Chapter 44 Tanner
Tanner
When Avery’s fingers crept to his thigh, Tanner captured them beneath his hand. Her blue eyes met his, glimmering like the sun on water, and he felt like he’d done something truly remarkable instead of just enlisting his mom’s help to coax Violet Delgado out of her house.
He was jolted from this glow of achievement by the sound of the front door.
“I found us a special visitor at the gate!” Arlo’s voice echoed from the foyer. “You’re not going to believe this.”
His reappearance grated like sandpaper, twisting the dial on the brightness of the morning, and Tanner pushed to his feet with a grimace of apology to everyone at the table.
He could hardly bear to be around Arlo at the moment, was itching for the confrontation he knew was coming.
There were just a few last details that needed to fall into place before he had all the ammunition he needed.
Though the farmhouse was beginning to feel more like a motel than his own home, Tanner couldn’t regret his part in bringing Violet Delgado over for breakfast. Avery’s delight was priceless, and making her smile was turning out to be one of his favorite things.
His mind on how soon he might be able to get her all to himself, his fingers tugging at the neck of his tee, Tanner came to a halt on the threshold of the foyer.
A query died in his throat when the poorly disguised glee on Arlo’s face gave him stark warning that he wasn’t going to like this new development.
And he was right.
Because just inside the front door—casually dressed, with a red purse slung over one shoulder and brunette curls held back from her face by the oversized sunglasses perched on her head—stood Bethany Jenner.
His ex-coach’s wife. (His ex-coach’s ex-wife?)
Her mouth, painted a glossy shade of rose pink, curled into a smile and she parted her lips to speak.
Absolutely fucking not.
Tanner opened his own to cut across her.
But his mom, in the kitchen doorway, beat them both to it. “I think Violet would like to head home now, sweetheart. Since you’re busy, Avery’s going to drop us—”
“Arlo can take you.” Tanner swallowed his panic as Avery appeared by his mother’s shoulder. When her eyes swept over Bethany, his stomach clenched.
“Probably best if Avery does it,” Arlo said with a yawn that showed all his teeth.
Violet joined them in the foyer, clutching her cardigan and purse to her body.
She took in the strained air, looking from Tanner to Bethany and back again, and said, “Actually, I know my daughter has work she needs to get on with and I feel like I’ve taken up enough of her time already.
I’d be very grateful for a ride, if you wouldn’t mind. ”
“Dude . . .” Tanner made the single word a demand and Arlo gave in with a grunt.
“Sure. No problem,” he said reluctantly, straightening from where he leaned against the newel post at the bottom of the stairs.
“Thanks for coming, Mom. It was wonderful to see you.” Avery drew Violet into a hug as they moved toward the door.
His mother pressed a kiss to Tanner’s cheek. “I’ll call you tomorrow, honey.”
“Thanks for your help, Mom.” Though he could hardly bear to take his eyes off the trainwreck waiting to happen within arm’s reach, Tanner gave her a squeeze.
Arlo snatched the keys up from the bowl on the hallway table, flicked Tanner a look that clearly expressed how disappointed he was to be missing out on the drama, and the trio disappeared through the door.
The sudden silence was crippling.
“Sorry to have interrupted when you had company.” Bethany sashayed further into the foyer. “But I decided our messages and calls weren’t really cutting it.”
Damn, she’s made it sound so bad, putting like that. Dread made Tanner’s fingers feel icy. Why the hell had he not come clean about this whole mess? He should have known it would come back to bite him.
“One message. One phone call,” he clarified quickly.
Shit. Tanner could have smacked his own forehead. That didn’t sound much better.
Bethany’s gaze swung from him to Avery and back again. “Perhaps we could talk somewhere in private,” she suggested, removing the sunglasses from her head and slowly folding the arms.
“I’ll leave you to it.” A polite smile played on Avery’s lips, and Tanner couldn’t tell what she was thinking. This was everything he didn’t need her and her trust issues to face without warning. “I’m just going to clear up in the kitchen and then I’ll be outside.”
No way was that happening!
