Page 125 of Never Die for a Sinner
“Are you okay?” she asks softly when she stops at the door to the bathroom.
Fuck.
I run a hand over my face, my muscles tense.
I definitely need to shoot something. Break something with my bare hands.
I don’t deserve her worry. Her concern.
She still cares about me, even after everything I’ve put her through. Everything I’ve said to her.
“We both got what we wanted, Ava,” I snap harshly, hating myself even as the words leave my mouth. They taste like battery acid on my tongue, but I force myself to fucking say it anyway because I feel like I’m losing my mind. “I don’t know what else you think you’re going to find.”
“Right,” she nods and turns away like she can hide the tears in her eyes. Something in me cracks, and I suddenly hate her for her concern. Why can’t she just hate me? It would make it so much easier to let her go. If she didn’t look at me like there’s something good left inside that can be salvaged. Like I need to be saved.
My chest burns, my teeth threatening to crack behind the force of my jaw as I clench them tightly.
I grip the dresser in front of me when she goes into the bathroom and shuts the door, casting a dark cloud over the rest of the cabin in her silence.
When the shower cuts on, something cracks in my hand, and I look down to see that I broke the edge of the dresser with the force behind my grip.
Something cracks in my hand, and I look down to see that I broke the edge of the dresser with the force behind my grip.
The thing was a piece of shit anyway.
Looking down at the splintered wood, though, I can’t mistake the irony hidden in the broken surface.
Ava wasn’t made for me.
Eventually, she’ll see it, too. God fucking help me when that day comes.
“Came alone tonight, I see.”
Cherry slides a beer across the counter to me when I sit down on an empty stool at the bar. The place is less crowded today, given it’s early, and I can’t decide if I miss the noise or not.
Can’t have everything we want, can we?
“Got work to do,” I answer stiffly, ignoring the question surrounding Ava.
Truthfully, I don’t know why the fuck I’m here. I don’t want to fight. In fact, I just want to go find the little ghost staying in my house and drag her back to my bed until she doesn’t look at me like she hates me.
“Never thought I’d see the day Black fell in love,” she smirks. “The girl seems sweet. In a Care Bear kind of way. Let me guess . . . kindergarten teacher?”
So, the animosity I’d felt in the air the night I’d brought Ava here wasn’t just a part of my imagination.
“Never thought I’d see the day that Cherry was jealous,” I counter, tipping my beer back.
“I’m not jealous, Black. I told you I want you to find someone.”
“Just didn’t think it’d be this soon, huh?”
She shoots me a look, scrubbing the top of the bar.
“I never said that. I just figured you could do better. But hey, if you’re into that whole sweet and innocent act, then by all means.”
Any other time, I wouldn’t care, but now I’m finding myself wondering if anything was said to Ava, and if that’s not why she practically jumped my dick the moment we got home. I can’t lie and say I’m not grateful, but I also don’t want someone putting ideas in her head.
“What happens between me and Ava is no one’s business.”
