I watch the taxi disappear into the early Osaka dawn…carrying Ava away. It’s an effort not to run after it. I hate that she’s vanishing right before my eyes.
But she’s not really gone. You know exactly where she is now.
The talk I planned to have with her didn’t go as anticipated. Truth be told, I’m still reeling a bit. I had no clue she’d met Blake—or found out about Faye and drawn the worst conclusions imaginable.
It’s clear enough what Ava thought was going on between Faye and me. Clear…and fucking unfair because nothing’s happened between us. I haven’t touched Faye in five years.
But Blake…
I have no clue what he’s done. Thanks to his snotty mother, he’s related to the Pryces, one of the richest and most well-connected families in the world. He carries himself with a superior attitude, and being the oldest, he’s patronizing on top of everything else.
I pull out my phone and call him.
“Blake,” he answers.
“What the hell did you do to—”
“I do a lot of things. Be more specific.”
I hiss out a breath. “Condescending asshole.”
“I did something to a condescending asshole? Sounds like he deserved it.”
“No, you’re the—” I tighten my hand around my phone, wishing it were Blake’s neck. “What did you do to Ava?”
Blake’s voice is flat. “Ava?”
“Don’t play dumb. You know exactly who I’m talking about.”
“Actually, I don’t.” There is genuine bemusement in his quiet tone.
Is whatever he did so insignificant that he doesn’t remember? It’s a real possibility with Blake. He’s excellent at compartmentalizing things, and a lot of those things go into a box labeled “beneath notice”.
“She’s my…”
It is now my turn to stop and consider. Exactly what was Ava to me back then? We were exclusive, fucked often and spent some time together although I made sure to return to my own place every night. I also paid some of her expenses, even though she wasn’t exactly “kept”. No. She was too independent and too angry about me paying for anything to be a kept woman.
But she wasn’t precisely my girlfriend either. What we had wasn’t really dating…
Finally I settle on: “She’s a woman I started seeing almost three years ago. She broke it off two years ago, and now I find out you’re the cause.”
“She specifically blamed me?”
“Yes. She did.”
“I have no idea who or what you’re talking about. I don’t meddle in other people’s love lives. You know that.”
I do, but… “She wasn’t lying.”
“Neither am I.” Blake’s voice is cold and sharp. “I don’t know how well you know her, but I don’t appreciate either of you dragging me into your relationship mess.”
I scowl. He is definitely not lying. He’s too self-righteously angry. Did Ava lie? Or maybe she misunderstood…
“Why are you talking with this woman?” Blake says. “Are you going to propose to her?”
I snort. If I asked her to marry me for a year, she’d brain me with that handbag she carries everywhere. “No.”
“Then forget her and go after someone with more potential.”