by Danika Stone
“I want you to know that I called Suzanne’s mom right away last night. I didn’t wait or anything.”
“I know you did,” Ava answered. “She told me.”
“She started working on getting you out as soon as I convinced her we actually knew Suzanne. God, that was a crazy phone call to make.”
He laughed, shaking his head; Ava giggled, imagining that conversation. She was going to have some explaining to do when Chim and Suzanne got back.
“Thanks for that,” she said softly.
“She told me to wait until she’d contacted the police station,” Cole continued. “Turned out that Chambers had already come forward to take the blame. Actually,” Cole said, dropping his voice. “I saw Kip in the hallway this morning having a huge fight with Raya Simpson...”
“Oh?”
There it was... the thing that Ava had been worried about. Her dad was right, she should listen to her gut more often.
“She sounded really jealous,” Cole continued, pulling Ava close. “And not the least bit happy with him, but Kip didn’t sound like he was in on it. Just kind of got pulled into the whole thing. I don’t think he…” Cole’s words faded, nostrils flaring as if annoyed. “I don’t think he actually meant for it to happen.”
Ava peered up at him. Cole’s eyes were troubled.
“Thank you for letting me know,” she said. It didn’t change anything, but she liked that he’d told her. That he would tell her the truth rather than let her think the worst of Kip.
“Mrs. Quan told me the police would need a character witness for you,” Cole explained, “to make sure that Chambers wasn’t just covering for his hot young girlfriend.” Ava rolled her eyes at his words. “Of course they needed the D.A. too.”
Ava’s eyes took in his suit and tie.
“So you had to dress the part.”
He placed another kiss on her temple.
“Exactly... so by the time I shaved and showered and got to the station to provide character witness for you, Suzanne’s mom had been able to get the charges dropped.” He sighed. “You two were just fucking lucky there were no spray cans in your bag.”
Ava nodded. She’d thought of that more than once.
“I know... God, my dad would have freaked if I’d been arrested two days before he came home.”
She let out a rueful laugh and Cole wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
As they reached the entrance to the parking garage, he jogged ahead of her, retrieving two helmets and his biking jacket from the parking lot attendant. Cole kicked the bike to life, slowing down as he reached Ava’s side. He reached back for the second helmet, the engine of the motorcycle dropping down to an idle. There was something about the gesture – Cole waiting for her – that made Ava frown in concern. When she didn’t move, Cole leaned forward, lifting his voice over the burr of the engine.
“You ready to go?”
She took a single step closer, her arms crossing on her chest.
“I don’t need to be saved.”
She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to say it, but she had that raw feeling inside and she didn’t like it. Cole’s brows pulled together in concern.
“I know that,” he stammered, his hand reaching out. She let him touch her, but didn’t unlink her arms.
“I called you because…” she muttered, then lifted her eyes, staring over his shoulder. “I dunno why I called.” Her gaze came back to him again. She could feel herself fighting the tug of his nearness. “I just… I need you to understand that I could’ve dealt with this, Cole. I could have! I just…”
His fingers tightened against her elbow.
“Stop, alright?” he said quietly. “You called, and I came… but that doesn’t mean that you couldn’t deal with it.” He grimaced, reaching down and turning off the bike. The parking garage was suddenly too quiet, their words too loud. “You know, Ava, it’s okay to ask for help sometimes. Doesn’t mean you’re weak to take a hand when it’s offered.”
She swallowed hard, throat aching. Her eyes skittered everywhere except for Cole’s face. She hated feeling like this. ‘Vulnerable…’
“Maybe,” she muttered irritably.
Cole reached out, but this time he left his hand open in front of her, not touching her at all. Her eyes dropped to his open palm, but she didn’t move.
“I wanted to help you, Ava,” he said quietly. “I’m glad you let me. Everyone screws up sometimes, and it’s just easier not to be alone.” His words trailed away for a moment. “I hope you’d help me if I needed you.”
