ALEX POVಡ⁠ ͜⁠ ⁠ʖ⁠ ⁠ಡ

I SILENTLY CURSED JOSH AS I CARRIED AVA UPSTAIRS. THAT ASSHOLE ALWAYSput me in situations I didn’t want to be in.Case in point: sleeping in the same room as his sister.I’m sure he would be even less happy about it than I was, but I hadn’t setup the guest room—I never had guests, not if I could help it—and it waspouring outside, so I couldn’t bring her home without both of us gettingdrenched. I could’ve left her on the couch, but she would’ve been damnuncomfortable.I kicked open the door to my room and set her on the bed. She didn’t stir.My eyes lingered on her form, noticing details I had no business noticing.Her dark hair fanned out beneath her like a blanket of black silk long enoughfor me to wrap my fist around, and her skirt rode up, baring an inch morethigh than modest. Her skin looked smoother than silk, and I had to clenchmy hands to refrain from touching her.My mind flashed back to earlier in the night. Her skin had turned theprettiest shade of red when I made my “dripping” comment, and while I’djoked about her bleeding heart, a part of me—a very large part—had wantedto bend her over my knee, yank up her skirt, and find out just how wet shewas. Because I’d seen the lust in those big, brown eyes—she’d been turnedon. And if she hadn’t moved away when she did…I tore my gaze away, my jaw clenching at the unwelcome thoughtscrowding my brain.I shouldn’t have been thinking about my best friend’s sister this way, butsomething had shifted. I wasn’t sure when or how, but I’d started seeing Avaless as Josh’s baby sister and more as a woman. A beautiful, pure-hearted butfeisty woman who might be the death of me one of these days.I never should’ve invited her in earlier. I should’ve gone on my date withMadeline like I’d planned, but truth be told, I couldn’t stand Madeline’scompany outside the bedroom. She was gorgeous, rich, sophisticated, andunderstood she’d get nothing more than a physical relationship out of me, butshe insisted on being wined and dined before each of our sex sessions. I onlyobliged because the woman fucked like a porn star.A night in with Ava, as bad of an idea as it had turned out to be, hadsounded far more appealing than another tiresome meal at a generic fancyrestaurant where Madeline preened and pretended we were a couple in frontof D.C.’s movers and shakers.She didn’t expect any strings from our arrangement, but she liked statussymbols, and I—as one of the richest, most eligible bachelors in the DMVarea, according to Mode de Vie’s latest Power Issue—was a status symbol.I didn’t care. I used her; she used me. We got orgasms out of it. It was amutually beneficial relationship, but my arrangement with Madeline had runits course. Her less-than-pleased reaction when I called to tell her I couldn’tmake it tonight had cemented my decision.Madeline had no claim over me, and if she thought a few dinners andblowjobs would change my mind, she was sorely mistaken.I lifted Ava so I could tuck her beneath the covers. I’d expected her tosleep with a dreamy smile like the one she always wore when she was awake.Instead, her brows were drawn, her mouth tight, her breathing shallow.I almost smoothed a hand over her brow before I caught myself.Instead, I changed into a pair of black sweats, flicked off the light, andclimbed into the other side of bed. A gentleman would sleep on the couch orthe floor, but of all the insults people had thrown my way over the years,“gentleman” wasn’t one of them.I laced my hands behind my head, trying to ignore the soft femalepresence beside me. Sleep wasn’t forthcoming, per usual, but instead offlipping to a specific day in my mental scrapbook, I let my mind wander as itpleased.November 27, 2013.“Trust me, dude, my dad will be thrilled he has someone to talk footballwith.” Josh hopped out of the car. “Me being an NBA instead of NFL guy ishis biggest disappointment.”I smirked, following him up the driveway toward his family’s imposingbrick house in the Maryland suburbs. It wasn’t as large as my mansion on theoutskirts of Philadelphia where I lived with my uncle, but it must’ve cost atleast a million or two. Thick hedges lined the stone path leading up to themassive mahogany front door, and a fall-themed wreath of flowers accentedwith a silky bow hung over the brass door knocker.“My sister’s doing, most likely,” Josh said, noticing my gaze. “My dadhates all that shit, but Ava loves it.”I knew little about his sister other than that she was a few years youngerthan us, and she liked photography. Josh had bought her a secondhand DSLRcamera from eBay for Christmas because she kept dropping “hints” about itwhenever they spoke on the phone.I met Josh’s father first. He sat in the living room, watching the Cowboysversus Lions game like Josh had predicted. Michael was shorter than his son,but his chiseled face and sharp eyes made him appear taller than his fivefoot-eight inches.