by Ashley Erin
Dax’s voice cuts through the moment as he suggests we find somewhere else to wait, not wanting to disrupt the family.
I don’t fully hear what he’s saying, but the moment I hear him refer to priorities I lose my shit. “Are you serious right now?”
Standing, I turn to face him, the anger on my face shocks everyone. I hear Lucas say my name softly, but I stick my hand out behind me to silence him.
“Did you really just speak about priorities when yours are so messed up? How dare you!” My voice shakes, inside I’m telling myself I’m not being fair. I don’t care. All the feelings I wish I had yelled at him that day, all the thoughts I need to expel are coming out. I thought I was okay, I thought I could move past it, but the words spewing out of my mouth clearly have a different idea. “You told me you knew what you wanted, that you wanted to be a family with me and Noah. Yet first chance you get, you go running back like a puppet for Ivan. No thought of the consequences, no concern that you could have landed in jail, or worse, been killed. Do you have any idea what that did to me? And what about Noah? Do you honestly think he hasn’t noticed you missing from our lives?”
I get right in his face, pushing him back as he stands there stunned. Every feeling of betrayal. Every feeling of abandonment comes out of me. And he doesn’t say anything.
“So tough guy, you have nothing to say for yourself?” I’m trying to pick a fight, and I want him to fight back. Part of me thinks if he fights back that means he wants to fight for us. The rational side of my brain tells me I’m stupid.
Hands grip my arms, dragging me away as I realize I had been yelling. Dean stands in the open door, his brow furrowed as he watches Andie and Kensi drag me away. Peyton and Nella follow closely. Shame finally hits me as I see Dean trailing behind us.
“You can let me go. I promise to behave.” The hands drop away cautiously. Leaning against the wall, I cringe as Dean stops in front of me. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize I had so much pent up. That was completely unacceptable.”
He enfolds me in his arms, whispering so only I can hear. “Ava, if you feel enough to argue with him there is still something worth fighting for. Please do something for me.”
He pulls back so he can see me nod.
“Okay, you and Dax are driving home together. Just the two of you. That gives you four hours to hash everything out.” He grabs my hand and drags me back to the waiting room. Pointing between Dax and me, his next words have everyone else grinning. “You two, out. Drive home together and work this shit out.”
With that, he drops my hand and goes to where his parents stand at the nurse’s station. Dax walks towards the exit, not waiting to see if I’m following. Hustling to catch up, I don’t look behind me.
Unlocking the door to my new SUV, I open the passenger door and wait for Ava to climb in. The look of shock in her eyes has me resisting a grin. I don’t want to fight with her, but I know she wants to yell at me, and she wants me to yell back, so that’s what I will give to her.
Holding my face firm, I watch her eyes flick between my face and the car. She brushes past me, settling into her seat as I slam the door shut. The feeling of her shoulder brushing my chest makes it hard to stick with keeping my hands off her, so I walk slowly around the back of the vehicle ensuring I have full control of myself before getting in.
Neither of us says anything as I work my way to the highway. I practically feel the words bubbling inside Ava, so I just wait.
“I’m mad at you. Do you even understand how much it hurt me when you broke your promise to me? To tell me you have no interest in going back to that world and then jump right back in with little regard for me begging you, not asking, but begging you to stay.” Her words come out soft, almost detached. That hurts more than the yelling did.
“I’m mad at me too. But I’m not the only one who broke a promise. Why didn’t you trust me? It wasn’t just for anything; I wish you understood how hard that choice was.” Keeping my voice level, I try to maintain the same tone of voice she spoke in.
This time when she speaks, her calm facade is cracked, her voice no longer detached. “I did trust you, I trusted you not to break my heart. I trusted you with my son. I trusted you to say yes when you asked me to marry you, that moment we made a silent promise to each other that we came first. You broke my trust.”
As she speaks, her voice gets louder, the scratchiness of her words burn my throat, and when I respond, my words come out in a shout. “I went there for Peyton. The whole way there, you were on my mind, and when I was there, I made sure I cut the damn ties. But if the trust is gone is there any way for me to prove it to you?”