Her eyes darted back to him.
“Of course I would,” she said.
He smiled sadly.
“Then can you trust me to do the same for you?”
She felt like more than just tonight hung between them. She could do it alone – she had before – but she didn’t have to anymore. The thought scared her more than anything else.
“I… I do trust you,” she whispered, and she put her hand into his. “It’s just… hard.”
Her voice broke and Cole smiled, his fingers tightening around hers.
“I know,” he said gently. “But it’s harder to take on the world alone.”
Ava nodded, stepping into his arms. Moments later, they had their helmets on as they flew through the streets, traffic all around them. She lay her face against Cole’s back, closing her eyes and feeling the pull of the bike, swaying and moving with each turn. She let out a slow breath, tension easing from her shoulders. This reminded her of a dream she’d had the night before. In it she was in a boat on the ocean.
‘Or was I a bird…?’
She couldn’t remember.
In either case, Ava knew one thing was for sure. She was here with Cole now, and this time she wasn’t letting go.
: : : : : : : : : :
He pulled off his helmet once they reached the apartment building. Ava did the same, passing him the helmet as she stepped off the seat. Cole’s hair was rumpled and spiked, and Ava grinned at him, still seated on the bike. His tie had flipped over one shoulder and Ava reached up to set it back, straightening his collar underneath his jacket.
“You know, this is kind of cute, Cole,” she said. “I like the corporate-lawyer-who’s-secretly-a bad-boy look.” She leaned in, rubbing her cheek against the smooth line of his jaw. “Makes me want to corrupt you,” she whispered, her fingers running down his shirt.
Cole chuckled, and the bike squeaked as he pulled her against him, the warmth between them distracting her from tiredness.
“That’s a really weird kink, Ava,” he said with a grin, running his fingers along her neck, making her shiver.
She smiled, then stifled a yawn. A moment later, she hugged him.
“Oh, you have no idea...” she purred.
He laughed, tightening his fingers on her shoulders. It felt good to be back together again... really good. She turned her mouth toward his ear, dropping her voice.
“I’m so tired, Cole... I need some sleep, but I promise I’ll show you later.”
Cole nodded, sliding a hand into her hair, pulling her into a kiss. Their mouths pressed together, his tongue tasting her, leaving both of them buzzing with more than just exhaustion. His hands ran up and down her torso, fingers finding the edge where her jeans meet bare skin, and brushing inside. Ava squirmed as his tongue dipped into her mouth again... maybe she wasn’t that tired.
Cole put one hand on the back of her shoulders and another on her hip, dragging her forward so she slid up his thigh. Ava gasped, eyes fluttering open. The kiss dragged on, heat building between them. With a moan, Cole tugged her hand from his chest, sliding it down until he was pressing her fingers against the hard bulge of his crotch.
Ava broke the kiss in a fit of giggles. Cole nibbled along her jaw to her neck, sucking hard, then bringing his mouth to her ear.
“I’m calling you on that promise,” he said, the words a growl. “Don’t think I fucking won’t.”
Ava let out a
happy laugh. She lifted her hands to his face, tugged him in to kiss again. The embrace dragged out, growing hotter and more insistent by the second. When she finally pulled back, they were both panting hard. They stood together for a long time, neither quite ready to break the moment.
Ava sighed in defeat, nodding over to the visitors' parking at the side.
“Sleep first,” she said in a stern voice, “more later.”
Cole winked, and walked his bike over to the side.
Chapter 35: The Half-life of Flow
In the late afternoon quiet, Cole wrapped around Ava, his face pressed against the back of her neck. His knees and chest spooned her body while she slept. The sun glowed dully, backlighting the curtains. He sighed, content with the woman next to him. One hand reached across her bare chest to rest on her shoulder, the other snaked over her hip to lay against the soft curve of her waist. He held her tight where she lay warm and soft in his arms.
