“I didn’t realize Avery was back in your life.” Slater shot me a questioning look, though I didn’t miss the slight tone in his voice. He’d been so pissed off at me for hurting Avery, and I don’t think he ever fully forgave me for it, given that the two of them had been close, and afterwards, it’d been too hard for her to stick around.
“I hadn’t planned it that way. But I turned the corner at GTC, and there she was—which meant I was screwed. She knew damn well I didn’t belong there, and if I was there, then I sure as shit wasn’t up to anything good.” I still couldn’t quite believe it. Yet it only made sense that a firm so dependent on keeping their information secure would only hire the best—and there were very few people better than Avery. “I’m just lucky she didn’t turn me in, or we’d all be fucked and I’d be facing some serious prison time.”
“Are you sleeping with her?” The tone was still there, and though I was willing to cut him some slack, given that his current injuries probably weren’t helping his mood any, he was starting to piss me off.
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business, Slater.” It didn’t matter that they were friends. This still didn’t concern him.
“Just don’t fucking hurt her again.” He let out a weary sigh, tossing me a glare, though it was filled more with frustration than anger. “You didn’t see her afterwards... She was such a wreck, Dane.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” I already felt like crap about it—and I’d had four years to contemplate just how much I’d hurt her. “You know how miserable I’ve been without her in my life. And I don’t need you on my case about something that’s in the past. Because I’m not going to hurt her again—and I’m not going to let her go.”
He nodded. “Good. ’Cause you’re not the only one who missed her.”
I wanted to be annoyed with him, but I couldn’t be. Not when he hadn’t said a word these last four years, despite losing his good friend because of my fuck-up. “Listen...this thing with Stubbs...I hate that you’ve become a target, and I don’t know if things are going to escalate. Don’t suppose you want to get out of town for a bit? Make yourself less of a target.”
“Can’t. You know that I’m working with Blackthorn Security now.” Our cousins had a security firm, and since Slater didn’t have much interest in our family’s whiskey distillery, working with our cousins was a good option, especially since it seemed to keep him out of mischief. “We’re in the middle of a few important jobs and I don’t want to bail on them.”
“I get it. Just be careful, okay? Stubbs is an asshole, and he’s used to doing whatever he wants without having to deal with any consequences.” I pulled into Slater’s driveway, and made sure to get him inside and settled, just in case he had anymore unexpected visitors. “Call me if it feels like any of your injuries are taking a turn for the worse.”
“I will.” Slater dropped his keys on the counter, leaning against it. “Listen... I’m sorry for giving you a hard time about Avery. It’s just that things can get complicated in the blink of an eye—and if they do...you just need to cut her some slack. Okay? You guys have been apart for a long time, and...sometimes things aren’t black or white.”
What the hell was he talking about? “What is this about, Slater?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Slater shrugged off my question and waved me away. “Go. You don’t want Avery to start thinking that Stubbs grabbed you, too, while you were out and about.”
“Call me if you need anything.” I took off and headed home, though I was left mulling over Slater’s last words, wondering what he meant about cutting Avery some slack. Over what? And what did it have to do about us being apart, about things being complicated?
Was there something he knew that I didn’t?
Or...
No...
He better not have.
I brushed off the thought that something had happened between Slater and Avery. No fucking way. He wouldn’t dare touch her. And he wouldn’t betray me like that.
Except that I had betrayed Avery, and the truth was Slater had been more than a little pissed off.
Pissed off enough to sleep with my girl?
Except that she hadn’t been my girl after I fucked things up.
No... No fucking way.
Anger flamed inside my chest at the thought of the two of them together—and then I chastised myself for being a paranoid idiot. She had told me that she hadn’t slept with anyone else. I was just being a jealous ass for no reason. Unless, of course, one of them put a stop to it before it got as far as them actually sleeping together. After all, there had always been something between them...some sort of close friendship and connection that I hadn’t been privy to, despite our love for each other. I’d always thought that she saw him like a younger brother, with the two of them joking and teasing each other, whereas our relationship had always been so much more intense. We connected on so many different levels.
Yet, maybe none of that had mattered when she’d been recovering from a broken heart.
I punched the steering wheel in frustration, and then forced the thoughts from my head, refusing to believe that Slater would betray me like that. Avery might, after what I did to her—but even then, I don’t think she’d have it in her to do such a thing.
Which meant I was making myself crazy for no fucking reason.
I got home in record time, desperate to claim Avery as mine. Letting myself in, I found Avery cleaning up in the kitchen and immediately closed the distance between us, cupping the back of her neck and kissing her, my mouth crashing down on hers. My tongue swept over hers as she returned my passion, her soft curves pressing against me, trapping my hard cock between us.
I was desperate for her, and though we’d taken things slow and sweet before, this wasn’t going to be that sort of coupling. My hands drifted down her back to grab her ass, hauling her off her feet, loving how she wrapped her legs around my waist as I pinned her against the wall.
“I’ve missed this, Avery...missed you...” My words were but a murmur against her skin as I yanked her top up over her head, biting her nipples through her lacy bra before removing it so I could feast on her properly. I sucked on her nipples and then trailed kisses up to her lush lips, desperate to have her. “I’m never letting you go... You’re mine, baby... Mine and no one else’s.”
She smiled against my lips. “Is that so?”
I practically growled out the words. “Damn right it is.”