Chapter Text
Laying in bed by herself, Avery snuggled into the blankets more, letting out a soft breath as she looked down at her hands and the wedding ring on her finger. It was a ring that had once meant so much to her. It was a ring she swore she'd never take off no matter what and now here she was eight years into her marriage and contemplating taking the ring off.
In the end after everything she knew now it just felt like a ring to her. It wasn't something that meant anything anymore or at least that was what she told herself. It was easier to cope with the knowledge of what she knew.
It was easier to lie to herself and tell herself the ring meant nothing now that she knew her husband was cheating on her.
How could it mean anything now? The vows they'd said meant nothing. Zac had broken those vows the moment he had cheated and what killed her was not knowing just how long he had been cheating on her. If this was just a new thing or if it had been going on for years.
Avery wasn't sure which she preferred because they both sucked. Both options sucked because they still both had Zac cheating and she wished there was an option where he wasn't cheating on her. She wished there was an option where he'd remained faithful.
Closing her eyes as she felt tears start to well up in them, she buried herself deeper into the blankets knowing she'd have the bed to herself for the entire night probably.
Now that she knew he was cheating it made the nights when he stayed gone the entire night make sense. At least she now knew he wasn't at work like he always claimed. He wasn't sleeping at his office or pulling late nights there like he said.
No, he was with whatever woman that was giving him things he apparently no longer needed or wanted from her. Things that she missed doing with him because it was no secret their sex had been amazing. Sex with Zac had always been amazing even when they'd first started having it and were awkwardly learning the other person's body.
It had still been amazing because it was with the boy she loved....the boy who had become the man she loved.
A man who she still loved even with what she knew, because how could she not love him? She'd loved him for so long that it was just hard to stop loving him. It was hard to turn off how she felt for him even if she knew he was betraying her.
She loved him and hated him at the same time...or maybe hate wasn't the right word but it was the only one she could find right now in the state she was in.
-----
Letting out a sigh as she stood behind the counter of the movie place where she worked at, Avery made a face as she watched two guys come in. They were two guys who were regulars, here at least once a week to see a movie, mostly action flicks but sometimes a comedy.
It also never failed that it seemed to happen on nights they worked, like tonight and maybe seeing them brightened her day just a little because so far it had been a shitty day. She'd woken late and had missed most of her morning college classes. Then while at her afternoon classes her car had somehow gotten a flat fucking tire when she was in them and she'd had change it after, forever thankful that her father and her older brother Isaac had taught her how to change tires.
If not she'd probably still be stranded at the college campus and that was the last thing she needed or wanted because it seemed to be raining outside pretty hard and she hadn't brought a rain coat which meant when she clocked out tonight she was just shit out of luck and would be soaked as she made it to her car.
Coming out of her thoughts, Avery watched as her co-worker Trevor was the one to take care of the two men but she was close enough that she heard their popcorn and drink orders and she started to get those ready for them, knowing working concessions was a team effort.
The quicker they got their popcorn and drink, the quicker that they could get to the customers in line behind the two guys.
Once she'd finished with the drink order she put those on the counter next to the cash register and turned to get popcorn in one of the large sized tubs they had. Avery did her best to remember that when it came to butter they wanted it layered or at least the guy with the blue eyes had asked for that.
The one with the shaggy hair and brown eyes had only rolled his eyes when that had been requested and she couldn't help but wonder if the brown eyed guy didn't have a butter in popcorn preference.
Finishing the popcorn, Avery turned and put it on the counter too, swallowing hard when she saw the guy with the shaggy brown hair and brown eyes looking at her.
He had his eyebrow raised like he was wondering something and well she couldn't help but wonder herself what it was because it had to be about her with the way he was looking at her.
"Dana," the guy stated as he looked down at the name badge she had on. "I'm pretty sure that's not your name," he said with a smirk. "You don't look like a Dana."
Blushing at his words, Avery looked down at the name badge she had on and she hated her shitty luck today because it seemed she had also grabbed the wrong name badge after clocking in and she hadn't noticed nor had any of her co-workers told her.
Not that they would because they worked in a movie theater for shitty pay. They didn't really care about much, including name badge mistakes.
"And what if it is my name?" Avery questioned with a raised eyebrow of her own and her cheeks heated up a bit more because was she flirting with him?
It felt like she was flirting with him and she hadn't flirted with a guy in what felt like ages. At least not since her last break up which had been almost a year ago now.
