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“Instead of being an asshole and staring at my breasts, can you lend me your jacket? Because I really want to get this cake and send my brother, your best friend, off in style before he leaves the country.” My words hung in the air while I clapped a hand over my mouth, horrified. Did I just utter the word breasts to Alex Volkov and accuse him of ogling me? And call him an asshole?
Freaking love Ava
Dear God, if you smite me with lightning right now, I won’t be mad. Promise.
“It might help with your condition.” “What condition?” Alex sounded bored. “Stickuptheassitis.” I’d already called the man an asshole, so what was one more insult? I might’ve imagined it, but I thought I saw his mouth twitch before he responded with a bland, “No. The condition is chronic.”
Ava is the best😂
“Josh has the worst taste in friends,” I bit out. “I don’t know what he sees in you. I hope that stick in your ass punctures a vital organ.” Then, because I’d been raised with manners, I added, “Thank you for the ride.”
Badass
Just take the damn cookies. You can eat them, throw them out, feed them to your pet snake Nagini, whatever.” His mouth twitched. “Did you just compare me to Voldemort?” “What? No!” Maybe.
I’m dead😂
“Should I move so you have a clearer view of my living room?” he asked sardonically. Heat scorched my cheeks. Busted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Your living room isn’t that interesting,” I fibbed. “Lack of color. No personal effects.” What am I saying? Someone stop me. “The painting’s ugly too.” Stop me now. “Could use a woman’s touch.” Fuck. Me. Sideways. I did not just say that.
The sudden subject change gave me whiplash, but I wasn’t complaining. I didn’t want to speak about my dripping anything with Alex. Ever.
My thighs clenched, and I gritted out, “Marley & Me.” “Put it in.” Put it—oh, the DVD. I needed to get my mind out of the gutter.
Bridget tossed a laughing glance in Booth’s direction. “Are you all right, Booth?” “Yes, Your Highness.” He grimaced when the parrot squawked, “Ooh, yes! Spank me, master!” “I am not your master,” he told the bird. “Go away.”
Most people thought the biggest sacrifice they could make was to die for something. They were wrong. The biggest sacrifice you could make was to live for something—to allow it to consume you and turn you into a version of yourself you didn’t recognize. Death was oblivion; life was reality, the harshest truth that had ever existed.
“If you let lesser people determine your self-worth, you’ll never reach higher than their limited imagination.”
He leaned forward, his expression intense. “You don’t have to work overtime to get people to love you, Ava. Love isn’t earned. It’s given.”
And that was when I realized I was well and truly fucked. “You’re right, sweetheart,” I said, dropping my forehead to hers with a resigned sigh. So. Fucked. “But the rules don’t apply to you.”
“What I’m trying to say—again—is, I love you, Alex Volkov. Every part of you, even the parts I want to slap.”
“You are the light to my dark, Sunshine,” he said in a raw voice. His lips brushed against mine as he spoke. “Without you, I’m lost.”
She shook her head, her chest heaving. She’d stopped crying, but her eyes burned with anger and betrayal. That’s my girl. Hate me. Don’t cry over me. Never cry over me. I’m not worth it.
but I had killed her spirit, her innocence. The part of her that believed the best in people and saw beauty in the ugliest of hearts. Was any of it real? Yes, Sunshine. All of it. Realer than I ever thought possible.
“Because I love her!” I slammed my hands on the table. “There, happy? I love her so much I would rather give her up than hurt her. But if you think I’m letting her go to another country alone, with no protection, you’ve got another think coming. Now give me her fucking flight info.”
“Sweetheart, please. Tell me what I have to do. I’ll do anything.” “I don’t know if there’s anything you can do,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.” “Then I’ll just have to try everything until we find something,” he said, his face granite, his tone resolute.
