Page 72 of Edge of Desire

“No, I don’t think there are any instructors here by those names. But I’m gonna be there with you.”

“Oh yeah? You’re not going to try to move in on Griffin or Marley, are you?”

My head rapidly swiveled back and forth. “No way. You don’t have to worry about that. I’m done with the man plan, remember?”

“Right. Sorry for bringing that up.” She reached over and gave me a head nuggie.

I smacked her hand. “Ouch! That hurt.”

“I’m gonna toughen you up while I’m here. You’ve turned into the biggest sissy I’ve ever seen.”

We made it back to my car and she asked, “New wheels?”

“Yeah. I had to buy a car when I got here. I didn’t want to fly back to Charleston and then drive back here. You like it?” I bought it after I turned in the rental. It was a used four-wheel-drive SUV with low mileage.

“I don’t know. I’d like a truck better, but you might be too weak to drive one of those.”

Too weak? I didn’t know you had to be strong to handle a truck. We drove back to my super-sized studio apartment and parked in my spot in the garage. We still had a two-block walk to get there, since you couldn’t drive in the village. I explained that to Melissa, telling her to use the wheels on her bag.

“Ah, don’t worry about that. I’ll just carry the little sucker.” She hefted that huge bag over her head and walked like she was carrying a feather up there.

Shaking my head at her, I laughed. “You kill me.”

“Wait till you see my moves on skis.”

“What do you mean? I didn’t think you knew how to ski.”

“Well, I don’t. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to learn.”

“Um, Melissa, you’re only skiing for three days.”

“Yeah, and by the end of day two, I’ll be killing it, girl. You just wait. Didn’t I tell you? I’m one hell of an athlete.”

That night we grabbed some dinner and went home to drink. She insisted on hearing every single detail about Preston. There were only so many I could share without blowing his cover and that of Caroline’s. I ended up giving her the short version and told her how he’d manufactured a story to save my life. It wasn’t altogether false, but I’d told her the lie to protect everyone.

“Well, let me go and find him and I’ll put him in a choke hold he’ll never forget.”

“You can’t do that. Besides, I don’t know where he is.”

“You mean he didn’t come after you?”

“No, I ran and made it clear he shouldn’t. Then Justin came and told me I should call him, but honestly, I need some time. I want to get past some of this, but God, Melissa, I don’t think I ever will.”

“That bad, huh?” She patted my arm, which made me wince. Melissa’s pats were more like punches.

“Worse than bad. It’s like having your guts ripped out while you’re watching and then having acid poured over them. It’s the worst thing ever.”

Melissa made an awful face. “Maybe I don’t want to catch a man, then.”

“Well, if you ever do, make sure nothing happens to that love. I swear if it does, you’ll rue the day you ever fell in love. I never knew anything could hurt like this.”

“Okay, so enough talk about that jackass who hurt you. But if I ever meet him, Ava, I’m putting him in one of my famous headlocks, whether you approve or not.”

“Okay, Melissa. You do that.” I smiled.

“In the meantime, and since you are currently sans man, I have a present for you.”

I squinted my eyes, peeking at her with skepticism. The last time she’d given me a present, I’d nearly ended up imprisoned as a bomb-carrying terrorist. “Okay, what is it this time?” I questioned her.

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