Page 12 of Aussie

He smiled. “It is just my sister and brother-in-law. We were almost finished anyway.”

She was silent as a few seconds passed. But to his relief, she nodded. “A walk sounds nice.”

As they started to walk, he shot a quick text to Wren, telling her that he was sorry to cut dinner short, but he had something he needed to take care of. He was not going to get into the details about Ava with his sister. At least not yet.

Wren’s response came almost instantly:Pursuing the pretty woman already? I see how it is. Good luck, loverboy!

Aussie chuckled, shaking his head.

Ava glanced at him. “Sorry for pulling you away from your dinner.”

“It’s fine. You didn’t interrupt anything important,” Aussie assured her. “Besides, I’d rather be here.”

Ava smiled, and he felt a little spark of victory. Then, deciding to ease into a conversation, he asked, “How’s Christian doing?”

Ava’s face lit up, and she started telling him all about how Christian was adjusting to life at her house. She told him that Christian still couldn’t stop talking about meeting all of the SEALs at the fair.

“Oh, and we looked up that organization you told us about—the Sea Cadets. Christian is very interested in joining, and I already reached out to the local unit. I called at the right time because they are having an informational meeting this week.”

“That’s great. As I said, everything I’ve seen and heard about the program is wonderful.”

“Well, Christian is very excited.”

“Glad to hear that.”

The longer they walked, the more Aussie wanted to bring up the guy from the restaurant. He wanted to know who he was to Ava.

“So, who was the guy that pissed you off?”

He noticed her expression darkened. “That was Jarod,” she said with a sigh. “We’ve known each other for a few years. We dated on and off, but something was always missing.”

Aussie’s chest tightened at the mention of her dating someone else, but when she saidwas, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of relief. “So, it’s over between you two?”

She nodded, her jaw tightening. “Oh, it’s definitely over after tonight. He showed me who the person he truly is. He said some awful things about Christian.”

Hearing that pissed Aussie off. He could feel his blood boiling as Ava recounted everything that Jarod had said. How could anyone talk about any kid like that?

“I just can’t believe that I never saw it before now.”

“In my line of work, I’ve met many people who are like chameleons. They have different sides to them. Either way, he doesn’t deserve you,” Aussie muttered.

Ava smiled at that, and they continued walking, talking about everything from Christian to Navy life. They didn’t really get into anything personal about one another. But it was still a pleasant conversation, and Aussie found himself wanting to know more about her.

Before he even realized it, a good hour had passed, and they were both surprised by how much time had flown by.

“I guess I should call an Uber,” Ava said, pulling out her phone.

“No need for that,” Aussie said quickly. “I can take you home.”

Ava hesitated, but then she smiled. “Are you sure?”

He grinned. “Positive. Plus, it’ll make me feel better knowing you made it home safely.”

“Okay.”

They walked to his red Ford F-150, which was parked in the lot across the street from the restaurant.

He opened the door for her and helped her up into the seat.