6. Ava

SIX

AVA

When Blayne had hit the ground, writhing in pain, all I'd wanted to do was comfort him. I could see how terrible it was for him. As bad as our relationship was, I still couldn't stand seeing him suffering in such agony. But even at his most vulnerable, he'd told me to leave. When all he had was pain and no one to help him, he'd rather be alone than have me take care of him.

I walked away. I knew when I wasn't wanted. The sounds of Blayne grunting and hissing in pain followed me around the side of his house. By the time I crossed the road, the sounds had faded. It should have made me feel better, but it only filled me with sadness and shame.

Whatever the curse entailed, breaking it hadn't changed anything for me. It seemed like Blayne was taking the brunt of things. Doing my best to forget what he was going through across the street, I undressed and slipped into bed. Hopefully, I'd slip off to sleep and deal with the fallout the next day.

Unfortunately, my brain wouldn't shut off. I tossed and turned all night, even getting up once to peek out my curtain to see if I could catch a glimpse of Blayne. As much as he'd infuriated me, and as shitty as he'd treated me, my heart wouldn't let me give up. Taking care of people was ingrained in my DNA—even the people who hated me, it seemed.

I gave up on trying to sleep and read a book for the rest of the night. By the time the sun came up, I was already exhausted and the day hadn't even started.

After a week of ignoring and avoiding Blayne, I headed back to my dad's house to take him to his next chemo treatment. I'd wanted something to take my mind off everything that had happened with Blayne, but a trip to the clinic was not quite what I'd had in mind.

I hadn't slept well since I'd left Blayne writhing in agony in his backyard. As I reward, I got to take my father to the clinic so he, in turn, would be miserable.

"Hey, sweetie," Dad said when he opened the passenger-side door.

"Hi, Dad. How're you feeling?"

Frowning, he shrugged. "Like shit. I haven't felt good since that last session. I hate this." He got in and slammed the door. "How is me puking my guts out for days supposed to cure my cancer?"

I reversed down the driveway. "You know how it works, Dad. The doctor explained it all to you, and I printed out all those papers for you to read. Besides, after today, you get a two-week break before the next one."

"Oh, wow, what a reward," he said sullenly. He focused on me and narrowed his eyes. "Ava, you look like hell. I thought I was the sick one. Are you all right?"

I didn't look over at him, not wanting to give him a better look at the dark circles under my eyes. "Haven't been sleeping well. No big deal."

"Ava, if taking me to these appointments is too much for you, I can have one of your uncles do this. I don't want to make your life difficult."

I barked a laugh. "No way. You'd bail on them the first time you didn't want to go. When it comes to you, they've always been pushovers. There's no way I'm gonna let you take the easy way out."

"Your uncles are not pushovers," Dad argued.

"When was the last time any of them said no to you?"

He opened his mouth to retort, then closed it again. I grinned as he slumped back into his seat, grumbling about it, but he and I both knew I was right.

This time, I didn't let him talk me out of sitting with him while he was getting the treatment. Seeing the weird port they put into his chest made my skin crawl, so I kept my eyes averted as the nurse hooked the IV up to it and then draped a thin blanket across his chest for him to stay warm. He'd already lost weight. His cheeks were starting to hollow, and he'd lost some of the pudge around his middle.

I sat and read a magazine while he flipped through the channels of the small television they'd set up for him. The volume was at its lowest setting, so he couldn't hear what he was watching.

Finally, he put the remote down and patted my hand. "Have you heard anything from Blayne Walker? Liam's brother. I wasn't sure if you'd seen him since you came back to town."

My hand froze mid-page-turn. Didn't he know Blayne and I were neighbors? That told me exactly how worried he was about the cancer. Any other time, he'd have had his people find out the names, ages, and social security numbers of anyone living within three blocks before I even moved in. He'd have also done a background check and had some of his guys knock on the doors of anyone who raised red flags, "suggesting" that they move immediately.

