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I stomp into the kitchen, grab the bottle of whiskey from the cupboard, and rip the lid off. I don’t bother with a glass. I take a couple of swings straight from the bottle, relishing the burn I feel in my chest. I might be an itch Avery can’t scratch, but Hawk and Creed are buried under her skin. In ten—or twenty—years, my happily ever after might become Avery’s shackles.
I put the bottle back before I drink too much and turn just as Avery steps into the room, standing there in my clothes with that damn look of uncertainty on her face. I realize two things. One, whoever said love at first sight was bullshit had just never experienced it. It’s way too early to be feeling what I’m feeling, but it doesn’t change the fact that I know that, in another life, this woman was supposed to be mine.
Which brings me to my second revelation. Loving Avery means wanting her to be happy, no matter the cost to me. Hawk and Creed can make her happy if they can sort their shit out. As she steps closer to me, I swallow the nausea that makes the whiskey swirl in my stomach.
If healing Avery means helping Hawk and Creed fix what they broke, so be it.
Chapter Twenty-One
Avery
Lying in bed, I stare at the ceiling as I hear the door click open. I close my eyes and pretend to sleep as I hear E enter the room. After what happened earlier, my head was all over the place. My body reacts to him being this close even now, but my heart is torn in two.
He backed off after I found him standing in the kitchen. I know he’s trying to keep a respectful distance between us—just another reason why I like the guy so much. But keeping my distance from the man is going to prove difficult.
I have no business getting involved with the man when my life is one big old cesspit of chaos and danger. I haven’t recovered from the last time I let men into my heart, and now, with my job—and heck, life on the line—tying myself to E would only put him in danger. The best thing I can do is ask Zig if there is somewhere else I can stay. The only thing that keeps me from opening my mouth is the knowledge that they’d probably put me with Hawk and Creed.
I hear him undress. I swallow, trying to keep my body relaxed even as I feel certain parts wake up. This is bad, so fucking bad. I can’t deny that I’ve been going through the motions for the last few years in a kind of self-imposed trance. But something about E has snapped me out of it and forced me to remember that there is more to life than just being alive. You have to actually live too. I hear the creak of the chair as he sits down and feel tears prick my eyes.
He’s seriously going to spend the night in the chair? Jesus, I can’t do this.
“Ev?”
“Shit. Sorry, Avery. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You didn’t. I can’t sleep. My brain just won’t switch off.”
“Want me to play some music or something?”
“No. I want you to come lie down with me.” Fuck, I didn’t mean to say that, but I won’t sleep at all if I know he’s sitting in the damn chair.
“Avery, it’s fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“You don’t need to worry about me either, and yet there is a reason why you’re choosing to sleep in that chair instead of on the sofa.”
He doesn’t answer, so I flip the covers back, thankful now that the crazy hot spell has ended. The storm tonight brought with it a ton of rain and lowered the temperature by probably fifteen degrees.
“Come on. We’re both adults, and the bed is huge.”
He doesn’t move for a minute, but eventually, I hear him pad across the floor on bare feet and feel him climb in beside me. I roll away from him, leaving plenty of space between us, and close my eyes. My body feels alive with him this close, but it also feels safe, which goes a long way toward helping me relax.
I cover my mouth and yawn. “Night, Ev.”
“Night, Avery.” His deep voice rumbles over my skin moments before I fall asleep.
When I wake up, I can tell it’s light out, even though the shutters keep it dark in here. There is just enough muted light filtering in for me to make out the shapes of the furniture in the room. It takes me a second to realize I’m not on my side anymore but sprawled across E’s chest. E’s bare chest.
God, please don’t let me have left a puddle of drool.
As discreetly as I can, I lift my hand and wipe my mouth. Attempting to slide away without disturbing him, I jolt when his arm tightens around me and he moans in his sleep. My clit responds with a throb, making me bite back a moan of my own. Dear sweet baby Jesus, now I understand why they say the path to hell is paved with good intentions.
He might have had a stiff neck from sleeping in the chair, but now he has something else stiff, and it’s pressing against my leg. And Lord, it’s making me forget all the reasons I told myself to stay away from the man.
When his other arm moves over me and his hand cups my ass, I know I’m fucked. And if I don’t get off this bed right now, it won’t just be figurative. I pull back and roll away, not bothering to worry about waking him.
“Avery?” His sleepy voice almost makes me orgasm on the spot. I don’t know whether to laugh or scream.
“Hmm,” I reply, sitting up, studiously not looking at him.
