INTO THE FLAMES

Chapter 3

When I awoke the next morning, I realized that it was close to eleven. I'd never slept that late, even after Jax left and Landon and Xavier started taking care of me. I was always up before ten, never dressed, but always alert.

I stumbled out of bed, wondering what had gone wrong. I knew that I'd been tired from the day before, but I never knew what sleeping in my old bed would feel like. It was literal heaven.

Once the door was open, I heard voices in the kitchen. Everyone was okay. It was going to be okay.

But I needed to pee. I opened the door of a room opposite me, only to find that it wasn't the bathroom, it was a workout room.

And someone was in there.

He was tall, toned, dark, and looked damn good in a tank top. He was doing pull ups.

It was him. How could he dare just waltz on into our house and use our equipment (okay, theirs) in broad daylight after tormenting my sister?

As I turned to yell to dad, I hit my ankle on the edge of the door and swore. It hurt. I stood, clutching myself, but I was still watching him. He stopped and tuned, and I've never.

Holy crap.

He looked even better from the front; tall, toned, buff, attractive. His eyes were a sharp, emerald green, my favorite, and his hair was a luscious pile on his head.

"Are you okay?"

Shit, where does he think he gets off? After all he's done to my sister, he really has the nerve to be here, asking me if I'm okay because I hurt myself while running to try and get dad to kick his ass.

"I'm fine."

He smiled, revealing a set of straight white teeth. "You must be Avery."

"Yeah, I am."

When he stepped closer, I put my foot back on the ground.

"Of course, you'd know."

He looked confused. Did he honestly think that I'd been gone so long that I wouldn't know what was going on?

"You have some nerve, being here."

He laughed. "Am I on your machine, or something?"

I looked down at my arms. Obviously, I didn't lift. I mean, bruh, look at me.

"No, but you're in my house."

He looked very confused now. Then he shook his head.

"Wait a minute," he said. "Who do you think I am?"

I shrugged. "I'm not completely out of it, though. Yeah, I've been gone for a long time, but I know what's going on with my sister."

"I'm not sure you do," he said. Then held out a hand. "I'm Matthew Fiercano. My aunt is Detective Branch."

I swear I've never felt stupider. The Detective Branch that the police were sending is his Aunt, who's probably downstairs. I shook his head, then covered my eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I opened the wrong door, thinking it was the bathroom."

"And you thought that I was stalking your sister." He smiled at me with his hands on his hips, and let out a loud laugh that he'd been stifling.

"It's not funny," I said, but he kept laughing.

"It kind of is." He turned back to the machine.

"It was nice to meet you, Avery. Make sure you but some ice on that head of yours."

I squinted in confusion at him. "You do know that I hit my ankle, right?"