He'd find out sooner or later, and I had no reason to hide it from him. I decided to tell him everything. Well, everything minus the mating curse and the murderous hunter organization.

"Well, funny you should ask actually. Turns out that house I'm renting is literally right across the street from him."

My dad looked taken aback. "You guys are neighbors? How's that going?"

I put the magazine aside and folded my hands in my lap. "Not great. Things haven't exactly been what you'd call friendly between us."

Dad banged a hand on the armrest of his chair. Not hard like he was royally pissed, but enough for me to know he wasn't happy. "That stupid kid. Does he still blame you for Liam's death after all these years?"

"Apparently. He thinks I'm the reason Liam worked for you."

"Damn stupid boy. Liam came to me for a job before he met you. He met you because he worked for me. Can't he get that through his head? Christ, if Blayne wants to be mad, he should be mad at me. If anyone got Liam killed, it was me and my plans."

The guilt was on all sides. Liam's death had been a turning point not just for Blayne, but for me as well. I'd done my best to make peace with it, and I wished everyone else would do the same. A person could only mourn so much. Liam had been gone for a decade, but the ache and pain still seemed fresh. Especially for Blayne.

"Dad, you can't blame yourself. That's as bad as Blayne blaming me. Liam was a grown-ass man who made his own decisions. He was my best friend, the man I loved, but he was blinded by the money."

My mind drifted to the fight Liam and I had the night he died. The pain in his eyes. I'd hated to see it there, but I had to make it clear to him that I'd never cared about things. He'd been so confused, hadn't understood. He and Blayne had grown up poor, and he was hard-wired to always reach for more. More money, more cars, bigger houses. I couldn't pull him back, and he'd died. But I'd be damned if I or anyone else took the heat for that. He'd done what he'd done because he wanted to do it.

Dad spoke, jerking me out of my memories. "I hope that boy can come to terms with what happened to Liam. That's too much hate to hold in your heart."

Hopefully some of what I'd said to Blayne the other night had sunk in. Dad was right. Blayne was holding onto a lot of anger and hate that would eventually eat him alive. No one deserved to live like that. As much as Blayne kept saying he hated me, he was still Liam's brother. I'd loved Liam, and by association had cared for his brother. Maybe now that the curse was broken, he could get on with his life.

I got Dad home and helped him upstairs. The session had gone better than the previous one. He hadn't gotten sick until we'd turned into the driveway. I'd rolled the window down and let him do his business. After making sure Dad was settled in his room, I went to leave, but Uncle Mike stopped me.

He stepped out of the office to the right of the entryway. "Hey. How'd things go today?"

I shrugged. "Same as last time."

Mike looked a little irritated and glanced up the stairs toward Dad's room. "Well, the thing is, Gio doesn't like talking about it. So…I have no idea how it went last time, either. Not really. I think since you're the one taking him, you'll have to be the one to keep the family updated."

"Of course."

Seeing the fatigue on my face, Mike stepped forward and put his hands on my shoulders. "Kiddo? You look like you got run over by a bus. I didn't mean to put more on you. It's okay, we'll try to get the info out of Gio. No problem."

I waved him off. "No, it's fine. There's just been a lot going on. I'll let you know how things go."

"You're in no state to drive right now. Come have lunch with us. Take a load off."

"I should really get back."

Mike scoffed. "And do what? Sit in your house doing nothing? Come on, Sam and Luis are in the dining room. So are the boys. You haven't seen them since you've been home."

The boys were my three cousins: LJ, Kyle, and Chris. They were each a year or two older than me and had always acted like older brothers to me. We'd been really close before I moved away. We still kept in touch on social media, but I hadn't seen them in a while.

The thought of seeing them lifted my spirits. "Okay."

"Good," Mike said and put an arm around me, leading me down the hall to the dining room.

When my uncles and my cousins saw me walk in, they cheered like I was some long-lost war hero. LJ, massive with thick, curly black hair, strode over and lifted me up in a huge bear hug, spinning me around the room.

