Page 49 of Three Hearts Hideaway

Now, as he swaggered down the hallway in his thousand-dollar suit, most likely headed to his job at daddy’s hedge fund, she didn’t feel the need to call out. To go after him. To fix things. All she felt was shame. He disappeared through the stairwell door.

But he’d be back.

He always came back.

It didn’t matter that he’d said he was done with her. This was how it went. She tried to defend herself. He turned it around on her. She crawled back to him. He forgave her, and the cycle continued on repeat.

Ava desperately wanted to break the cycle. Things were different. Roman and Logan were in her life now. They’d been open and accepting of what she wanted. More than that. They’d actively given her what she desired without hesitation. It had only been nine days, but they were both more supportive and considerate than Sebastian had ever been.

But when he returned, she didn’t know if she would have the emotional strength to fend him off. A few minutes in the hallway with him and she shrunk like a coward. How did he always manage to do that to her? The confidence she’d built in Little Greenfield had been artfully cut down.

Tears streamed down her face as she unlocked her front door, then carried in her belongings and threw them on her dining room table. She kicked off her shoes and collapsed on her couch.

Maybe thinking she could have a life with two menwasfoolish. It wasn’t the traditional way of doing things. She’d bet anything Sebastian was telling everyone she had a nervous breakdown to explain why she ran off. Can’t have anyone thinking she left because he was a massive dickhole who verbally abused her on the regular.

Now that she was home in Ottawa and away from Roman and Logan, they seemed like a dream. The best damn dream she’d ever had, but still a dream.

Was it possible to begin again and move to Little Greenfield? Could she spend her life with Roman and Logan? Or rather, did they want to spend their lives with her? After knowing each other for such a short time, it was wild to think so. But her heart told her being with them was an avenue she could take, if she was brave enough to ask them what they wanted.

And if she was brave enough to convince Sebastian to leave her alone for good. Something she didn’t know if she could do.

Chapter Seventeen

LOGAN

Logan paced on the front porch in the moonlight. The crickets chirping in the woods around the B&B grated on his nerves. Roman was late getting home from work. He had half a mind to call Ava himself, but Roman made him promise they’d do it together—he wanted to hear directly from Ava how things went with her boss at the same time Logan did. Under any other circumstances, Logan would probably call Roman whipped, make a joke about how needy he was, and then call Ava on his own.

But when they drove her to the airport this morning, she hadn’t been herself. She was quiet, constantly shifting in her seat, and clutching her purse to her chest. Previously, her energy had been so carefree and open. To see her clam up and shut down was like seeing a different person.

Fucking hell, it made his heart sink into his stomach. A nagging in the back of his mind wouldn’t leave him alone. She was bothered by more than just work. The way she’d clung tohim when she realized she had to go home. How she told him it was their last night together.

The rumble of Roman’s pickup echoed down the winding driveway. Fucking finally. If phones still had cords, he’d wrap it around Roman’s neck for making him wait this long to check in on Ava.

“I know, I know,” Roman said, making his way to stand beside Logan. “Jamie couldn’t make his shift, and it got busy right before I was supposed to get off. I had to stay and close up.”

Could he make his face look less impressed? He didn’t think so. “It’s almost midnight. She’ll be sleeping.”

“Did you text her and let her know we’d be calling?”

Logan cocked an eyebrow. “Of course I did.”

“Then she’ll be waiting up.”

He balled his hands into fists. “She never replied. I’ve texted her”—he retrieved his phone and went through the unread messages he’d sent to Ava this evening—“sixteen times. All of them read with no reply. Something’s going on.”

Roman rubbed his throat. “All the more reason to call. Right now. Let’s go.” He ushered Logan inside, and they sat on the bench in the foyer.

He put his phone on speaker, and they waited for Ava to pick up. And waited. And waited. And waited. He mashed the call end button and re-dialed. No answer.

“Shit!” he yelled, jumping to his feet. “There’s something wrong. I can feel it.”

“Take a breath, buddy. We don’t know that.”

Logan plunged his fingers into his hair. “But this isn’t like her.”

Roman stood and placed a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “It’s late, and she’s had a long and most likely stressful day. She’s probably asleep with her phone on silent. There’s a reasonable explanation.”

Logan scowled at him. “Do you really believe that?”

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