“She’s moved on,” he barks. “She’s found someone else, Nate.”
My world spins and I take a shaky step back. I’ve spent the last month clearing up shit with Lena and working out a comfortable routine for Macy and I. I’ve ended things properly and set myself up, ready for Avery. There was never a second I wasn’t going to come back for her. Now I have, only to hear she’s found someone else.
“You’re lying,” I growl. “She loved me, Kelly.”
“She lusted after you; she didn’t love you. She’s moved on, she’s seeing another man and staying longer. Move on, Nate. It was never right.”
“Don’t you tell me what was right,” I roar, lunging forward and slamming him against the wall. “You will never know.”
“Leave,” he grinds out. “And get your fuckin’ hands off me.”
I spin around and charge off, my world falling to pieces around me.
~*~*~*~
AVERY
It’s been two months and I’m finally home. The moment I step through my front door, I sigh with relief. It was the best choice I could have made, leaving. It gave me the chance to breathe a little. I found myself, picked up my spirits and came back ready to start again. And I will—fresh, and right from the top.
I walk straight over to my answering machine and see I’ve got more than twenty messages. I got myself a cell phone to take away that only Liam and Kelly had the number to. To step away, I had to do it properly; I had to disconnect, to avoid any temptation of calling the wrong person. I reach down and click play, and the first message that comes up is from Jacob.
“Your father wants to see you. Go and see him, Avery.”
Like hell.
I click the next.
“Av,” a croaky voice. Nate. My heart stops. “It’s me. Where are you? I left Lena.”
My heart stops beating. He left Lena? He left . . . Lena?
I press the next one.
“Where have you gone? Why won’t you answer my calls? Fuck, Avery, pick up. I need to hear your voice.”
Oh, God.
“Avery, tell me where the fuck you are. Please.”
My knees wobble.
“How could you? How could you just move on? I just spoke to Kelly. He told me everything. Fuck you, Avery. I loved you, do you fucking hear me? Fuck you.”
What?
I listen to the rest of the messages, but that one sticks in my mind. He thinks I moved on? Kelly told him I moved on? My blood boils as I pick up my phone and dial Kelly’s number.
“Avery, you’re back?”
“What did you say to him, Kelly?”
He sighs. “Avery, you have to understand I was protecting you.”
“Tell me what you said?” I cry.
“I told him you moved on,” he admits. “I told him you never loved him.”
Oh, no.
“How could you?” I breathe.
“He came back for you, thinking that everything he did could be forgiven. He isn’t right for you, Av, you couldn’t have dealt with it.”
“That wasn’t your choice to make,” I yell. “It was mine, Kelly.”
I hang up the phone and quickly dial Nate’s number.
He came back for me.
Oh God, he came back for me.
“This number has been disconnected.”
No.
No.
I turn and grab my purse, rushing out the door. I get into my car and start it, and it splutters a few times before rumbling to life. I reverse out onto the street and then head towards Nate’s house. When I arrive, I leap out and run up to the front door. I pound on it, over and over and over. No one answers.
I turn and go to head out the back when I see the sign.
The for sale sign.
“No,” I cry, rushing towards it.
He’s not here. He’s selling his house and he’s not here. He has no phone. He could be anywhere. I get back into my car and I speed the entire way to Kelly’s cabin. When he sees me arrive, he comes running out the front.
“Where is he, Kelly?” I say, tears in my eyes.
“I don’t know, Avery.”
“Stop lying to me,” I scream. “Where is he?”
He sighs and lowers his head. “He moved interstate.”
My knees buckle and I grip hold of the railing to keep myself up.
“Where?”
“I don’t know!”
“Please, Kelly,” I sob. “I love him. Do you understand that at all?”
Kelly closes his eyes. “He has a race—two days from now.”
He rattles off the location and gives me a pained expression. “Before you go, before you run down there without thinking, make sure you know this is what you want, Avery. He’s hurting too; it’s not just about you. Think it through.”
I nod and turn, running back to my car.