Page 51 of Saved By Mr. Tempting

I wasn’t prepared for Ava to faint. She saw that I had arrived, and that she was no longer in danger, but that was the last conscious thought she had, it seemed. I reached for my phone to call 911, then picked her up and carried her to the couch.

Her ex-boyfriend stayed on the floor where he landed, not moving until the paramedics revived him. Ava herself woke up just a few minutes after she fainted, clinging to me as we sat, watching her attacker for signs of life.

“Nate?” she asked, her voice thick.

“It’s okay,” I responded. “I’m here.”

“Where are we?”

“We’re in your apartment.”

“My apartment?” She put a hand to her forehead, sitting up to look around.

Startled by the sight of a man on her floor, she darted back into the safety of my embrace. I stroked her shoulder, telling her that she was safe without the awkward formality of words. There was a lot that needed to be said between us, but it was not the right time.

Thankfully, the police arrived quickly, and we spent the next hour dealing with the fallout. They handcuffed Marcus and led him off.

I didn’t think to call my mother, but somehow, the leadership of the nonprofit figured out what was going on. One of the social workers arrived and talked at length to the first responders about the apartment and battered women in general.

A pizza delivery driver approached the open door, a pie in his hand. Ava stood up to thank him, transferring the box to the kitchen counter. She looked around as everyone wondered what she was doing.

“I ordered a pizza,” she explained. “I thought Marcus was the delivery driver when he knocked, that’s why I answered.”

Everybody accepted her story, including me. I was amused when she opened the box and offered to feed everyone in the room. The two paramedics took her up on the offer, and the social worker elected to eat a slice. The policemen declined, leaving half a pie left over for Ava.

Finally, they all left and the apartment was ours once again. The social worker said that she would look into finding yet another place for Ava to stay, but I put my foot down.

“Give her some time,” I interjected. “She’ll let you know in the morning.”

Ava regarded me with curiosity, keeping her pretty mouth shut until we had a chance to talk. I took her by the hands after locking the door, and led her back to the couch. Sitting down, we faced each other, as we should have done several days ago. I was the first one to speak. I had a lot to say, and no experience talking about my feelings. I put it off for too long, and it was time to come clean.

“I want you to stay with me,” I said. “If you want to. That is, I’m inviting you to stay with me, as my girlfriend. Will you be my girlfriend? And move in with me?” It was choppy and ugly, but the words summed up my true feelings. I wasn’t any kind of a poet. If that’s what Ava was looking for, then I wasn’t the right match. I didn’t think she would care, as long as I wasn’t keeping things from her anymore.

“Of course,” she replied. “But why did you stop answering my calls?”

“It was stupid,” I cursed myself for being so thickheaded. “When you moved out, I thought you didn’t want to be with me anymore.”

“That’s not true. I didn’t want to be a burden.”

“You could never be a burden.”

She looked pained and turned away from me. “You don’t understand.”

“No, I don’t.”

“When you have nothing, and you have to rely on the kindness of those around you, it can be easy to feel like a charity case. I am, in fact, a charity case.”

“No, you’re not. Not to me.” I held her hand close to my heart, willing her to see herself through my eyes. “You are strong and independent, organized, competent.”

“Is this a performance review?” she snapped, pulling her hand away.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, calling her attention back. “I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve had relationships but they’ve been very superficial. I have friends and people I hook up with, but I’ve never been monogamous with anyone.”

“Do you want to be monogamous?” she asked, turning my whole world upside down with that one question.

There was only one way out of the situation, and that was through it. I couldn’t run from my own heart anymore. I had to face up to my emotions and own them if I was ever going to get the outcome I wanted.

“Yes. I only want you,” I said, holding her gaze with my own.

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