by Claire Raye
“Impatient,” he says, now leaving me standing in the middle of his flat all hot and bothered, but still wondering how this meeting is going to go down.
“Lewis!” This time I do yell just as he’s about to press the button to let his friend in. “I don’t even know your last name!” I cover my face with my hands and not out of embarrassment but more out of fear of the unknown.
“It’s Bristol,” he replies, and gives me that stunning, I’m-going-to-fuck-you-senseless smirk. It’s the same one that drew me in all those months ago. It’s the same one that kept me coming back and it’s the same one that made me move in with him. It’s going to get me into a hell of a lot more trouble.
“Okay because that would’ve been awkward,” I reply sarcastically, knowing that the whole situation is going to be awkward to an outsider.
“Ava,” Lewis growls as he takes in my face, his intense brown eyes settling on mine. “It will be your last name soon enough if I have anything to say about it.”
He strides over to where I’m standing, his boots harsh on the hardwood floor. His hand reaches up and slips around my neck, his fingers gripping tightly as he moves me closer to him.
“Settle down, sweet girl,” he murmurs, his lips nearly touching mine, his hand still gripping my neck. There’s a softness to his words, but a harshness to his touch, and the combination makes my heart race. I’ve never had anyone have this effect on my body; it’s heady and consuming and compulsive. My hands fist his t-shirt and just as I’m about to press my lips to his there’s a loud and jarring pounding on the door.
“Lewis, let me in!” the voice screams from the other side of the heavy wooden door and that’s when I realize it’s a woman’s voice. Lewis’ best friend is a woman. Something I didn’t see coming and wave of jealousy ripples through me.
I feel my eyes widen as I pull away from him, stepping back as he sprints for the door. He whips it open, and there, standing in the doorway with her hands on her curvy hips, is the leggy brunette I saw him with last night.
She’s all big boobs and a great ass, long legs and olive skin. She looks like Chrissy Teigan and sounds like Kate Beckinsale, and fuck me if I can compete with that.
I can’t and now I want to cry.
“What the hell, Lewis?” she questions, still not noticing me as I stupidly stand there saying nothing. “Oliver had to let me in.” She shoves past him, but turns around almost instantly so she’s facing him.
“Where’s your damn key?” he questions her as he closes the door.
They’re talking so fast I’m having trouble catching everything they’re saying.
“Left it in my other bag,” she replies, holding up a large leather bucket bag that looks to be quite expensive. “I thought we were getting breakfast?”
“We are, but…” and just as he’s about to introduce me, V’s eyes fall on me and whatever semblance of a good time she thought they were going to have has now completely faded. With her face completely unreadable and her mouth set in a firm line, she looks me up and down, and then whips around to look at Lewis.
“You have a guest?” she questions, her hands on her hips, her head cocked to the side. “You didn’t mention that.”
Well, she’s far more readable now and if I’ve learned anything from working in the movie industry it’s kill them with kindness.
I walk over and stand next to Lewis as I extend a hand, a huge smile on my face and say, “Hi, I’m Ava McDonald.”
She now looks at my outstretched hand, but never takes it, just replies with, “I’m Victoria.” Flipping her muted brown hair over her shoulder, she turns her back on me and calls out, “A moment, Lewis.” A hand thrown in the air, flagging him toward the bathroom.
“Be right back, babe,” Lewis says, grabbing my ass and squeezing as he walks by, following V into the bathroom.
Of course his best friend is a stunningly beautiful girl who has the perfect natural mushroom brown hair that is now trendy and looks amazing on her. I hate this feeling of jealously that looms heavy in my chest, but I’m clearly not the only one who feels it.
Once he’s in there, she slams the door and all I hear is her perfect muffled accent yelling at Lewis. Everything about her is perfect, even the way she chastises him for obviously shacking up with some random girl. I do get her concern, but she hasn’t even given me a chance.
