16. Jet
Chapter 16
Jet
Ava fidgets, closing her thighs. I part them again with a firm palm against her soft skin.
“I’ll leave you alone once I’m finished.” I press the warm washcloth between her legs and groan as more of my cum seeps from inside her.
She needs this. She tried to fight it. But I carried her to her room and told her to lie on the bed so I could take care of her. It’s what she deserves after being such a good girl. She loves to push me, and I went hard on her. But after the playing comes the aftercare.
“You’ll leave me alone?” she muses. “I doubt that. You don’t seem to be able to keep away from me.”
I grunt as I finish up my task and rise from the bed to go to the en-suite. When I come back, Ava’s stripped off her clothes and is lying on her side beneath the covers with her phone .
“Good night, Jet. Don’t trip on your way out,” she hums, satiated and smirking as she scrolls through social media.
Brat.
I climb in behind her. She stiffens, glancing at me.
“What are you doing?”
“Staying until you sleep.” I pluck the phone from her hand and toss it onto the carpet. “You don’t need that. You need sleep.”
“Because you know everything about me and what I need, don’t you?” she huffs.
“I know you better than you think, Ava. And right now, you’re mine to take care of.”
She scowls and turns away. “You couldn’t have just left it at the orgasms, could you? Had to go and ruin it by opening your mouth.”
“Shut up and sleep.”
“This doesn’t have to get weird. It was just sex.”
“Ava…”
“God, you’re so bossy,” she tuts.
“And you’re so difficult. Now go to sleep.”
I pull her toward me, so her back is against my chest and my arms are encasing her. I expect an argument. A bratty protest. But she must be worn out, because within a few minutes, her body softens and her breathing levels out.
“Good girl.” I kiss her shoulder. “Sleep.”
I watch her for a while to make sure she won’t wake up. Then I slide my arms away and climb out of the bed .
“No!” she cries suddenly. “I’m here!”
I lean over and stroke her auburn hair away from her cheek. Her forehead is wrinkled, a troubled expression on her face as her lower lip trembles and she mutters something unintelligible.
“Just a dream, Ava.” I tell her, my lips dusting the shell of her ear.
I walk to the door, opening it quietly.
A whimper leaves the back of her throat as she sobs in her sleep.
I stare at my hand on the doorknob, flexing my fingers as something cold radiates up my spine.
She continues crying. It’s quiet; I can barely hear it. But it’s there.
I make my way to my room. I climb into bed and lie on my back, staring up into darkness.
Sleep evades me.
“Damn it.” I fling the sheets back and jump out.
I stalk down the hallway and peer around the door into Ava’s room. Everything is peaceful. She’s no longer crying. I start to close the door to head back to my room.
A whimper, almost inaudible, comes from the bed. It’s so slight it might have just been a sound outside.
Or it could have been her.
Closing her door, I join her in the bed. I don’t pull her to me. I just lie beside her, listening to her breathing, making sure she sleeps.
“What have you found?” I drop my skipping rope onto the low stone wall that edges the terrace and swipe up my towel, wiping the sweat from my bare chest.
“He’s in Thailand,” Hayden says.
“That’s where we’re going, then.” I gather up my rope and head toward the back door, walking the long way around the house.
“We? Ava going with you again?”
“That a problem?”
There’s nothing for her to do. She knows it. I know it. But she won’t back down. And I’m not about to leave her at Rochwell when Ed might decide to come over. I saw the way he looked at her.
“No problem.” Hayden chuckles before asking, “Do you think Callaghan will listen now that he’s been offered the San Jose slots?”
“I’m counting on it,” I grumble as I enter the house through the back door.
“You know there’s still—?”
“No. ”
My mind wanders to Ava’s serene face when I woke this morning. She’d ended up in my arms with her head on my chest.
“That’s still not on offer,” I say.
“Just making sure nothing has changed.”
“It hasn’t.” I walk up the hallway toward the kitchen.
“All right. Well, I’ll send you the flight details.” Hayden yawns. “You know it’s the middle of the fucking night here and I’m still in the office.”
“You help us get this deal and I’ll give you a raise.”
“Twenty percent?”
“Ten.”
“Fifteen,” he counters.
Silence blankets us, before he laughs. “Okay, you tight bastard. Ten percent. And the promise not to kill me when I tell you that you need to look for a new PA when you come back.”
“Jesus. Can’t you keep your dick separate from business?” I clear my throat as the events of last night come into full vivid technicolor in my mind. Ava beneath me on the table. Ava crying out my name. Ava’s eyes holding mine as she came for me.
“I’ve never come so hard.”
She was right to call me a hypocrite. I had no right to blur that line between us.
“I mean, I could… for twenty percent.”
Hayden breaks into laughter as I curse him and hang up. He knows I’m not really pissed. I’d have needed a new PA when I got back anyway. Annabelle shook like a leaf in a breeze whenever I walked into the office .
“Come on, how was it? Did you at least get a kiss from Ed?”
Liv’s voice carries from the kitchen, and I slow my steps.
“You’re the one who’s just rolled in wearing last night’s clothes, and you want to know how my night went?” Ava giggles.
