, right? ”
Taking the package from her hands and throwing it onto the kitchen island, Tanner paced the kitchen floor. “Definitely not kids. This feels personal, Stretch. And I wish you’d told me about the other messages.” It stuck in his throat that she hadn’t.
“Man, that’s messed up,” said Mats, studying the written note.
“The postmark’s illegible.” Arlo squinted at the packaging and rubbed a finger over the ink.
“You should put the whole thing in a bag, just in case the police can lift any prints from it,” Mats suggested.
“The police—really?” Arlo looked doubtful. “It could just be a prank.”
Fury solidified like a ball of ice in Tanner’s gut as he took in the pallor of Avery’s face. “Prank or not, when someone sends you a creepy fucking doll in the post with an anonymous message, you take it to the police.”