Path To Retaliation (Fighter's Den, #2)

Chapter 16 - Avery

"You have to admit; that was impressive."

"Fine. It was. And I'll cherish this memory when I go back to America."

"That's all I ask." He winks. When he starts pulling his shirt back on, I sit up quickly.

"What are you doing?" I ask. "I thought we were going to have sex."

"It would seem you don't have the time to." He grabs my phone and hands it to me, gesturing to the screen. "That particular reminded went off at least three times while you were coming all over my tongue."

"Naughty mouth." I grin in approval then look at my screen to see what he's talking about. I frown at the reminder I set for myself. "Oh, yeah."

"What is it?" He asks, leaning over to catch a look. His cologne invades me and spikes up my hormones so intensely that I can't help but fling my phone haphazardly and climb into his lap. A sound of surprise works its way from his throat and into my mouth before he releases a groan, hands going to the curve of my ass. I've yet to put my panties back on so the feel of his calloused palms on my smooth skin is oh, so delicious.

"You're making it real hard to be a gentleman, babe." He murmurs against my lips. I hum in a tantalizing way.

"I'm not asking you to be one, am I?"

"Suppose not." His growled response is lost in the tangling mess of our tongues as we kiss with raw and unfiltered desire.

I practically cry when that damned beeping goes off again.

"Fuck!" I grab my panties and mutter a slew of curses as I pull them back on and then proceed to look for my phone.

"Who is Emily?"

"Huh?" My head snaps up in surprise at hearing my best friend's name come from a stranger. He points to my phone, on the floor right by his feet, the screen facing upward as Em's picture flashes and signals an incoming video call. I let out an excited screech that has the poor guy's hands immediately cupping his ears.

"Babe!" I answer excitedly, a huge smile on my face. The scream I let out just a few seconds ago pales in comparison to the sound Emily makes as soon as I pick up. I can't help but burst out laughing when my company feigns passing out and lands on the couch in a heap.

"You're ridiculous." I tell him.

"You're beautiful."

Time freezes when the memory crashes into me so harshly that I feel the phone slip out of my hand. I'm unable to do anything about it though because all my energy goes into trying to get myself to breathe again. But my chest feels so heavy that all my oxygen seems to be stuck there with no way out. A wave of sadness follows not a moment later and the crushing sensation I feel increases tenfold. I've done such a good job keeping my underlying pain shoved away that I'm no longer prepared to deal with its sudden appearance, front and center and doing a jig on my heartstrings.

"Aves!"

I gasp loudly, the sound of name mimicking a needle popping the balloon I was stuck in. I blink fast and hard as I try to make sense of what just happened when my eyes meet Hot British Dude's concerned ones.

Oh, God.

Bile rises in my throat.

Suddenly it feels wrong, wrong, wrong, looking at this man and knowing I shared intimate experiences with him when I'm still in love with someone else. Granted, I'm no longer with the one I'm in love with and don't owe anything to him but it still feels like betrayal. I would feel awful if the roles were reversed and Cameron had been with other women in my absence. But I would also understand that that kind of reaction would be unfair because both of our intentions right now is to move on. Would he understand too? Is it my place to even care?