“We’ll join you and talk in the kitchen,” Tanner said immediately, unwilling to have any distance between them while he dealt with this shitshow.
“Babe—” Though there was objection in Bethany’s voice, it didn’t stop Tanner walking away. She could protest all she liked, but she would have to follow him into the kitchen to do it.
“This is Bethany Jenner, my ex-coach’s wife,” he told Avery, even though she wouldn’t look at him.
“Not anymore. I’m a free agent now.” Bethany’s laugh was a carefree tinkle. “At last.”
“What are you doing here?” Tanner asked, praying for patience as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Bethany hung her purse over one of the chair backs and took a seat as Avery began gathering up the breakfast remains from the table.
Tanner would have helped if he had been remotely able to multitask, but this whole situation was frying his brain.
Instead, he flicked the catch of his watch open and shut over and over again.
“I’d love a coffee, if it’s not too much bother,” Bethany said sweetly to Avery, and Tanner realized the woman had taken her for a housekeeper.
“I’ll make it,” he snapped, stalking over to the coffee machine. “You talk.”
Yeah, so that was a mistake.
“I heard you were missing me,” Bethany said. “That you regretted what you said and that a visit would be a good way to clear the air.”
Fuck, no.
Wheeling around, Tanner’s eyes shot to Avery, who had paused on her way to the kitchen sink with a pile of crockery in her hands.
He threw the coffee pod to one side, not caring if Bethany fucking Jenner died of thirst before he cleared this up with Avery.
“That’s not true. This isn’t what you think. ”
Avery set the plates down with careful precision.
“Why don’t you let her speak, Tanner? She’s come all this way and it would be rude not to hear her out.
” Over her shoulder, she gave Bethany a calm smile.
Too calm? Maybe. He had no idea. “Just pretend I’m not here, Bethany,” she told the older woman, “and I’ll try to keep the noise down. ”
Tanner opened his mouth to protest, caught the hitch of Avery’s left eyebrow, and closed it again. Dragging his hand through his hair, he reached for a mug instead.
“We’ve never had the chance to get to know each other properly,” Bethany continued after a long pause when it became clear he wasn’t going to say anything. “I thought we could remedy that now, since I have the time to stay for a few days. We can explore this thing between us—”
She broke off, clearly uncomfortable with having this conversation in company, and there was a flicker of frustration in the look she directed at Avery’s back. Tanner’s breakfast churned in his stomach.
“I think you should leave,” he growled desperately. “This isn’t—”
“No, do continue,” Avery interrupted, prompting the damn woman with a nod over her shoulder. “I’m fascinated.”
“Let’s go somewhere alone to sort this out, babe,” Bethany said frostily, color painting her cheekbones as she rose to her feet.
Turning from the sink with soapy hands, Avery dried them deliberately on a dish towel and her poise was dangerous. He could feel the storm brewing, even though her face still sported a practiced smile. “How long have you known Tanner?”
“Nearly two years. We met when he came to play in Boston.” Bethany’s lips pursed and her eyes narrowed. Maybe she could sense the storm, too. “The circumstances weren’t ideal then, but things change and, well, look at him—he’s gorgeous, isn’t he? What woman wouldn’t want herself some of that.”
It was possible Tanner had never felt so insanely uncomfortable in all of his life as when Avery’s eyes burned into his own. “Mmm, true,” was all she said, and he would have sold his soul to know what was going on inside her head.
“I just had to wait for the time to be right.” Bethany stalked toward him, a sensuality oozing from her pores that left him cold. “I’m so glad you realized we have something special, too. I knew you would.”
“Sounds like you know him pretty well.” Avery’s tone took on an even more ominous edge.
Frustration locked the muscles in his jaw. “She doesn’t—”
“I do.” Bethany talked over him, as pigheaded as ever in her self-confidence. Tanner was one step away from physically ejecting her from the house.
“And yet,” continued Avery, “you haven’t seemed to notice that he doesn’t want you here.”
Tanner gave a ragged swallow, his eyes glued to her face.
