36. Tanner
Chapter Thirty-Six
Tanner
So much more
I drove out to Ava’s place with Laney’s words echoing in my head. I wanted so much more with Ava. Yet I was afraid. Somehow, even though I had only known her a short time, she already meant more to me than Laney ever had.
After we finished eating, Ava curled against my side on the couch. Growly was purring away in his favorite corner of the couch on the opposite side of me. For the first time all day, everything inside me felt steady.
Ava startled me when she spoke. “I think I’m going to stay.”
The word “stay” jolted straight through me. My heart lunged. “Stay?” I asked, my voice low. “What do you mean?”
“In Willow Brook.” She straightened and turned to look at me.
The lights were low in the living room, the television rumbling in the background. I felt my lips curve into a smile. “I think that’s great.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I like you, Ava.” I almost said more. The word ‘love’ rose fast, but I caught myself at the last second. “I’d miss you, a lot, if you were gone.”
She blinked, her eyes widening. “Oh, Tanner. I’d miss you too.
” She paused, suddenly seeming nervous. Words spilled out of her in a rush.
“I still have some details to hammer out. I need to go back home to make sure my parents are all situated, wind things up with my job, make arrangements for someone to take care of Growly while I’m gone, and figure everything out with Josie and—”
“Hey, you can slow down,” I said.
Her cheeks flushed pink. “Sorry, I’m nervous. I was babbling.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “You’re making a big change.”
She nodded. “Have you ever moved?”
“I have,” I said. “Remember I went to college in Seattle?”
“Oh, that’s right.” She wrinkled her nose and twisted her hands.
I chuckled. “I know moving is disruptive and stressful, even when it’s what you want.” She exhaled slowly. “So,” I asked, “do you know when you’re going to do all this?”
“In a couple of weeks,” she said.
I steeled myself, knowing I needed to tell her I’d be traveling soon for work. “Speaking of a couple of weeks,” I said, “I have to leave for a fire.”
“When?” Her eyes widened, her voice jumping up an octave.
“Tomorrow.” I winced. “We’re flying out to a fire in the interior.”
“Oh.” She paused. “Wow.”
“It’s my job.”
“It is,” she agreed. “It’s just the timing isn’t great.”
“I know.” I met her gaze.
She worried her lower lip, and I ignored the jolt of need that sparked through me. “You’ll be safe, right?” she pressed.
“Always.”
She huffed out a breath. “Well, I guess I’ll have to rally the girls from card night to bring me pizza as much as you do.”
I chuckled. “I’m sure they will. Your fridge is pretty stocked, though. You’re getting out and about tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah. I have a doctor’s appointment, and Tori’s taking me.”
“Tori’s a good friend.”
She smiled. “Yeah.”
Our conversation petered out after that, and a hum of tension lingered between us. Later, when I carried her to bed, we forgot it altogether. That was easy to do with Ava.
When the chemistry burned as hot and fast as it did, we could lose ourselves in it.