His Greatest Treasure (Greatest Love #4)

Chapter 28

28

AVERY

“Be good, Nova. Don’t fight when Gracie says it’s bedtime, and listen to her rules. Remember that every house has their own rules, and it’s rude not to obey them. If you need me at all, I’ll be there as soon as possible. No matter what,” I say, squeezing the life out of her.

She giggles, nodding along with every word I say. It’s not her first sleepover, but it’s her first one at Gracie and Tyler’s, so my brain is working quickly to try and ease any worries she could have.

It’s me with the worries, though, and we both know it.

“Okay, Mom,” she says, patting my back.

“I’m serious. If you need me at all, you ask Gracie to call me.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll take good care of your girl, Avery,” Gracie says, waiting at the bottom of the porch steps.

“I know. I’m just . . .” Puffing out a breath, I let Nova out of my arms and swipe my palms down the front of my dress, my nerves springing back now that I’ve stopped worrying about her. “I haven’t been on a date in a long time.”

Gracie smiles softly, knowingly. “Well, you look gorgeous. And because Oliver’s my son, I know him well enough to tell you that he’s just as nervous as you are.”

I doubt that. All he told me in preparation for tonight was that we’d be eating somewhere nice. I took that and went out yesterday to buy this dress after realizing all of my old ones didn’t fit anymore. It’s a soft, navy satin material that’s tight to my waist and hips and cups my tiny tits in a way that makes them look maybe half a size bigger. My plain black heels are old and worn but are also my comfiest pair.

After spending an hour curling my hair, I made sure to unplug the cord from the wall and sent a selfie of it and me to him with a message that I hoped made him smile when his shift ended.

Me : Proud of me yet? No fire today.

“Does Oliver even get nervous?” I ask Gracie.

Nova bounces down the stairs, her backpack weighing heavy on her shoulders with the amount of clothes she packed for a one-night stay.

“He said he gets nervous at work,” Nova says.

I arch a brow. “When did he do that?”

“When he braided my hair. He said football makes Jamie nervous too.”

“Oh,” I whisper, remembering that night and the way I nearly burst into tears when Nova thanked him and kissed his forehead. “That was nice of him to share that with you.”

“Yeah. I like him. He’s really nice.”

Gracie laughs softly and opens the back seat of her car. The booster seat already installed draws my attention. It’s not the same one that Oliver transferred over the night she drove us home.

“Did you go out and buy a new booster seat, Gracie?”

“Who, me? Of course I did. My son needs his in the SUV, especially if you’re going to be driving it. I hope it’s an alright brand—things have changed since I had to have boosters for the boys. Tyler just went into the store and asked for the best one . . .” She takes Nova’s backpack and sets it on the middle seat. “ Speaking of driving Oliver’s SUV, have you heard anything from the insurance company on your car? Or the shop?”

Nova practically dives into the car and settles into the seat before doing the seat belt up herself. Gracie double-checks it before leaning back and looking at me.

I sigh. “They’re still investigating. It’s only been a few days, so I expect it’ll be weeks before I know anything. My car’s totalled, though. I’ve told the shop to junk it.”

RIP, bumper stickers. You will be missed.

“The man responsible for this should have to pay out of pocket. Leaving a mother without a car and a way to get around? Absolutely ridiculous,” she hisses.

“I’ll make do. I didn’t have a car when I first got to Canada either.”

Gracie frowns, her eyes filling with guilt. “Things are very different now for you than they were then. Not a single one of us did right by you when you moved here?—”

With a shake of my head, I cut her off before she can apologize further. “I didn’t let anyone help me. Didn’t want it. What were you supposed to do when I refused to answer everyone’s calls and kept myself hidden? Even if you had forced my location out of my parents and shown up outside of my house, I still would have turned you away. I wanted to do everything on my own. It was a choice I made and am trying to learn from.”

“I should have tried harder. I’ve always taught my boys to fight for what they believe in and those they care about, and I should have pushed. It makes me sick to think of everything you’ve had to do on your own and the toll it must have taken on you. Raising a child is hard enough with a million people in your corner helping every day, but with no one? Oh, honey. I’m just sorry we weren’t there for you.”

