She scowls down at me, and I glare up at her, realizing I can see straight up her skirt to the space between her creamy-white thighs.Holy fuck.
I feel like a teenager again, my mind conjuring images of what I've been dreaming of doing to her since she gave me my first hard on. I’m assaulted by images of me trailing my tongue through that apex, making her scream my name in pleasure. The thoughts don't help my erection one bit.
“Just...keep it steady, OK? I’m going to see if I can get a signal up here.” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone, squinting at the screen in the odd lighting as she lifts it higher and lower side to side. “Shit!” Her face changes from intense concentration to absolute frustration. “We’re in a deadzone.”
“I could’ve told you that,” I say, watching her climb back down. “We’re surrounded by earth and iron. No signal is getting down here.”Besides, I checked my cell for a signal the moment was in my hand.
Avery drops to the floor and shoves her finger into my chest. "This is all your fault!".
“Myfault?”
"We wouldn't be stuck here in this situation ifyou"—she jabs me again, but harder—"had juststayed"—she flattens her palm and attempts to shove me—"the hellaway!" I don’t move.
“Avery,” I say, my voice soft yet harsh.
“I hate you!” A flash of frustration lights up her eyes as she lifts both hands and comes in for a full-on body slam. But before she can connect, I grab her wrists and pull her toward me, wrapping her in my arms and holding her tight. She doesn’t hate me. If she feels even half of what I feel for her, there’s no way she ever could. But she’s acting like a trapped animal, cornered and afraid. And I don’t blame her. I doubt this is where either of us thought we'd end up when we woke up this morning.
"Shh, it's OK, sweetheart,” I whisper as her body stiffens and trembles. “It will all be OK.Wewill be OK." I breathe in the scent of her hair before I pull us apart slightly so I can look into her eyes. "It's not like no one knows we're here. Once Mark realizes you haven't come back, he'll send someone to find us."
Swallowing hard, she nods then pushes herself away from me, going back to the shelf underneath the hole without another word. “Tyler?” she says, once the shelf is between us. I look at her with raised eyebrows, and she continues. “I’m not your sweetheart, so don’t call me it. You gave that chance up when you left.”
“You’ll always be my sweetheart, Avery. You always were,” I say, keeping my eyes on hers until she blinks rapidly then looks away.
Turning away, I shake my head and sigh. This is going to be a long day. I knew coming back wasn't going to be easy… I knew she would react this way, although I didn't expect her heart to bethishardened against me.
But if there’s anything I am, it’s a fighter. I enjoy a challenge—I wouldn’t be where I am if I didn’t. And I’m just about cocky enough to call it—by the time we get out of this hole, she’ll be mine. We’re meant to be.
