Always Loving You

Chapter Fifteen

Ava had surprised Suzy by dragging her to lunch on Monday. Emma had a standing lunch date with Brant most Mondays, and Ava hadn’t wanted to take her brother’s fiancée away. Of course, if Emma had had any clue as to what Ava wanted to talk about, she would have kicked Brant to the curb in the blink of an eye. Truthfully, she couldn’t believe that Emma hadn’t picked up on what had happened to her over the weekend. She felt as if she had the words I’ve had amazing sex written across her face for all to see.

Suzy and Ava had never spent any time alone before they had been Ella’s whipping board at the hospital on Saturday. After being called all sorts of creative forms of whore with her coworker, Ava felt that their relationship had moved well past acquaintance to friends. “Hey, slut.” Suzy smiled, seeming genuinely happy to see her.

“Hey, tramp,” Ava teased in return. Just a week ago, she couldn’t have imagined calling anyone something like that so easily, but Ella had certainly changed that for them. Ava was secretly afraid that now she would start using the word “whore” as if it were a common, household word.

After studying her menu, Suzy glanced up long enough to say, “You look like you got lucky sometime recently. Care to elaborate?”

Ava’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the other woman’s head in shock. “Wh-what?”

Still not looking up, Suzy said, “Oh, come on, you’re all loose and relaxed. No offense, but before, you were so tense and frustrated that I wanted to go into the nearest closet and masturbate for you.”

Ava gawked as Suzy finally looked up at her. Eventually, she gave a resigned huff before saying, “I can see why you and Emma get along so well. Neither of you believes in holding anything back.”

Suzy shrugged. “I blame it on my parents. Years of distance and many self-help books have led me to the conclusion that I had to shock them with my words to get any attention, be it good or bad. Anyway, back to you. So you obviously had sex with someone. Can I assume it was Mac?”

Ava flushed before reminding herself that she had arranged the lunch date for precisely this reason. After admitting to Suzy that she had slept with Mac, she skimmed over the details even though Suzy insisted that she elaborate on a few things. “Yes—er . . . he was very—you know—big.”

Suzy banged her fist against the table, yelling, “I knew it!” loud enough to have every head in the restaurant turning toward them.

“Oh my God,” Ava moaned as she slid down farther in her chair.

“Oops. Sorry about that.” When one particularly nosy couple kept staring at them, Suzy stared back. “Hey, show’s over, buddy. Eyes back in the front.” The couple gasped before turning abruptly away. Thankfully, Suzy’s voice dropped considerably when she turned back to Ava. “So, he was big and he went downtown, yay! Since you look like you’re about to stroke out over there, I’ll let you off the hook for now. Did you stay afterward?”

Ava propped her head in her hands, finally getting to the part that was bothering her. “Yeah, I did. It was already morning anyway. We slept late and when we got up, Mac made me breakfast. He kissed me good morning, which was good—very good. As we were eating, I felt like I should make some attempt at mentioning plans for the day so he wouldn’t feel as if I was expecting him to entertain me . . . even though I wanted to stay with him. So I said that I needed to run errands and do laundry.”

“And what did he say?”

“He said, ‘Good deal. Call me later on if you think of it.’ I sat there trying not to look disappointed that he didn’t seem to care if I stayed or not. I mean . . . I thought we would, you know, do it again and spend the day together.”

“Hmm,” Suzy mused, “did he kiss you good-bye? I mean, not just a kiss on the cheek, but a tongue-swallowing kind of kiss.”

Ava shifted around in her seat before admitting, “He kissed me like he wanted to inhale me. He was excited, I could feel that. But then he just let me go.”

“So, did you call him last night?”

Nodding, Ava said, “I called him before bed, and we talked for almost two hours. He said he missed me, but he didn’t ask me to come over. I would have, you know. I’d have jumped out of bed and gone to him right then if he had given me any indication that he wanted that. So, what do you think? Am I doing something wrong?”

“Shit, I don’t know.” Suzy grimaced. “I mean, I’m not exactly a poster child for romance. My first steady boyfriend and fiancé cheated on me with his dentist, and Gray pursued me with the same single-minded determination that he does everything. He didn’t exactly send me any mixed signals; he made sure I knew exactly what he wanted every time we were together. I never have to wonder if he wants me or if he’s in the mood, because he’s always in the mood—always.”

Confused, Ava looked at Suzy in shock. “But . . . you give everyone advice. You’re like the Danvers dating guru. Am I’m such a hopeless case that you’re stumped?”

Suzy patted Ava’s shoulder. “No, crap no, that’s not it at all.” Looking strangely uneasy, she said, “It’s just that you’ve been through a lot, Ava, and I don’t want to do anything to mess this up for you. You deserve to be happy, and you seem so close to making that happen. I’m just afraid of giving you the wrong piece of advice and screwing something up.” Shredding the paper napkin she had gripped in her hands, Suzy continued. “Sometimes, when you didn’t think anyone was looking, I saw the pain that you try so carefully to hide. I’m a people watcher, always have been. Not sure how I missed the signs that my ex was cheating on me, though. That one’s still a mystery.”

Ava was uncomfortable at the thought of someone studying her so closely, but also strangely touched that Suzy seemed to care about what happened to her. Squeezing the other woman’s hand briefly, she swallowed the lump in her throat and attempted to lighten the mood. “Thank you . . . for caring. But if we put my past issues aside and pretend that I’m, say . . . Emma, what would you tell me to do?”

Suzy narrowed her eyes, seeming to give the question serious consideration. “Well, I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. In other words, all the stuff that you’ve been doing to get Mac’s attention seems to be working like a charm. You’ve had sex—obviously the wonderful, dirty kind—and he’s no longer with G-lo, so you hold all the cards now. Did you have something else planned to drive him crazy?”