Page 44 of Exile and Embrace

“Ava!” I gesture to the length of her body. “You are barely holding on. You look like you haven’t slept in a week, and you’re barely eating. This has become an obsession for you. We’re taking the day off tomorrow, and that’s final.”

She crosses her arms and cocks her hip. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

The defiance shining in her eyes is nothing but a turn on.

I want to throw her over my shoulder and carry her off to the bedroom. She would learn that I could tell her what to do. Hell, she’d love it.

Instead, I stand taller and raise an eyebrow. “Fucking try me, Aves. You’re killing yourself over this, and it’s only just the beginning. We’re in this together until we both get what we want out of Oregon. That means that if I see you trying to fucking self-destruct over a piece-of-shit father, I am going to tell you what to do. Now, get your ass away from the table and do literally anything else while I make dinner.”

She spins on her heel and heads for the bedroom without a word.

The door slams shut, leaving me standing in the middle of the room.

I growl to myself before heading into the kitchen. “Infuriating woman.”

It takes several minutes to find everything I need to make dinner. In the time that we’ve been here, Ava has rearranged the kitchen twice. Even finding the cheese grater takes more time than it should.

The entire time I boil the noodles and cook the meat sauce, Ava stays locked away. The only noise that fills the house is the shower running.

By the time the lasagna is covered with foil and in the oven, she reappears, her wet hair hanging down her back.

She pads over to the kitchen and pulls out garlic butter and a loaf of bread.

“So, you know how to cook too.”

I nod. “Had to learn if I wanted to eat. Dad was never good at it and couldn’t see the point in spending money on a cook when he usually wasn’t home. Mom used to love it, though. She taught me a few things before she died.”

She nods and her shoulders slump. “I’m sorry. You were right. I do need to step away from this for a day or two before I go insane.”

“Hiking tomorrow.” I lean against the counter as she slices the loaf of bread in half. “In the morning. We’re going, and I’m not going to let you back out of it.”

Ava’s smile is distant as she butters the bread and puts it on a baking pan. “I’m not going to back out of it. I just can’t shake the feeling that there is so much to learn, and I’m not going to have enough time to learn it all.”

“You’ll have more than enough time. I might be able to pull some strings and find out what exactly was redacted.”

“You’d do that?” Her eyes are wide.

“I would.” That and more, but no use saying that.

Her face lights up as she throws herself at me and wraps me in a tight hug. “Thank you!”

I hug her back, but I let her go before I decide to forget dinner and spend the rest of the night wrapped in her arms. “I’m not promising that I’m going to be able to find what was taken out, but I can try.”

“I know. Thank you either way.” She hums to herself as she tops the garlic bread with cheese.

Hopefully, she’s still in a decent mood when we go hiking in the morning.

Ava eyes the motorcycle in the driveway as the sun creeps over the horizon, bathing the sky in warm orange light. “You want me to get on the back of that? When did you even buy this?”

I dangle the baby blue helmet at her. “Had it dropped off this morning. Dawson brought it by. Now, come on. The helmet is your favorite color.”

“How do you even know my favorite color?”

I shrug and shake the helmet. “You usually wore scrubs that were the same color. I assumed.”

She purses her lips, holding back a smile as she takes the helmet. “I’m going to look goofy as hell.”

I laugh as she pulls the helmet on. The strap dangles beneath her chin as she strikes a pose before leaning over to look at herself in the mirror.

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