Page 101 of Unbreakable Love

“Hello?”

“Hey, Gavin, it’s Cam.”

I hadn’t heard from him since he and Ava headed back to Denver. “Hey, man. How’s everything going? How’s the leg?”

“Leg’s good. Right now it’s a hassle and getting up the stairs is a pain in the ass.”

I figured as much. Cameron’s home was a four-thousand-square-foot-plus home and there wasn’t a bedroom downstairs.

“And Ava?” I asked and glanced around to make sure workers weren’t nearby.

“Struggling,” he admitted and cleared his throat. “Jimmy’s been moved to the district court jail, behind bars and denied bail, so that’s good.”

“Seriously? That’s good.” The news had moved on to other stories, so I hadn’t been able to follow what was going on as closely as I liked. “Right?”

“Yeah, except the reason it happened is because a whole bunch more women have come forward to press charges. For harassment and assault.”

“Shit.” Goddamn that asshole. My hand curled into a fist on instinct, which it did every time I thought of how he’d hurt Ava weeks ago. “Hopefully, that means many more years of torture for him in prison.”

If he got what was coming to him according to prison justice, I wouldn’t be pissed. Although every man I knew wanted a chance to castrate him and teach him a lesson outside the courts.

“Yeah, well, Ava’s not taking that well at all. She started seeing a therapist this week, though.”

“That’s good, Cameron. You know that.”

“I know. And she’s doing okay, all things considered. I have to be careful not to reach for her and shit like that, but she’s at least sleeping next to me again. Hell, I almost cried the other night when she came and gave me a hug.”

He laughed, but it was sad and frustrated, and I knew none of that was directed toward Ava, but the man who put them in that position. Who hurt the woman he loved.

“I wish I could help.”

“You can actually.”

“How in the hell can I do that?”

“Give me all the details about this teacher-friend of yours. Emily and Lydia both told Ava she’s adorably cute and beautiful and good with Josie. And Caleb says she’ll cool. Fill me in.”

My eyes widened and I took in the bare room I was in, nothing but framing and air ducts and electrical wiring to be seen, and still, I couldn’t believe I’d heard what I did. “You called me to gossip about the woman I’m dating?”

“So we’re dating now, not just friends. This is good. Ava will want to know that.”

“You’re an ass.” I laughed. “Are you serious?”

“Cut me some slack. I’ve had a shitty month and will probably never play ball again. Give me something good happening in the world with people I care about, and yeah, Ava will want to know all the dirt so she feels like she’s not missing out.”

“Come back home for Christmas and you’ll meet her then.” It didn’t say much, but it said it all. There was no way I’d bring a fling around my daughter or my family, and especially not to a holiday.

“Dammmnnn,” he drew out the word. “Spending the holidays together, huh? Must be serious.”

All humor fled, and I let him know it in my tone. “It is. It’s new, and God knows I fought it, but it’s good. She’s perfect.”

For me. For Josie. For the life I wanted to build, and she fit into my family like a missing puzzle piece.

“Seems to me like you’re falling victim to the Kelley curse.”

“Excuse me?”

“The Kelley curse. Dad proposed to Mom on their second date, Caleb and I both fell in weeks, and Meredith predicted the guy she’d marry the second she saw him.”

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