Her chest heaves as we glare at each other. Pulling over to the side of the road, I turn the car off and face her. “I know you did, I saw the damn video!”
She unbuckles her seatbelt and kneels on the seat, her ass on her heels, crossing her arms as she waits for me to respond. “Video?”
She smiles grimly as I lose steam. “Peyton’s brother videotaped you smashing Ivan’s face into the ground.”
Closing my eyes, I dread to think about what’s shown in that video. For her to see that side of me, cruel and relentless, I never wanted that to happen. “Shit.”
“Why didn’t you come to me? Was I so easy to let go?” The words are whispered and I finally see the real fear behind the words.
“Ava . . . No. Walking away from you was difficult, and if I thought I truly deserved you, I don’t think it would have happened.” Lifting my hand, I squeeze it into a fist, resisting touching her.
She stares at me silently and I cannot bear to see the war on her face as she decides what to do so I close my eyes and wait. We’ve said so much and still haven’t said what we need to. When her voice comes again, I feel her breath on my cheek. “Dax, there is no doubt in my mind that you are it for me.” Slowly opening my eyes, I lose myself in the depths of her blue eyes. “Is it completely insane that I was kind of turned on seeing you beat the shit out of him?”
Laughing softly, I lean into the hand that gently strokes my face. “Yes.”
“All I needed was to hear those words and know you meant them.” Her eyes close as a tear sneaks out.
Wiping it away with my thumb, I whisper to her, “I will never make the mistake of walking away from you again.”
Breathing her in, I wrap my hand in her hair and close the distance between us. Pouring every ounce of fear I’ve felt at losing her, relief at feeling her lips on mine and the overwhelming love that I have for her into my kiss, I don’t stop until we’re gasping for air.
“Ava . . .” I pause, not knowing how to ask what I need to.
“It’s okay. I don’t think we need to talk this to death.” She cringes at the word death.
“I know. I was going to ask . . . Does Noah hate me?” I haven’t allowed myself to think about Noah. I didn’t think I deserved to, but he’s been on my mind fighting his way out.
“Ummm . . . Well, you see, I never told him we broke up.” The words are out in a rush, a rare blush tinging her cheeks. “I couldn’t bear it, so I made excuses for you.”
“I’m going to be selfish and be relieved to hear that.”
Ava moves back into her seat, buckling in and I start the car. Her hand grasps mine and it feels like a missing piece of me has found its way home.
We quickly fall back into our comfortable routine, talking about everything that’s happened since we parted. The time was short, but it felt endless.
The drive passes quickly, Ava leading me silently to her room. Inside her room, I drag her over to the paintings I saw the other night. “Tell me about these.”
She looks them over, her emotions flickering across her face. “The first one is from the night you left. There is one from every day after. I was in a dark place, and this was the only way to get those emotions out. I had to be present for Noah, so everything built up over the day.”
“That last one, it seems happier.” Pulling her against my che
st, I rest my chin on her shoulder as we look at it.
“I painted that one after I decided we weren’t over, at least on my side.” She chuckles softly, the sound reverberating right to my core. “Not that you would have been able to tell by my outburst today.”
Spinning her in my arms, I grab her ass and lift her. Groaning as her legs wrap around my hips, I walk us over to the bed. Lowering her down, I bury my face in her neck sucking the sensitive spot below her ear. “That’s how I knew we could work this out. There was fight back in your body.”
Growling as her hands find their favorite spot in my hair, my fingers grip her hip with bruising force. “I need you. Hard, fast, and fucking rough.”
Wasting no time, we shed our clothes. Yanking her off the bed, I bend her over the bed and bury myself in her pussy. Clamping my hands on her hips, I groan as she fists the sheets in her hands and shoves her hips back into me.
Pounding into her forcefully, I grab a fistful of hair and pull her back into my chest. The new angle brings her to climax, my release pulsing through me as she clenches around me.