"Then your parents suck with name choices," the guy retorted as he gave her a small wink and Avery was sure that her cheeks probably resembled a tomato now. "But also you usually wear a name tag that says Avery and I think that name suits you more than fucking Dana. Dana sounds like such a boring name for someone so gorgeous."
"Geeze Zac," the blue eyed man beside him spoke up and well at least Avery now had a name for the shaggy haired brown eyed guy in front of her. "Just be blunt in you're flirting why don't you?" he asked in a teasing way and once those words left the blue eyed man's mouth Avery watched as Zac's own cheeks turned a bit pink and now Avery wasn't the only one blushing.
Just like maybe she hated herself for finding him cute when he blushed. He was cute and she couldn't help but wonder what other things he was cute at besides blushing.
"I can't help it Taylor," Zac muttered out and now it seemed Avery had the names for both of these two regulars.
"I know, I know," Taylor teased. "I've heard about your crush on Dana for the last few months now," he said as he turned to look at Avery now too. "Please know my brother is the reason we keep coming here every week. He keeps wanting to see you so he can talk my ear off about how cute you are until we come here again next week."
Avery couldn't hide her smirk then at Taylor's words, "It's Avery not Dana," she corrected him knowing thankfully she was not named Dana. She hated the name herself too and agreed it didn't fit her. "And I'm flattered to hear about your brother's crush on me," she nodded her head before turning back to Zac and giving him her own wink now and the moment she did she felt like something had shifted in her luck today.
Maybe the rest of her night would go well.
-----
Licking her lips as she stood in the kitchen making cookies with her oldest son Dakota, Avery let out a sigh as her eyes went to the clock on the stove.
It had been two months since she'd found out about Zac's affair and so far she was still here in this marriage with him. She was still playing naïve and like she had no fucking clue about his cheating on her when she knew and the knowledge of it was killing her.
It was killing her to pretend that she didn't know what was going on now but it wasn't like she could leave so easily. She had two sons with Zac and she had to think about them before coming to a decision on what to do.
After all, Dakota was five and Jude was three and how would she explain to them why she was leaving their daddy? How would she ever tell them that mommy and daddy would no longer live together?
Both of those questions were why she was still here right now. They were why she hadn't left Zac. If it wasn't for them she knew she probably would have walked out the minute she found out. She would have confronted Zac and argued with him and then she would have left but her boys existed and walking away from an eight year marriage after finding out about cheating was a lot more complicated when kids were in the picture.
"Mommy," Dakota said, bringing Avery out of her thoughts as she looked into her son's brown eyes, giving him all her attention. "Do you think daddy will like these cookies?"
Avery nodded her head as she bent down to Dakota's level, "Kota, you know your daddy always likes his birthday cookies," she told him as she ruffled his hair, reminding her son that this was a yearly tradition.
It was one that Avery had started when she and Zac had still been dating and one that had continued into marriage and kids.
"Yeah but I've never helped make them before," Dakota said, making a face that plain up reminded Avery of her husband.
Both boys took after him but it was Dakota who got most of his features while Jude had gotten hers. Avery had hoped that maybe one day they could have also had a daughter but that didn't seem like it would happen now.
Not to mention it had taken them two years of trying with Dakota. Years that had included a few losses. Getting pregnant with Jude had been easier but still it had taken longer than they both had hoped.
Avery wasn't sure she could go through that a third time....but she had always dreamed of having a baby girl who took after Zac. A girl that would have had Zac wrapped around her finger from birth.
"Well that will just make them extra special this year," Avery told him as she gave him a big smile. "Because you're helping to make them and daddy loves you so much."
"Daddy loves you too," Dakota countered with the innocence of a five year old as his little hand went for the ring she wore around her neck on a necklace and Avery swallowed around a lump in her throat as she saw the ring in Dakota's hand as he moved it slightly on the necklace.
It was a ring she'd taken off after marrying Zac but it was one she still cherished, maybe even more than her own engagement ring and wedding band, though the ring on her necklace had also been given to her by Zac as well.
The first real gift he'd given her that actually meant anything and she knew it hadn't been cheap. It'd cost him a lot and that had been before he had his better paying job. It had been before he got his own office and when they'd both still been naïve enough to think it would always be them against the world.
Avery nodded her head, doing her best to keep from falling apart in front of her son. "Yeah, he does love me too," she told him, almost glad he was five and couldn't hear the doubt in her voice.
Because even as she said those words she doubted them. She wasn't sure Zac did love her anymore. She wasn't even sure if he found her gorgeous anymore.
