Read On Dry Land (Swimming Upstream #3) Online
Authors: Rebecca Barber
On Dry Land (Swimming Upstream #3) (24 page)
Tyler
Everything was falling into place, exactly as he planned. His family had knocked him flat on his arse with their unwavering support and encouragement. He knew he should never have doubted them, but anxiety had gotten the better of him. After a long conversation with his father, Tyler knew what he needed to do. What he wanted to do. Now he just had to hold himself together for a couple more days.
If training was hard, then dealing with Jonathan and his sponsorship bullshit was pure torture. He had no desire at all to keep them. He had one thing on his mind and it had nothing to do with swimming or any of the side show that went along with it.
It was early Friday morning and Tyler had just finished a gruelling session in the pool. If there was one thing he hated doing was starts. Diving into the water over and over and over again held no appeal to him. He’d rather lap back and forth than practice diving even though he knew it had to be done. The thing that made this a particular frustrating session was the smug looks that Luke and Sam had plastered to their faces every time he saw them. There were in jokes which he only ever managed to catch the tail end of and he would have sworn he heard Ava’s named mentioned more than once. And it was his own fault. He’d asked them for help, which they’d readily agreed to and now he was left regretting his decision.
As the three men stalked through towards their cars, towels draped around their waists and t-shirts clinging to their still damp chests, Tyler knew he had to ask. If he was going to pull this off tomorrow, he needed them on his side.
“So…”
“Hi Tyler,” Sam said smugly. “How may we be of assistance on this fine day?”
“I’m going to pay for this, aren’t I?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe!”
“Great.”
Luke clasped a firm hand on Tyler’s shoulder and Tyler stopped to actually look at the guys in front of him. He might be paying for this for a long time, but it was worth it. He needed them and when he’d asked, they hadn’t questioned it. Tyler knew these were the type of mates everyone wanted, everyone needed, and not everyone found. He was lucky. Now he was going to press that luck and go after the ultimate prize. Ava.
Ava
The week dragged on. The longer it went the more stressed and agitated Ava became. She had nowhere to go. The few places she’d looked at were horrible. Either they were dirty and worn, some with light fittings hanging out of the ceiling, others with a weird yellow mould coating the entire bathroom. And the stench. How some people could live in such squalor confused her. One place, the most decent that fit her price range, looked perfect in the photos. Neat, tidy, and reasonable size, but the moment she stepped inside the overwhelming stench of cat piss ruled it out as an option.
Five o’clock approached and Ava’s stomach churned. Her test results were burning a hole in her handbag. When she’d slipped out at lunch time to get them, she thought it would be simple. Easy. Nothing to stress about. She hadn’t needed something else to deal with, but that would have been too simple. And nothing in Ava’s crazy life was ever simple. Nothing ever went to plan. It was never straightforward. And right now, her life just straight out sucked.
Unable to sit there a moment longer staring at the screen contemplating the universe, Ava shut down her computer, scooped up her hand bag, and left, waving to Matthew as she passed. He could have stopped her. Questioned her. Demanded to know why she was leaving early, but thankfully in that moment luck was on her side and she was able to skip out without a word.
In her car, Ava unfolded the letter and reread the results again, hoping the answer had changed. No matter how many times she read them, they remained the same. Positive. “Fuck it all!” Ava growled, punching the steering wheel, desperate to get her frustrations out. Putting the car in gear, Ava took off out of the car park and headed home. She needed some time to digest everything and figure out what she was going to do. Nothing more could happen until she’d done that.
After picking up a family sized cheese pizza, garlic bread, and a bottle of Coke, Ava trudged up the stairs and slammed the door behind her. For the rest of the night, the world didn’t exist. She was going to gorge herself stupid on pizza and watch crappy TV and pretend her life wasn’t falling apart. Turning off her phone, she dropped it in the bottom of her handbag and tossed it on the bench.
A pounding on the door woke Ava from her sleep. Wiping the dried drool from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, Ava ran her hand through her hair, catching her fingers in the knotty mess.
“Just a second,” she called out, barely recognising her own strangled voice. Standing up, she put her foot straight on top of the leftover pizza in the box by her feet. “Fuck!”
“Ava! Is everything okay in there?”
Giving up on trying to make herself presentable, Ava hopped towards the door on one foot, wiping the cheese and tomato from her foot with a crumpled napkin. Yanking open the door, Ava came face to face with a wall of muscle.
“Morning, Ava. Your removalists have arrived,” Sam declared with a smile.
“Big night?” Luke winked and Ava’s stomach lurched. Without a word, Ava took off, ignoring everything, and barely making it to the bathroom before vomiting violently.
“Shit, Ava! Are you okay?” Luke asked, standing in the doorway looking concerned.
