Like hell she is.

“Fine, I’m going to bed then. This conversation is done.”

“Nathaniel,” my mother begins, but I throw a hand up, cutting her off.

“Goodnight,” I bark, before disappearing into my room.

Fuck it all.

CHAPTER 26

AVERY

A warm nose runs down my cheek, rousing me from my sleep. I blink a few times and it’s dark out; not a light to be seen. I can feel the hard, muscled body beside mine and I shiver instantly.

“Nate?” I whisper.

“Sorry, baby,” he murmurs, running his nose down my cheek and over my jaw. “I fucked up. I made you cry; I was wrong.”

“You hurt me, Nate,” I croak.

“I know,” he says, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me closer. “And I’m sorry for that. It wasn’t right.”

“No,” I rasp. “It wasn’t.”

“Things get tense around here and I lose my shit—it isn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have come here.”

“They care about you,” I say, rolling to my back. “They are only trying to help.”

“They have no idea,” he says, his voice a low whisper. “No fucking idea how hard I’m trying to fix the unfixable.”

I fall silent and he keeps running his nose over my face, breathing me in. “You’re all I have left, Avery. Don’t give up on me.”

“I never said I was giving up,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

He stokes a thumb over my cheek and leans down, kissing me softly. I open up to him, needing to feel him, needing to remind myself what I’m doing here. Why I’m risking my life and my career.

The moment his tongue touches mine, I remember. It’s not because of lust, or desperation, it’s because of a soul-binding connection that I can’t turn away from—it’s because he makes me burn, deep inside my heart, and it’s a burn I can’t escape from.

“Nate.” I gasp as his mouth goes down my throat. “We can’t. Not here.”

“No, baby,” he says, sucking on my neck. “We can’t, but it doesn’t mean I can’t let my mouth touch you for a second longer.”

I close my eyes and let him kiss me all over. His mouth travels down my neck, over my shoulders and then slowly goes back up. He kisses me some more before pulling back. I can hear his deep breathing in the silence and I know it’s taking everything for him not to take this that step further.

“How did you get in here?” I ask, running my hand over his shoulder and down his arm.

“I came through the window.” He laughs softly.

“You broke into your own house?”

“Something like that. I’d break into a damned prison if it meant I could feel you.”

I close my eyes and nuzzle my face into his neck. “You should go. If we get busted . . .”

“Mmmm,” he murmurs.

“Nate.” I giggle softly.

“On it, baby. Just one more kiss.”

He kisses me deeply, tongues tangling, hands roaming, breaths coming in short, hard pants—then he gets up and disappears back through the window.

God, will it ever stop feeling like this?

CHAPTER 27

AVERY

Two weeks later.

“We’re here for your awesome dip,” Kelly says, walking in and throwing himself onto my couch. Liam comes in close behind him, followed by Max and Keanu. What the hell is Keanu doing here?

“Are you boys right?” I ask, pulling a handful of beers out of the fridge and walking over, handing them all one.

“We thought we’d come and join you. It’s football night and we all know how much you love football.” Max chuckles, leaning back and throwing his feet up on my coffee table.

“You know, Maxy,” I grin, “for a cop, you’re awful grubby.”

He gives me a look as the guys start chuckling.

“Maxy.” Kelly laughs.

“Fuck off, surfer boy,” Max grunts.

“Language, Max,” I say, chastising him. “You’re in the presence of a lady.”

Liam and Keanu both snort at the same time. Nice.

“I’m ordering a pizza,” I say, seeing the boys aren’t leaving any time soon. “You guys care what we get?”

“Pepperoni and mushroom,” comes a chorus of voices.

Okay then. I walk into the kitchen and lift my phone to dial a pizza. I see a message from Nate. He’s been away for just under a week for motocross, and I’ve been missing him . . . a lot.

Nate – I’m home. When can I c u?

Avery – The guys r over. We can’t tonight.

Nate – Guys?

Avery – Your brother, Kelly, Max and Liam. They decided football was at my house tonight. Sorry.

Nate – My brother gets to admire your sweet ass but I don’t get to see you?

Avery – I’ll try to get them out as soon as possible.

He doesn’t text me back and I feel bad. A huge part of me wants to go and kick all the guys out, but that won’t do me any good. They’ll get suspicious and ask questions. I cant invite Nate here, because there’s no way I won’t give him a desperate fuck me look and that’s going to go down like a big ton of bricks. So I’m in a bit of a screwed situation.

I order the pizza and go and sit with the guys while we wait for it to arrive. We’re watching television, waiting for the football to come on, when some news about surfing pops up. I smile at the girl on the screen. It’s a world-famous female surfer, the first in the country to make it in the big league. Her name is Dante, and she’s so stunning it’s hard to look at her and not get sore eyes. I’ve always admired her.