I walk into the kitchen not wanting it to seem like I’ve been listening in on their conversation. I begin opening cabinets, trying to familiarize myself with what will be my new home. I grab a coffee mug from the cabinet and then begin to explore, attempting to locate where Lewis keeps the coffee, but come up short.
With the mug in my hand, I let out a defeated huff just as Victoria walks into the kitchen.
“He doesn’t drink coffee,” she says, her tone clipped and again with her hands on her hips, her long leg jutting out slightly. “Only tea,” she adds, a long finger pointing at the teakettle that’s resting on the stovetop. “All of his friends know that about him.”
“Okay,” I reply, suddenly not certain how to respond. I deal with passive aggressive people like her all the time in my career and they never throw me for a loop like this. I’m inarticulate and coming across as meek and stupid.
I set the mug down on the small table that sits in the center of the kitchen just as Lewis makes an appearance.
“All ready to go?” he asks, seemingly unaware of the tension between the two of us that is currently happening in his kitchen. He claps his large hands together once, nodding his head and that’s when I notice the letter V tattooed on the outside of his right wrist. My stomach recoils, bile churning up into my throat, but I swallow it back.
“Yep, absolutely,” I respond with no idea what is going on or where we are going, but I walk over to where he’s standing.
“Do we have a minute so I can change into something else?” I ask, my words quiet and directed only at Lewis.
“Of course, babe,” he says, pulling me in and kissing my temple. I slip away quickly and head for the solace of the bathroom.
Once I’m in there, I sit down on the toilet, sucking in a deep breath as I feel the tears begin to well up in my eyes. I’ve obviously intruded on something and it’s making both V and me horribly uncomfortable. This is the last thing I wanted to happen.
I wipe at my eyes, trying to gain some composure and chalking up my possibly irrational feelings to jetlag and nervousness. I begin to root through my suitcase hoping I have something decent packed given I didn’t realize I’d be going out immediately following my arrival.
Most of my clothes are in storage since I didn’t know where I would be living, but I pull a pair of leggings and an oversized sweater. Slipping them on quickly so I don’t upset V even more by making her wait longer than necessary, and I’m ready in under a minute. The last thing I need is to piss her off even more, but when I emerge from the bedroom, it doesn’t seem to have mattered. The scowl is still on her flawless face.
When I take a spot on the other side of him, he throws his arms around our shoulders and asks, “Ready, ladies?” and V nods her head as we begin walking toward the door. His arms drop from around our shoulders as he opens the door and V steps through. As she does, I reach out and rest my hand on Lewis’ wrist, seeing this as an opportunity to tell him how I’m feeling.
“You didn’t tell me your best friend is a super model,” I whisper, my hand still on his wrist as I smile up at him. It’s an attempt to lighten what I’ve just said, but still hopefully showing how I’m feeling.
Lewis lets go of the door, which closes slowly, leaving V in the hallway by herself as Lewis pushes me up against the back of the door. Pinning my arms above my head with his hands, his body is flush against mine.
“Ava,” he whispers, “you’re jealous.” He takes my wrists in one of his hands, the other hand slipping under my sweater as he pulls the cup of my bra down and squeezes my breast. “Remember where my dick just was. Remember that you’re w
alking around with my come inside your body. You’re the only girl I’ve come inside bare. And you will always be the only one.”
“Okay,” I mutter, breathless and wondering how one person’s words can drive my body into such oblivion. Right now I want him to fuck me up against this door.
He pulls the cup of my bra back up over my breast as his hand falls away from mine, but his body remains pressed against me.
“I love you, Ava, and trust me when I say that. I don’t toss that around. I fucking mean it.”
Our moment is cut short by V knocking on the door, her hand hitting right where my head is currently resting, and it startles me.
“Lewis, are you coming?” she asks, her voice cutting into what has just occurred and ruining the fact that Lewis just told me he loved me. She’s obviously unaware of what has just happened and probably doesn’t realize the role she played in it. Or maybe she does.
