AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Zero,” I mouth, pacing around the front of my car, as she gasps, heading around the back, keeping her distance. “What are you doing?” I ask, changing direction. So does she. Fucking pointless. I’ll catch her, even now when I’m running on half a tank.
“Nothing.” She keeps her eyes on mine, wary, thrilled, annoyed.
“Come here.” I make my demand purposely low, showing her exactly where I’m at. Hungry. Starving, in fact.
“No.”
Fine. I break out in a sprint without warning, and she screeches, bombing off in the other direction, running between some parked cars before disappearing completely.
Fuck, where did she go? I slow, already pretty fucking knackered, my ego majorly dented, my body letting me down. Damn it. Turns out the tank’s nearly empty. I catch my breath, scanning the car park for her. Nothing.
“Fuck it,” I mutter, resorting to dirty tactics, bending over, bracing my hands lightly on my knees, heaving. I peek to my left, seeing an elderly couple heading my way, their old, wrinkled faces a picture of concern.
“Jesse!” Ava’s voice sounds high and distraught. I’m a little bit sorry. Not much.
“Is he all right, love?” the old guy asks, just as I spot her feet in my field of vision.
“I don’t—”
I move as fast as my body will allow, and she yelps as I lift her over my shoulder and stride away, enduring the pain in my hand. Because she’s attached to me. Touching. Close.
“Don’t mess with me, Ava.” I smile at the old couple, who look rather alarmed. “You should know by now, I always win.” With my busted hand holding her on my shoulder, I go in for the kill, feeling up her leg until I pass the hem of her dress. I inhale, warmth radiating throughout me. My bad hand instantly feels better. My heart instantly settles.
“My knickers are flashing,” she whines, feeling back to try and pat down the skirt of her dress.
“No, they’re not.” Five minutes ago, my dick was the only part of me thatdidn’thurt or ache. Trust my unquenchable need for this woman to fix that.
When I reach the car, I reluctantly let her slide down my chest, our fronts compressed. I can feel her heart. Can she feel mine? It’s pounding harder than it has in days. I can’t bring myself to release her. The longer I hold her, the more chance there is of her remembering.
Her eyes level with mine, I gaze at her pensively.Kiss her.Show her. Remind her.
But she starts wriggling before I can put my plan into action. “We need to go to the supermarket,” she says quietly, diverting her eyes, looking away from me. The supermarket? When the fuck have I ever been to a supermarket?
Just last week. To stock up on vodka.
My hand starts to throb again. My heartbeat dulls. My head bangs. I release Ava’s squirming body on a tired exhale. “How can I fix things if you keep dodging my attempts?”
She sorts out her dress and gives me a pointed look. We’ve gone from hysterics to playful to downright awkward in the space of a few minutes. It’s a roller coaster. I want off. “That’s your problem, Jesse,” she says, clipped, and I shrink a little under her condemning glare. “You want to fix things by distracting me with your touch instead of talking to me and giving me some answers. I can’t let that happen again.” The Aston doors unlock, and she falls into the driver’s seat.
And that’syourproblem, Jesse.
She’s not asked me any fucking questions to answer yet. Won’t talk. Seems content enduring the screaming silence that keeps falling between us. So, where does that leave us? In no-man’s land.
I fall into the seat, and Ava pulls off a lot faster than before. She’s mad. With herself? I can’t imagine having to resist something that I desperately want. What Icanimagine is being deprived of something I desperatelyneed. And there might be our problem.
Shewantsme.
I, on the other hand,needher.
The two are very different and put us on opposite ends of the desperation scale. That’s not a good position for me to be in.
Who has the power, Ward?
Stupid fucking question.
4
I hate supermarkets,but today more so. It’s just another obstacle in my way, something to delay me getting Ava home. “There’s a space.” I point across the car park and get my arm smacked in thanks.
