Perfectly Able (22 page)

Ridge introduced me to Nate, his friend from work who
had volunteered to be the DJ. He was dressed as some sort of hippie gigolo. A few minutes later, my sister, London, showed up dressed in a toga and sandals with a laurel wreath wrapped around her head. Ridge was paying her, along with Kelsey, to make sure food platters were refilled and to see that everyone got home safely.

As the night progressed, more of Ridge’s friends, as well as friends o
f friends, filed into his house, and his guests were dressed in a myriad of costumes, everything from evil witches to football players.

He introduced me as nothing more than his
friend, and although that was a little disappointing, he kept me close by his side for the evening and kissed me often.

Kelsey
and London, soft drinks in hand, anchored down on barstools by the counter, where Mason served up cold beers and mixed drinks to the party-goers.

“How the hell did you wind up with Ridge?”
Nate yelled over the music as I delivered a beer to him.

“Just lucky, I guess.”

“He certainly is,” Nate said, lifting his beer in the air before he took a long draught.

Ridge approached me from behind, slipping an arm around my waist and speaking in my ear over the music that pumped out of the speaker beside me. “Will you help me take some soft drinks and beers out to the patio?” he asked.

I nodded my head and followed him to the counter where Mason had already lined up several beers and cans of soft drinks. I helped Ridge gather up the drinks, and we passed them out to guests on the patio. I lifted my palm in the air, thinking I’d felt a sprinkle of rain.

The patio door opened, and Nate approached us in his ridiculous, purple suede pants and silk shirt. He called out to Ridge, and then I realized that Nate wasn’t the only one who was walking in Ridge’s direction.

Nate thumbed behind him. “Ridge, our boss man came be to drop off those schematics.”

Ridge shook his boss’s hand
and accepted the paperwork. He turned in my direction and took me by the arm, pulling me in closer.

“Mr. Tankard, I’d like you to meet….”

“Ava,” Ridge’s boss said, holding his hand out to me.

I cringed when a baffled expression landed on Ridge’s face. “Y’all know each other?”

I pursed my lips and nodded, barely taking the time to shake his boss’s hand before slipping my hand out of his.

“
Jeremy,” I spat the word out of my mouth as if it were laced with poison, and maybe it was. I hadn’t allowed myself to call him that in months.

He grinned as if we were old friends. “Well, isn’t it a small world? I ran into
Shannon at the gas station this morning.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. I just stared,
wishing he would go away.

“
Shannon said that the two of you had dinner last night, went back to your place, and talked until the wee hours of the morning.”

I caught the look of shock and hurt on Ridge’s face, and my heart raced as I tried to pound out an explanation in my brain. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t make small talk with
Jeremy when I was worried about what was going through Ridge’s mind.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll let y’all carry on with business.”

I walked away from the three of them to the darkest corner of the patio, desperately needing to breathe in some air and release some of the anxiety that was smothering me.

Standing with my back to them, I looked up at the moon
, hoping the cold air would numb my body.

A few minutes later, I could sense that Ridge had walked up behind
me, but I stood still, waiting.

“Look at me, Ava.” I could tell he was furious by the dangerously calm tone of his voice.

I did as he instructed, and my heart sank.

“What the hell was that about?” he asked.

The wide, black cinch belt that I wore around my loose white blouse seemed like it had just gotten tighter, and I hoped that it was tight enough to keep me from throwing up. I closed my eyes, the liquor in my belly suddenly making me nauseous.

“
Ava,” he demanded in a low voice as he removed his eye patch.

He
glared at me, his hazel eyes wide, his jaw clenched, as he waited for me to explain.

My eyes fluttered shut as I swallowed
, searching for the words.

“You lied to me,” he
growled.

I was beginning to feel physically ill. “Yes.”

“So let me get this straight,” he spat out caustically, “you couldn’t go to the office party with me because you were having dinner with Shannon. Does that sum it up?”

I could feel tears stinging my eyes as rain began to fall. Ridge’s guests cle
ared the patio area, but the rain didn’t faze him as he waited for me to reply. I knew he hated liars, and I’d proven to be the very thing that he hated most.

“
It’s not what you think,” I said loudly, hoping that he could tell that was the truth.

“That’s a relief,” he whispered through clenched teeth, “because
what I
think
is that you lied. Last night was important to me, and I wanted you to be there, Ava. You know, as strange as it is for me to say this, I actually thought that even if I didn’t get the promotion, I wouldn’t be too terribly disappointed. You know why, Ava? Because you would’ve still been there with me, and I was beginning to think that I didn’t give a damn what happened as long as I had you.”

His admission
filled me with hope. “Ridge, I….”

“
Damn, Ava,” he said through clenched teeth. “How could I have been so wrong about you?”

Sh
ame burned through me. I wanted to explain, but I worried that if Ridge found out that his boss was the same man who’d rejected me that it would affect his job. I knew he wanted to get his master’s degree, and I knew that he’d just gotten a promotion. I didn’t want to be the one person who stood between him and his career. I knew how hard he had worked. Now, my deceit, no matter how innocent in its intent, was going to make him turn and run in the opposite direction. “I’m sorry,” I said softly, trying to figure out the best way to tell him.

“So am I,” he
snarled. “I despise games. My gut instinct told me that I needed to stop seeing you. I just didn’t know how to tell you because you’ve already been through a lot and because I really did like you, Ava. I guess you just made things a helluva lot easier for me.”

