So that’s what had happened when Magnus came out of his room wearing only a towel. He’d been jacking off in the shower, thinking about him? And Ava had watched?
Jesus Christ.
“If it’s any consolation, I thought it was hot.”
He wanted to ask,Which one? Magnus suckin’ my dick or Magnus jackin’ off?, but managed to keep his lips clamped together.
Okay, now his cheeks were turning a ridiculous shade because this woman was talking about sex.
So why’s your dick hard if you don’t like it?
Trey ignored the stupid-ass voice. His dick was hard, but that was a natural reaction. It had absolutely nothing to do with this sweet young woman talking about Magnus blowing him or how she’d listened to them fucking.
Fuck.
“You don’t like talking about this much, do you?”
“You think?” he muttered, keeping his eyes locked on the exit to Coyote Ridge.
Ava giggled softly. “You’re adorable, you know that?”
He knew no such thing.
***
Twenty minutes later, after that fun—albeitslightly embarrassing—conversation with Trey, Ava was seated in the waiting area of Dr. Piper Briggs’s small medical office as she came strolling down the hallway, peering at a chart in her hand.
When she looked up, she smiled softly. “It’s nice to meet you, Ava. I’m Dr. Briggs.”
Ava studied the woman who stepped into the reception area to get her. Neither of them made an attempt at a handshake. Ava would have, but her palms were too sweaty, so she settled for discreetly sliding them along her hips.
She had to admit Dr. Briggs was not at all what she expected to see. She’d been envisioning an older woman. One with gray hair and glasses, wearing a bright orange smock and Crocs on her feet. She had no idea where she’d come up with that ridiculous idea, but this woman was nothing like that.
Dr. Briggs was tall and nicely curved, and in those four-inch heels, she likely topped out close to six feet, if not more. Her hair was short, cut in a dramatic angled bob around her face that had her hair brushing her shoulders, but it was very short in the back. The style and the color made her gray eyes pop. Or maybe that was because of the black, rectangular-framed glasses she had on. She reminded Piper of a librarian. The kind men fantasize about.
“Come on back to my office,” Dr. Briggs said.
Ava took a deep breath and stood up, following the doctor down a short hallway and into a large office.
Well, she assumed it was an office because there was a four-legged white desk on the far side of the room, beside it, a two-drawer filing cabinet. Both were tucked into the corner in front of a large picture window that looked out onto a courtyard decorated with rose bushes. The desk was clear of clutter, holding a small decorative lamp, a pen in one of those fancy holders that doubled as a picture frame, a laptop computer, and a thin vase with a single rose in it. The walls were painted a soothing taupe with crown molding at the ceiling and a narrow railing halfway down the wall that circled the entire room. It felt more like a conversational room in someone’s house than a therapist’s office. The rest of the space was a seating area. Two cream-colored leather couches faced each other on a large gray and cream rug. A coffee table in the middle held a single box of tissues, as did the side tables at each end of the couches. Two additional chairs were positioned near the ends of the sofas, facing each other.
“Are you expecting me to cry?” Ava asked.
Dr. Briggs glanced at her and smiled. “It is certainly not my intention to make you cry.”
Ava could’ve told her she wouldn’t, but even she knew that would be a lie. Any time she even thought about what had happened, tears pooled in her eyes.
“Please have a seat, Ava. Anywhere you’d like.”
“Should I lie down?”
“If you’d like, but it’s not required,” she answered, her tone slightly amused and going a long way to putting Ava at ease. In fact, her entire demeanor put Ava at ease.
Ava chose to sit on one of the sofas, tucking herself in near the end. She made herself small, something she’d gotten used to doing over the years. As a kid, she did it in the hopes of not inciting her mother’s mood. And after she’d married Harrison, she did it hoping she would become invisible.
Once Ava was situated, Dr. Briggs took a seat on the opposite sofa directly across from her. She crossed her legs at the knee and placed her hands in her lap. The entire time she watched Ava, smiling as she did.
“It’s all right if you relax, Ava,” Dr. Briggs urged. “We’re only going to talk.”
