His eyes cut to me.

Eek!

Maybe he wasn’t done.

“No, Ava, you can’t f**kin’ brush your teeth.”

All righty then. There you go, he wasn’t done.

I shouldn’t have had to ask permission to brush my teeth but I was going to give in on that considering the air hadn’t yet lost any of its dangerous electricity. Not to mention, Luke just announced he was already deciding where we were going to live, what car was safe for me to drive, what kind of wedding and how many children we were going to have.

And all of this, I had to admit, made my stomach feel melty.

“Come here,” he ordered, voice gruff and still pissed off.

That made my stomach feel even more melty.

Even so, I hesitated. “Are you still mad at me?” I asked.

“Fuck yeah,” he answered.

“Maybe I should give you some quiet space,” I told him, trying to be helpful but with the ulterior motive that quiet space for Luke meant quiet space for me.

His hand shot out and grabbed my forearm, giving it a yank. I toppled onto him and he rolled, taking me with him so I was on the bottom. Then he shifted his h*ps until my legs opened and he fell between.

It was at that moment, all hope of quiet space died.

“You caused it, you’re gonna help me work it out and that’s what I intend to do, by f**kin’ you so hard you’ll still feel me inside you even when I’m gone.”

“Wow,” I whispered, yes, out loud.

His head bent, his lips came to mine and he muttered, “You better f**kin’ believe it.”

And he did exactly what he said he would do.

And when he was done, it was so good I thought if we “went the distance” (as Luke put it) pissing him off every morning might be the way to go.

* * * * *

I was sitting on my wicker loveseat on my porch, my heels on the edge, finishing up a toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese, drinking a diet and trying (and failing) to get my head together.

This was partly because everything that happened last night and this morning was too much to get together and partly because, between my legs, I could still feel Luke even though he was gone (and, let me tell you, it was a nice feeling).

There was a chill in the air but I had a space heater going. I’d also thrown on some fleecy sweatpants, wooly socks and a hoodie so I was comfy, snugly warm even though I was feeling thoroughly f**ked (both literally and figuratively).

Oo, I’m happy, Good Ava sighed.

What I want to know is, Bad Ava asked. Does this mean we’re not going to get to sleep with Ren?

Oh for crap’s sake.

Bad Ava was such a slut.

Luke was upstairs taking a shower while I was on the porch freaking out. I was freaking out because I believed everything Luke said. He was too brutally honest to be lying. Which meant I had to rethink everything about my life and who I was and that was an impossible task without cookies and Sissy.

What I did know was that I was someone special to Luke and I always had been, just like he was and always had been to me. And that knowledge made my word tilt so much, I was certain I was going to fall off.

“Babe.”

I looked to the side and Luke was standing in the door, fully dressed, watching me.

God, he was good-looking. Even with the angry cut on his cheek, or maybe especially with the angry cut on his cheek, he was unbelievably hot.

“Hey,” I said, thinking I’d not had nearly enough quiet space to ponder all that was tumbling around in my head. I needed at least an hour or maybe two hundred and seventeen of them.

He walked in, sat down beside me and rested an ankle on his opposite knee. He put his arm around my shoulders, pulled me into his side and kissed the top of my head.

“You okay?” he asked.

“No,” I answered, staring straight ahead through the window to my yard. “Are you okay?”

His arm got tighter. “I’m f**kin’ great.”

Well, he would be.

Not to be conceited or anything but I got a little carried away thirty minutes ago and I knew Luke liked it. He’d got me so turned on, I made him lie back and let me have my way with him for a good long while. If I didn’t miss my guess (considering the low growl he made when it happened), I’d assisted in his having an even more mind-blowing orgasm than the one he gave me.

And, I had to say, I was pretty proud of that.

He plucked the soda out of my hand and set it aside. Then he pulled me into his lap and turned me to him, his arms loose around me.

“Gotta say, babe,” he said in The Voice but it was The Voice mixed with a kind of sexy rumble. “You’re good with your mouth.”

See! I told you.

“When you aren’t usin’ it to speak,” he finished.

I glared at him. He grinned at me.

I stopped glaring at him when I noticed his grin was like the grin he’d given me last night. It was sexy and warm and in the light of day I could put my finger on what was different.

His face had lost its hardness. It was completely soft and unguarded.

Oh.

Wow.

His hands came to either side of my head and he tilted it toward him, close, closer, until our foreheads were touching and our noses were alongside each other’s.

He looked me in the eyes. “We straight?” he asked softly.

I nodded.

“You cool with everything that’s gone down?”

I shook my head.

He touched his lips to mine. “You’ll get there.”

I didn’t share his positive attitude. He noted this on my face, I knew because he chuckled. I ignored the chuckle and lifted my head away from his. His hands moved, one went to my neck, the other one sifted into the hair at the side of my head, going through it, down my back then his arm came to rest around my waist.

I carefully touched my fingers just below his cut.

“Does it hurt?” I whispered, my eyes on the cut.

“No.”

“Do you think someone should look at it?”

“No.”

“Will it leave a scar?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

My eyes moved to his and my hand opened on his face, cupping his jaw, my thumb trailing down the side of his ‘tache.

“It was the song,” I said quietly.

“Come again?” Luke asked.

I took in a breath, scared of sharing, not wanting another episode but thinking, because he had bled for me and might even carry a scar for me (even if it really was his own damned fault, it was also partially mine, I knew better) that he deserved an explanation.

“Ren had just told me if you weren’t keeping Sissy safe, he would. I was grateful to know he was a good guy, there aren’t many out there.”