Liv responds with something I can’t hear as I walk into the room.
“Oh.” Her eyes widen as she looks at me in my shorts.
“Morning,” I say, walking past the table where they’re both sitting.
Ava’s eyes flick to mine, then away again just as fast.
“Morning,” she replies.
My father walks into the room and smiles brightly at the two women.
“Morning, ladies. Have fun last night?”
Liv chats with him, and Ava walks over to the coffee machine.
“Ava?” I move closer to her and lower my voice so only she can hear.
She continues preparing the coffee without looking at me. “Yes?”
“What’s wrong?”
She glances at me. “I don’t know what you mean.”
I rake my eyes over her furrowed brow and tense jaw while she grabs a spoon and drops it into the cup. If she stirs any harder, she’ll break it .
She hands the cup to my father, a smile spreading over her face as he takes it gratefully.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” He takes a sip. She’s made it exactly how he likes it and realization dawns on me that this isn’t the first time. How did I miss the fact she’s become so at ease around my father, like they’re friends?
“No problem.” She crosses her arms and leans against the counter.
“Back to the studies later, then?” he says to Liv.
She rolls her eyes. “My train’s at ten. Although I’d much rather stay here.”
“I bet you would.” My father chuckles as Liv’s attention is piqued by the sound of the lawnmower starting up outside. “Well, sweetheart, you’re welcome anytime you like. Come and give this one some company.” He tips his head toward Ava. “She only sees Margaret and my old face.”
I clear my throat.
“And Jet, of course.” My father smiles into his coffee. “Spend most of your time writing, don’t you?” he says to Ava.
“I’m trying.” Her eyes soften as he winks at her.
“You’re doing your father proud.”
Ava’s eyes mist at his words and she nods before busying herself with wiping down the counter.
My father drinks some more before setting his cup down. Liv bounces over to him, throwing her arms around his neck as she kisses his cheek. “Thank you for having me. You’re amazing. If you were into younger women, I’d totally sleep with you.”
He laughs, then steps back. “I think the young man in the garden might have something to say about that. Safe travels back.” He smiles at the girls and then nods at me before he leaves the room.
“Your dad’s so nice,” Liv sings as she pours some juice in a glass.
“He’s not into younger women,” I bark.
She smirks into her juice. “That’s a shame. But I was only teasing. Your dad’s fun.” She gives me a pointed look like she thinks I’m anything but fun. I’ve heard what Ava’s said about me when they’ve been on the phone with each other. Liv thinks I don’t know how to take a joke.
Ava yawns and I turn my attention to her.
“Did you sleep okay?”
She doesn’t meet my eyes as she shrugs. “I guess.”
“It was a late one. Ed dropped her home. I slept over at David’s,” Liv says, an easy smile on her face.
“I’m aware,” I clip, placing my phone and the rope on the counter so I can fetch a glass of water.
Liv looks between the two of us, before settling her gaze on me with interest.
“How do you know?”
“Excuse me?” I lean back against the counter as I chug the water down.
“How do you know?” Liv looks at me.
“How do I know that you fucked the landscaper? You just shared it with everyone. ”
She doesn’t blush, just narrows her eyes at me. “I mean, how do you know Ed dropped Ava home?”
“Liv,” Ava mutters. “Leave it.”
“I know because I was up when Ava got home,” I say, placing my glass down and pushing off the counter. “And I carried her to bed.”
Liv frowns at Ava. “You weren’t that drunk that you needed help.”
Ava chews her bottom lip. “I—”
“No, she wasn’t drunk at all.”
The way Liv’s eyes light up as she ping-pongs them between us has me smiling internally.
I know how to have fun.
Liv’s frantic whispers erupt the second I leave the room.
“I’m so proud of you. What you’ve done so far… It’s amazing.”
“It’s flowing, finally.” Ava smiles.
“You’ll be done before you know it,” Liv says, pulling her into another hug and eyeing me knowingly over her shoulder.
The two of them have been hugging and saying goodbye for the past ten minutes in the train station car park.
“You’ll miss your train,” I remind her.
Liv grins. “I get it. You want her all to yourself.”
I lean against the car, folding my arms as Ava ignores Liv’s comment and squeezes her again.
“Call me when you get back.”
“I will, Bitch. Love you.”
“Love you too.” Ava smiles.
Liv walks onto the small country station’s platform just as the train pulls in.
“Thank you for giving her a lift.”
“No problem.”
Ava climbs into the car without looking at me. I close her door and walk around it, sliding into the driver’s seat, but I don’t start the engine.
“Something’s bothering you. Tell me what it is,” I say, breaking the silence.
She presses her lips tightly together and looks out of her window.
“Was it the nightmare you had?”
“What? No, of course not. I don’t even remember having one.” Her shoulders bunch up as she keeps her attention away from me.
“Fine,” I clip. “Then, was it me? What we did?”
Her brow furrows as she glances at me. “I, um…”
Something heavy settles in my gut.
“Okay.” I start the engine. “Then let’s deal with it.”
“What do you mean? ”
“It won’t take long,” I reply.
“What won’t? Jet?”
My eyes drop to her mouth as I clear my throat.
“You’ll see.”