“Can we talk?” she asked.
I stared at her for a second, almost so shocked by her appearance there I couldn’t form a response. Finally, I nodded.
“Sure.”
I looked over to where Matt and Tyler were sitting at one of the tables rolling silverware and talking about redesigning the menu. “Let’s go somewhere else.”
She followed me out to the parking lot and looked around.
Taking in a breath, she looked right at me. “I’m sorry. I—”
“I’m sorry, too,” I told her, cutting her off. “I shouldn’t have tried to make you agree to hiding our relationship from Tom. It was wrong of me to ask you for that, and I should have just been honest with my brother in the first place. I should have never made that promise, actually.”
“I can understand you making that promise,” she said.
“No, I shouldn’t have made it. And even if I did, I should have told him the truth as soon as you and I reconnected, because I love you, Ava.”
“I love you, too, Mason. I should have taken the time to consider everything you’re going through with your parents before I reacted the way I did. I really am so sorry,” she said.
My heart jumped in my chest, and I felt a huge grin stretch across my face. Taking a step closer to her, I got her up into my arms for a tight hug. She clung on to me, then pulled back to kiss me. I kissed her back, holding her clothes and not wanting to let her go.
“We can keep things quiet,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“Until you figure out how to tell Tom. We don’t have to be open about everything. We can just kind of keep things subtle until you’re able to tell him,” she said.
The woman was incredible. I couldn’t even believe I was lucky enough that she was mine.
“Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate that. I don’t want to hide you from anybody anymore.”
She gave me another kiss before I took her hand and we went back inside. I brought her to the bar and kissed her once more before she went behind it to start setting up for the night. Without looking at Matt and Tyler, I headed for the office to do my computer work for the day. I didn’t even get the door closed before I could hear Ava and my brothers laughing.
I sat down, shaking my head and chuckling. But I only let myself have a few seconds of amusement. Then I started thinking about how I was going to open up to Tom and be honest with him. Just like I promised Ava, I had no interest in taking a lot of time before we had that conversation.
I loved Ava. I had always loved her, and that love had only grown. That wasn’t something I wanted to keep to myself. I didn’t want it to be a secret. She was the greatest thing in my life, and I wanted everybody to know it.
As I got to work on my emails and paperwork for the day, I made the decision I would tell Tom the second I saw him again. Whenever he showed up to the bar, I would tell him that we needed to have a talk, I would bring him here to the office, and I would break it to him.
There was no way of knowing exactly how he was going to react, but I hoped it went over well. I didn’t want to think my brother would be so petty and full of himself that he would place his own opinions above my happiness.
No matter what he said or how he reacted, it wouldn’t change my relationship with Ava and my plan to build a future with her. I wouldn’t allow my brother to control my life anymore. I was a full-grown adult, and it was time I took control of my life and created out of it what I wanted. And I wanted Ava.
When I was finished with my work in the office, I went back out to the bar. The crowd was already starting to build up, and I could tell it was going to be one of those nights when we needed to be all hands on deck. That made it so much better that Ava and I were back on track. It meant we wouldn’t be dancing around each other, trying to avoid being alone in the same space.
Instead, we would be working together again. Flowing along with our usual rhythm, like a well-oiled machine that was almost choreographed in everything we did. It felt comfortable and right. We were able to keep the bar moving, never getting the drink orders backed up or making any mistakes.
I found myself watching her throughout the night. She was so stunningly beautiful, but it was her personality and the way she interacted with the world around her that made her completely irresistible. After our talk at the classic-car event when she described the men flirting with her as being just part of the territory, I let go of the jealousy and possessiveness.