"God. Easy, LJ. You're gonna make me puke."

"Sorry," he said with a goofy grin. "I haven't seen you in forever."

"For real," Chris said, tossing a french fry at me. I caught it with my teeth, eliciting another surprised cheer.

Uncle Luis draped an arm around my waist and nudged me into a chair. "Sit, my little princess, sit. I'll have Marissa bring you whatever you want."

Marissa was the housekeeper-cum-personal chef and had been with our family for as long as I could remember. She made the best burgers in the entire world. Seeing that everyone already had burgers on their plates, my decision was basically made for me.

"A burger and fries? Like you guys?"

"Ha!" Sam said. "Marissa is gonna love you more than she already does. I'll go tell her."

"So, what have you been doing, cuz?" Kyle asked before taking a massive bite of his own burger.

"Working a lot. I took a bit of a sabbatical to come be with Dad."

LJ snapped his fingers like he'd thought of something. "That's right. Uncle Gio said you were like a famous makeup artist or something."

I blushed. "I'm not famous, no. But some of my clients are."

Chris leaned forward eagerly. "Who?"

Mike slapped his son on the arm. "She can't go airing all her secrets. I'm sure a lot of it is confidential." He looked at me. "Right?"

"Sorta. They'd probably prefer it if I didn't spill the beans."

Mike slapped him again. "See? Don't be so uncultured."

Chris rolled his eyes, and a laugh bubbled out of me. It was exactly what I needed—laughing with my family and telling stories. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it. Regardless of my family's career choice, they had always loved me and protected me, and I loved them in return. If anything, on that afternoon, I loved them even more than I had before.

When Marissa brought out my burger, love flooded through me. She'd even remembered that I liked extra pickles and steak sauce. I hadn't had that combination on a burger since I was a kid, and God almighty, was it good.

I stayed and hung out with them for a while, but finally said my goodbyes and headed home. The first thing I did when I pulled onto my street was check if Blayne's car was in the driveway across the road.

It wasn't there. Was he okay? I hadn't seen him at all since the night I'd rejected him.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sporadically peering out the window to see if his car was there, but he must have been doing something important. By the time my stomach started to rumble for dinner, he still wasn't home.

Though my fridge was stocked, I wasn't in the mood to cook. A little deli had opened down the road since I'd been home last, so I decided to drive the three miles and see what they had to offer.

The scent of freshly baked bread hit my nose as soon as I stepped out of my car. I smiled. A sandwich shop that baked their own bread? Lilly Valley sure was moving up in the world.

The smell inside was even better than outside. Not only could you smell the bread, but the meat and cheeses, too. Only three people were in the queue ahead of me, and I stepped up behind a massive guy who looked like an NFL linebacker.

The menu had about a dozen different selections or a build-your-own sandwich option. I was trying to decide between a club, a Rueben, and something called the Grandpappy that seemed to have everything and the kitchen sink on it when the big guy in front of me turned around. Recognition and surprise registered in his eyes when he saw me.

I remembered I'd met him the other day at the coffee shop with Blayne. He'd been with Blayne's friend Tate.

I blinked in surprise and smiled. "Oh, hey. Umm, Jared, right?" I said, holding out my hand.

He looked down at it, then back at me before shaking my hand. "Sorry. Yeah. I'm Jared. Good to see you again."

"You too. Is this place any good?"

He frowned and looked around. "What? Like, Lilly Valley? Yeah, it's cool. I like it."

I couldn't help but laugh. "No. I meant the deli."

Two bright spots of red appeared on his cheeks, and he smiled sheepishly. "Right. Stupid. Yeah, it's great. I come at least once a week. What are you getting?"

I gestured toward the menu as we moved closer to the counter. "You'll think it's silly, but I was thinking about the thing called the Grandpappy Sandwich."

