Page 93 of Pretty Relentless

“Because she’s super pretty and nice and loves to read. We can talk about books, and she’d make stuff with me because she loves to craft like I do.”

“That is true,” I find myself saying. “Miss Rutledge would be a catch.”

“She really would. And when she came over to Grandma and Grandpa’s on Christmas Eve, you said she was pretty.”

“I did say that.”

“So, think about it. I bet she’d say yes, unless she’s dating someone. She did get flowers not that long ago. She didn’t tellme who they were from, but she smiled a lot when she looked at them.”

The thought of Ava appreciating the flowers I sent fills my mind, as does the fact I feel like Annabelle has completely opened the door for me. She’s encouraging me to date her teacher, which means she’ll probably be ecstatic when Ava and I decide to take our relationship public. Since those photos appeared online, that’ll likely happen sooner rather than later, but I’m fine with that.

As long as she’s content with everyone knowing.

Not that she really has a choice, but she could still insist on keeping our relationship under wraps for a while. There are still three months left of school, and she could choose to chill until then. I’d respect it, as long as she doesn’t push me away completely. But I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.

I’m hoping to convince her to take a chance on us.

Publicly.

Together.

“I gotta go, Dad. Mom is hollering it’s time to go.”

“Have fun at karate,” I tell her before we sign off. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Daddy. Talk to you soon.”

I hang up the phone and the euphoria I felt running through my veins at how encouraging my daughter was for me to ask Ava out vanishes.

Why in the fuck did Julia tell Annabelle that Miss Rutledge was getting fired?

Needing to know the answer to that question, I fire off a text, knowing she won’t be able to talk on the phone in front of Annabelle until they arrive at karate.

Me:Call me when you can talk.

It takes a solid thirty minutes before my phone rings. With each minute that passed, I grew more irritated with my ex-wife, angrier that she said something to our daughter, especially because she knows how much Annabelle loves her teacher. Not to mention the man in the middle of this whole mess is me.

“Hello?” I ask, unable to mask my annoyance.

“I’ve got about five minutes. What’s up?”

My annoyance level elevates immediately, mostly because I know she’s not doing anything but sitting there, waiting for our daughter to finish her karate class. “Why did you tell Annabelle her teacher is getting fired?”

Julia laughs. She actually laughs at my question. “Because she is?”

“You don’t know that,” I argue, “So why you would tell our daughter, who absolutely loves her teacher, that is beyond me.”

“Are someone’s panties in a bunch? You’re just mad because those photos outed you. Your sneaking around is over.”

“You know nothing about any of that, so I’d watch what you say.”

“Or what? Listen, Gavin, I’m terribly sorry your booty call came to an end, but did you have to sleep with our daughter’s teacher? How cliché and tacky.”

“Don’t ever call Ava a booty call again,” I spit out, my tolerance of her bullshit reaching the end of my rope. “She’s a hell of a lot more than that.”

“Well, maybe you should have protected her precious reputation instead of mauling her on Logan Johnson’s cabin porch. Did you not even consider you’re surrounded by a public park where anyone can see and take pictures?”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

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