I shrug a shoulder, playing off the sudden ache in my chest at the reminder of long, sleepless nights and silent shower cries with a newborn tucked in a bouncer outside of the tub.

“You’re all here now. ”

Her frown tugs up the slightest bit. “Yeah, sweetheart. We are. And I know Matt and Morgan were there for you as much as they could be. I’m just . . . It’s menopause, I think. I’m a mess.”

“They were the most supportive parents ever. The amount of money they spent flying here over the first few months after I had Nova could have probably bought them a second house in cash. I wasn’t ever truly alone.”

“Good. Good, Avery.” She nods, swiping a thumb beneath her eyes. “I should get a move on before my son shows up and sees you in that dress. You look phenomenal. He’s going to lose his mind.”

“You think so? It’s been a while since I’ve dressed up like this.” Doubt seeps into my tone despite my best efforts to keep it hidden.

Gracie closes the back seat and holds me by the arms, her touch a comfort. “You’re going to, as Jamie says, rock his shit, Avery.”

My laugh comes from deep in my gut. I roll my glossy lips together and hug Oliver’s mom, wishing for a heartbeat that it was my mom here instead.

“Thank you, Gracie. For this and for watching Nova. She’s been so excited about the sleepover since I told her about it.”

She pulls back but keeps me close with her hold on my elbows. “Anytime, sweetheart. I mean that. Anytime. Not only just when Oliver pulls you both out of the house, but if you’re ever needing a break. You hear me?”

“I hear you, and I’ll try.”

“That’s good enough for now. I’ll get out of your hair. Don’t even think of spam texting me for updates either. I’ll send you pictures, I promise.”

I nod, laughing softly at being called out. “Go before I haul my girl back into my arms and refuse to let her out of them again.”

Gracie lets me go and strolls around the car before hopping in with a final wave. Nova blows me a kiss from the back seat, and I return the gesture as they pull onto the street and disappear.

I leave the curb and start up the sidewalk, but I’m stalling after I’ve stepped over two cracks. Oliver took his SUV this morning after I told him I didn’t need it, and as he pulls up beside me, looking incredible with a pair of square-rimmed sunglasses on and his forearm straining with his grip on the steering wheel, I wonder if he should be allowed to drive it without me ever again.

The passenger window is down, and the clean smell of the interior mixed with his cologne nearly sends me into a spiral. Not only is his house impeccably clean, but his car doesn’t even have a single crumb on the floor mats. Nova’s habit of eating Froot Loops on the way to school will have to come to an end this week if he’s going to insist I drive this monster around.

Maybe if I tell him how many times I’ve run over curbs or clunked into poles in parking lots, he’ll change his mind.

“I’m gonna need you to go back inside before I crash. We need at least one vehicle, Avery,” he rumbles, the sunglasses shielding what I know is blistering heat in his eyes.

My cheeks flame. “Something tells me you’re too focused of a driver to crash into anything.”

“Usually, yes. Now? Not a fucking chance.” He shifts into park and then runs a hand over his mouth, attention solely on me. “I was supposed to walk up to the door and get you all proper. I’ve got flowers and everything.”

I peek into the open window before glancing into the backseat. The two bouquets of flowers make my heart soar.

“Two?”

“One for each of my girls,” he states easily. Like it’s instinct for him to claim both of us as his.

“Well, bring them inside and help me put them into water so we can go. Nova just left with your mom, but she’ll be happy to see them tomorrow.”

“Yeah? She likes flowers too? I wasn’t sure.”

“I’m pretty sure she’d love anything you got her. But yes, she does like flowers.”

His grin is blinding, heart stuttering. I feel the effect of his happiness like an arrow to the chest.

He’s quick to step onto the street and grab the flowers from the back before coming toward me. I’m reaching up to pull his glasses off the moment he gets close enough, desperate to see behind them.

Even expecting the heat, it still shakes me to see it. He stares at me like a man desperate for something he’s always dreamed of having. I never thought I’d be the recipient of such a look. Such a declaration.

“Sorry, were those in your way?” he teases lowly.

The lines are still slightly smudged between us, not quite as clear as I need them to be yet, but in this moment, I don’t let that detail deter me. I lean up on my toes and kiss him anyway. He’s waiting for it and presses his warm lips to mine with a fierceness that multiplies the butterflies in my stomach.