When we’re finally on the sidewalk outside Lewis’ pub, he slips his hand in mine and we begin walking. I tighten my grip on his hand; smiling up at him so he knows what happened between us just moments ago didn’t go unnoticed by me.
He mouths the words, “I love you,” to me as he kisses my hand and I lean over and press a kiss to his shoulder, and despite it being covered by his jacket I know it affects him.
“Where are we going?” I ask, directing my question at Lewis, but of course Victoria jumps in, her response in a tone that has a bit of a snip to it.
“Where we always go on Tuesday mornings.”
“And where is that?” I shoot back, not letting her continue to walk all over me.
“This little bar down the street. They serve the best breakfast,” Lewis says, cutting in before Victoria can answer with more sass this time. She seems to be growing more annoyed with me as the time passes.
It only takes us about five minutes to reach the place and Lewis pulls open the door, holding it for V as she walks in first, and I follow after her. He swats me on the ass and I look over my shoulder at him, winking as I whisper, “Just wait till we get home.”
“Oh, I can’t fucking wait.”
V shoots across the bar to a table in the back. Luckily for me it has four chairs because I could see her not caring at all if it were a table for two. But when she reaches the table she doesn’t sit down. She waits for Lewis who slides into the chair at the back right of the table and then she literally sits down right next to him, forcing me to sit across from him.
She can’t honestly tell me that she sits next to him every single time they eat together. That’s just weird and everyone knows it. She’s trying to make me feel out of place, and she’s totally winning at that. Yet for some reason Lewis completely misses her obviousness.
“You need to have the Full English,” Lewis tells me, pointing it out on the menu. “It’s my favorite.”
“I love English breakfast,” I reply, the conversation not including V and she fidgets in her seat, listening to us. “I haven’t had one since I left.”
Victoria scoffs at my comment; an audible huff falling from her lips as she holds the menu up in front of her face.
“I figured you’d get the American style pancakes,” she says, feeling bold as she blocks her face from my view. “Seeing as you obviously will leave again.”
Wow! I didn’t expect that comment.
“Um, I’m not planning on returning to the US.”
“Ava took a job here, a permanent one,” Lewis adds, his hand sliding across the table and covering mine.
“Oh really? And what job is that?” Victoria asks, her tone condescending as if she’s appalled that I actually have a job.
“I’m a personal assistant.”
Chapter Five
Lewis
I watch as V stares back at Ava, their eyes locked. It’s pretty clear there’s some sort of animosity here and while I kinda get why V is being weird and shit, she also needs to back the fuck off and leave my girl alone.
“For this big shot movie director, right, babe?” I say, smiling at Ava as I squeeze her hand in mine.
A part of me wishes I’d canceled breakfast with V this morning, but to be honest, it completely slipped my mind. I’d been too distracted with Ava walking back into my life to even think about anything other than the fact she was back.
Naked in my bed, exactly where she belonged.
It felt like the day should have been spent with just me and her, celebrating.
And naked in my bed.
I mean fuck, I’d just told her I loved her and even that hadn’t gone exactly as I’d imagined it should have.
“Yes,” Ava says, nodding as she gives me a smile.
Goddamn she is beautiful. More beautiful than I remember.
“Huh,” V says, turning in her chair so she’s facing me. “So, are we still going to check out that exhibit this afternoon?” she asks, completely changing the subject.
“Shit,” I breathe out, shoving a hand through my hair as I glance quickly at Ava. She’s sitting watching us, an unreadable look on her face. “Yeah, I might need to give it a miss actually, V,” I say, turning back to my friend. “Sorry.”
V’s eyes narrow and I know she’s pissed.
“Ava just got back,” I say, shrugging. “And I really want to…”
“It’s okay,” Ava chimes in, squeezing my hand. “I’ll be okay on my own.”
I turn to her and watch as she nods her head and gives me a small smile. I return the smile as I lift our joined hands to my mouth and kiss her knuckles.