Jared's eyes bulged. "I've had it, and it ended up being enough for two meals for me." He looked me up and down. "You'll probably eat that thing for a week."

"Perfect," I said with a grin. "I won't have to cook or buy lunch for a few days."

He chuckled and tilted his head. "That's one way to look at it. Hey, sorry about being weird the other day. I was trying not to step on Blayne's toes."

I narrowed my eyes. "What's that mean?"

"Oh, about you guys being mates. I didn't want to interrupt the whole process. It's part of why Tate and I left so quickly."

I waved a hand like I was shooing a fly. "Well, that's done. I rejected him, so it should all be over now."

Jared's head jerked back a little. "Seriously? So, the spell's broken?"

We moved up. Jared ordered for both of us and paid for all our food, though I tried to refuse. We moved over to a small table to wait for our order.

"You were asking about the spell?" I said. "I suppose it is broken. You'd probably know more about that than I do."

"Well, Blayne took a few days off and only came back to the office yesterday. He's in rough shape. To be honest, I haven't been in town long. I've been wondering if the curse might snag me, too. The witch who cast it died before the guys could get more info. No way of knowing if it was a one-time thing or if it will affect any shifter who ends up living here."

Hearing that Blayne was in rough shape sent a sliver of guilt through me. I'd done that to him. He'd asked for it, literally and figuratively, but it didn't make me feel any better. Unable to give a good response, I nodded absently.

They called our number a few seconds later, and Jared leaped up to grab the food. "Were you going to eat here or take it back to your place?" he asked with a hopeful expression.

"Back home." I stood and took the brown paper bag from him. "It was nice talking to you. Oh, and thanks for paying for my sandwich. You didn't have to do that."

He blushed again, struggling to meet my eyes. "Yeah, sure, no problem. Maybe I'll see you around some time?"

"Probably. I'll be in town for a few months."

He smiled and settled into his chair to eat. "Cool. See you later, Ava."

I waved to him and headed back to my car. He hadn't been lying about the size of the sandwich. The bag had to weigh at least three pounds. The smell of it permeated the interior of my car and my stomach rumbled loudly. I dug out the bag of fries that sat on top of the sandwich and started munching on those as I drove.

I pulled into my driveway about three seconds before Blayne pulled into his. Our timing couldn't have been better…or worse, depending on how you looked at it.

I turned the car off and went to the passenger side door to grab my food. Blayne was slowly getting out of his car. His face was drawn and pale. We locked eyes, and I decided to be the bigger person.

I took a few steps toward the road and called over to him. "How are you?"

Blayne didn't smile as he walked toward his house. "Fine."

"Uh, do…do you feel different?" I didn't know how else to ask.

He stopped, and after a moment, he turned around and walked in my direction. He stopped at his mailbox and put a hand on it. He let his head drop down in a sad sort of way, like he'd heard that his dog had died or something.

When he looked back up at me, fear and sadness wrapped around my insides. Blayne looked awful. I couldn't think of a way to describe the agony shimmering in his eyes.

"Umm, I guess it's like a part of my soul is missing," he said. "Like it's lost forever and I'll never get it back." He let out a quick shuddering sigh. "It…uh…it kinda feels like I've lost Liam all over again."

Before I could say anything, he turned and walked up to his door. I stood in stunned silence and watched him. I didn't know what to do. By the time my brain started working again, he'd closed the door behind him.

Another sliver of guilt twisted in my soul. This time, I couldn't shrug off his pain. When Liam had died, Blayne had dumped his anguish all on me and my family. That hadn't been the right place to focus his anger. Today, though? I couldn't push all that away. I'd caused this agony. No one else but me. Yes, a witch had cursed him, but I'd been the one to hurt him like this.

Resigned, I turned and headed back to my house, the heavy bag of food weighing my right hand down. Even thinking about eating nauseated me. I chucked it into the fridge and flopped down on my sofa. I sat there for a long time, staring at Blayne's front door through the living room window.