Grasping my hip, he pulls me in until we’re flush and I can feel the hard press of his cock against my stomach. It makes my head swim, arousal hot in my blood.

“Are you hungry?” he mumbles against my mouth.

“Yes.”

His chuckle is hot, breathy. “For food, princess.”

I let my disappointment show with a deep frown when he ends the kiss and moves his hand from my hip to my back to lead us to the house.

“I could eat.”

The bouquets in his hands are wrapped in white and pink paper that crinkles with every slight movement of his fingers, and I steal the biggest of the two, ripping at the paper to get a look inside.

“The boy who wrapped those is dying a little inside with how you just ruined all his hard work,” he says.

“He did a great job.” With the paper flayed and flopping in the breeze, I smile at the first arrangement of flowers. “And so did you. I was expecting roses.”

“Teenage crush, remember? I listened. You hate roses. Especially red ones.”

I’ve always thought they were cheesy. A lame choice when it comes to men needing to show affection to a woman. They walk into a store and grab the first bundle they can find without putting any real thought into it. It’s an empty, thoughtless gesture. One Chris made every single time we’d fight. He never cared when they wound up in the garbage the next morning.

The pink peonies in my hand tonight mean more than Oliver could ever know. They aren’t anything loud, but instead, they’re thoughtful. I remember explaining the rose trap to all of the guys when we were just kids. Oliver was always hiding somewhere or ignoring everyone back then; I never thought he’d been paying attention after all.

I tuck the bouquet into my chest, holding it tight. “Thank you. I love them.”

His eyes crinkle before I lose sight of them, stepping onto the porch ahead of him. The door is still unlocked, so we walk right in.

“You can keep your shoes on. I just need a second,” I tell him.

My heels clack on the floor, but his lack of footsteps has me sparing a look behind me. He’s toeing off his black dress shoes, disregarding my comment.

I don’t tease him for it because, again, he’s being incredibly thoughtful. It’s like he’s cranked his gentlemanly dial up to a thousand in hopes of seeing me falling all over myself in front of him.

I’m nearly there already.

In the kitchen, I make quick work of snipping the stems of the flowers and adding my favourite plant food in two vases before filling them with water. The smaller bouquet, Nova’s, is an arrangement of simple yellow daisies that I know she’ll take one look at and squeal over .

Oliver joins me but stands back and watches me work in silence. His presence fills the kitchen, and I sneak another glance at him before shaking my head.

Black slacks, a navy blue button-up with the sleeves unbuttoned and folded three times, and a thick black belt make him look like a model from GQ . He’s gelled back his hair and shaved away the scruff on his jaw. The flowers were a distraction earlier, keeping me from checking him out like this when he first stepped on the curb.

My pulse beats in double time before I drop my eyes back to the flowers I’m sticking into the vases.

“What?” he asks.

I wet my lips. “You look handsome.”

“Do I?”

“You know you do.”

His socks keep his steps silent, but I feel him once he’s come close. He circles my wrist with one hand and holds my waist with the other as he stands behind me, my back to his chest.

The fabric of my dress is thin enough for his touch to seep through. I let my eyes flutter shut and lean into his hold, swearing I can feel his heart pounding against my back.

“You’re breathtaking, Avery. Now and always.”

His mouth moves to my throat, and I expose it to him with a tilt of my head. The first press of his lips to my pulse has my knees weak. The second makes me moan, the sound unfamiliar to my ears.

The vibration of his answering groan splatters against my throat before he’s spinning me around and gripping my thighs to lift me onto the table.

I spread my legs on instinct, allowing him the room to move between them. He’s so fucking close now, and I lock my ankles around his back, the top curve of his ass brushing my heels.

He presses his palms to the tops of my thighs and bends to level his face to mine. I arch my back, using my arms to prop myself up. One nod of my head and he’s digging his teeth into his lip, a silent battle clashing in the brown of his eyes.

“Tell me if you need more time, Avery. Because if you don’t, I’m going to spread you out on this table and make you come. I’m too hungry to wait for dinner. I need an appetizer first. Been waiting a long, long time for this one.”

The deep, throaty tone of his voice is almost enough to take me there without anything else. My answer is instant, sure.

“I’m ready.”