She let out a slow whistle. “Okay then. I can understand why Avery is skittish about you. And add her father’s life and abandonment into the equation …”
“Yeah. But I came home to see if things were still the same for us. If the memory I kept all these years held up over time. And it turns out that, yeah, we still get each other. Still have that deep respect and understanding.” The sexual compatibility and chemistry was theirs alone. He didn’t need to discuss that with anyone. “I’m not giving up on her,” he said.
“I don’t think you should.” Lola reached across the table and grasped his hand. “And I’ll do everything I can to help you make it work.”
“Same for you, baby.” He grinned at his best friend—next to Avery, of course.
“I know.” She winked, then stood up and began cleaning up.
They had each other’s backs. Always. And that’s why Lola was like family. Now he just had to cement things with Avery in order to make himself and his life complete.
* * *
Avery, Olivia, and Sienna agreed to meet at their father’s hotel, The Meridian, in South Beach. It wouldn’t have been Avery’s first choice, but Sienna was on the beach with friends, and it was easiest for her to join them there.
Avery arrived at the restaurant on the water first. Rick left the car with the valet. He stayed close by even though once inside the private hotel, she didn’t have to worry about paparazzi. Prying eyes were something else, and she couldn’t stop people from looking and recognizing her, but she doubted anyone would.
She settled into a chair facing the ocean and closed her eyes. She breathed in the salty, humid air and tried to relax, but thoughts of hot, sweaty sex with Grey prevented her from mellowing out. He’d taken her against the wall, hard and fast, and she’d let him, giving in without thought, without care. Without a condom.
He’d apologized afterward, sworn he was clean. He had recent blood work to prove it, he’d said, and he hadn’t had sex in over six months. She was on the pill, so she wasn’t worried about possible pregnancy either. But she hadn’t stayed for a long conversation after that, his I love you while buried deep inside her ringing in the air and inside her head when she’d left. She knew her lack of acknowledging his words had hurt him. Just like she’d hurt him running off this morning.
Except she really had somewhere to be this time. Before she could think and make herself crazy, Olivia joined them, waddling in, Avery thought with a happy smile. Her sister wore maternity clothes now, and the small bump protruded from the light blue tank top she wore, along with what looked like black biking shorts, but Avery was sure those, too, were maternity.
“You look so cute!” Avery rose and hugged her sister.
Olivia flushed red. “I feel like a butterball. This kid likes when I eat. I’m always hungry and I’m gaining fast.” She patted her stomach.
“Eating for two,” Avery said as she settled into her seat.
“At some point, that’s not going to be an excuse, right?”
Avery shrugged. “Milk it for all it’s worth. When else can you just relax and indulge?”
“That’s what Meg said. She seems more relaxed about this whole thing than me.” Olivia picked up a glass of ice water and took a long sip.
“Meg is further along and has had more time to get used to the idea of having a baby. Relax. You’ll be a natural.” Avery knew it was easy for her to reassure her sister when she had no idea what Olivia was going through. She did, however, know that her older sibling would be a wonderful mom.
Before Olivia could respond, Avery caught sight of Sienna and waved. She was twenty-two and the youngest of Robert Dare’s children. Like her mother, she had blonde hair that she’d pulled into a pony tail and brown eyes. She had a lace cover-up over a bikini, and she joined them, tossing her bag onto an empty chair.
“Hi!” Sienna said, settling into a chair. “Sorry I’m late.” Her skin glistened with perspiration from the heat and a healthy tan from the sun.
“You aren’t. We haven’t even ordered drinks yet,” Olivia said, waving to a waiter.
A few minutes later, they’d ordered unsweetened iced teas, and they each chose different salads for lunch, then played catch-up with each other’s lives as they ate. After they finished and the plates were cleared away, they sat with refills on their tea and began to discuss the prom event.
Avery pulled a pad from her purse. She already had notes from the meeting at the hospital and the places she and Ella had contacted for help.
“So we have the venue since the hospital agreed to host there,” Avery said. “We can’t use flowers, because I don’t want to worry about allergies, but I was thinking about using Mylar balloons instead. And what do you think of letting the kids pick the color scheme? We can do a poll or something? Let them be part of things.”
“Good idea,” Sienna said. “I have a friend who works in party planning. I’m sure she could either get the balloons at a great price or donate them. And I know she has the helium machine. I’ll see what she thinks she can do for tablecloths and things.”
“Awesome.” Avery made a check next to décor.
“Does the hospital have silverware, or do we need to handle that ourselves?” Olivia asked.
Avery responded, and they went back and forth on details, each offering their own ideas.
“What about music?” Sienna finally asked.