Chapter 65

Ava’s Pov

The pain flared across every bone in my face. I felt it in my jaw, in my teeth, my nasal cavity, and even my eyes. Tears poured from my ducts without a second delay between the hit and the moment I landed on the black top pavement.

I wanted to scream out in pain, but the air was wiped from my lungs.

I fell.

Hard.

“Ava!” Ethan’s screams were distorted in my ears, like I was underwater. I screwed my eyes shut and I tried to bring myself to sit up, but the pain was too much.

I’d been hit by Dora a thousand times when we were kids, but never like this. She wasn’t strong enough to hit like this, she didn’t throw punches. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. It was an aching pain, and a burning one as well.

Baron’s voice broke through the water-logged ears, but I couldn’t understand him. I heard Ethan yelling back at him, and then I couldn’t hear Baron anymore. I guessed he left. I wasn’t sure, I kept my eyes closed because I thought it would dull the pain at least a little.

I felt the very familiar sensation of arms hooking themselves behind the crook of my knees and around my back to support me. I was lifted into the air, and it took every morsel of energy I had to keep myself upright in Ethan’s arms.

He carried me for a minute, placed me in his car, and started driving away. It took me nearly the entire drive to finally open my eyes and test my vision.

It was a little blurry, but it was clearing up.

I looked over to Ethan, his face was pale and ashy while he drove. His eyes bulged a little, so slightly that if you didn’t see him every day you wouldn’t notice. He was obviously shaken by the situation.

“Are you okay?” He asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

“Mhm,” I hummed, scared to open my mouth and attempt to articulate any real words.

When we got to the house, he cut the engine of the car and turned in the seat to look at me. He lifted his hand, gently cupping the side of my face that was bruised, and used his thumb to stroke the blossoming purple mark that was spreading along the bone.

“That bastard,” He seethed, mostly to himself. “I’m so sorry this is my fault.”

I placed my hand over his, and tried to comfort him. Speaking hurt, but wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be.

“It’s not your fault,” I chastised quietly. When Ethan opened his mouth, a frown forming on his face, I had to continue, “It’s not Baron’s either. It was an accident.”

Ethan didn’t look convinced. He glared at the spot on my face, not at me, as he stroked it gently. I hissed in pain when his thumb hit the spot just a little too hard for comfort, and his eyes darkened.

“I don’t want you ever going there again,” He told me, face serious. “I mean it Ava I want you to stay away from him.”

If my mouth didn’t hurt so bad, my jaw would have dropped open at his demands.

“No,” I choked out, anger and desperation mingling into one strange emotion.

“Ava-” He tried to argue with me, but I didn’t want to hear it anymore. I stormed up into the house, slamming the car door closed behind me, and ran up the stairs into my room.

That little fit cost me the rest of the energy and adrenaline I had left after that hit. I collapsed on my bed, sitting on the corner, and breathed heavily. Spots danced in my eyes and I had to catch my breath.

Ethan stormed up the stairs after me, he was only a second or two behind. He wouldn’t let me disappear again. I could tell by the look on his face that he was not done with this fight.

“Don’t keep running away from me,” He didn’t shout, but his tone was not kind. He dropped to his knees and placed himself between my legs so that he could get close enough to look at my face.

I let him turn my head to inspect the bruise, an angry pout fixed on my face.

“That place keeps giving you trouble,” He said as he traced the bruised flesh all the way to my temple.

“Like the pastry shop did when you made me quit that?” I asked, sounding angrier than I thought I would.

Ethan was taken aback by my words and he hung his head slightly, “Yes, like that.”

I sniffed the air and Ethan stood up.

“I don’t like seeing you mad at me or hurt, Ava,” He told me, putting his hands on his hips as he looked down at me.

“Then don’t start fights and don’t make me mad.” I huffed.

Ethan placed a hand on my shoulder and brought his face a few inches away from mine.

“I don’t want you seeing him again, I’m serious.” He repeated, “That guy is bad news. He tried to challenge me, he punched you!”

“It was an accident!” I insisted, but Ethan wasn’t listening.

“You don’t need to be around a man like him, it’s bad for our image together. It’s bad for the marriage.” He insisted, running a hand through his hair.

“You have no right to be jealous with everything you’ve been doing with Olivia!” I raised my voice. I didn’t mean to yell, but I had been holding onto those emotions for so long. It was hard to keep holding them back.

“Olivia,” Ethan chuckled humorlessly. “You thought that me and Olivia were together, right?”

My mouth opened and closed. I did think that, but now I wasn’t so sure.

“Olivia and I were never romantically involved. She’s in love with Mars - we ended the wedding for her and Mars.” He shook his head at me with a frown.

I felt so silly, but anger overtook that feeling. How could he know that I was suspicious of them and still not clarify anything?

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded, rubbing the sore spot on my jawline. “Why would you purposefully let me believe that you two were together? Why would you purposefully break my heart over and over again like that?”

Ethan didn’t answer me. He stared down at me in silence, then grabbed either side of my face and crashed his lips against mine. It was messy, toothy. Our tongues wrestled for dominance, the passion that I tried so hard to stifle for weeks rose up in my chest.

Heat spread through my entire body. It grew so hot that it felt like I was burning. This was more than just attraction or lust.

Something didn’t feel right.

A sharp pain, like I was being stabbed, formed in my abdomen. It spread until I felt like I was getting ripped open from the inside out.

My mouth opened to scream, but the pain was so bad that not a single sound came out. I broke away from the kiss, clutched at the burning skin around my throat and chest, trying to claw it out. Something was not right.

“Ava?” Ethan tried to grab me but the pain only got worse the closer he got to me.

His hand made contact with my thigh and an animalistic scream tore from my throat.

What was happening to me?