Maybe he only stayed with her because they had two sons and the marriage had become a chore to him and not something he wanted.
Maybe she had become a chore to him and not something he wanted or even needed.
-----
"Can you please tell me where you are taking me?" Avery asked with a small playful whine as she sat beside Zac in his truck blind folded and honestly if he were anyone else she might be a little bit scared.
Just a tiny bit but she wasn't scared with him. She trusted him wholly and completely and she still loved him just as much if not more than she had when they'd started dating a year ago.
It was hard to believe it had been a year now but it was. A full year had passed together and foolishly she hoped there were more years with him.
Secretly maybe she was kind of hoping for forever with him but that was her own secret for right now. A secret that was just hers because she was afraid if she spoke it out loud it wouldn't happen. She was afraid she'd lose him and she didn't want to lose him.
Avery loved him more than any other guy she'd dated and while that terrified the crap out of her she also didn't want to lose what she had with him.
"No," Zac told her and even though she couldn't see him she could picture him smirking as he shook his head. "That would ruin the surprise of it all," he continued as he let a hand come to rest on her thigh and she shivered at his touch, almost wishing she'd worn pants instead of the sundress she had on.
At least if she had pants on, his hand wouldn't be on her bare leg, making her aroused because some tiny part of her wanted him to put his hand higher on her thighs. She wanted him to slip his hand under her dress and finger her.
Avery wanted his fingers inside of her, in a place they knew well because...well she and Zac were two horny early twenty adults. Fooling around with each other was something they always found themselves doing when alone in the apartment he shared with Taylor.
Though they hadn't gone all the way yet. It was always just hands and fingers and mouths that they used. Not that they were waiting until marriage to go all the way. It had just never felt right yet. They'd always swore they'd go all the way when it felt right and no other time had felt that way yet.
"But for all I know you could be taking me into the woods to murder me," Avery teased him knowing he wouldn't do that to her.
She was positive he'd never hurt her if he could help it. At least she hoped that was the case.
"Funny," Zac chuckled as he held her leg just a bit tighter. "But you're too gorgeous to kill," he told her and Avery couldn't help but shiver again at the way his voice went lower as he spoke. "Too gorgeous and I'd probably be sad without you."
"Yeah?" Avery asked him as she smiled. "You'd be sad without me?"
"I would Avie," Zac told her as his thumb began to trace circles on the skin of her leg. "You're the best thing that's ever been mine and if I lost that....I wouldn't know what to do."
Avery smiled at his words and hated the way she half felt like a schoolgirl with a crush. It was weird feeling that way again because she hadn't felt that way in ages. Not since she'd dated Nolan in high school and been an actual school girl with a crush. Since being an adult no guy had ever made her feel that way before.
"Same here," Avery told him as she reached down and let her hand rest on his, being content when his truck fell silent then because it was a nice and comfortable kind of silence.
It was the kind of silence that she didn't have to worry anything bad would come next.
Finally after what seemed like hours but Avery knew was only minutes she felt Zac's truck come to a stop and she used her hearing to listen to him get out of the car and finally come to open her door.
"Careful getting out," Zac told her as he put his hand on her arm and helped her get down from his truck and the moment her feet touched the ground she breathed a sigh of relief because at least she hadn't fallen out of the truck.
She hadn't fallen and hurt herself and Zac hadn't let her fall. He'd helped her because again she knew he didn't want her hurt. It just solidified her belief that he'd do anything to not hurt her.
He loved her too much to hurt her or have her get hurt.
"You do know if you were Taylor, I'd probably be on my way to the hospital right now, right?" she asked, teasing him and in a way his brother who wasn't here.
It was a known fact though that Taylor was a klutz and if it had been him trying to get her out of a truck blindfolded they'd both probably would have gotten hurt.
"Yes well Taylor doesn't have my coordination," Zac quipped and as he spoke she felt his hand move off her arm and seconds later she could see again thanks to him removing the blindfold.
Looking around at where he'd taken her she felt almost breathless at the sight in front of her. It was a spot near the lake that she'd taken him too when they had still been in their getting to know each other stage. When they had been eager to know everything about the other.
It was a spot that now was decorated in fairy lights and the ground had a blanket and picnic basket on it. It was truly the scene from a romantic book and Avery wasn't much for romance books but she did know that much.
"Zac..." she started as she turned to look at him not even sure how or when he'd found the time to do this.
