Page 117 of Dark, Forbidden, & Taboo

I shake my head and roll my eyes.

I should have figured it was something as simple as that.

Raking a hand back through my hair, I turn around and finally make my way toward my room.

Once I step into my station, I stop short and raise an eyebrow curiously.

“How long have you been waiting?’

“Half an hour. I got here early,” Ava replies quietly.

“Oh, so …. What’s up, kid?” I ask as I close the door softly behind me.

“You told Aunt … You said you wanted to take a picture of my tattoo.”

Duh,I think with an eye roll as I nod and walk over to the small bookcase. I reach up for the camera and then turn back toward Ava, “Okay, so if you can shimmy out of those, that would make this a lot easier,” I tell her as I nod at her jean shorts.

She gives me an even look before letting out a sigh and undoing the buttons holding them up, then pushes her shorts down to her knees.

“I mean, this is gonna be pretty awkward but if you can open your legs for me, Ava, that would be great,” I tell her with an amused look.

“What?”

“I can’t take a good pic of the tattoo if your legs are still kind of together,” I explain with a laugh.

She juts out her chin as she pushes her jeans down the rest of the way, and steps out of them, then lifts a leg and places her foot on the recliner.

“Good enough?” she barks irritably, and I lick my lips as I shake my head.

She’s starting to sound a hell of a lot like her aunt used to when I was in school.

“Yeah, just hold still,” I instruct as I bend down and angle the camera. I snap a few shots before I look at the screen and scroll through them. “Cool, I got it. Thanks.”

Ava quickly gets dressed as I turn to set the camera back on top of the bookcase.

I wait patiently for her to leave, but when she puts her hand on the doorknob, she hesitates for a moment.

“What’s up, Ava?” I ask her gently.

“Um, that night at the park …”

“What about it?” I press.

“Did it … did you …?”

I smile patiently as I walk over to my chair and take a seat. This should be interesting, and I’ve been curious about her thoughts on what she did.

“Did I what?”

“Did you do it to get back Aunt Celeste? Did you use me for some kind of sick amusement, Finley?” she finally asks in a quiet, subdued tone.

I lean back in my chair as I give her a carefully blank look. She’s still too young to understand the rules of war, and what I say next could have repercussions on how she sees life from now on.

“Honestly? Kind of,” I say, thoughtfully. “I mean, at first I wanted you to go home and have to explain to her where you were and why you smelled the way you did.”

“But then?” she presses as her shoulders slump a little. Her eyes bore into mine as she waits for some kind of hope in what my next words could possibly be.

“But then, I went home and rubbed one out. It’s why I left so fast, Ava. I didn’t want you to see that you rocking on a busted, old toy got me hard,” I finish with a shrug.

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