Page 50 of Wicked Games

Something she said sticks, and I nudge it like I would a sore tooth. Were Hattie and Brooke friends? Brooke never returned my call, but I would have been surprised if she had. LaSalle never called me back, either, and maybe his talk with Jenkins didn’t turn anything up.

If I stand here any longer, Avery’s going to pack and leave.

I can’t let her do that. We need to work together to figure this out, and after we do, we’re getting married. Fuck this bullshit. I’ll drop down to part-time and if she wants a couple of rugrats, we’ll adopt. And if she doesn’t, that’s fine too. I just want to go to bed with her every night and wake up to her every morning.

While I was standing in the kitchen arguing with myself, the stars came out, and I walk to Avery’s in the misty dusk. The house is just as dark inside as it is outside, and I think for a second she drove to Ashfield and left her things to pick up another day, but the sliding glass door opens and I blow out a sigh of relief. She wouldn’t have driven to the city and not locked up first.

It's quiet, and I pause in the kitchen and listen. Maybe she went to bed. I don’t like thinking that either because it reminds me of when I was an asshole the first time and she laid in bed for three days.

I trot up the stairs and open the door to her bedroom. She’s sitting on the floor with a couple pairs of panties in her hand and her suitcase is open on the bed. She was staring into space, but when she looks at me, the blank expression doesn’t change.

“Avery.”

“What are you doing here?”

I sit next to her and drag her between my legs. Wrapping my arms around her, I say, “Don’t go. You have no idea how fucking scared I was when I heard Darren say he wanted you back. How lost I’d be if you told me you were going to try to work it out with him.” I press my forehead against hers and hold her face between my hands. “We need to figure this out, and it’s not going to be pretty. It won’t be, but I’d rather do it with you than without you. I don’t think you’re a part of this and I’m not going to blame you for what Hattie was doing.”

“Seth—” she starts, but I cut her off, covering her lips with mine. She can give me a million excuses but I won’t believe a single one. How she feels in my arms is all the proof I need that we belong together.

A shiver runs through her, but she relaxes and kisses me back. I tangle my fingers in her hair, tighten my hold, and take. Her mouth still tastes like the wine she drank at my place and something that only belongs to her. Our tongues glide together, and I moan. Thinking about living without this, without her, is painful. My cock hardens even though we made love only a couple hours ago. “Stay with me. I don’t want you to disappear in the middle of the night.”

“Where would I go?” she asks, slightly confused and a little amused.

“Anywhere. Back to the city. California. It doesn’t matter. If you go somewhere, I want to go with you.”

“But what about the police? We should tell them what we know.”

“We will, but it’s late and it’ll keep until morning. We don’t know what to do with the information, and I doubt they will, either. LaSalle said he was going to talk to Jenkins today. Maybe he was able to get something out of him, but—” I sigh. “I really don’t think this is gang-related, even if they had a reason to kill Hattie.”

“Okay, but then⁠—”

I press a finger over her lips. One thing at a time. “Are you hungry?”

She shakes her head and hides her face against my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Avery. For the way I acted. I was angry, and I might be angry for a long time. Theo’s death was senseless and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. You’re mourning too, and I never want to take that right away from you because I act like my needs are more important than yours. Darren already did that to you, and I promise I won’t do it to you too.”

Her breath whispers over my skin when she says, “You didn’t react any differently than how I thought you would. When I read that post in her trash, I knew I’d be guilty by association.”

“You’re not though, and we don’t know why Hattie was killed. If somehow this comes back to me and Theo, you have to promise me the same. I didn’t know Hattie was your sister and didn’t know she had anything to do with this, even just as someone at the park watching, if that’s all it amounts to. Promise me that we can keep our relationship separate from what’s going on.”

She lifts her head. “We can try, but if we find out Hattie had something to do with Theo’s murder, you’re not going to want anything to do with me, and it’s better if you admit that right now. Someone killed your little boy. Hattie watched them grab him and drive away, and no matter what her motives or intentions were, that doesn’t change. That will always be between us.”

“No more than if we find out they killed her because they were afraid she’d change her mind and go to the cops. She’d already proven she had the smarts and the courage. It’s possible she was working with them but when they killed Theo she thought they went too far and threatened to turn them in. Besides,” I say, skimming my thumb over her cheek, “we still don’t know why. Why Theo and not a different kid at the park. Was it the money? It can’t only be that. It was personal, and that blame belongs to me. You have every right to blame me too.”

“I’m not going to blame you for being who you are, and I’m not going to put Hattie’s actions on you, either. She was her own person and made her own choices, but nothing makes sense and we’re running around in circles.”

“Yeah, and we might not ever stop. Come on. You should eat a little something, even if you say you’re not hungry.” I tug the panties she’s still holding out of her hand. “Sexy. Bring some pajamas with you, and your toothbrush.”

“Okay,” she says, but she snuggles against my chest, and gently, I rub her back. There are so many things I want to tell her, but now’s not the time. Until we know more about Hattie and how she was involved, Avery might not believe me anyway. Once we know the truth, whatever that truth is, what I feel will have more weight.

I kiss the top of her head. “Let’s go.”

I hate looking at it, and I close her suitcase and put it in the closet.

She follows me downstairs, and I link our fingers as we walk across the wet grass. I heat up our leftover pizza and pour more wine. We eat without talking, but it’s not uncomfortable. It’s been difficult to find any peace since Theo’s death, but I find it here, sitting in the kitchen eating pizza next to her at the island. I find it in her quiet breathing and solid presence, knowing she’s here because she chose me over fixing things with her ex-husband. I find it in the way she lets me kiss the back of her hand and the faint smile she gives me.

But most of all I find it as the sun streams into the bedroom and when I kiss her awake, she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me back.