“No, it’s fine,” V interrupts, pushing her chair back and standing. “But I’ve actually just remembered I’ve got something on, so I’ll see you later, yeah?” she stares down at me, a hard look on her face as she silently tries to convey some cryptic message to me.
“What the fuck, V?” I ask, ignoring her pointed stare. Like I somehow missed the arse ripping she gave me in my flat before we left. “We always have breakfast together on Tuesdays?”
She lifts a shoulder in a shrug. “Yeah, we do,” she says, emphasizing the word we. “Anyway, I’ll call you later,” she adds, saying a quick, “Bye,” before walking away from the table.
I watch as she stalks out of the bar without looking back. I shake my head, confused before turning back to Ava.
“Yeah, so that was weird,” I say, smiling at her. “Sorry about that, she’s not normally so…”
“Angry?” Ava says quietly.
I shake my head, not knowing exactly what that was just then. “She’s not angry,” I say, lifting our hands to my mouth again. “She’s just V,” I add, nibbling on her knuckles a little, before dragging my teeth down to the end of her finger and gently sucking it into my mouth.
I watch as Ava’s eyes widen, her mouth dropping open a little as she watches me. I smile as I suck a little harder. “What do you say after we have breakfast, I take you back home and give you a real full English?” I whisper, holding her in my gaze.
“I…” she starts, but the rest of her sentence is cut off by the arrival of our waitress.
I chuckle, kissing the tips of her fingers and turning to order our food. After the waitress disappears, I turn my attention back to Ava.
“So, tell me more about this new job?” I ask, changing the subject. “When do you start?”
Ava opens her mouth, but then closes it, as though she changes her mind about what she was about to say. Swallowing, she smiles at me and says, “Two weeks.”
“Hmmm,” I say, reaching for her hand again. “In that case, we’re spending the next two weeks naked,” I tell her.
Ava is quiet over breakfast, not saying much as I give her the run down on all the places nearby that she needs to get to. I love the idea of having her here, of introducing her to my neighborhood now she’s living with me.
After we finish, we head back to the flat, but the second we get inside, Ava turns to me and I know something is wrong; that she wasn’t just quiet over breakfast because of V.
; “I don’t think this is such a good idea,” she says.
“Wait, what?” I ask stepping toward her. “What’s wrong?”
She takes a long, deep breath. “Don’t you think this is all just too fast?” she asks, eyes meeting mine. “Too much?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head.
“You sure?” she prompts. “Because your friend sure does.”
I exhale, reaching for Ava’s hands and taking them in mine. “Ava,” I murmur. “I don’t give a fuck what V thinks,” I tell her. “This is between you and me.”
Ava stares up at me, her eyes sad as she searches my face. “Is it?” she whispers.
I step closer, bring her hands to my lips. “What’s this about?” I ask. “Tell me what’s going on here?”
Ava blinks, her eyes shining a little as she turns her hands in mine, holding my right wrist in front of my face.
“What?” I ask again, confused.
“This,” she whispers, swallowing hard as she blinks a couple of times, her finger tracing the ink on my skin. “The V?” she prompts.
My gaze drifts to my wrist and the symbol on the outside that she’s referring to. When I meet her eyes, I smile as I let go of her hands and wrap my arms around her, pulling her closer. “Ava, my sweet, beautiful girl,” I whisper, brushing my lips against hers. “It’s not a V,” I tell her. “It’s not for Victoria.”
“What,” she pauses, swallowing hard again before continuing. “What is it?”
I kiss her again, deeper this time before I murmur, “It’s a chevron. Symbolic for creating your own reality, your own path. It’s got nothing to do with V, I promise you.” I pause, cupping her face in my hands and brushing my lips against hers. “I love you, Ava,” I whisper, my eyes locking with hers. “I’ve never felt like this about anyone,” I continue. “And the second you walked into my pub that night, I knew I was gone. That I was yours and no one else’s. You are my path.”
Ava whimpers my name, her body sagging against mine.