Sleep did not come first, but Ava hadn’t complained. Cole smiled, his body reacting happily to the memories of colour and sensation. He nuzzled closer, breathing in the soft scent of Ava – a mixture of shampoo, linseed oil and turpentine, and that faint underlying fragrance that was exactly ‘her.’ It had come to mean comfort and peace to him. He’d never felt this at home with someone before... not for many long years, and never as an adult.
It was a good feeling.
Cole kissed the soft skin on the back of her neck, then another, catching the moment when she began to stir. She arched against him, her hips rocking against his, teasing him until he was half hard.
“Still tired,” she grumbled, though she sighed in pleasure as his hand moved lightly against her breast.
“We should get up,” Cole insisted, his fingers rolling her nipples into peaks. “It’s almost suppertime. We’re not going to get any sleep tonight if we don’t get moving.”
“Five more minutes,” she muttered, “... tired, Cole. You’re exhausting...” He laughed and leaned down, biting her shoulder and making her squeak.
“Nope. No more sleep... got to get up, baby.”
She groaned, then gasped. His hands continued to explore; the one on her hip dropped lower, teasing its way to her curls.
“You are a bad influence, Cole Thomas...” she moaned, her body starting to come awake beside him.
He chuckled, leaning forward to kiss the shell of her ear.
“Thought you were supposed to be corrupting me,” he drawled.
Ava giggled, angling toward him so that his mouth could reach hers. When their lips finally parted, she sighed, eyes dark with desire.
“Too late,” she said, rolling over to face him. “You’re already a lost cause.”
He grinned, sliding on top of her, nudging her knees apart. His body was aroused and insistent, ready for her again.
“Good to know,” he answered, his mouth curling in a devilish grin, “because that means I get to ruin you.”
Cole wondered if it would always be like this. His body reacting with abandon simply because she was near. His heart aching to hold her close. Together.
: : : : : : : : : :
The next days were split between painting and preparing for Oliver’s return. True to his word, Cole let Ava paint him in the nude, though he became obsessive about checking that the door to the studio was locked.
“Afraid someone might see you, Thomas?” Ava teased, peeking out from behind her easel. “’Cause I’m really liking the view I’ve got.”
Cole lay on his back, hands behind his head. It was a comfortable position, and there were times while Ava was painting that he nodded off.
“Yeah, well... you’re not the one sitting around in the buff if Kip Chambers suddenly decides he wants a repeat field trip to the train yards.”
Ava pointed at him with a brush.
“You don’t think he’d appreciate this...?” she said, gesturing to him.
His body jumped in reaction to her gaze and he laughed, turning bright red.
“Uh... I hope not.”
Ava smirked and went back to painting, her voice disembodied behind the panel.
“Well, he won’t be coming over anyhow. Raya Simpson called and left a message that she’d send a shipping truck from the gallery to pick up the panels on Wednesday. I don’t even need to be here. She arranged it all with the super... I don’t think she’s particularly interested in talking to me.”
Ava was back to painting, time moving in the unhindered half-life of flow, hours disappearing in minutes and the painting – abstract, but working toward realism – appearing in bold splashes of blues and indigo. Cole’s form slowly emerged from the canvas. She wanted to capture this before she had to share the studio space again, so she pushed herself to work long hours.
“Why am I blue?” Cole asked with a snort the first time she let him see it.
Ava stuck her tongue out at him before looking back at the canvas.
“It’s because it’s night... and you’re swimming in the dark... the only light is the moon through the storm clouds. It’s just you and the water… Nothing and no one else as far as you can see– ”
“No one else?” Cole interrupted.
He stared at the painting in concern.
Ava sighed, her head tilting to the side.
“You’re free,” she said quietly, reaching out to take his hand in hers. “It’s a new beginning. You’re there, in the water… like… like a sacrament. Like baptism or something… It’s your beginning.”
She sighed happily, smiling down at the canvas. Cole’s face contracted in pain.
“There’s no point to a beginning if you have to be alone...”
