“Ava, what happened tonight…”
“I know, I know. It can’t happen again.”
“That’s not what I was going to say.”
“Oh really? What were you going to say?”
The line goes quiet, forcing me to check to see if we’re still connected.
“I meant what I said earlier,” his voice is low, almost strained. “I don’t want anyone touching you while you’re pregnant with my child.”
“No one has, Austin. I mean, it’s not like I can go out and find someone the way I look right now. Kinda obvious I’m with child.”
Austin sighs, appearing more relaxed. “You’re kidding me, right? You’re stunning. You could walk out onto the street right now in your tattered Lakers shirt, and every man would still turn to look at you.”
My lips curve upward into a smile. “Hey, how did you know I still have that shirt?”
“Intuition,” is all he says. “Ava, I’m serious about the other men.”
“Austin, there’s no other man or men. So, it’s not a problem.”
“Good.”
My fingers tug at the blanket, unsure whether I should say how I feel, given our conversation has turned a corner I didn’t see coming. But, if we’re honest, maybe I owe Austin that too.
“Well, if we’re honest here, then the same should be said for you. I’m not exactly thrilled you’re a single sexy doctor.”
“There is no one else, Ava,” he assures me.
“There can be, at any time. You have the whole package, and you’re still around Lane, right?”
“Yes, I work with her.”
“So…” I drag, hoping he figures out the obvious without me having to spell it out.
“So what?”
“What if the temptation is too hard to resist?”
Austin chuckles softly. “It’s doubtful.”
“Why?” I question, failing to see the humor in this.
“Because, Ava, once you’ve had amazing sex with someone, it’s hard to go back to subpar.”
It takes a moment for my brain to register. The truth is, amazing sex is hard to come by, but no matter how much I try to deny it, sex with Austin is mind-blowing. I don’t know why, but I let all my inhibitions go with him and allow myself to succumb to my own fantasies.
“I have to agree with that.” I sigh, then continue, “I should probably sleep. Tonight took it out of me.”
“Get some rest, Ava.”
“You too.”
We end the call, but now I’m even more confused than before. What just happened? And what did we agree to? Not sleeping with other people, but does that mean we sleep with each other?
Without Millie to dissect the situation, I go to the next best thing—Addy.
“Hey, what’s happening?”