Rock Chick Revenge (Rock Chick #5)(102)

Luke settled me in his arms, carrying me like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold. I was still crying, pushing against his shoulders, kicking my legs and struggling like the bride from hell. My struggle didn’t last long. He planted a knee in the bed, dropped me on it and before I could move an inch, he covered my body with his.

Shit!

“Get off!” I shoved at his shoulders, arching my back, bucking my hips. It was like I didn’t move, his face was in my face and one of his hands came to my jaw. I jerked my head away and looked anywhere but at him.

“Did you tell Zano I was thinkin’ of Jules when I f**ked you?” His voice was quieter, softer and even though his complete change in tone took me off guard, I still kept my face averted.

I decided to answer his question. As far as I was concerned, the sooner this conversation was over, the better.

“Ren came up with that on his own. I just told him you were in love with someone else.”

“Ava, I’m not in love with Jules.”

Bullshit, I thought but did not say and kept looking away.

“Fine, great, sorry for the misunderstanding. Now if you’ll get up, I’m going home.”

“Babe, look at me.” Now he was using his gentle, affectionate voice and I had to bite my lip. The tears were still coming but they were subsiding. The Voice would make them come back full strength, I knew it.

“Please get off,” I repeated. “I need to go home.”

His weight settled full on me and his hands came to frame my face, forcing me to look at him.

I was too caught up in my drama to notice the look on his face. I just focused on the next second which would take me to the next second and the next, which would eventually take me home, where I could be safe, renew my vows to my vibrators and never leave my house ever again.

“Jules is pregnant, Ava.”

In a flash, thoughts of vibrators and a lifetime of being a hermit flew out the window and my eyes focused on his.

“What?” I asked.

“Vance told me yesterday morning. It’s early, she doesn’t want anyone to know until she’s further along. Vance didn’t agree. He’s f**kin’ beside himself. He told everyone but Shirleen.”

I realized I wasn’t breathing. Then I realized I forgot how.

Luke kept talking. “That’s why I was standin’ close to her, touching her face. She’s got no blood family left and Vance isn’t close to his. They’ve been through a lot and they both want this. I’m happy for them, this is a good thing.”

Ho-ly crap.

Okay. It was official. I was The A-Number-One Dork of All Time.

I told you that you should have talked to him, Good Ava admonished.

Bad Ava was silent.

Good Ava looked around my neck at Bad Ava. Nothing to say?

Bad Ava looked around my neck at Good Ava. Then she put her thumb to her nose and wiggled her fingers at her.

I let out my breath and my eyes slid to the side. “Sorry,” I whispered.

Luke’s thumb slid across my wet cheekbone. “Babe, please look at me.”

It was the “please” that got me and my eyes slid back to his.

“I’m guessin’ that was the drama yesterday, why you needed to get your head together.”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to. It was obvious.

“What I want to know is, why you came back to me last night, considerin’ you thought I was in love with Jules.”

I forgot how to breathe again.

Oh… my… God.

I’d given it all away. I didn’t even mean to but I did, I didn’t expect him to find out I thought he was in love with Jules.

Fuckity, f**k, f**k, f**k.

I bucked my h*ps a bit, a tester to see if he was off guard (he wasn’t).

While I did this, his face came closer, his lips came to mine and he said, “That’s what I thought.”

“Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop right there.”

Shit! Did I say that aloud? I did.

Hell and damnation.

I was going to have to go with it.

His head came up an inch.

“I didn’t have anywhere else to go,” I told him. “Bad guys were after me, remember?” That wasn’t bad, it was even the truth.

“You could have stayed with Zano,” Luke replied.

Shit, shit, shit.

He was right. I could have.

Why hadn’t I thought of that?

I started to think of something else, a lie, a fib, anything. Luke’s body started moving like he was laughing and I knew he read my face.

I didn’t think this was funny. Not even a little bit.

“Please get off me. I need to go home.”

The amusement faded from his eyes when he heard my tone but he didn’t move his body from mine. Instead, his finger traced my hairline. His eyes watched this and then they came back to mine.

“Beautiful, I told you that you were going to have to clue in yourself but tonight I’m gonna give you a little help.”

This did not sound good.

I didn’t want any help. I wanted this to be over. It was much better to be over now than over later when he left me because he was bored or done with me or whatever. Or worse, when I had to identify his bullet-ridden body at a morgue.

“First…” he started, interrupting my thoughts.