AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her toast hits her plate, her eyes closing briefly to gather herself. She’s digging her heels in, and that’s not what I need right now. I need acquiescence. “Jesse, I’m not marrying you next month.” She takes her plate to the bin and drops the rest of her toast in there. I can see what’s coming a mile off. She’s going to walk away.
“Come here,” I say, feeling my heartbeats quickening. It’s unstoppable. Annoying. Almost like an alarm bell that’s goes off inside me to warn me shit’s about to go down, or, in other words, Ava is leaving.
“No,” she says simply, facing me, her determination worrying. So perhaps I need to fuck some sense into her. Convince her in a way we both love. “And you are not going to be fucking an agreement out of me,” she fires, reading my mind, making me recoil. “Forget it.”
“Watch your fucking mouth, Ava,” I grumble, going for the jugular. It’s not failed me yet. “Three.”
Poor thing, her eyes nearly pop out of her head. Why’s she so stunned? This is what we do. Spar with words. Then with bodies. Ava says no to something she wants, and I convince her I’m right and she’s wrong. “Oh no.” She laughs. “Don’t even think about it.”
Too late. I’ve thought about it, and it’s happening. “Two.”
“No,” she warns.
I smile to myself as she scans the space, searching for an escape. I get up and brush off my hands, getting ready to catch her. The countdown. Best invention ever. It takes a heated discussion to heat of another kind. It’s our way of resolving our differences. And best of all, I always come out on top. Literally. “One.”
“Jesse, you can fuck right off!” She flinches herself this time, a sign that even she hates her swearing. And another clue, if ever I needed one, and I don’t, that she’s in it to wind me the hell up.
“Mouth,” I yell, not wasting anymore time. “Zero.” I round the island, and she goes the other way. “Come here.”
“No.” She switches directions, as do I. “What’s the rush? I’m not going anywhere.”
“Damn right you’re not. Why are you delaying it?”
“I’m not delaying,” she argues. “It takes a good year to organize a wedding.”
“Not our wedding.” I feign breaking out in a run, stopping when she yelps and dashes off the other way. “Stop running from me, Ava. You know it makes me crazy mad.”
“Then stop being unreasonable.” She yelps again when I make a dash for her, but she somehow manages to keep the distance between us.
She’s in control.
“Ava,” I warn.
“Jesse,” she sings, sarcastic as fuck, mocking the hell out of me.
“Right.” I break out in a sprint, and she squeals, laughing as she runs out of the kitchen. I’ll have her in my arms by step five, easy. But she doesn’t go up the stairs. She dashes into the gym and slams the door, and I wedge a palm into the glass just before it meets the frame, my jaw tight as I look at her on the other side, merely an inch away, so close. But I can’t reach her. I’ll put her on her arse if I barge in. Maybe shatter the glass.Fucking hell.All I can see is Ava in that dream. Within reach but not reachable. “Let go of the door.”
“What are you going to do?” she asks, and I freeze, registering her worry past my own. What am I going to do? Love her. That’s what I’m going to do. With everything I have, I will love her, and I need her to let me do that.
“What do you think I’m going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
Her answer pains me, and I loosen my hold. It’s the small window of opportunity she needs, and she takes it, quickly slamming the door and locking it.The fuck?“You didn’t just do that.” I take the handle for what it’s worth. This door isn’t opening unless I smash the fucking thing down. Panic. It’s brewing. “Ava, open the door.” I can’t control my breath, and Ava must see that. But she still refuses. She leaves me suffering. “Ava, you know how it makes me feel if I can’t lay my hands on you. Open the door.”
“No.” She stands her ground, but I can see it’s hard for her. I can see it’s going against the grain for her too, which makes it all the more pathetic that we’re here. “Tell me we can discussourwedding reasonably.”
“We were. Ava, please,” I beg. “Open the door.’
“No, we weren’t discussing it, Jesse. You weretellingme how it’s going to be.” Her head tilts and shakes mildly too. “You’ve really never had a relationship, have you?”
“No.” This isn’t breaking news. “I’ve told you this.”
“I can tell,” she breathes, looking increasingly exasperated while I’m becoming increasingly stressed. I look at the lock on the door. Wonder if Clive has a toolbox. “You’re shit at it.”
I snap my gaze to hers, insulted. I’m shit at it? “I love you,” I say, wounded. Am I terrible at that? “Please, open the door.” How did we get here? Not half hour ago we were making love after taking the next step in our incredible relationship. Consummating. Loving. Now we’re a million miles away from each other with a barrier between us. I see myself, feeling at the never-ending pane of glass stretching out into the distance, looking up and seeing it stretching up to the sky. No way round. No way over. No way through. Ava is on the other side. The side where I can’t be. The side where everyone I’ve ever loved can be found. I blink, wince, shudder.
“Do you agree?”
