On Dry Land (Swimming Upstream #3) by Rebecca Barber Read Free Book Online Page B

ago.
    “Ava?”
    Tyler heard his voice wobble and knew he sounded like a pussy, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t. Ava was ghostly white and her hand was clammy in his. He’d seen her look like this once before. An image that was burnt in his brain. An image he wished he could forget, but knew he never would. At their first meeting, their first encounter, Ava had looked like this. Just once. On that day she’d ended up in an unconscious heap on the floor. Tyler was not about to let that happen again.
    Tyler pulled into the car park faster than he should have, splattering the other cars with a shower of mud and dirty water. Jumping from the car, Tyler was at Ava’s door and helping her out of the car before she had a chance to move.
    He wanted to ask her what was wrong. He wanted to ask her what had happened. He wanted to know what he’d done wrong to cause that type of reaction. Instead he remained silent. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he slipped his sunglasses over his eyes, mussed up his hair, and led her towards the waterfront.
    Silently, Ava fell in step.
    Tyler knew Ava didn’t want him to see her tears falling behind her sunglasses that covered more than half her face. So instead of calling her out, he held her close and just walked. He wasn’t naïve enough to believe that no one recognized him, but he was thankful no one approached him. Right now the only person in the world that mattered was the woman in his arms.
    He felt her suck in a deep breath before coughing it back out. “So, where are you taking me?” she asked meekly.
    “Breakfast!”
    “You can’t be serious!”
    “Absolutely! Come on, Ava, we barely ate dinner and I’ve worked up quite an appetite in the last twelve hours. I’m starving. And before you tell me that you’re not, I heard your stomach growling like a possessed demon earlier.”
    Tyler smiled as he watched the torment cross her features. She blew out the breath she was holding as pink dusted her cheeks. Ava, his Ava, was coming back to him bit by bit.
    “How ’bout here?” Tyler suggested as he paused on the boardwalk at the entrance to a busy café.
    “It’s packed!”
    “So? Come on, let’s grab a table,” Tyler suggested, guiding her to the only free table in the sun.
    Ava didn’t have a chance to reply before she was sitting in an aluminium chair holding a menu.
    “Coffee?”
    “What?” Ava looked up, startled.
    “Would you like a coffee?” Tyler asked again, indicating the cute redheaded waitress standing beside him closely. Perhaps a little too close. Ava barely nodded and Tyler placed their order.
    Tyler watched as Ava tilted her head towards the warmth of the sun, exposing her long, pale neck. His fingers itched to touch it but he was in public. He’d refrain until they were alone. Even if it hurt him to do so.
    Sitting on the boardwalk in the sun, it was a perfect day. The bright blue sky was covered sporadically by fluffy white clouds and the odd bird circling. There was a slight breeze keeping the temperature down and sending the intoxicating scent of bacon through the café. Tyler’s mouth watered
    “Tyler,” Ava whispered so softly that he barely heard her over the chatter that surrounded them.
    “Yeah, Short Stack?”
    “People are staring.”
    “So?”
    “So? Don’t you get it? People can see us,” Ava admitted, shaking her head and sinking low in her chair.
    Tyler watched as she tried to hide from view. And he snapped. He’d had enough of all of it. Hiding from the world. Ava sneaking away. Trying to be something he wasn’t. Living his life in the shadows wasn’t the way Tyler wanted to live.
    “Ava, listen to me very clearly. I don’t give a fuck. I want people to see us. I want us to live a normal life. Be a normal couple. Do normal things.”
    “Normal things?”
    “Yes. Normal things.”
    “Like?”
    “Like when my girlfriend comes over, she spends the night. The whole night. She doesn’t sneak out sometime before