Page 74 of My Never
“No, but apparently I’m going to have to continue telling him no.” I bite my nail with worry as he reads. “Did I handle it well? Was I clear enough? I didn’t leave anything open for a different interpretation, did I?”
He shakes his head across the table.
“I think you handled it well. I don’t see anything that would make him think otherwise. He sounds stubborn though.”
I snort in disgust.
“He is.”
“Will he give up?”
“Hopefully soon. He doesn’t like losing though.”
“I’ve gathered that.”
“Mark? I’m yours. He isn’t going to change that.”
He still looks like he’s holding his breath.
“You remember that night at the bar when the college kid hit on you?”
The memory has me suppressing a laugh.
“Yes, I recall it made you a little feral.”
“Yeah, well, that was before you were mine. I’m feeling a little more than feral right now.”
“Cavemanish?” I taunt.
His eyes flare with heat, and a shiver runs down my spine. He clears his throat and rises to clear the dishes.
“I’ll take care of those.”
“Nope. I need a minute to push him out of my thoughts anyway. He doesn’t get to stay for what I’m about to do to you. Not to mention, this was a dinner to show you how much I appreciate you. You aren’t lifting a finger.”
???
Mark
Taking as many deep breaths as possible, I calm myself while putting all the leftovers in a large food container. I don’t even know what to do with the emotions warring in my brain and heart right now. I most definitely have the intense urge to throw Ava over my shoulder and stomp off to the bedroom to claim her as mine, but I don’t trust myself in the moment. It feels like it goes beyond caveman claiming behavior.
I’m angry with him. I told him clear as day in that grocery store that he needed to stay away from her. He’s fucking with her, and I don’t like it one bit. I saw the anger and resentment in his eyes. If those feelings hung on for years, they didn’t just disappear in a couple months. No, he’s legitimately fucking with her.But why now?I know why. Because I challenged him, andhe doesn’t like losing. He’s a bully. He’s miserable with how his life has turned out, so he’s intent on taking anyone he can down into the pits of hell with him. Well, he can’t have my girl. He doesn’t truly want her anyway. He just wants to ruin her, and not in the way that I like to ruin her. I’m busy ruining her for any other man while he wants to tear her soul to shreds out of spite.
Well… Fuck. That.
I finish rinsing a few items that needed to be hand washed and brace my hands on either side of the sink. She’s been watching me the whole time. I was scared for a minute that she was entertaining the thought of giving him that chance. When she told me that she was mine, the restless monster inside of me settled a smidge, but he’s still prowling, waiting for that fucker to try his luck again. At least I know she doesn’t want him. That’s my only consolation. I hear her stand from the table and make her way around the island to me at the sink. She slips her hands around my waist, pressing me close to her, and lays her head against my back.
“I was scared for a minute,” I admit aloud, looking down into the empty sink while fighting emotions I’ve never battled. It’s terrifying to voice them out loud to her. I don’t like feeling…vulnerable, but I’ll do anything if it means I get to keep her.
“I know.”
“I just found you. He– he had you and threw you away.”
“I know.”
I look out the window at her garden, knowing I’m about to say something without saying what I really want to say.
“I won’t throw you away. I won’t even give you away. I will ruin you for all other men, Ava.”
