“I’m going to fucking kill you.” There was no controlling my jealous rage when I realized that it wasn’t Avery answering the door, but rather Huck, wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks. What the fuck was he doing in her room?
My fist connected with his jaw as he landed a punch to my gut, the two of us brawling and trying to kill each other in the confined space of the hotel room entry. I was oblivious of any pain, my hurt and anger dulling all other senses, even as I heard Avery’s screams and she begged us to stop. Yet if it hadn’t been for neither of us wanting her to get hurt as she physically tried to separate us, we likely wouldn’t have given up pummeling each other until one of us was unconscious.
“For fuck’s sake, what the hell is wrong with the two of you?” Avery stood between us, shooting a furious glare between the two of us. “And what the hell are you doing here?”
It hadn’t been all that difficult to track down Avery, given that she hadn’t actually turned off her phone—she just hadn’t bothered to answer any of my calls. Tracking her with her phone on? That had been a piece of cake. And though I’d been a bit surprised to see that she had ended up in Hawaii, I now knew why.
“I’m here because I needed to see you.” I wiped the blood from my split lip, my body already stiff and painful from the blows Huck had landed, though he didn’t seem to be in any better shape.
“Why?” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, her skin sun-kissed and her long hair wavy from the salty seawater and ocean breeze. She looked like a goddess of the sun and sea, though with the look she was giving me, I had no doubt she’d have shipwrecked me against a craggy coastline if I’d been sailing the open waters. “It’s not like you answered any of my calls, even when I was just trying to give you an update on Stubbs.”
I glared at Huck when he started to give his two cents on the matter, and then refocused my attention on Avery, who was the only one who mattered. “I’m here because I fucking love you—and though I somehow manage to fuck things up between us, time and again, I’m still hoping you’ll find it in your heart to overlook the fact that I’m an idiot and an asshole.”
I had no problem fessing up to the fact that I’d made more than my share of idiotic mistakes. Except that this time, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to let her walk out of my life.
“What about the fact that I’ve been working as a consultant for the Feds and I went behind your back and tagged the file you gave Stubbs?” Her stance had yet to soften, and neither had her gaze. Though she kept her distance away from me, she was still acting as a barrier to keep me and Huck from murdering each other.
“I’m not saying that I’m not frustrated with the situation, but I get why you did it, Avery.” It wasn’t like she hadn’t tried to steer me in the direction she knew the Feds were heading in. I just wished she’d opened up to me about what she had planned. Except that I knew chances were good that I would never have agreed to let her go through with it, and we may have very well ended up right where we were now, but without Stubbs behind bars. “Can we go somewhere to talk—just the two of us?” I shot a glare in Huck’s direction, only to get it back in spades. Not that I cared.
“Give me a minute. I need to get changed.” Yet instead of disappearing into the bathroom to put on more clothes, she pulled Huck out onto the balcony, sliding the door shut behind them.
I was left to watch as they discussed something. She reached out and grabbed his arm, as he shook his head no, not looking too happy. Obviously, he wanted me gone so he could keep Avery all to himself. But that wasn’t going to fucking happen, though it was already hard enough to watch them together. How they stood so close to each other...how he cupped the back of her neck and bent his head to hers to whisper in her ear...how she didn’t pull away.
And it fucking served me right.
But I’d learned my lesson. Finally. And I wasn’t going to ever let her go again.
Now all I had to do was convince her to give me one more chance.
She left Huck on the balcony and came inside, quickly grabbing some clothes before heading into the bathroom. Luckily she didn’t take long, and just a few minutes later, we were heading down the elevator and out into the warm tropical air.
We walked side-by-side down the winding paths, the night air fragrant from the myriad blooms. “I’ve missed you, Avery...”
“Don’t you dare. You do not get to do that, Dane. You don’t get to send me away, and then ignore me, especially given our past. But you did.” She stopped walking and turned to face me, her gaze intense and clearly not influenced by the romantic setting surrounding us. “So why the hell are you here—and don’t tell me it’s because you’ve missed me.”
“It’s because I realized that you’re the only thing that matters. I want you back, and I’ll do anything to make that happen. I get that I’ve fucked up yet again, but I swear it’ll be the last time it happens. I know that you were only trying to help me and my family—and I truly appreciate it. I think it just caught me off guard, and then...I don’t know. I guess I started to question whether any of it was real, or if it had all been a lie from the start—even though I never should have doubted you.” For such a supposedly smart guy, I really was an idiot. I just hoped she’d see it in her heart to forgive me. “I need you to know how much I love you...how much you mean to me.”
“I can’t just take you back, Dane. I want to. But...I don’t trust you at the moment. Not with my heart.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, as if gathering her strength and reining in her emotions. “Things right now...they’re a hell of a lot more complicated.”
“Does this have anything to do with Huck?” I practically growled out the question, hating myself for not keeping my jealousy in check. But what the hell was I supposed to think when she was vacationing in Hawaii with him? And the way he touched her... It made my blood boil, even if I had no right to be jealous at the moment.
If anything had happened between them, I could blame no one but myself. I was the one who’d pushed her away, and the blame lay squarely on my shoulders.