Chapter 69

“What are you doing?” I cried out. Not only were the terms of our divorce in the contract, but also the agreement that he would take care of my mother if I agreed to pay him back. He added that part later due to my nagging, of course, but it was still part of the contract.

“I’m showing you that I will do whatever it takes to be with you, Ava,” He ripped the last piece of the contract and let it flutter to the ground.

“We need that contract,” My heart rate sped up, “My mother’s care is in that contract.”

Ethan’s face fell, “Do you think I wouldn’t continue to take care of her?”

His sincere voice took me by complete surprise. I wasn’t sure if that was something he’d continue to do or not. Ethan and I knew each other in very specific ways, but in a lot of ways we were still strangers to one another.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, bowing my head.

Ethan approached me, placing a hand on either one of my shoulders, and urged me to lift my eyes to meet his own.

“I will take care of you and your family, because she’s my family too,” He spoke softly. “We’re married. We are a team. We’re mates, and will be bonded for life.”

I tried to ignore the way my stomach flipped at his words. I wanted to believe him, I so badly did, but there were still so many secrets. So much communication that we lacked.

“I need time to think about this,” I admitted, hanging my head to avoid his eyes once again. “I need to clear my head and talk to a friend or something.”

Ethan’s eyes hardened slightly, “What friend?”

“Don’t start being possessive,” I chastised him and grabbed a pair of sneakers to put on. “I will see who I want to. I need time to figure my own mind out.”

Ethan huffed, running a hand through his hair.

“And you need time to make sure that you know what you’re doing, too.”

I didn’t give him a chance to reply. I left the house, ignoring Mars and Olivia, and walked down to a cafe on the corner of the street. I sat at a small booth on the outskirts of the dining room and called Sammy to meet me there.

We hadn’t spoken to each other since Olivia’s bachelorette party, she didn’t even go to the wedding. Though, she saw what happened on the live feed.

I needed to catch her up to speed and see what she thought I should do. She was always good at giving me advice.

At least, I thought she was.

It took her only ten minutes to find me. I bought her a coffee and we sat together with a plate of mini croissants between us and two mugs.

“So, you’re mates?” She asked after I had just finished explaining the last week to her in excruciating detail. “Like, for real?”

“Yes,” I nodded my head. “For real.”

“Well, what are you going to do?” She took a sip of her coffee. I mimicked her, but spit out the liquid as she asked her next question, “Was he at least good in bed?”

The coffee splattered all over the table and dribbled down my chin at her question. Several other people in the dining room stopped to see what the fuss was about. I had to wave them off and apologize.

“Sammy!” I chastised, wiping up the mess. “You can’t ask me questions like that!”

“Sure I can,” She giggled. “Who else would? So?”

She blinked at me innocently, waiting impatiently for the answer.

“It was good, I guess.” I mumbled into the cup as I went to take another sip. This time without the spit take.

“Oh honey,” She patted my arm patronizingly, “If it was good you wouldn’t have to guess.”

“Sammy,” I rolled my eyes, “It was really good, okay? This is inappropriate to talk about in public!”

“So if he’s good in bed, rich, takes care of your mother, already married you, and you’re mates, why don’t you want to stay married to him?” Sammy asked, popping her head to the side with a comedic frown on her face. “You are living the dream and you’re complaining about it.”

“He has a hard time showing his emotions and keeps secrets. I don’t know if he truly loves me.” I averted my eyes, stirring the coffee in the cup. When Sammy said it all like that, my doubts seemed so silly. All of it seemed so, so silly.

Ethan was literally perfect, and I was pushing him away. Why?

“So go talk to him about them, listen to him.” Sammy stroked the back of my hand. “Go, I’ll pay for the coffee. Make things right between you both.”

I nodded along with her, understanding what she was saying. Maybe my trust issues were too intense. Maybe I was focusing so hard on the things I didn’t like that I wasn’t seeing the amazing things Ethan had done for me.

I ran back to the house, rushing to talk with Ethan since I’d already been gone two hours while talking to Sammy.

When I burst through the doors, Ethan was nowhere to be seen. Mars and Olivia were in the spare bedroom together, doing who knows what, and the house was quiet.

I went up to his office, but he wasn’t there. His room was empty as well.

I settled onto the couch, thinking maybe he went out for a run like he does sometimes, or to clear his head as well. I waited for him.

When he finally got back home, he was panting. His hair was disheveled and his cheeks were flushed with exercise.

“Ava?” He called from the foyer.

I hopped off the couch and went bounding towards him, ready to throw myself into his arms and beg for forgiveness for overreacting before. If Ethan could do so much for me, I could agree to stay with him, couldn’t I?

“Hey!” I smiled widely, approaching him with open arms. “Where did you go?”

Ethan’s gaze hardened as he regarded me in good spirits compared to the way I left him a few hours ago.

“Where did you go?” He asked seriously.

“What?”

“Were you out with him?” He asked again, he wasn’t yelling but he still sounded angry. “Did you go see Baron after I told you you weren’t allowed back at the children’s home?”

My shoulders dropped and deflated. Was he seriously asking me that?

“Are you serious?” I demanded, “No of course not I went to see Sammy!”

“I went to the children’s home and Baron wasn’t there.” Ethan continued, “The old woman at the front said that the two of you spend a lot of time together, maybe he was out with you.”

“What are you asking me right now?” I narrowed my eyes, the apology I had practiced on the way home disappearing from my brain.

“Do you have feelings for Baron?” He asked, accusatorily. “I need you to tell me the truth right now.”

“No,” I told him, insulted he even thought I would lie to him about that before. “I don’t have feelings for Baron.”

I didn’t tell him that at one point I thought I might, but after being with Ethan, I knew I no longer did.

“I don’t believe you.”