"Taylor helped," Zac interrupted her before she could say more and it was as if he could read her mind. "Taylor helped though I think it was probably more Matilda's doing," he said, bringing up Taylor's girlfriend. She was a girl he'd met at a coffee shop and their relationship was new but Avery liked her and she knew Taylor did too.
He never fucking shut up about her when she wasn't there and that had to mean Taylor liked her. There weren't that many girls Avery had known Taylor to always want to talk about in the past year so Matilda had to be different than the others.
"It's perfect," Avery told him as she turned fully to face him, letting her arms go around his neck. "You're perfect," she said, knowing it was true.
He was perfect at least in all the ways that mattered and she wasn't sure how she'd gotten so lucky that he was hers. He was hers and no one else's.
Zac shook his head at her words, "You're the perfect one," he whispered as he let his arms wrapped around her waist. "So fucking perfect Avie," he said as he let his forehead rest against hers and the moment he did she swore she felt her heart skip a beat.
She really was having all the reactions of a high school girl with a crush tonight.
"Kiss me," Zac whispered as he locked eyes with her. "Quick....please."
Laughing, Avery only rolled her eyes playfully before doing as he asked. She closed the slight gap between them and kissed him softly on the lips, letting her eyes fall shut when he brought her body even closer to his as he returned the kiss.
-----
"I thought we said no gifts," Avery said as she sat next to Zac on the blanket, watching as he held out what was most definitely a ring box, though she knew it wasn't an engagement ring. He was not asking her to marry him but he'd bought her a ring.
"We did but you know me Avie," Zac said as he shrugged his shoulder, running a hand through his hair which was now longer than it was when they'd first met and started dating. It was longer and it suited him. Long hair looked good on him and she really hoped he would never cut his hair.
She'd made him promise he wouldn't during the nights when they'd cuddle in his bed and she ran her hands through his hair. She liked his hair long and she liked getting to run her fingers through it.
Not to mention it was kind of hot to pull on too when he was between her legs eating her out but that was another one of her little secrets that she kept to herself.
"I do know you," Avery nodded her head before taking the ring box from him and opening it up slowly and the moment it was open she just looked at the ring in the box because it was beautiful and silver.
He remembered that she preferred silver over gold. Just like he remembered that her favorite kind of stone was ruby because in the middle of the ring was a ruby stone.
"It's engraved too," Zac spoke and at his words she slowly lifted the ring from the box and looked at the inside of the ring seeing that there were indeed words written on it.
Even til' the end of time. That was what the words on the inside of the ring said.
"What are they from?" Avery asked as she looked up from the ring, feeling tears start to well up in her eyes and at least if she cried it would be from happiness. "The words I mean," she added in case he didn't know what she was referring to.
"A song I wrote you," Zac told her, sounding so bashful and afraid at that admission and all Avery could do was raise her eyebrow at that.
"You wrote me a song?" she asked him and it seemed the tears that had started to build up in her eyes were coming out because she felt some roll down her cheeks and fuck it all to hell, she knew the make up she had on was going to be ruined.
She was going to look like a mess by the end of the night but at least it was because of happiness and that was all she wanted. She wanted someone who made her cry happy tears and not sad ones.
"It's nothing perfect. I'm not a songwriter like Taylor but yeah I did," Zac confessed with a nod of his head before reaching over and wiping a few of her tears away. "Do you hate it? The ring I mean?" he questioned like he genuinely was afraid she hated the ring.
How could she hate something that he spent actual time on? It was something he'd gotten for her because he loved her and he'd had the ring engraved with lyrics from a song he wrote for her. Everything about this ring was perfect because it symbolized just how much he loved her.
"No, I don't hate the ring," Avery told him as she let out a small watery laugh because it seemed she was still crying. "The ring's perfect," she told him as she slowly slipped it on the ring finger of her left hand. A finger that she hoped one day would also have another ring on it but this ring well it would always be her favorite ring.
"Really?" Zac asked and again he sounded like he was scared that she still hated the ring somehow.
"Really Zachary," Avery told him as she moved to slowly climb on his lap and smiling when she felt him slip his arms around her waist. "Til the end of time though?" she asked him softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"If you'll have me that long," Zac muttered out before leaning up to kiss her and as she kissed him back she knew she'd have him til the end of time if she was allowed that.
She'd have him forever.
"I'll take you for however long you want me to have you," Avery told him in between kisses, shivering as she felt one of his hands moving down to push the skirt of her dress up and it was in this moment she knew tonight was going to be the night they finally slept together.