: : : : : : : : : :
Ava Brooks was not a housekeeper by nature. With her father coming back, she threw herself into an apartment overhaul, dusting for the first time since he'd left, washing the floors and changing all the sheets. Cole helped her. He had a knack for organizing, and Ava laughed aloud the day she caught him categorizing the kitchen spices.
“My God, Cole,” she said through a fit of giggles. “Did you arrange those by alphabetical order?”
He dropped his head bashfully.
“Uh... yeah. You want me to put them back the way they were?”
Ava grinned as she walked up, looping her hands around his neck, and pressing a quick kiss to his lips.
“I think I really get why stone is your medium,” she said, raising a bemused eyebrow. “It’s the whole process, and the control in it for you... a lot of meticulous planning goes into creating something that permanent.”
She stifled another laugh against his shoulder.
“What...?” Cole asked curiously.
She shook her head, stepping away from him so she could pick up a cardboard box full of recycling.
“It’s nothing,” she said over her shoulder as she carried it down the stairs. “It’ll just be an interesting adjustment when we move in together.” She reached out for the door handle, missing the moment when his face broke into a grin at her words.
Suzanne and Chim were flying back later that night. Ava had agreed to pick them up and take them back to Chim’s apartment, so she and Cole piled into her truck and headed to the airport. She was horribly embarrassed by the escapade with the police and wanted a chance to explain before Suzanne’s mother did it for her.
Ava had a crisp fifty dollar bill folded in her hand as Suzanne and Chim arrived. She pressed it into Marcus’s fist when he pulled her into a hug. He glanced down into his palm, a series of expressions running over his features before finally settling on horror.
“Oh for God’s sake, Ava, you DIDN’T!” he barked in the exasperated tone she recognized as his ‘big brother’ voice.
Watching the interaction, Cole laughed, bumping Ava’s shoulder.
“Yeah... she did, but Suzanne’s mom here came to the rescue.”
Ava put her hands on her hips.
“Didn’t need any rescuing, Cole,” she said dryly.
<
br /> He chuckled.
“You’re right. Sorry… Mrs. Quan gave Ava a ‘hand’ with her problem,” Cole amended. “Though I’m absolutely certain Ava could have handled it all herself.”
“You’re damn right,” she said, tossing her head. Cole laughed, slinging his arm over her shoulders.
“Never doubted it for a second…”
An hour later they were at the Crown and Sceptre, an empty pitcher of beer sitting between them. Ava dragged out the story of the midnight run to the train yards in excruciating detail, Cole adding his own dry-witted commentary. His description of the argument between Chambers and Simpson had Chim laughing so hard he choked. Cole squeezed Ava’s knee under the table, smiling when she glanced up. An incident which had been so stressful at the time was now added one of the many stories in the colourful life of Ava Brooks.
It was good to have the group back together. Suzanne and Chim chattered about snorkeling and surfing in the waters off Haleiwa on the coast of Oahu. Both of them were relaxed and happy. They insisted that Cole and Ava had to come with them next time and the four of them hatched a semi-serious plan to rent a condo on the beach. Suzanne claimed she was going to start looking for Spring Break seat sales right away.
As the hour grew late, the conversation turned back to school. There was only a week of holidays before the Spring semester began. Ava admitted she wasn’t looking forward to it; she still had two more art history foundations classes to plow through, but she was hoping that printmaking with Cole would make up for it. Cole, Chim and Suzanne all had studio classes and a variety of others, but they agreed it would be a nice semester before graduation. In one week, the final stretch of art school would begin. With New Year's only two days away, there was only one more event to mark the passage of time.
That, of course, was Oliver’s arrival.
Chapter 36: At the Gate
Ava had been waiting at the arrivals gate for the last half hour. She was smiling and bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet like a kid about to get a Christmas present. Her father had been gone since the previous summer, touring Australia with the symphony; they called one another every few days, but this would be the first time Ava had seen her father in months. Cole sat a few feet away, a small smile on his lips.