“Nice to meet you, sir.” I held his gaze, unflinching, when I shook hishead.Michael grunted a response.Josh was a third-generation Chinese-American, which meant his fatherhad been born in the U.S. Michael had been the model son, a straight-Astudent who’d attended top-tier schools and founded a successful companydespite the fact his own parents never finished high school. Similar to myfather, except mine had been born in Ukraine and immigrated to the U.S. inhis teens.My chest tightened. When Josh found out I had no family to celebrateThanksgiving with other than my uncle, who couldn’t care less about theholiday, he’d invited me to celebrate with the Chens. I was both grateful andsomewhat irritated. I hated being the object of anyone’s pity.“Josh, have you—oh.” The female voice behind me halted.I turned, my cool gaze assessing the petite brunette in front of me. Shewasn’t actually that short—probably five foot five, but compared to my sixthree, she was miniature-sized. With her rosebud lips and delicate face, sheresembled a doll.She beamed, and I fought a grimace. It wasn’t normal for smiles to bethat bright.“Hi! I’m Ava, Josh’s sister. You must be Alex.” She held out her hand.I stared at it long enough that her smile faded, replaced with anuncomfortable expression, and Josh nudged me in the ribs.“Dude,” he coughed out the side of his mouth.I finally shook her hand. It was tiny and delicate, and I couldn’t helpthinking how easy it would be to crush it.This girl and her sunshiney smile wouldn’t last a day in the real world,where monsters lurked around every corner and people hid their darkintentions behind masks. I was sure of it.A scream yanked me out of my memories and into real life again, wherethe shadows grew long and the body next to mine writhed with distress.“Stop!” Stark terror drenched Ava’s voice. “No! Help!”Five seconds later, I’d turned on the bedside lamp and was out of bed,gun in hand. I always kept a firearm by my side, and I’d installed a new, topof-the-line security system right after I moved in. I didn’t know how anintruder got past all the defenses without triggering an alarm, but they pickedthe wrong house to break into.When I looked around though, I didn’t see anyone else in the room.“Please, stop!” Ava twisted on the bed, her face pale. Her eyes were wideopen but unseeing. “He—” She choked like she couldn’t get enough air in herlungs.Nightmare.My shoulders relaxed before tensing again.She wasn’t having a nightmare; she was having night terrors. Powerfulones, if her reaction was anything to go by.Ava screamed again, and my heart tripped. I almost wished there were anintruder so I had something physical to fight.I couldn’t wake or restrain her; that was the worst thing you could dowhen someone had night terrors. All I could do was wait for the episode topass.I left the bedside lamp on and kept an eye on her in case she hurt herselfwith all the thrashing. I hated feeling helpless, but I knew better than anyonethat no one can fight our mental battles for us.Half an hour later, Ava’s screams had quieted, but I continued my vigil. Itwasn’t like I could sleep. My insomnia meant I only slept two or three hoursa night, though I often crashed for naps in the middle of the day when Icould.I opened my laptop and was reviewing new business documents when myphone pinged.Josh: Yo, I’m bored.Guess I wasn’t the only person who couldn’t sleep tonight.Me: What do you want me to do about it?Josh: Entertain me.Me: **** you. I’m not your circus monkey.Josh: I woke up my roommate, I snorted so loud. You should def dressup as a circus monkey for Halloween.Me: Only if you dress up as an ***. Sorry, I mean donkey.Me: You’re already an ***.Josh: What a comedian. Don’t quit your day job.Josh: P.S. You think I won’t do it? I’ll do it just so I can blackmail youwith the monkey pics.Me: You don’t tell someone you want to blackmail them before gettingthe blackmail material, dumbass.As Josh and I joked and gave each other shit, I glanced to my side, whereAva slept with her face buried in one of my pillows. A trickle of somethingthat might’ve been guilt wormed its way into my stomach, which wasridiculous. It wasn’t like we’d messed around.Besides, sleeping in the same bed as my best friend’s sister wasn’t theworst thing I’d ever done…or would do.Not by a long shot.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***