Cold rain pelted agains
t my skin, but I barely noticed as his words sliced through me. One minute he wanted me and the next he knew he needed to get rid of me? “I’m not a charity case,” I hissed. “If you don’t want to be with me, then that’s fine.” I poked his chest, the tip of my finger meeting his hard muscle. “But you feel something for me, Ridge Sutherland. And I only did what I did because…I love you.” I lowered my eyes a moment before lifting them to him again. I sucked in the sobs that threatened to rack my body.

“How the hell
does that make any sense, Ava? You lied to me because you love me? If you loved me, you wouldn’t be having dinner with another man.”

Jealousy? That was his problem? He had never indicated that he wanted us to date exclusively and now he wanted to act like he owned me?

“You don’t get to have it both ways, Ridge,” I snapped. “You don’t get to lure me in just enough to keep me interested but keep me far enough away that we have no commitment to each other, and then turn around and act offended because another man shows interest in me. If you want me, you need to tell me.”

I watched him. I waited for the words that I wanted to hear so desperately, but he just stood silently in the rain, his hands on his hips, glaring at me.

“You know what? It’s not worth it. I thought I could do something to make you realize that we were good together, but it’s useless.” I raised my voice. “I can’t compete with your list. I get it. You don’t want me. So you have no right to say anything when I find someone who does. And for the record, not that it’s any of your business since you clearly don’t want me, but Shannon isn’t a man. She’s a friend of mine from high school.”

I turned and walked across the yard to the gate that led to the front. My throat felt like it was closing up on me, an
d I just wanted to get away from him. I didn’t even care about explaining the truth of the situation anymore.

The hot tears that streamed down my face were an odd contrast to the cold rain. As I stormed through the gate, I heard him calling to me.

“Ava, where the hell are you going?”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t turn around. I had to go, anywhere but here.

I moved along clumsily, trying to run and wishing that I had my running leg on right now.

I could hear him calling from behind me, and I pushed myself to go faster.

“Ava!”

I concentrated on the pattering of the rain, on the sound of sirens in the distance. I didn’t want to hear him calling my name. I didn’t want to feel all the things that I was feeling for him. I knew he cared about me, but if he wouldn’t admit it to himself, then how could I ever expect him to admit it to me?
The pain in my heart was more crippling than the pain in my leg had ever been.

“Ava!”

He sounded closer, and I attempted to run faster as I splashed awkwardly through puddles forming on the asphalt.

“Stop, Ava!” he yelled, his voice even closer.

I knew the moment that I hit an uneven spot in the pavement. My bodyweight had pushed too far forward to be supported by my prosthesis, and I lunged forward, my arms shooting out in front of me to catch my fall. I hit the pavement hard, and a soft grunt escaped my lips. I felt his strong hands on me, prepared to pull me up, but I twisted out of his grasp. “Leave me alone!” I screamed, rolling over to face him as water seeped into my clothing. “I don’t need you! Get the hell away from me, Ridge! I don’t need you!” I hadn’t realized until that moment that I was crying hysterically. I pulled myself into a seated position. “I’m perfectly able to get up on my own. I don’t need you!”

He held his palms out to
ward me, beckoning me not to get upset. “Calm down, Ava. I only want to help you. You’re shaking. Please come back to the house.”

“No!” I pushed myself to my feet. “No, Ridge.
You made it clear that I’m not wanted.”

I turned and continued making my way along the street in the direction of my apartment. I didn’t turn around, and I didn’t hear him call my name, but I did slow my pace.

A few minutes later, Kelsey and London pulled up beside me in Ridge’s Camaro. London opened the door. “Get in, Ava.”

“I just want to be alone,” I told her.

“Ridge isn’t with us,” Kelsey said in an attempt to pacify me. “But if we don’t either drive you home or back to his house, he’ll disown me. He made it very clear that I am not to leave you here,” Kelsey said. “Come on,” she said gently. “Get in the car.”

When I got in, London handed me a towel. “Ridge said he was sorry that he didn’t have time to warm it.” She paused. “Whatever the heck that’s supposed to mean.”

Surprised by his words, I took the new towel and dried my face. I felt my head, realizing that at some point, I had lost my tricorn hat, not that I cared.

London twisted around, looking at me in the backseat of Ridge’s Camaro. “I’m sorry,
” London whispered. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I don’t want you to hurt, Ava.”

“I’m
okay,” I said, my voice hoarse as I tried to reassure my sister. “I wanted to talk to him, but it just didn’t work out.”

When we arrived at my apartment, London offered to come in and stay with me, but I refused.

She hugged me as we both stood beside the Camaro. “Promise that you’ll call me if you need anything,” she prodded. “Even if you just want to talk.”

“I will,” I promised, knowing that I wouldn’t call her.

I pulled my house key out of my pocket, and Kelsey and London both waved as they pulled away.

My crushed heart hurt in my chest
as I pulled Ridge’s towel tightly around my shoulders. All I wanted to do was crawl in bed and cry myself to sleep. I squinted against the drizzling rain as I looked up at the half-moon and wondered if it would take away all the bad things that had happened today.

Chapter
16

Ridge

I cracked my eyes open as sunlight streamed through the blinds in my room and landed on my face. I couldn’t remember going to bed, and apparently, I’d forgotten to close my blinds first. A dull ache started at the back of my eyes and seemed to penetrate my brain.

Slowly, last night’s events materialized in my mind. Shit. I had a big, freaking mouth.
Could I have been any blunter about needing to call it off with Ava?

So much for letting her down gently. I was just as much of a bastard as the last guy she dated. Groaning, I rolled onto my back
and realized that I was still wearing the pants and shirt I had on last night. The shirt was twisted around my torso, but I made no move to free it. Instead, I stared at the ceiling.