“Uh, shit,” I said. “Okay. Give me five minutes and then send him up.”
I hung up the phone and looked around the apartment, running through the living room and picking up all of Ava’s belongings. How the hell was I supposed to get Ava out of the apartment when Dean was in it. This was bad, really bad. I ran thr
ough the living room and down the hall, turning the corner and flicking the light on. I shook Ava, feeling bad for waking her but panicking.
“Ava,” I said. “Wake up.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Your father,” I said breathlessly. “He’s downstairs. They are sending him up in five minutes. I brought all your things in. I'm going to try to get rid of him as fast as possible, but you have to hide in here.”
“What the fuck is going on?”
“I don’t know,” I said, pulling on a pair of khakis and a sweater. “I don’t even know how he knew where I lived.”
“Oh, God,” she said, looking panicked.
I sat down next to her on the bed and kissed her on the lips trying to calm her down. I cradled her face in my hands and forced her to look me in the eyes. Immediately, I could feel her muscles relax.
“Don’t worry,” I whispered. “Everything will be okay. I’ll take care of this, okay?”
“Okay,” she said taking a deep breath.
We both looked up as the elevator in the hall dinged, and there was a knock on the door. My heart was racing, and I kissed her deeply one last time before walking out of the bedroom and closing the door behind me. I smoothed down my hair and did another quick look around the living room to make sure everything was cleaned up. I walked over to the door and took in a deep breath, pulling the door opening and smiling big as Dean appeared in front of me.
“Hey, man,” I said happily. “This is a nice surprise. Come on in.”
“Thanks,” he said looking worse for wear. “I’m sorry to barge in like this.”
“No, man,” I said. “You’re fine. What’s going on?”
I led him over to the couch, feeling like he had something pretty serious to talk about. At first, my heart began to race, but then I realized if he knew anything about Ava, he would not be calm like he was. Instead, he looked hurt, almost betrayed, and I could tell from his red eyes that he had not slept the night before. He sat on the couch looking around the room but not actually seeing anything. He put his elbows on his knees and hung his head down, shaking it back and forth.
“What’s going on, Dean? Is everything okay?”
“I caught Lindy fucking the pool boy last night,” he said, choking up. “I just walked in and found them together. It was fucking terrible.”
“Holy shit, man,” I said sitting down next to him. “I am so sorry. That’s fucking horseshit. After everything you’ve done for that woman, and she does this to you?”
“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.”