Ava purses her plump pink lips, smacks them, and then takes a step back. She gives me a thoughtful nod. “Yeah, well, you should. And trust me, the Unholy are arrogant. They’re used to getting their way. You want to give them an inch, but you have to careful they don’t take a mile. You gotta be a hurricane. See me? I swoop in and spin everything around.” She makes a twisting motion with her finger. “That’s how you have to do it with these men. You need to stay in control, but in a way that makes them think they have the upper hand. Come on. Let’s see what’s over there. Keep the yellow dress for, like, everyday clothes, but we’re finding you something special for the barbecue. If I bring you home with only one or two outfits, Crow will pitch a fit. Promised him I’d spend all his money. Do you know I remember when you killed your dad? I was only thirteen, I think, but I remember the whole town talked about it for months. My dad was good to me, thank God. Cancer got him three years ago, though. My mom didn’t waste any time getting remarried. She left with her new husband before my dad was even cold. Haven’t talked to her since.” She hooks her arm through mine and pulls me along. “Anyway, you went to school with the guys, huh? I want all the dirty deets on them.”
Hurricane? No. More like Ava is a tsunami and it takes a massive amount of energy and brain power to keep up with her. It leaves nothing left for me to dwell on the usual worries that occupy my mind.
I love it, honestly, and for a little while, I actually feel my age. I’ve gotten used to living beyond my years, and I often forget I’m only twenty-four. But today, I’m standing taller. Moving faster. Talking more. And by the time we get to Blanche’s Diner for an early dinner, I’m exhausted and starving and it’s awesome.
Crammed in a booth with bags stuffed all around us, I sit across from Ava and eat my first cheeseburger in years. David kept me on a diet to maintain my borderline unhealthily slender weight. Basically, I’ve been as hungry living with him as I was when homeless. Bet your ass I devour my entire deliciously greasy meal.
“So, what’d you do in Florida?”
I pick at the last of my fries. “Nothing. I was utterly useless, Ava, if you want to know the truth.”
“Well, whatever you did brought Wraith home. Doesn’t seem so useless to me.”
I’m careful with what I say because Wraith warned me only certain people know where he’s been. “He wanted to come home.” The food becomes a brick sitting in my stomach. “I just had to figure out a way to get him here.”
Ava sucks in her lips and shakes her head. “Yeah, well, most folks wouldn’t help a stranger.”
“Wraith was never a stranger,” I whisper. “And I had nothing left to lose.”
“Well.” Ava slaps the table, beaming me a wide smile. “You’re here now, and that’s what matters.”
“Yep, here I am,” I echo on a sigh, not at all sure what I’m supposed to do once David is…gone. I’ve lived my life surviving moment to moment. Never looking ahead at what might come after. Now, I’m lost. But I’m not worrying about that now. Not today. I want to enjoythismoment. “So, what do you do?”
Given Ava’s bubbly personality, I imagine if sprinkling sunshine on people were a profession, that’d be her profession.
“I work at Devil’s Den.”
“TheDevil’s Den?”
“One and the same.” She devours the last of her cheeseburger. “When I first started there, I was terrified of Shotgun. I mean, come on, look at him. With that long-ass beard and those eyes. And don’t even get me started on his surly attitude. Ugh. Terrifying.” She shudders dramatically. “But once I got to know him, I realized he’s all bark and no bite, especially when it comes to his girls. I just love him to death.”
I’ve never met the notorious Shotgun, but I can’t imagine anyone who owns an establishment with a reputation as black as Devil’s Den’s can be anything other than ferocious.
But wow. Never thought Ava would be right smack in the center of it all. “Bartender?”
“Stripper.”
This little firecracker, this Disney princess come to life, pins me with those frosty blue eyes. Waiting. Smirking…
As if I’m anyone to judge someone.
I raise my glass of water. “Well, cheers to you, Ava. May the men make it rain on you like a damn torrent.”
Ava lifts her soda. “Cheers to you, Jamie. May you be a merry widow whose vagina never stretches to a blown-out sweat sock.”
“Amen to that, sister.”
Problem is, after sleeping with my ass snuggled up against Wraith’s groin for the last week, I’ve got a good idea of what’s between his legs, and it’s safe to say if we do have sex, my poor vagina will be utterly ruined.
Thank God.
It’s about time that cobwebbed cave got a good excavation.
* * *
Apple Grove Park is as cozy as I remember. Maybe even more so because I’ve been away for years, and my eyes are starved for something beautiful.
Ava was reluctant to drop me off here, but after ten minutes of arguing the issue, she realized she was fighting an unwinnable war. She insisted on taking the bags back to Wraith’s house rather than have me lug them through town, which was nice of her. But after all the chaos, I need to decompress.