Everything about this moment felt right and she didn't care that they were outside either. The risk of maybe getting caught kind of made the idea of making love to him here even hotter.
-----
"So do you and Zac have any plans for your birthday?" Matilda asked as she sat next to Avery at a café in downtown Owen's Corner. It was a new café that had opened up in Owen's Corner and this was the first time Avery was getting a chance to try it.
It was hard to try new places with two kids. It was hard to do anything with two kids. Going out was almost non-existent because it never failed that at least one of the kids would have a meltdown somewhere so they'd always have to get the kids back home before that happened or if it happened that meant leaving early.
Getting to spend time with her husband alone was something that seemed like a thing of the past. The kids were always around and it never seemed like they had time to be alone or when they were alone they were both too tired to even do anything besides sleep.
Avery was worn out from being a stay at home mom and wife and Zac was always at the office. He was always working late hours...or at least she had once upon a time assumed they were late hours. She'd believed him when he told her that.
Now she wondered if all his late nights had been spent having sex with the woman he was cheating on her with. She wondered if he'd spent his nights with another woman while she'd been at home oblivious and with their children.
Was the reason he was tired when they were alone because he was giving everything he had to someone who wasn't her?
All he would have had to do was fucking try with her. She was right there..she was always there and somehow he'd just decided to turn to someone else. He'd decided having sex with someone else was better than even trying to fix what was wrong with them.
All she had wanted was her husband even during the hard times and he'd turned to someone else.
"No, we don't have any plans," Avery answered as her voice cracked and fuck, she hadn't realized she'd gotten that upset by her thoughts. She hadn't realized that she was close to crying in public. That she was close to crying in front of her sister-in-law.
"Ave..." Matilda started but Avery shook her head as she swallowed around a lump in her throat, reaching up to wipe at her eyes when tears started to go down her cheek.
"It's....obviously I'm not fine," she sighed, stopping herself before she could lie to Matilda. "Zac's cheating on me," she confessed, feeling like a small weight had been taken off her shoulders to finally tell someone the secret she had been carrying now for three months. Three very long fucking months.
Matilda just looked at Avery after her words and she saw the confusion on the other woman's face. She saw how Matilda was trying to make sense out of something that didn't make sense.
"Are you sure Ave?"
Nodding her head, Avery let her hand go up to the ring on her neck and she moved it back and forth on the chain. An action that she did to soothe herself when she felt anxious. "I'm positive. I have...I have proof that's undeniable," she said not wanting to tell Matilda what she had but well there was no denying the proof. "Zac's cheating on me and I feel like the world's worst wife right now."
"Ave you aren't the worst wife," Matilda sighed as she reached over for the hand of Avery's that wasn't on the ring and Avery let Matilda take her hand. "You love that man and if anyone is the worst of anything it's him for cheating on you."
"But he had to have his reasons," Avery said with a shake of her head. "No one just cheats to cheat and he had to have his reasons. I know things have been rough for us ever since Jude was born...hell even before Jude when we were trying for a baby before Dakota came along. Things got rough," she said with a sigh. "It took us two years to get pregnant and we lost two babies in those two years," she frowned as she remembered the two miscarriages that she had.
They'd both been early on in her pregnancies with them but they'd also both been devastating to have happened, especially when they'd wanted a baby. They'd been excited to start trying for children and foolishly they'd thought it would come easy for them.
It seemed to come easy for her brother Isaac and his wife Kelly and then of course Taylor and Matilda had their first child easy. They hadn't even been married when Matilda got pregnant with their child and yet for some reason she and Zac had struggled to even have their first child.
"After that second loss it was like we started to just have sex to try for a baby," she confessed knowing that there for a while sex had felt like a routine with him and not something that she was doing out of love for him. As much as it hurt to know she knew it had been the same for him, she saw it in his face every time they'd had sex during that time.
It was one of the reasons she'd started closing her eyes during it because she hadn't wanted to see the way he'd become checked out during it. Like he was just fulfilling a job that he had to do.
"But after Dakota things seemed okay," Avery said with a shake of her head. "We got back to where we were before," she said, knowing that once Dakota had been there everything had changed, including their sex life. They'd both started to like sex again with each other and it no longer had felt like a job.
But then they'd decided to try again a year after Dakota and while they never took things as serious that go around it had still taken a toll on them. It'd taken longer than they had hoped with him too.