“I don’t think that’s true,” Bethany said tightly, turning back to Avery with a pugnacious tilt to her chin.
Avery leaned casually against the counter. “Oh, but it is. He’s practically climbing out of his skin with embarrassment, and it’s hardly surprising when you’re talking about him like he’s a thing you want to acquire because he’s hot.”
“I’m not sure what business this is of yours.” There was a distinct bite to Bethany’s voice now, but Tanner didn’t spare her an ounce of attention.
It suddenly became the most important thing in the world to know what Avery was going to say next, without him explaining the whole fucked-up situation first.
“It’s very much my business,” she said with an icy smile and complete assurance. “Because I’m Tanner’s girlfriend and, judging by the horror on his face when he saw you, it seems you’ve turned up here without an invitation.”
She trusts me. She fucking trusts me. Tanner’s knees shook with the realization and he grabbed the counter behind him in utter relief.
“He doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Bethany protested.
“You’re wrong,” he said, with every ounce of feeling he could inject into the words. “I have the most amazing girlfriend in the world.”
“He does,” Avery agreed, and her eyes burned a brilliant shade of blue. “It’s been a wild ride but we’ve got there.”
Bethany glared at them both. “But I was invited.”
“Let me guess.” Avery tipped her head and studied the woman shrewdly. “Arlo got in touch with you, didn’t he? Did he spin you a line about how much Tanner was missing you?”
Tanner raised his eyes to the ceiling. “I should have fucking known,” he groaned.
“You didn’t ask him to call me?” All of a sudden, Bethany sounded a lot less sure of herself.
“No, he took it on himself to do that,” he told her bluntly. “I made myself clear when you rang before. I’m not interested. I’ve never been interested. And whether you’re married, separated, divorced, or just looking to screw around, I don’t want anything to do with it. I’m with Avery.”
He could tell from Bethany’s face that she’d finally gotten the message. “He wasn’t like this in Boston,” she said cattily to Avery, as mortification made her mean.
“Don’t you dare . . .” Tanner clenched his teeth, hands closing into fists. This fucking woman.
Avery’s eyes flashed. “I didn’t know him in Boston but I know what he’s like as a person, so there’s nothing you can hint at that will make me doubt him.
He’s thoughtful and honorable and caring.
He’ll do anything for his friends and he’s proved himself to be the first person there for me whenever I need him.
Even before I know I need him sometimes.
He has the biggest heart and I trust him more than anyone else.
And none of that has anything to do with the absolutely gorgeous fucking packaging it comes with. ”
Tanner could hardly breathe as she came to the end of the prettiest speech he’d ever heard. He wanted to reach out and tangle his fingers into her hair, pull her toward him and kiss the sense out of her. Instead, he settled for laying one hand over his chest in an attempt to calm its pounding.
“You need to go now,” Avery suggested. “Tanner’s made himself very clear and he’s been more polite than you deserve. You can book a Lyft from outside the gates or, if you’re lucky, you’ll catch Arlo on his way back and the two of you can fuck off together.”
Tanner and Bethany didn’t exchange another word as he opened the front door for her, buzzed her out of the gates and watched until she’d left his property.
Heading back to the kitchen, he paused in the doorway.
“Well, that was interesting,” Avery said as he re-entered the kitchen, her arms folded across her chest in a barrier that he’d kidded himself had fallen. Her eyes held a world of measured regret and Tanner’s heart dropped all over again.
“I can explain,” he said.
“Maybe later.” Avery shrugged. “But since it’s a morning for getting stuff out in the open, I think it’s my turn.”
Taking in her angled brows and straight mouth, Tanner’s gut twisted. He tried to distract himself with the dusting of freckles, the tiny gold ring, but it didn’t work.
Then it hit him. She’d said she trusted him. Not that she loved him.
But she’d also said she was his girlfriend.
Did she want to keep it casual? Fuck.
Tanner braced himself, feeling like a punching bag left swinging between bouts. And just as Avery opened her mouth to deliver the next blow, that damn fucking buzzer sounded again for the front gate.