Beneath This Man(91)

'Excuse me.' My politeness is killing me.

He smiles at me, then takes a cocky swig of his wine before standing back a fraction, giving me just enough room to slip past and make my way down to Kate. When she sees me emerging from the building, she jumps out of her van and runs around to open the back doors.

'That was quick.' she says, taking the bags from me.

'He's packed for me.' I nod at the bags and raise a brow.

She smirks. 'That's very civilised of him.'

I return to the apartment and grab a few more. It would be quicker if Kate came and got a few, but the pick-up has been quite straight forward and pain free up till now. Introducing Kate into the equation is a sure fire way to send the situation into anarchy, so I traipse back and forth, shifting my worldly possessions alone. I notice Matt doesn't offer to help.

I hand my ninth and tenth bag to Kate. 'How many more?' She thrusts them in the van.

'Just one box.' I say on an about turn. He better have packed everything because I don't want to come back.

I make my way back up and grab the final box, turning to make my hasty exit, but I find Matt blocking my escape again.

'Ava, can we talk?' he asks hopefully.

I cringe. 'Talk about what?' I know damn well what this is about. I need to get out of here. I can't rehash this shit again. The last time I rejected his proposal to give it another shot, he turned nasty.

'Us,' He waves his hand between us.

'Matt, I'm not going to change my mind.' I say as surely as I can, but before I know what has happened, he's on me trying to shove his tongue down my throat. I drop the box and use all the strength I possess to push him away from me. 'What the hell are you doing?' I screech incredulously.

He pants a bit and then scowls at me. 'Reminding you of why we're good together.' he spits.

I actually laugh. It's a proper belly laugh. He's reminding me? Of what? How much of a twat he is? Please! A Jesse style reminder it is not.

'Are you still seeing someone?' he asks.

'That's none of your business.'

'No, but your parents were very interested.' he snipes.

I take a long, steady breath to prevent my hand flying out and cracking him one. I'm not even going to justify his actions with a response. After the day I've had, this is the last thing I need. 'Get out of my way, Matt.' I'm immensely proud of myself for keeping my voice even.

'You stupid cow.' he sneers.

My eyes widen. I'm stunned. I knew he had a nasty streak, but is this really necessary? I see red. 'Yes, I am seeing someone and do you know what, Matt?' I don't wait for him to ask. 'He's the best I've had.' I say, stupidly or not.

He laughs a sly, slap worthy laugh. 'He's a raving alcoholic, Ava. Did you know that? He's probably drunk out of his skull every time he f*cks you.'

I falter and Matt's cocky grin widens. How the hell does he know who I'm seeing? He thinks I'm shocked because he has just dropped the alcohol bombshell on me. No, I'm shocked because he must know who I'm seeing. How?

Oh God, I want to wipe his smug grin off his face with one swift slap. 'Well, even pissed he's a better f*ck than you ever were.' I toss at him and watch as his smug face turns to confusion.

The bastard thought he had one over on me. Those words have achieved far more than a slap ever would. I'm delighted with myself for being so quick off the mark. He always liked to think he was handy in the bedroom. He wasn't.

I can see him struggling, clearly wondering how he should deal with me. I stand my ground, but I'm still curious how the hell he knows about Jesse.

'You're pathetic.' he snarls.

'No Matt. I'm making up for four years of shit sex with you.'

His face drops a little. He doesn't know what to say. I lean down to get the box from the floor and whip my head up when I hear the thunder of heavy footsteps charging up the stairs.

Oh f*ck!

'Ava!' he roars.

Any hope I had of leaving Matt and his bewildered expression kind of commotion free has been well and truly trampled. How does he know I'm here? I'll kill Kate if she's tattled on me.

He comes bulldozing through the door and any notion I had that I've seen him in all of his challenging ways has just been thoroughly obliterated. He's rampant, and I'm actually afraid. Not for myself, for Matt, and I hate him. Jesse looks capable of murder.