“Holy shit balls!”
Dr. Russell started to make his way toward me. I quickly looked back at Ryder. He was now at the bar ordering.
“Oh lord. Shit!”
Quickly getting up, I forced my way through the crowd to get to Jay. When I saw her rubbing up against her new friend, I pushed my way over to her.
“Jay!” I yelled out.
She was so focused on the guy she didn’t hear me. Grabbing her arm, I pulled her. Turning to look at me, she grinned wide. “Did you come to join us? I’ve always wanted to try a threesome.”
I pinched my eyebrows together and stared at her. “Okay, first off … please tell me you’re kidding because … gross! No thank you. Second, Dr. Russell is here!”
Her smiled dropped. “What? Are you sure?”
I turned around and looked directly at him as he stood by the table waiting for me to come back. Ryder was now walking up and looking for me.
Turning back to Jay, I yelled in a panic sounding voice, “What do I do?”
“Um … well clearly he thought you were wanting him to meet you here so, I think you nip it in the bud.”
“What? That’s your advice?”
The guy Jay was dancing with yelled out. “I agree. If you try to ignore him it only makes it seem like you did something wrong.”
My eyes snapped over to him. “Who are you?”
“Jay’s massage therapist.”
I looked back at Jay. She wasn’t smiling and I knew by the look in her eyes I was going to have a conversation with her that I didn’t want to have.
Rolling my eyes, I turned back and walked straight up to Dr. Russell. He was standing practically next to Ryder.
“Hey!” he shouted as Ryder looked at him and then me confused. I smiled at Ryder and walked up to him.
Moving my lips to his ear I said, “That’s the doctor who took my cast off.”
Ryder pulled back and looked at Dr. Russell and then back to me. “What is he doing here? Did you invite him?”
“No!” I replied.
Turning to face Dr. Russell, I politely smiled. “What are you doing here?”
He tried to give a smile that probably worked on other girls, but did nothing for me. “Well, you mentioned this place and I thought I’d take a chance and see if you wanted to work out that leg.”
Oh dear lord. This guy knew he was good looking and I would guess he used it to his advantage a lot.
“Um … well … that was nice of you, Dr. Russell, but do you not remember me mentioning I have a fiancé?”
He smirked. “I thought he was in Montana?”
I could see Ryder getting pissed, but he never moved.
“Regardless, Dr. Russell, I think you somehow got the wrong idea. I’m not interested in you in any way. I love Ryder.”
Dr. Russell stared at me. “You’re saying no to me?”
My eyes widened in disbelief. Was this guy for real?
“I don’t even know how to respond to that? Are you really that stuck on yourself that you think any woman would just fall at your feet?”
“They usually do.”
Slowly shaking my head, I let out a gruff laugh. “You seriously need to be kicked in the balls. You have three seconds to turn and leave before my fiancé decides he’s had enough.”
His smile dropped as Ryder stood up and wrapped his arms around my waist. “I’m the fiancé.”
Dr. Russell lifted his hand up and took a step back. “Sorry. I’ll just be um …”
“Leaving?” Ryder said with anger laced in his voice.
With a nod of his head, the good doctor turned and left.
Turning in his arms, I looked up at Ryder. “I swear I didn’t invite him, and any flirting he thought I was doing was done unintentionally.”
Ryder’s lips crashed to mine. Our tongues danced in perfect harmony. My arms wrapped around his neck while I let myself get lost in the man I loved.
When we both needed air, we pulled away just enough for Ryder to rest his head against mine. “I’m ready to go home,” I said.
“Let’s get a taxi and head back to your place.”
Shaking my head, I gazed into his eyes. “No. I want to go home … to Montana.”
The way his eyes lit up had my heart skipping a beat. He pushed a piece of my hair behind my ear while he searched my face. “Ava Moore, do you have any idea how happy you make me?”
My stomach fluttered as butterflies swarmed inside. “I think I do, because you make me just as happy.”
AVA AND I stayed in Austin for another two weeks while we got both of our places packed up and ready to move to Montana. We spent half our time in Austin, and the other half in Llano. I was glad though as it gave me a chance to get to know her family more. And I was pretty sure I was winning the approval of Reed.
“I wish you weren’t leaving,” Courtney said as she set two glasses of tea in front of us.
Ava tilted her head and smiled at her mother. “I know, Mom. But now that we’ve gotten everything settled, it’s time.”
She chewed on her lip. “But I thought you weren’t going to be moving back to Montana until a few months into the new year. Why are you both rushing up there?”