Ava continued to sniffle, and he reached out, grabbing her hand.
“Abriana shouldn’t have come to you.”
“I’m glad she did. I had no idea you even thought I was having an affair. I promise you, Ava, I will not cheat on you. No woman even compares to you.”
“Smokey, you’re surrounded by women. You cannot keep that kind of promise.”
“I can. I know what I want, andI know who I want. It is you. It will always be you.” She tried to pull her hand away, but he wouldn’t let her.
His heart was racing. He couldn’t press on the gas as he wanted to get them all there in one piece, and not in pieces.
The car was silent, apart from Ava’s sniffles. When he saw the clubhouse up ahead, he was relieved.
After pulling into the parking lot, he parked the car, climbed out, and grabbed Umberto.
Ava was still in the car. With Umberto in his arms, he rounded the car to her and crouched down.
“Ava, I’venever been good with words. I know this. I know when it comes to you, I fuck up all the time, but I swear to you, I have not cheated, nor will I ever cheat.” He took her hand and pressed it against his chest. “This beats for you and you alone.”
Ava sighedand reached out to cover Umberto’s ears. “How do you expect me to believe that when all you do is make love to me? You don’t fuck me anymore. You don’t desire me.”
“Are you crazy?” Smokey asked.
“Don’t call me crazy,” Ava said. “I know what I feel.”
“Thenyou should know that I make love to you because I want to take my time with you. I want to explore every single inch of your body. You drive me wild being with you. Every time I’m with you, I want you naked, spread out, and I would take you, again and again, and again. With Umberto, he has put a hold on how badly I want to fuck you in every single room of that house. On every single surface. You were baking some cookies the other week, and all I wanted to do was spread those juicy thighs, bend you over, and fuck you.”
“Why didn’t you?” Ava asked.
Smokey growled. “He was asleep in the next room, and as I was about to do exactly what I said, he decided to wake up. He is a serious cock block.”
Ava chuckled.
“I love you, Ava. I love you and only you. Come with me, let me show you.” He held his hand out.
This time, she didn’t hesitate putting her hand within his.
He helped her out of the car, and together, side by side, with Umberto in his arms, they walked toward the clubhouse.
Harlow stood in the doorway, rubbing at her arms. “I’m not cheating. I swear, Ava. I would never do that with you. Besides, Smokey is gross, and he’s like my brother’s boss, and did I mention gross, and like old,” Harlow said. “I wouldn’t do that to you. I would never damage our friendship, but he needed help in putting all of this together, and he invited me for Christmas. I think it’s so that I can give you some happy memories or something like that. He might just feel sorry for me because my family isn’t the best at understanding. Well, they’re understanding to a point, but Christmas can be amazing and sucky at the same time.”
“Harlow, I want her to see what I was planning.”
“Oh, right, the wonderland. I hope you love it. I did half of it. Larissa and Raven are in there as well. They did a whole bunch of it. It was a team effort. I made sure to get all of your favorite food. If there is anything we’re missing, just let me know and I will go and find it.”
Smokey felt sorry for the guywho would eventually fall for this woman. He had to wonder if there was going to be a time that she would ever take a breath.
“Right, right, shut up, Harlow, so you can take her in to see everything. See, I know what you’re going to say next.”
This time,Harlow moved out of the way so he could take Ava inside.
The moment they stepped through the doors, he heard her gasp, and he turned to look at her.
Ava’s lips were slightly parted, he hoped in shock, but in a good way of shock.
She looked at him. “You did all of this for me?”
Theguys were there, and so was Larissa, who had her hands clasped together.