"Once we had Jude though things were harder," Avery said as she felt more tears coming down her cheeks now and she didn't even bother to wipe them away. "We had two kids and I don't think we knew how to properly handle that at first," she said knowing the first few months after Jude had been hectic. She didn't think either of them had gotten a solid night's sleep up until he was probably six months old. "We sure didn't know how to connect with each other," she said knowing that it was after Jude's birth that their sex seemed to stop.
It wasn't for lack of want either. Avery wanted him, she would always want sex with her husband but there never seemed to be time or when there was time she was always exhausted.
How many times had he tried to have sex with her and she'd told him she was tired?
They'd never been excuses to get out of having sex with him. She had genuinely been tired but who knew how Zac had taken them? Who knew what had been going through his head when she'd told him no or not right now.
She half wished he'd talked to her about it. She was right there. She was his wife and she would have listened. They could have figured something out.
If she'd known he was even thinking of turning to another woman to give him what she would have easily given him, she would have worked with him to figure out ways they could have found time together.
"I don't even remember when the last time I've seen my husband naked was. I mean outside of watching him change or get out of the shower," she confessed hating that, that was the case but it was true. She didn't remember the last time she'd seen him naked in a sexual manner.
She didn't remember the last time they'd even had sex. It had to have been a few months now. Maybe Valentine's Day which was back in February and it was now November, which, that was just an awful thought. She and Zac hadn't had sex in nine months. They hadn't even had a quickie in the heat of the moment which had always seemed to be one of her favorites right after Dakota was born.
She'd loved it when he'd take her into another room, not even bothering to undress himself or her. They just pulled down the essentials and after a bit of fingering and her getting him harder than what he had been they'd go at it.
It felt hot knowing he'd needed her that much and that he couldn't wait.
Now obviously he clearly didn't need her and was getting what he wanted from someone else. He was getting what he needed from someone else.
"Oh Ave," Matilda spoke once Avery was done venting to her and hell she felt awful for the venting but once again it had felt nice to get everything out. It had felt nice to have someone who had just listened to her and it felt nice not to hold in what she was feeling. "I'm sorry," she apologized, which was funny because Matilda had nothing to be sorry for.
Matilda wasn't the one who had been cheating on her. Matilda wasn't the one who had turned to someone else instead of just talking to her and telling her how they felt instead of going and turning to another person who wasn't their spouse.
"It's not your fault," Avery said with a shake of her head. "I guess what hurts the most is Zac didn't even tell me how he felt. He didn't tell me there was something wrong and we needed to fix it. I was right there and he...he went to another woman instead of just talking to me. I would have listened to him Mattie. I would have done anything I could have to fix what was broken," she said knowing it was true.
Avery would have done anything to have kept things from getting this bad. She would have done something to make sure her husband had felt needed and wanted by her.
"Zac's a bastard," Matilda spoke and Avery let out a humorless laugh because she wanted to agree. She wanted to agree that he was a bastard but as much as she hated him right now and as angry as she was at him she still loved him too much to even be able to agree that he was a bastard.
Avery loved him way too much still even with knowing what she did. It was just his love that she doubted.
"He's a bastard and you don't deserve to be crying on your birthday," Matilda said as she squeezed the hand of Avery's that she still held and it was only then that Avery let her hand fall away from the ring on her necklace. "You deserve to be happy and he can go fuck himself," she said with a certainty in her tone. "I'm going to take you out tonight. I'll go home and tell Taylor that he's going to not only be watching Savannah and Logan but that he's going to have Dakota and Jude as well and you and I, Avery are going to go out and have the best damn night ever," she said with a smile.
Avery shook her head at Matilda's words. "I can't Mattie," she said knowing she'd feel awful leaving Taylor alone with all four kids but then again Zac had mentioned working late so it wasn't like he could watch them.
He was working late on her fucking birthday of all days....and a part of her really hoped it was a late night at the office. She hoped he wasn't going to be spending the night with the woman who it seemed he preferred to get his needs met by.
The sting of even thinking that he could be fucking another woman on her birthday was...well it was more than she could handle.
"You can and you will," Matilda said and Avery knew then there would be no more arguing with her sister-in-law. Her mind was made up and that was that. "I even have a cute little sexy fuck me black dress that you can wear," she smirked in a way that made Avery nervous. "You'll be fighting guys off left and right and when you get home tonight Zac can wonder if you were out giving him a taste of his own medicine."
At that bit Avery swallowed hard but also had doubts that Zac would wonder that at all. For all she knew he could be going to his mistress's house to get his dick wet and he wouldn't even care if Avery was out sleeping with another man.