“Magnus,” she drawled like she was talking to a three-year-old, easing her feet out from under her and standing tall. “The doctor said I’m completely fine. See?” She wiggled her arms, then her legs. “I’ve got use of all my limbs. I can bend over and touch my toes.” Which she did to prove she could. “I could probably even do a cartwheel.” She decided against that for the time being, what with the furniture and all.
“Who’s gonna make your lunch?”
Oh, now he was grasping, that was obvious. “I think I’m quite capable of ordering from DoorDash the same way you do every single day.”
She’d been meaning to talk to him about that. Ava didn’t care for fast food, but she hadn’t complained because she knew Magnus had no business in a kitchen. Toaster waffles were about the only thing he was capable of making without burning the house down.
That thought obliterated her good mood. With the wind out of her sails, she eased back down to the sofa. It wasn’t that she’d forgotten what had happened to his parents and sister, but sometimes it wasn’t the first thing she thought about. It had been years since their lives were stolen by the smoke and the flames that had destroyed a good portion of this house. She was merely glad she’d had the good sense not to speak the words aloud.
“Please,” she said softly, staring up at him. “Please go back to work. I think it’ll be good for both of us.” When he looked like he was going to argue, she tacked on, “I’ll even go with you. I have no problem—”
“Ava, we’ve talked about this.”
“—scooping poop. That or I can go work at the camp, and you can stay here and watch mindless television all day long. Take your pick.”
She’d purposely ignored him because she hated that he was holding that ultimatum over her head. Magnus had told her she was welcome to work at the camp as soon as she started therapy. He’d even promised her a full-time paying job.
Which meant she was the one standing in her own way.
Magnus dropped his head dramatically and stomped toward her. He took a seat on the couch, close enough that she could feel his warmth and strength, smell the fresh woodsy scent of his body wash. Because she welcomed his nearness, Ava leaned into him, and when his arm went around her shoulders, pulling her against him, she lost her train of thought.
She’d been friends with Magnus for so long she wasn’t sure how to exist without him in her life. She’d grown up next door to him, been best friends with his sister. And even after the fire, after Tabitha died, and after Ava’s mother had packed them up and moved them out of Embers Ridge, Ava had kept in touch with him. He was a reminder of the good years of her life, and he was the only person in her life who had never asked or demanded anything from her.
Without thinking, Ava turned toward him, resting her head against his shoulder and placing her hand flat on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat, strong and steady, just like the man she’d had a crush on since she was a little girl, too young to know better. She wished she could say she’d gotten past the crush, but it would be a lie. However, their friendship was something she’d grown to need more than anything, which was why she knew nothing could ever develop from that crush.
It didn’t mean she didn’t long for these moments when Magnus made her feel safe and loved. He was the one person in her life who had never let her down, never used her for his own gain. For that, she would always be in love with him, even if she would never admit it aloud.
***
Magnus stared at the wall and cherishedthese few minutes with Ava.
The way she snuggled up to him, the trust she offered, had a calming effect on him. This wasn’t the first time he’d noticed. Ever since that fateful day when Ava showed up on his doorstep, grinning wide and boasting about how she’d graduated from high school, he’d seen her in a different light. She’d gone from being his little sister’s best friend to a stunningly beautiful woman in the blink of an eye.
That was six years ago. So much had happened since then. Ava had gotten married to a bastard of the highest order. Said bastard had tried to kill her and frame Magnus for the murder. Ava’s mother had then killed Harrison and taken her own life to protect her daughter. And while Ava was suffering at that bastard’s hands, Magnus had gone and fallen in love with Trey, knowing full well that he would not be complete without Ava. He couldn’t explain why, but he’d always had this steadfast desire to find a man and a woman to love for all of eternity. It was how he envisioned his life.
He hadn’t actually pictured it coming to fruition until recently. There’d been a few times over the past four months when Magnus had fantasized about Ava and Trey being the two people who would complete him. But that’s all it was. A fantasy. Because while he was lusting after Ava, she saw him as her friend. And Trey … well, where should Magnus begin? Trey was still licking old wounds, that much was obvious, so even the idea of being with one person was too much for him. Hence the reason they’d been doing the whole friends-with-benefits thing since the beginning.
Of course, there was the fact that Trey was gay. The man didn’t have a sexual attraction to women. Never had.
Add those things up and they came up to one resolute conclusion: Magnus wouldn’t be able to live out the rest of his life with Trey and Ava, no matter how much he wished he could.
Not that he’d made any efforts to test the waters.
While Magnus harbored this deep-seated lust for Ava, he had never acted on it. Had never intended to, either. But then Harrison Rivers had beaten her nearly to death and left her for dead. From the moment he’d learned Ava had disappeared, his feelings for her changed. Or maybe they hadn’t changed so much as they’d come to light. Her disappearance had made him realize how much he loved her. He’d stopped at nothing to find her, and with the help of the Off the Books Task Force and Trey, they’d found her. That incident had changed him and made him see that life was short and that nothing should be taken for granted because it could be ripped away within a moment’s notice.
That was why he’d been trying to live out a PG version of his fantasy. He tried to tell himself it was enough just to have Ava here while he was clinging to the last frayed threads of his relationship with Trey. It wasn’t ideal, but it sure as shit beat the alternative.
“Magnus?”
He tilted his head down, his chin resting on the top of Ava’s head. He loved how her hair always smelled like strawberries. It was her shampoo. He’d learned that when he found the bottle in his shower. “Hmm?”
“You really should go back to work. It’s okay to start slow.”
He smiled. “That’s your way of tellin’ me I’m gettin’ on your nerves.”
She giggled softly. “Just a little bit.”
Magnus didn’t fault her for her honesty. The truth was, he’d been getting on his own nerves as of late. He was ready to get back to work, but he’d been using Ava as an excuse. As long as he was tending to her, he didn’t have to face Trey. He knew the moment he returned, Trey was going to walk away. It was only a matter of time.