We collapse onto the bed, sweat glistening over our skin. Ava turns in my arms, her breath catching in her throat as she sees my tattoo for the first time.
Unable to take my eyes off Dax’s tattoo, I trace it lightly with my fingers. The silhouette of three people holding hands is subtle and beautiful. My legs are entwined with his, I don’t want one inch of us not to be touching.
Rolling onto him, I run my fingers through his hair, tugging gently. He kisses the palm of my hand before grabbing my hips and flipping me onto my back. Grinning knowingly as he reaches for his jeans, I run my nails down his spine eagerly.
Dax rolls away from me, pulling me up to a sitting position in one smooth motion. He kneels in front on me, and I finally focus on what’s in his hand. “Ava, I’ve seen what it would be like to lose you, I never want to go through that again. Please say you’ll marry me . . . again.”
“Of course I will.” He slides the ring onto my finger, wrapping his arms tightly around me.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” I could stay in this moment forever, but the time catches my eye and I grin ruefully at him. “We need to go.”
An hour later and we’re at my parent’s house, Noah’s arms wrapped around Dax’s waist. “Mister Dax! I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you too, Noah.” He crouches down, hugging Noah. I barely hear the words as he whispers them. “I’m sorry I’ve been gone.”
“Noah, we have something to tell you. Mister Dax and I are getting married.” Noah looks between us, a wide grin on his face.
“Does that mean I can call you Dad?” He looks to Dax, who looks at me. Smirking, I just stare back letting him make that call.
“Of course.” There is a catch in Dax’s throat, reaching over I squeeze his hand.
“Let’s go celebrate. I think we need to get a banana split.” Noah quickly shoves on his shoes, grabbing each of our hands as we leave the house together.
Dax looks at me over Noah’s head, his eyes shining. I know the look is reflected on my face. Turns out loving a bad boy isn’t such a terrible idea.
They’re my perfect family.
It’s hard to believe I’m writing acknowledgments for the third time, it never gets any easier.
Most importantly, I want to thank you for picking up this book and reading it. Every time someone contacts me to tell me how much they loved my characters is something I cherish.
This book has been wonderfully challenging. Dax and Ava had a mind of their own, straying from what I had initially planned for their story. Their love is fast, furious and all consuming, but for them it worked. While I was writing, I spoke with a few people about their own love stories and I discovered that there is no real timeline. My parents were married within a year of dating. Aaron knew he loved me the night we met and here we are almost 13 years later. It was after this realization that I decided to stop fighting the way the words were flowing and roll with it.
Now it’s time to thanks to everyone who helped make The No Bad Boy Rule what it is.
Thank you Eric and Bryant for combining your amazing talents for this phenomenal cover. I couldn’t have asked for a better image for this book.
Kari, you always make my covers beautiful. Thank you for letting me email you ten times in a row as different thoughts cross my mind and rolling with it.
Thank you Tami for making the inside as beautiful as the outside. You’re quick, professional and absolutely delightful to work with.
Thank you Jessica for your encouragement and support. Thank you for loving these characters as much as I do and thank you for doing such a phenomenal job editing.
Thank you Missy for joining my editing team and for pushing me to be the best writer I can be. Your feedback has been incredibly valuable and I can’t wait to continue to grow and improve.
I couldn’t have done this without the support of Aaron specifically. He never ceases to amaze me in how kind and generous he is. I get a little tunnel vision toward the end of a book and he rolls with all of my crazy requests.
Lori and Kristi, I really have no words to express how much the two of you mean to me. You’re there every step of the way and I love you both.
I’m so blessed to have amazing author friends to encourage me and support me through this journey. Thank you so much to Fabiola Francisco, Stacy Borel and Alicia Rae. Whether we sprinted or just talked, I know I can always count on you to be there for me.
A very special thank you to the blogs who have helped spread the word about me and supported my books. I truly cannot express enough gratitude for everything you do.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Acknowledgements