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Rubbing his head, Dominic slumped back in his seat "Blondie, do you have any idea how fucked-up that is? Aside from the fact that you almost killed Mac every tiuy at your house for the evening, do you have any idea how dangerous that was? Shit, you of all people should know that you can’t trust a coer How could you possibly let someone you didn’t know into your house with you? Damn, you even let some stay while you slept Ava! Shit, that’s completely whacked" When a tear slid down her cheek, his expression softened in apology "I didn’t mean to yell at you, Blondie, but it looks like you’ve been living on the edge for years without evening acknowledging it Riding aI justI’e, but Mac needs to seriously spank your ass for pulling a dangerous stunt like that repeatedly I ?"
More tears fell now as she realized the truth of what he was saying She had risked her life repeatedly and for what? To prove to Mac that she had a norht it through, it sounded absurd She had been raped by her proether Yet she had trusted coers to spend hours alone with her in her hoh she now realized how bad it sounded, she felt the need to defend herself "After the first few, I had a referral systeraduate school here are really broke So they started telling their friends about me" She didn’t add that one of theuys had said that the crazy cat lady from the bar would pay you two hundred bucks for a few hours to pretend to be her fake boyfriend "They were actually nice guys One of them fixed the drip under my kitchen sink and a few of the others repainted my kitchen They even took the trash out when they left"
Suddenly, Dohter Ava watched hi if she had pushed him completely off the deep end It seemed unusual for a man whoainst the table as full belly laughs erupted fro fra patiently for hi what the joke was Finally, when she was getting ready to upend her Coke over his head, hea couple of deep breaths, he settled for grinning at her while shaking his head "Mac should pack his shit andto survive you You know he’s going to blow his top when he finds out about this, don’t you?"
"So maybe I don’t tell him that part?" She had meant it as more of a statement, but it came out as more of a question
He still looked vastly aain "Blondie, if you want to have a real relationship with Mac, then you have to tell him the truth Trust me, as aon the fact that your bedrooot to be wondering why, if you’re screwed up by your past, you’reto sleep with a lot of other men, but not him That’s actually pretty cold Couldn’t you have found a less painful way to convince thenormally? Hell, even a pretend lesbian relationship or tould have been fine"
Groaning, Ava rolled her head, trying to release the tension there "Okay, it wasn’t my best idea I justwasn’t ready to be involved with anyone, and I didn’t know if I ever would be It seemed like the only way to keep him at a distance, romantically, but still have hi as he thought I wasseeing someone else Plus, it made it appear that I was capable ofyou know, of sex" Suddenly, it hit her that she was telling a virtual stranger all her secrets Was this it, then? Was she so desperate for a friend that she had moved Dominic into the role of her own personal Dear Abby? Of course, she had talked to Emma and her friends at lunch, but that was different Doave her so off the re the end of their meal When he had cleared Ava’s place as well, she stood to follow hiht, I think it’s enough that you just rode on the back of a bike You need to get used to the sensation before you try to actually drive one" Ava wanted to drop to her knees and thank hi forward to her first lesson and was grateful to have a reprieve When a couple of girls rolled past the backs "Want another way to drive Mac crazy? Take up that hobby Do your skating on the sidewalk in Garden City, though Mac goes right through there on the way hohtened as she looked around at the other people skating down the boardwalk Wow, it looked a lot safer than riding a bike, and if she could e to make sure Mac saw her at least part of the ti, saying, "Great idea! That’s exactly what I need to try next Do you think you could text ? If I try to wait on him at work, I’ll never make it to the sidewalk in tierous actually"
"No, no, it’s brilliant I could just stand around with the skates on Like not reallylike I have been" She ju to the seat in front of her "Hurry up I’ll have ti there"
Do "There is no way this is gonna go well, but what the hell?" With those words, he cli back toward Danvers and her car She was able to enjoy the ride back without fearing too heavily for her life When Do to her car She was deter she needed for her nextqueen
Mac threw his keys on the entryway table upon entering his home He heard them slip off the table and onto the floor, but he continued without stopping He was too pissed right now to pick up after hier as he walked Gwen to her car They were supposed to go somewhere for dinner, but she hadto pack for her planned weekend aith her sister No doubt, the thought of spending another hour with him in his present rateful for the cancellation that he had just barely caught himself before he thanked her As it was, he was pathetically relieved that she was going to be gone for a few days What did that say about the state of their relationship?