“I know,” he said weepily. “We fought all night and then I left. I didn’t really know where else to go. I couldn’t tell Ava, not yet. It would break her heart. So, I came here.”
“You made the right choice, Dean,” I said, glancing over at my bedroom door.
“I don’t even know what to do at this point,” he said taking in a deep breath. “I’m completely lost. I never thought I would have to go through this. I mean, I knew other guys who had gone through it, but I really thought it would never be me. Not Lindy.”
“Absolutely,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re a good man, and you’ve always been there for your family. It was your biggest sacrifice.”
“I just don’t know what happened,” he said, putting his head in his hands. “This is really messed up.”
“What can I do?”
“I don’t know where to go,” he said. “Would you mind if I stayed here for a few days and cleared my mind. I need to figure this all out before making some rash decision.”
Fuck. Instantly, my stomach dropped, knowing Ava was in the other room, probably heard all of it, and I was going to have to get her out of the apartment without her father seeing her. How did I get myself into this shit? Of course, I couldn’t turn the man down. He was absolutely devastated, and we just got our friendship back on track after about a decade of fighting and bickering. I patted him on the shoulder and looked around.
“Of course, you can,” I said kindly. “I have a guest bedroom with its own bath, and I’ll get you a visitor pass so you can come and go as you please. You can stay here as long as you want.”
“Thank you,” he said with a sigh. “You’re a real lifesaver. I know we just started our friendship over, but it's really great of you to be there for me like this.”
“Always,” I said, nodding my head.
I had to think of a way to get him out of the apartment for a while so that Ava could make a break for it. This was not what I’d had in mind when I woke up. I was planning on fixing us a nice breakfast in bed and just relaxing with a lazy Saturday that I’d hoped to stretch to a lazy Sunday. We could eat, make love, take a nap and do it all over again, really relax and have an amazing time. I knew, though, that this was going to affect Dean hard, and he needed a place to be.
“Hey, man,” I said, a solution popping into my head. “It’s early, but do you want to go get a drink?”
“Hell, yeah, I do,” he said, brightening up.
“Awesome,” I said with a sigh. “Let me change and brush my teeth, and we can head out. You just make yourself at home.”
“Alright, man,” he said, leaning back.
I jumped up from the couch and hurried toward the bedroom, only opening the door a sliver before scooting in and closing the door softly behind me. Ava was sitting there in the bed, a look of bewilderment on her face. She was dressed and clutching her coat, shaking her head back and forth. I sat down next to her and pulled her into my chest. I didn’t know what she knew at that point, but I had to figure out a way to tell her.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I know this is crazy.”
“I just have no words,” she said sniffling.
“Look,” I said pulling back and looking her in the face. “Your dad said that—”
“I heard everything.” She shook her head. “Everything. I can’t believe my mother would do this.”
“I’m so sorry, Ava,” I said hugging her again.
This was not right. I should be there for her, not having her sneak out of my apartment like we were teenagers getting caught. She needed me at that moment, and I was starting out something special between us by tossing her to the side. However, with everything going on with her father, that was not the time to reveal to him our secret.
“I want to be here for you,” I said, lifting her chin. “But I have to get you out of here so your father doesn’t find out. I told him we would go get some drinks. I’ll take him a few blocks away, so you can take your time and get out comfortably. Text me when you make it home safely.”
“Whatever,” she whispered, shaking her head. “Just go, I want to get home.”
I felt bad, and she was obviously upset with me. She sat there and watched me as I pulled clothes out of the closet and got dressed. I brushed my teeth and walked back over to her, leaning over to kiss her lips. She turned her face away from me, tears pooling in her eyes. I sighed and kissed her cheek before grabbing my wallet and phone and creeping back outside. I shut the door behind me and stood there for a second, wishing there was some other way for me to be there for both of them. This was an absolutely impossible situation, and I had to choose between the two of them. This was going to take a toll on Ava, big time. I also knew there was a good chance that this would highly affect our future together, which was something I was really trying to avoid. It was becoming annoying how the universe seemed to push back against us, but I was determined to not let it win.
“You ready?” I stood there with my jacket over my arm looking at Dean who was standing at the window looking over the city.
“Yeah,” he said, turning around and faking a smile.
We walked out of the apartment and closed the doors. I locked them for show and stepped into the elevator, letting out a deep breath as the doors closed. Ava might be upset with me, but at least her father won’t find out about all this, especially not while he was going through something as traumatizing as his wife cheating on him. We jumped into a cab and I gave them the address of an Irish pub in upper Manhattan where we could get some breakfast and some whiskey at the same time.