Exhausted&Lost

Chapter Eleven

After they had both eaten until they were uncomfortably full, they staggered over to his couch and fell back into it laughing.

"That was AMAZING!" Ava gasped, "but I never want to see any more food ever again!"

Sitting back with a beer in hand, and a beautiful woman in his lap, telling him all about her childhood in Ireland... the 9 months of rain per year, the trips they would take to little towns with funny names that made her feel like she was a million miles away from home, the big family that she had never been this far away from before, Dave knew he should be feeling lucky.

This is what he had wanted all day after all. He had been imagining her, curled on to his lap, her legs draped across his. He affected his best smile and did his best to listen, but couldn't ignore the trepidation in his chest.

"Is everything alright?" She asked, running a dainty hand through his tangle of brown curls. He nodded and told her to continue speaking, her voice was calming the storm raging in his heart.

The root of his anxiety lay with his daughters... he could feel himself being lost to the redhead who was tracing the lines of his tattoos as she spoke, little by little revealing something else about herself that made Dave fall a little bit further.

So far he had learned that her relationship with her father was a strong and beautiful one, one that he could understand as it was as close as his and his mothers.

He listened as she told him about Elliott coming into this world, changing her for the better as she became a stronger, more resilient person whose heart could withstand the pain that came with the piece of shit she was married to. The mere mention of Stephen's name made his fingers involuntarily twitch into a fist.

He watched as her eyes lit up when she talked about Christmas, about her family, about her son, about music... about what makes her tick. He was learning who she was, and he could feel himself becoming more and more entangled in her.

He knew his girls wouldn't be ready for him to be seeing anyone, he knew Jordyn wouldn't be ready to see him with another woman all over the press, but he knew that he couldn't stay away.

He felt his heart leap out of his chest as he imagined telling Ava that he wanted to pursue a relationship with her, but it needed to be kept secret. They needed to create a little bubble where they could exist together, and pretend that nothing had changed to the outside world.

His jealous streak reared its ugly head as he imagined the shoe was on the other foot and he feared her reaction but he had to ask.

In his head, he could imagine her shrugging on her leather jacket and walking away from him in that little black dress, ending their so-far perfect evening.

She could tell he had gotten himself lost in his thoughts, she knew that he was battling himself internally by the way his eyebrows knitted themselves together and his hand came up to tug at his beard.

"Hey," she cooed softly, once again brushing his hair off his face.

Stormy brown eyes flicked up to look at her and she felt her stomach do a flip, had she said something? She mentally recalled everything she had said up until now to pinpoint the moment she had upset him.

"Was it something I said?" She asked quietly, looking down at her hands.

He shook his head and leaned into her touch when her hand caressed his cheek.

"You're upset," she said, his skin feeling hot under her hand.

He swiveled in his seat and slipped her off of his knee so he could face her, and took her hands in his.