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“What do you want from me then?” I ask warily, lifting my gaze to hers.
Her big green eyes seem to eat me up. “I miss you,” she whispers, a scowl crossing her face the moment the words leave her. “I kind of hate that I just said that, but I do. You’re an asshole.”
I stiffen at her insult, not in the mood to deal with another teardown.
“You’re arrogant and sometimes you’re insufferable, but damn it, you’re my asshole.” She taps her fingers against her chest, right on her cleavage. I don’t mean to stare but…
I do.
“You’re also the most stubborn person I know. And I’m pretty stubborn too. Most of my family is.” Her laugh is soft. “Maybe that’s why you fit in so well with us.”
I can’t let her words get my hopes up. She probably just needs to get this all out so we’ll be…what?
At peace?
I’ll never be fully at peace if I can’t have Ava.
“Everything you said is true.” Her eyes widen when I make that admission. “You’re right. I’m a stubborn asshole. You fuck with my head, Ava. You come back into my life and you’re right there, yet I can’t touch you. I can’t have you.”
I wave a hand in her direction and she takes another step closer.
“What happened last weekend in my car…” My voice drifts, and I hesitate. This is delicate territory. I say one wrong thing and I’ll set her off. Hell, I could probably say something truthful and it would set her off. Everything is so damn unpredictable between us right now and I hate it.
“I called it a mistake first,” she admits, her voice barely above a whisper. “If I should be mad at anyone about that, it’s myself.”
I stare at her.
She stares at me in return.
Jackson approaches, letting loose an uneasy chuckle. “You two kids okay over here?”
I send him a look. “We’re just talking.”
And we really didn’t need the interruption.
“Just wanting to make sure,” Jackson says, pasting on a fake smile. “Looking cute, Ava.”
“Thanks, Jackson.”
“Shut the fuck up, Jackson.”
He full-blown laughs now, the jerk.
“Just sayin’.” He backs away from us a few steps before he turns on his heel and returns to the couch, rejoining Brenden, who’s watching me and Ava with curiosity in his eyes.
I return my attention to her, gesturing toward her open flannel shirt. “You look cold.”
Ava frowns. “What are you talking about?” She glances down at her chest. “Oh.”
The look on her face when her gaze finds mine, once again, is all-knowing. As if she just realized the power she still has over me and is reveling in it.
Because yes, I was referring to her hard nipples poking against the tank top. She must be wearing the thinnest bra ever. Those babies are on full display and now I’m really irritated by them.
Stepping forward, I reach out, grabbing both sides of her flannel shirt and yanking them forward to the center of her chest, so that they meet.
Covering her nipples and the tops of her breasts completely.
“There,” I say as I take a couple of steps back, staring at her, now covered, chest. “Much better.”
