Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
?? LONDON, ENGLAND
A va hummed to the notes blasting from the speaker, smiling to herself when she perfectly flipped the golden crepe in the pan.
“Not only did you inherit your mother’s snark, but her culinary talent, too?”
She jumped slightly at the coarse baritone of Rowan’s voice still laced with sleep.
Turning around, she lifted her shoulders in a sheepish shrug. “I can’t promise these are good, though.”
“Trying to sabotage me?”
“When am I not?”
Rowan’s lips curved upwards into a devastating smile, and she felt her knees weaken at the sight of his dimples. He was leaning against the doorframe, hands in the pockets of his joggers. Tattooed chest on display, she couldn’t help but glance at the drawings she had traced late at night.
“Good morning, sunflower.”
“Morning,” she said softly. She turned back to the stove to put the crepe on a plate. “How did you sleep?”
She listened to his footfalls, focusing on the new crepe she had poured on the pan. When his arms looped around her waist, she felt her heart skip a beat. Then, he placed his chin atop her shoulder a moment after nibbling the shell of her ear.
“Like a baby,” he admitted hoarsely. “Never slept that well.”
She hadn’t planned on staying the night at Rowan’s, but after multiple rounds of intense, breathtaking sex, she hadn’t been able to combat the fatigue. Hadn’t been able to tell him no when he’d pleaded for her to stay.
She had woken up to the soft morning light filtering through the curtains, and when she saw how peaceful he looked sleeping, she had decided to let him rest.
“How’d you sleep?” he asked, tightening his hold before letting go to make himself some coffee.
“Pretty well.”
Truth be told, sleeping next to Rowan had procured her an unfathomable amount of serotonin.
He had made her climax time and time again last night. In different positions. Different rooms. Too addicted to each other’s bodies, they hadn’t had sex fully unclothed once, but Rowan had touched her everywhere. Had praised her with the touch of his hands. The scrape of his nails. The bite of his teeth.
In between rounds of intense sex, they had lain in his bed, talking about everything their minds came across before letting lust take over again.
She had understood then that he, too, was starting to find it impossible to disentangle himself from this situation. That he also wanted to stay hidden in this cosmos of pure solace. That he wished reality wouldn’t be so complicated.
“I fucked you real good, didn’t I?”
Ava scoffed and turned the stove off. “You need to take it down a notch, dude. You’re not that good.”
“Hmm.” She watched him take a sip of his coffee, studying her bare legs. “Pretty sure you were saying the opposite when you were screaming my name.”
She glared at him. “I hate you.”
He grinned handsomely. “You know your resentment towards me turns me on.”
There was a tender gleam swirling along the edges of his irises. Something new, yet addictive. Something that made her pulse drum hastily.
“Come here,” he urged gruffly, setting his cup down.
Ava couldn’t help but succumb to his demand. As she stood before him, he cupped her jaw, brushing her lower lip with the pad of his thumb.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, and she watched how his features morphed from lazy tenderness to unrestrained admiration. “Thank you for last night.”
“For being a good fuck buddy?” she teased with a wry smile.
“For being my everything.”
Her heart exploded, flames setting every vessel, every nerve on fire.
“For listening to me,” he continued, oblivious to the corrupting power he had over her. “For spending time with me. For being my favourite person.”
Ava held her breath, forcing herself not to be consumed by emotions.
She’d never been anyone’s favourite.
“Tate would be so jealous.”
“He would be,” he confirmed, grinning, a malicious glint alighting his eyes. “Don’t tell him I said that.”
Ava only chuckled and lifted herself on her tiptoes to kiss Rowan softly. Slowly. As if she had all the time in the universe to pour all those foreign, terrifying yet euphoric feelings through the tangle of their breaths.
The world had stopped spinning the moment he had entered the room, but now she was finally accepting that he had tilted her entire universe onto its axis. She was flying in his orbit like a constellation, and there was no way out.
He pulled away, a soft smile on his lips. And when her own grin widened, he blushed and dropped his forehead against hers.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
Rowan pecked her lips again. And again. A growl erupted from the back of his throat when he deepened the kiss, letting his tongue dance with hers for a few beats. Catching her waist, he hoisted her up effortlessly and set her down on the counter, parting her legs to stand in between them.
Ava’s fingers twined with his hair, pulling him closer. Shivering when his calloused hands caressed her thighs, she sighed softly into the kiss, forcing herself to pull away.
“I have to go soon,” she whispered against his lips.
“Nope. I refuse,” he argued, squeezing her thighs. “You’re staying with me.”
“Rowan,” she breathed out.
“I’ll never get over how sexy you are when you say my name like that.”
“I need to go.” Still, she accepted his kiss when he pressed his lips to hers again. “Need to get home and pack. Did you forget we’re leaving for Spain today?”
“Didn’t forget.”
“Stop distracting me, then.”
“ I’m distracting you ? Jesus, look at yourself, Avery.”
She couldn’t control the heat creeping up her face. “How about I eat breakfast with you, then I go home and pack?”
When a smirk started dancing on the corner of his lips, she knew exactly what was going through his mind. His hand slipped to the front of her panties, middle finger pressed to her clit. “I know what I’m having for breakfast, and it’s your soaked cunt.”
She tapped his wrist, feigning shock by gasping. “You have such a foul mouth.”
“I won’t be able to touch you for days,” he said. “It’s going to drive me to absolute insanity.”
But before she could give in to the temptation, she heard the front door open then slam. Rowan stepped away, groaning and adjusting his obvious erection inside his joggers.
Ava looked at him, panicked.
“It’s just Tate,” Rowan announced with a baffling nonchalance. “He’s got a key.”
She jumped off the counter, listening to the deafening thrum of her pulse.
“Where do I hide?” She pulled the oversized t-shirt down her legs, which was doing absolutely nothing to cover the love bites branded all over her flesh.
“Nowhere.” Rowan grabbed his cup of coffee, kissing her cheek. “I’m tired of hiding.”
“But—”
“Emerson!” Tate bellowed from the foyer. “Why does it smell like crepes in here? You’re on a diet, asshole. Are your bags packed? We’re leaving soon.”
“Told you,” Ava muttered, fixing her hair.
“Told you,” he mimicked with a roll of his eyes. He then started muttering behind the rim of his cup, causing Ava to narrow her gaze on him.
“What are you doing?”
“Naming F1 World Champions to get my dick down. I’m painfully hard. Thanks for that, by the way.”
The door burst open, and Tate reared back when his gaze collided with Ava’s. The keys he’d been holding fell to the ground, the loud clatter blending with his confused, “What the fuck?”
“Sup, bro,” Rowan greeted, grabbing the plate full of crepes to set it down on the table.
Ava wasn’t sure how to react. All she did was wave when Tate studied her physique. He allowed his mouth to part in shock, looked at Rowan, back at Ava, and again at Rowan whilst blinking.
“I’m not sure if I’m supposed to say ‘about damn time’ or ‘you two have some explaining to do’. Either way… What the fuck, guys?”