Page 42 of Make It Last

She lifted her free hand and wagged a finger at me.

“And don’t you dare lecture me about anything.”

“I’m not going to lecture you, Ava. Fuck. Your ex did a number on you.”

“Whatever. I’m over him.”

I sensed she was well over him emotionally. Except, holy hell, this guy had lashed a load of heavy baggage to her.

“You take the lead,” I said.

“What? Nuh-uh. Nuh-uh.” She shook her head quickly. “We’ve already agreed that I’m bad at sex.”

“We haven’t agreed on that. We’ve agreed that your ex was an emotionally abusive asshole, including during what should’ve been the most intimate, vulnerable time between you.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “But what if he was right?”

“He wasn’t.”

“You’ve had one kiss with me, Tanner.”

“Yep, and it was the best kiss I’ve ever had.”

She rolled her eyes, hard. “You’re just saying that to be nice.”

“I promise, I’m not. I have an ex who told me I was beige, and part of being beige, I guess, is being honest, so I’m not lying. You can ask everyone in town. I grew up here, so lots of people know me, and I’m an honest guy,” I pointed out.

Her lips twitched at the corners before she let out a giggle. The sound itself slipped around my heart like a little lasso. Fuck me. Ava could bring me to my knees with nothing more than a giggle.

“How about we just see how it goes?”

“Okay. Let’s. Let’s see how it goes. Although...” She leaned back. “No choking.”

For a minute, I wasn’t sure what she meant, and she must’ve sensed my confusion.

“A lot of guys think that’s hot. That’s what Brad said. I hated it, and I wouldn’t let him do it, but he would always try to sneak it in.”

Yet again, I lost control of my expression. “Excuse me?” My tone was sharper than I intended.

“Yeah, it’s a thing. I actually looked it up online.”

“Okay. And what did the internet teach you?”

“Well, it is a thing these days, and it’s actually unsafe. No judgment on pushing boundaries, but even medical professionals who are experts in this say it’s dangerous. Do you want me to give you some stats?”

I sensed she needed to process this out loud, so even though my heart ached, and I was burning with fury at her ex, I nodded.

“The take-home number is that even women who seem okay are at risk of stroke later on. It’s a leading cause of stroke for women under the age of forty.”

I had to stretch my jaw open from the pressure of clenching it. “Wow, that’s frightening. I promise you, I have zero interest in that. Just not my thing.”

“Okay. Okay, that’s good.” Her head bobbed quickly.

I took a slow breath, trying to gather my thoughts. “The sports analysis, the treating you the way he did, the cheating, and now this. None of this is okay. I’m not pretending to be an expert at sex at all. But this?” I waved a hand vaguely. “Nobody deserves that. You just deserve somebody to treat you decently. It’s not too much to ask.”

Ava swallowed, and my heart twisted in my chest. “I hope so. I don’t know. It always felt like I was asking for too much.”

“You were not asking for too much. Ever. I promise.”