Page 19 of Vegas Baby!

Jesse poked his head out into the hallway. “You guys still here?” Silence met his question. “All right, the place is ours for the moment.”

I got fully dressed in my suit again while Jesse made Ava and me scrambled eggs and toast. If it were my kitchen I’d be serving up eggs Benedict and fresh smoothies, but I wasn’t going to complain about Jesse’s offering. He didn’t have to make anything for me, but I appreciated that he did anyway.

“Do you have to go to work today?” Ava asked.

“I should, but I would rather stay with you.”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“You’re more important,” I insisted.

Jesse gave me what I read as a smile of approval.

“You should go to the conference,” Ava replied. “I shouldn’t keep you from your work, and I can see you when it’s over, right?”

“I don’t have to stay for the entire thing. I’m supposed to do some company networking so I need to be there until the evening, but you’re both more than welcome to come to the hotel, stay in my room, and order room service.”

She glanced at Jesse. “What are you doing today?”

“I’m supposed to have a shift in a couple of hours. I can call in, though.”

Ava pursed her lips. “I’ve already caused a big enough disruption in everyone’s lives. You don’t have to skip work for me.” She turned back to me. “I can come by the hotel when Jesse goes to work, but I don’t want to be anywhere I might run into Andrew. I’m not ready to see him.”

“Absolutely fair.” I didn’t want her to see him either.

“Is it terrible of me if I don’t want to talk to Luke right now? This feels like something he’s not going to cool down from.”

Jesse chewed his lip. “You’re not wrong. Maybe we should head over to the hotel before he gets back and he can work through his feelings for a while longer. I’ll let him know after we’ve left.”

“Do you know where my phone is?” Ava asked.

“Luke probably has it,” Jesse replied.

“Why?”

“Andrew’s been messaging and calling.”

Ava looked like she wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that, her expression flickering between hope and fury.

“You can have my phone,” I offered, pulling my personal phone from my pocket. “I’ll be fine with my work one for today.”

Ava’s face softened. “Thank you.”

I got her set up with access, adding her fingerprint ID and making sure she memorized the passcode in case that failed, and then passed the device to Jesse to add in his number.

We vacated the apartment before Luke and Micah returned. Jesse drove us to the hotel, where I quickly showered and changed into fresh clothes while Ava snuggled into the hotel bed, my discarded suit tucked between the pillows.

“Order anything you want,” I told her. “Call me if you need anything. I have to keep the phone on silent during panels, but I’ll check frequently.”

“I will.” She lifted her face expectantly and I bent down to kiss her sweet mouth, already regretting having to part with her, even if it was only for a few hours.

I waved goodbye to Jesse and indulged in one more Ava kiss. “Be a good girl today.”

She grinned. “I make no promises.”

Ava was out like a light before Bryce left to attend the conference. I didn’t blame her one bit between the lack of sleep and how much energy it took growing a person.

I napped as long as I could before I finally had to leave for my shift. Leaving Ava’s side was a unique misery I’d never experienced before, like I was swimming deeper underwater with every step away from her I took.

---