Chapter Twenty-seven
Ava
I’m in a bar surrounded by three of the best friends a girl could ask for. As soon as I sent the emergency message to our group, I knew they would come running.
River showed me round the building site, explaining what everything would be and where things would go, asking me to let him know if I wanted to change anything.
But I couldn’t concentrate on a single thing he was saying.
My mind was reeling and he could have been showing me a cardboard box for all the attention I paid it.
He’s building us a house, me a house!
“What did that fucker do?” Mia demands from across the table. She’s ready to go to war thinking he’s done something wrong, but it’s the opposite and I’m not sure how to cope with that.
“Nothing, not like that anyway.”
I’ve got so many emotions running through my body right now and I’m not handling it well. As soon as we got back to his apartment, I told River I had plans with the girls and left; I didn’t even give him time to respond before the front door was slamming shut behind me.
“Ava, sweetie, what is it?” Bella’s softly spoken words break me out of my state of stupor.
“He’s building me a house.”
They stare at me blankly, each of them not understanding what I mean — honestly, I’m still not sure I understand it, either.
“Here.” I slide the folder he gave me, the folder he’s been working on for years, across the table to them.
“What’s this?” Harper queries.
“I’m still not sure I understand it. Ju-just take a look.” I trip over my words. I can’t believe how much this has affected me.
The girls lean their heads closer together as they open the book, a frown marring their beautiful features as they flick through it.
“Holy shit,” Mia breathes when they’re about halfway through it. “You love this.” She goes back a couple pages, like she’s confirming something. “Everything in here is perfect for you.”
“Everything in there is something I’ve marked in a magazine, commented on or spoke about, and he’s remembered every single time.
He’s building a house that looks exactly like every photo in there.
He’s building a house for me. For us.” They just stare at me, their mouths hanging open slightly in shock.
“And you’re sitting here with us, because…?” Mia splutters.
“Because I don’t know what the fuck to do with this.” My hand waves over the folder.
“You suck his cock, that’s what you do. Ava, I love you, I really do, but you cannot seriously still be doubting if this is real?” Mia’s words carry a hint of disbelief to them, I don’t blame her, though.
“I’m with Mia. That man deserves the world’s best blowjob, every day, for a month.” Harper is looking at me with shock still written over her face.
“I’d personally go for a year,” Bella pipes up.
“So, I’ll ask again. Why are you still sitting here?”
“Because I’m freaking out, because this makes it real and I don’t know how I feel about that. River wants forever, and he’s not someone I ever considered that with.”
Bella reaches across the table and takes my hands in her own.
“No one knows if we get forever, but we all get a right now, and if it’s good?
If it’s what we love? We hold onto it and we hope we get it for a really fucking long time.
River is your right now, Ava, and it turns out he’s a good one, great in fact.
Don’t let him go, sweetie. You’ll only regret it. ”
“I need to go.” My words are rushed. They’re right, I should be with him, with the man who loves me.
“That’s our girl,” Mia shouts after me. “Go and suck some cock.”
I’m laughing at her words as I rush out of the bar.