“Ah,” Ava sighed, sitting back, leaning against the cool tiles. Silently Luke handed her a glass of water and stepped back like it was something he could catch. A moment later, he helped her off the floor and settled her on her bed.
“Why don’t you just sit here for a minute?”
“Okay.”
“Sam and I’ll start taking stuff down to the truck.”
Leaning back against the bed head, Ava hugged the spare pillow to her stomach. It still smelt like Tyler, making her heart ache as well as her empty stomach. With her eyes closed, Ava mumbled, “Mmmm.” She could hear them moving about her apartment but couldn’t keep her heavy eyes open, quickly slipping into dreamless sleep.
Ava was hot. Too hot. Flicking open her eyes, Ava found herself perched in a nest of pillows covered with a blanket. Kicking it off, Ava swung her legs off the side of the bed and the room whirled around her. For a few long moments she sat there sucking in deep, fortifying breaths, praying for the dizziness to subside.
A loud crash jolted her from the bed and a moment later Ava was standing in her nearly empty living room. Soundlessly tears coated her face. All of her stuff was gone, leaving only a trail of dust.
“Where’s…where’s my stuff? The fridge, the lounge, my desk?” Overwhelmed, Ava started panting wildly.
“It’s in the truck.”
“Don’t you fucking get it? I’ve got nowhere to go. Where were you planning on taking it?”
“Didn’t you talk to Tyler?” Sam asked, confusion all over his perfectly tanned face.
“Fuck, Sam! I haven’t spoken to Tyler in over a week. And it doesn’t matter what he says. He isn’t part of my life anymore, so his opinion doesn’t matter.”
“Ava—”
“What, Luke? Seriously! What have you got to tell me that could possibly change any of this? Make any of it better? ’Cause if you do, please tell me what it is. I’m begging you. Right now, I need something to make this better.”
“Call him,” Sam butted in.
Ava stepped backwards and into the wall. She was shaking with emotional overload. Sliding down the wall, she sat on her butt and stared up at the two men towering over her. She should have felt intimidated, worried, or afraid, but she knew Luke and Sam wouldn’t ever hurt her. They were here to help her, or at least they thought they were helping.
“Here,” Sam said, handing her the phone he’d just pulled from his pocket and hit dial on.
With wide, terrified eyes, her gaze never broke with Sam’s. Holding the phone to her ear, Ava waited while it rang.
“Sam! Hey, what’s up? How’s it going at Ava’s? All packed up?” Tyler gushed.
His reassuring, confident voice sent tingles down Ava’s spine. For days she’d been pretending to be tough. To be strong. To be okay. But the moment she heard his voice all the walls surrounding her heart crumbled away, as she leapt over the wreckage.
Swallowing heavily, Ava squeaked. “Tyler—”
“Ava?”
She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to rant and rave and act like a crazy woman, but another part of her wanted nothing more to crawl into his arms and pretend the rest didn’t exist.
“Ava? Are you still there?”
Feeling her face burn, Luke and Sam must have recognised her embarrassment because without a word they started moving away from her, arguing in hushed tones. “Mmmm.”
“I know you’re pissed at me right now and you have every right to be. But I need to ask for one more thing. Then if you want me to disappear out of your life, I’ll leave you alone. Can you do that, Ava? Can you do me one last favour?”
Ava wanted to say no. She didn’t even want to know what he wanted. She couldn’t. “Wha-what…do you…want?”
Tyler
Tyler’s heart was in his mouth. He’d gotten further than he thought he would. Ava had listened to him. Now he just had to keep her on the line and convince her to come see him. Wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans, Tyler felt his stomach clench and his mouth was suddenly dry. “Can you come over?”
The long silence that followed his request almost knocked him on his arse. Biding his time, Tyler fussed about the apartment, plumping the cushions on the couch and wiping down the bench for the fourth time. It was so clean you could perform surgery right there in his kitchen.
“Okay.”
Tyler froze. He could have sworn he’d heard Ava agree, but he wanted to be sure. He needed to be. “I didn’t catch that. Did you say okay?”
He heard the sharp intake of breath, before the sweetest word he’d ever heard came through the phone. “Okay.”
“Ava, thank you. I promise you won’t regret it. When do you think you can get here?”
“Now.”
“Now?”
“Yes, Tyler now.” Ava’s voice got stronger and Tyler knew she was still in there. She wasn’t completely broken. He hadn’t completely destroyed her. “It seems my whole life is packed in the back of a truck under your instructions and I have nowhere to go. And your minions won’t give me answers. They just tell me to talk to you. So that’s what I’m doing, Tyler. I’m talking to you. So I’ll leave here in five minutes and head to your place. Will you be there?”
