Broken Love (Broken #4)(13)

Asshole.

Ava looked back to me and was about to say something when my father stood up. “Let me just say what a pleasure it is to have the Morris and Moore families with us here today. I’m excited to know that my sons are, hopefully, leading you down the road to becoming an organic cattle ranch like the one you see here at Montgomery Ranch. For the next three days, our ranch is your ranch.”

Holding his glass of wine up, he motioned for everyone to join him in toast. “To organic.”

“To organic!” everyone said as glasses clanked together.

Everyone settled into conversations as the food was served. Of course the main dish was steak and potatoes. My father wouldn’t have it any other way.

Every now and then I’d glance up and see Ava speaking with Liza, who was sitting next to her, or to my sister, Dani, across the table who was next to her husband, Rich.

Jase and I talked mostly about ranching and cattle. He had some great questions for the conversion and I was excited to answer them. My father chimed in every now and then before his attention would get drawn to another conversation going on.

“So, when are you moving back to Montana, Ryder?”

I glanced up to see Ava staring at me. Waiting for me to answer as if her life depended on it.

“You’re moving back home?” Destiny called out as she jumped up and headed over to me.

She leaned down and placed her lips to my ear as I continued to watch Ava. For a moment I thought I saw jealousy cross over her face.

“We need to talk in private.”

“Later,” I said as I glared at her.

“Fine.” With a turn on her heels, Destiny headed back to her seat.

“Lovely girl,” Ava whispered.

“She has her moments,” I said as I smiled and took a bite of steak. I couldn’t deny I liked seeing Ava get bent out of shape a little bit over Destiny. Why she did, I have no clue. She seemed to be pretty happy with Nate pressed up against her.

Shaking the image from my head, I tried to drag in a breath. For some reason, the room felt as if it was closing in on me and I couldn’t breathe. Leaning over to my father, I softly said, “Dad, I’ll be right back.”

A look of concern crossed over his face as he said, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just need a minute.”

Standing quickly, I glanced down to Ava. Her mouth opened as if she was about to say something, but Liza tapped her shoulder and asked her a question. I walked as fast as I could and dragged in a deep breath of air as I stood on the front porch. The evening temperature was quickly dropping as a chill rushed through my body.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Not now, Destiny. I’m not in the mood to talk to you.”

“How about me then?”

The sound of Ava’s voice traveled through my body, warming it instantly.

“We should probably make it a new rule not to get up and leave the table to talk,” Ava said with a slight chuckle.

I turned and leaned against the porch rail as Ava barely bit down on her lip as she smiled bigger.

“I didn’t ask you to come out here, though.”

Her smile faded. “No, you didn’t. Did Nate talk to you about earlier?”

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat as I looked away. “No. Honestly, Ava, you don’t owe me any explanation at all. If you and my brother have hit it off then—” I shook my head and let out a gruff laugh. “Then so be it.”

“So that’s it? You’re just going to go with what you thought you saw and not even give me a chance to explain.”

My head jerked back as I stared at her. “Explain what? My brother had you pushed against a wall and I’m pretty sure if I’d have walked in thirty seconds later you would have been kissing him.”

Anger flashed across her face as she shook her head. “No, what you would have seen was me pushing your brother away and telling him I was attracted to you … not him. My hands were on his chest, keeping him from getting closer. I asked him to talk to you about it because I knew that’s what you thought.”

I let her words sit in my head for a few moments. “You told Nate you’re attracted to me?”

Ava pressed her lips together as she lowered her head some and gazed up at me through those long beautiful eyelashes. Her blue eyes were sparkling. “I did tell him that, yes. I also wanted to tell you that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you for the last two weeks. And that I had a stupid count down on my phone, counting the days until I got to see you … even though I told everyone it was for the trip.”

My smile grew bigger as my heartbeat began speeding up. I’d never had a woman make me feel the way Ava made me feel. I wanted her like no one else, yet I wanted to move slowly with her. Savor each and every moment.

“I thought about you too. I dreamt about you, thought about you in the shower, at the gym, while trying to work. Your face and those beautiful blue eyes haunted my every moment.”

Ava’s mouth parted open as she sucked in a breath ever so slightly. Her chest began to heave a bit more as her breathing picked up. “I’ve never had anyone say anything like that to me before. My panties are soaking wet now.”

My eyes closed as my dick jumped and I let out a soft moan. “I just died.”

With a snap of my eyes, my body trembled when Ava’s hands touched my chest. Her smile was beyond breathtaking. “There’s only one way to make sure you haven’t died.”