ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖
Who the fuck told Ava I got in a fight with Mike?
It has to be Kieran. As far as everyone else knows, Mike got in a fight with that random guy.
Did Mike say something? What could he possibly say?
'Zane convinced me to go get in a fight with this other guy so it's really his fault'? I'm sure that would go over well. 'How did he convince me, you ask? I assume he has touch-based hypnotic powers.'
I'm being paranoid. There's no way she knows. Mike probably just lied to her.
I hear footsteps approaching my door followed by a knock.
"Hey," I say tentatively as I open the door. She looks upset and her heart is beating rapidly beneath her skin.
Fuck.
"I know you got in a fight with Mike," she said. "Why did you lie to me?"
Fuck.
"I..." I run my hands through my hair, tugging slightly. "I didn't lie to you. I just didn't tell you everything."
She looks furious, but also hurt.
Does she know what I am? How? She's going to leave me, isn't she?
"And the part you left out was the part where you broke his face?" she asks, exasperated.
"Whoa whoa," I say. "I didn't do that. I mean, I'm not blameless here but I did not hit him and I did not break his face."
She looks at me with questioning eyes. I can tell she's struggling with whether or not to believe me.
"I don't know what's worse," she says, "the fact that you're lying to me about punching him or the fact that you punched him because he was saying sexual things about your girlfriend."
I'm taken back by the way she just threw the word 'girlfriend' out there. Part of me is pissed at the context but another part still wants to smile.
"You know that he said those things about you?" I ask. "Who told you that?"
"Oh please, Zane, save it! I mean your other girlfriend, the one who was there with you—the one you were fighting over?"
Wait... What?
"I'm... I..." I stutter, trying to wrap my mind around what she's saying. "I did what now?"
"You heard me. I know what the fight was really over."
"Wha-..." I say. I'm at a loss for words. "What are we talking about right now? I'm bloody confused."
"Shayna told me everything, okay?" she said, her eyes filling with tears.
Shayna? Shayna wasn't even there that night. What would she know about...
Oh my god.
Fucking... She heard a rumor? That's what's happening right now.
I reach out to touch her shoulders, pulling her to look toward me. Her arms remain tightly crossed and her eyebrows are furrowed.
Of all the things I thought would screw me in this relationship, a random rumor about me having another girlfriend was not one of them.
"I don't have another girlfriend. It's just you, love. This is clearly a misunderstanding. Please," I beg, "please believe me."
She seems lost in thought.
"Okay," she says, her expression softening into an almost smile.
"Okay?" I ask.
That was weirdly easy.
Oh fuck. She's human. I just charmed her.
"Shit," I say under my breath.
"What?" she asks.
"I just, I meant to explain more... I feel like you're believing me for the wrong reasons."
"What reasons?"
"You're... I'm... fuck. I don't even know," I say. I feel like I have to be truthful with her, if only to make up for accidentally manipulating her. "Can I just say... The guy who punched Mike wasn't me. They were fighting about that guy's girlfriend, not you. But I got into a... mostly verbal argument with him before that. And that was about you."
"So wait..." she says, her eyes narrowing. "He did say sexual things about me? Because you implied that he did."
"Yeah, he was just trying to get under my skin," I say.
And it worked. If Kieran weren't there to stop me Mike would be dead ten times over.
Sure, he was trying to make me jealous, but it was more than that. He wanted to claim her. He wanted to make it clear that she was his possession.
If I had been the one who beat him, he wouldn't have gotten back up.
I feel my blood heating up again and I try to distract myself to calm down. Almost on cue, Ava smiles at me then looks down and blushes and I'm instantly lost in her.
"You embarrassed, love?" I ask.
"I didn't mean to say that I was... that we were... you know. I mean I know we haven't talked about it."
"What? You mean when you called yourself my girlfriend?" I shoot her a teasing grin.
"I wa-, I mean... I said that mostly for dramatic effect."
"Ah, well love, if you're gonna keep having jealous fits it would probably work better if you were my girlfriend."
"Yeah?" she asks. "Wait a minute, I'm not jealous!"
I wrap my arms around her and pull her into me.
"Yeah, baby, sure you're not," I tease.
I lean in close and kiss her on the lips. Her lips are soft and warm and I melt into her. I pull back for a moment to brush a strand of hair from her face.
Her eyes dilate instantly and her heartbeat speeds up. She takes a sharp breath in and her lips part slightly.
Aside from our first kiss, this may be the only other time I can recall that I've kissed someone without thinking about the effect it would have on them.
She instantly wraps her arms around my neck and I lift her onto the kitchen counter. Her legs wrap around me and everywhere our skin touches is electrified.
I can't help but be pulled in by every kiss. She has never needed venom of her own to have this effect on me. I'm all but powerless to resist her.
She reaches her hands under my shirt, her hands raking across my bare back. My every nerve is on fire.
She tugs up on the bottom of my shirt. My brain and my body are fighting at every turn.
I need her. I need her now.
No. She's on venom. She's not in control.
I'm not in control.
I hold my hands up over my head, letting her peel off my T-shirt. My hands wrap immediately around her ass.
Yes. More. All of her.
What am I doing? I'm taking advantage.
I look into her eyes; her pupils are so wide you can hardly see any grey.
"Fuck!" I accidentally let the word slip out as I set her back onto the counter and pull away in one fast motion.
My body is bloody furious with me. My skin is burning, every nerve screaming to resume contact with Ava. I want her but I can't... not like this.
"What are you doing?" she asks as I run to the fridge. She's staring at me with a look of intense confusion.
What are you doing? My body echoes the question. She wants you. You want her. You need her.
I grab a water bottle out of the fridge and throw it to her.
"Drink that," I say, grabbing two more and placing them next to her on the counter.
Venom wears off a lot faster if you chase it with water. Now if only that would work for me.
"Okay, um... yay hydration and all, but I thought we were in the middle of something," she says, standing up and walking towards me.
She trails her fingernails along my chest and I back into the closed fridge.
Yes. Keep going. This is bloody amazing.
She's not sober.
I jump back in a moment of clarity and send a deep dent into the stainless steel fridge.
"Oh, uh, I... I..." I say with a stutter. "This fridge is super cheap."
I knock things off the counter, stumbling backwards over my own feet as I attempt to pull myself away.
"I'll be right back," I shout, running down the hall. "Drink those waters, okay?"
I slam the bathroom door behind me and see my reflection in the mirror. A pair of glowing green eyes stare back at me.
FUCK.