Total pages in book: 235
Estimated words: 224334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1122(@200wpm)___ 897(@250wpm)___ 748(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 224334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1122(@200wpm)___ 897(@250wpm)___ 748(@300wpm)
“Damn right you’re not. Why are you delaying it?”
“I’m not delaying,” she argues. “It takes a good year to organize a wedding.”
“Not our wedding.” I feign breaking out in a run, stopping when she yelps and dashes off the other way. “Stop running from me, Ava. You know it makes me crazy mad.”
“Then stop being unreasonable.” She yelps again when I make a dash for her, but she somehow manages to keep the distance between us.
She’s in control.
“Ava,” I warn.
“Jesse,” she sings, sarcastic as fuck, mocking the hell out of me.
“Right.” I break out in a sprint, and she squeals, laughing as she runs out of the kitchen. I’ll have her in my arms by step five, easy. But she doesn’t go up the stairs. She dashes into the gym and slams the door, and I wedge a palm into the glass just before it meets the frame, my jaw tight as I look at her on the other side, merely an inch away, so close. But I can’t reach her. I’ll put her on her arse if I barge in. Maybe shatter the glass. Fucking hell. All I can see is Ava in that dream. Within reach but not reachable. “Let go of the door.”
“What are you going to do?” she asks, and I freeze, registering her worry past my own. What am I going to do? Love her. That’s what I’m going to do. With everything I have, I will love her, and I need her to let me do that.
“What do you think I’m going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
Her answer pains me, and I loosen my hold. It’s the small window of opportunity she needs, and she takes it, quickly slamming the door and locking it. The fuck? “You didn’t just do that.” I take the handle for what it’s worth. This door isn’t opening unless I smash the fucking thing down. Panic. It’s brewing. “Ava, open the door.” I can’t control my breath, and Ava must see that. But she still refuses. She leaves me suffering. “Ava, you know how it makes me feel if I can’t lay my hands on you. Open the door.”
“No.” She stands her ground, but I can see it’s hard for her. I can see it’s going against the grain for her too, which makes it all the more pathetic that we’re here. “Tell me we can discuss our wedding reasonably.”
“We were. Ava, please,” I beg. “Open the door.’
“No, we weren’t discussing it, Jesse. You were telling me how it’s going to be.” Her head tilts and shakes mildly too. “You’ve really never had a relationship, have you?”
“No.” This isn’t breaking news. “I’ve told you this.”
“I can tell,” she breathes, looking increasingly exasperated while I’m becoming increasingly stressed. I look at the lock on the door. Wonder if Clive has a toolbox. “You’re shit at it.”
I snap my gaze to hers, insulted. I’m shit at it? “I love you,” I say, wounded. Am I terrible at that? “Please, open the door.” How did we get here? Not half hour ago we were making love after taking the next step in our incredible relationship. Consummating. Loving. Now we’re a million miles away from each other with a barrier between us. I see myself, feeling at the never-ending pane of glass stretching out into the distance, looking up and seeing it stretching up to the sky. No way round. No way over. No way through. Ava is on the other side. The side where I can’t be. The side where everyone I’ve ever loved can be found. I blink, wince, shudder.
“Do you agree?”
I stare at her, annoyed, powerless, scared. “I agree. Open the door.” We both lift a hand in turn and reach for the handle, but Ava retracts hers, and I frown. What now?
“I’m going out with Kate later,” she declares with a strong voice.
“What?” Don’t tell me she’s going to harness this power for as long as it takes for her to get every little thing she wants while I sacrifice every big thing I want?
“Last night, I told you that I was going out with Kate.”
“And?” She was pissy. She said all kinds of things she didn’t mean, all meant to rile me or hurt me. I assumed that was one of them. “Open the door.”
“You can’t stop me from seeing my friend,” she says. “If I’m going to marry you, it’s not so you can control my every move. I’m going out with Kate later and you’re going to let me . . . without a fuss.”
Control her? Yeah, fucking likely. And I would never stop her seeing her friend. I’m not a monster. But I had very detailed plans about how we’d spend this weekend together, and Ava going out on the town without me, drinking, didn’t feature in those plans. What the hell am I supposed to do? “You’re pushing your luck, lady,” I grumble, making her blink, before she turns away and sits herself down on a bench. I shake the door handle. “Ava, what are you doing? Open the fucking door.”