Choking the lump in his throat, Tyler promised, “I’ll be here.”
“Fine. See you soon.”
“See you soon, Short Stack.”
The moment the call ended, Tyler flew into action. Even though this was part of his master plan, everything had been brought forward a couple of hours. Rushing back and forth, he finished tidying and set everything in its place. Tyler wasn’t dumb enough to think he’d get a second chance to pull this off. He had his one shot and he wasn’t about to fuck it up.
Ava
Navigating the traffic was easy enough but navigating the conflicting thoughts in her head was proving to be a bigger challenge. A challenge she wasn’t sure she was up for. She needed to talk to Tyler. He needed to know he was going to be a father, even if he didn’t believe it was his. Once she told him, once he knew, then it was up to him what he did next. Her responsibility to Tyler ended the moment he knew. She only hoped he didn’t hate her for it.
Pulling into the driveway of the underground car park, Ava buzzed the apartment.
“Yes?”
“Tyler, it’s me.”
“Don’t you have your remote?” he asked as the gate swung open and she inched the car inside.
Spying the remote in the console she knew she could have used it but for some reason it didn’t feel right. At least buzzing gave Tyler some warning. Parking in the spot next to his Jeep, she crawled out of the car and grabbed her things. Spying her reflection in the window, Ava wished she’d taken the time to clean herself up. She looked like shit. Her hair was a mess, her face was pale, she wore dirty, dusty clothes, and didn’t have a trace of makeup with her. And she stunk. Badly. She’d run out of the house so fast, she’d forgotten she was wearing one of Tyler’s t-shirts.
With a heavy sigh and an even heavier heart, Ava stalked across the car park and stepped into the awaiting elevator. A moment later she was at Tyler’s front door. Raising her trembling fingers, she knocked tentatively and stepped backwards.
The moment the door opened, Tyler was standing there looking like sex on legs with a wide smile across his beautiful face. It wasn’t real. It didn’t light up his eyes and it didn’t mask his worries. A huge part of Ava felt guilty. She’d put those worries there. The moment she did though, she realised she had more important things to be concerned with right now than Tyler’s issues. She had a shit load of her own to deal with and for the first time in her life Ava was going to put herself first. Well, herself and her baby.
“Come in,” he offered, holding the door and stepping back to let her pass.
Ava felt his eyes tracking her. She couldn’t bring herself to raise her own, too afraid to see disgust and disappointment there. On autopilot, Ava moved towards the living room and was shocked by what she saw. The whole room was filled with flowers. White lilies and red roses filled vases on every available surface. It smelt divine. For ten seconds. Then her stomach reminded her not to get caught up in the romance, reality was waiting.
Without a word Ava took off like a bat out of hell through the apartment and camped out on the floor of Tyler’s bathroom, praying to the porcelain god. Again.
“Shit, Ava! Are you all right?” Tyler asked, his voice thick with angst.
“Yeah,” Ava mumbled as she wiped her mouth with the bottom of her shirt and clambered to her feet. Before she had a chance to object, Tyler was behind her, helping her to stand. She washed her face and gulped down water greedily directly from the faucet.
“Ready to move?”
“I guess…” Ava answered automatically, but she wasn’t so sure.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, Ava felt herself lean into Tyler as he manoeuvred them to the bed and sat her down. Unable to restrain herself, Ava breathed in Tyler’s scent and knew she was home. Nothing else mattered. They’d figure the rest out somehow. They’d do it together. Now all she had to do was convince Tyler.
Tyler settled her against the pillows and stepped back, burrowing his hands into his back pockets. “Ava, I know you’re pissed at me right now and you’re right to be, but I need you to hear me out before you make up your mind. Can you do that, please?”
Not trusting herself to speak, Ava nodded as she tucked her own hands under her thighs. She was dying to touch him. All it would take was one touch and she’d agree to anything he wanted. Right now though, he was asking her to listen. That’s all. Ava could give him that. Surely.
“Thank you. Firstly, I’m sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am for the stupid, idiotic dumb comment I made the other day. I know you and I get why they did the tests they did. I guess at the time I just freaked out and I took it out on you. And I know that’s no excuse, and trust me, I’ve had my arse kicked more than once for it, but I need you to know I didn’t mean it. Any of it.”
“I do,” Ava confirmed. She watched as two simple words changed Tyler’s posture. His shoulders dropped, his jaw seemed to unlock and the intense stare in his chocolate eyes softened.
“You do?”
“I do.”
“There’s more.”
“Okay.”
“I love you. More than you could ever know. Fuck, it was more than even I realised. And it took you walking away for me to figure out how much. And I want this with you. All of this. A life. And for the record, I have every intention of asking you to be my wife but there’s a few things you need to know first.”