Ava

I couldn't move an inch even though I so desperately wanted to. He was still smiling, but it more in a taunting way rather than the warm, welcoming smile. His hand was still around my neck, making me look up into his eyes. They were so hypnotic, and it seemed they had cast me into a spell. 

"When you punched him, I swear I've never felt that proud even over winning a match, Ava." He said. His voice was music to my ears. He could talk for hours and I'd listen like a child.

"I had a good teacher." I said back, unwrapping his fingers from my neck.

That just widened his smirk more. "Yeah?"

I chuckled, my hand reaching up to cup his face. He closed his eyes as if my touch had scorched him, and when he opened them again they were softer than before. "You look good."

"Just good?"

"You have enough people to compliment you. Don't expect that of me unless you look absolutely breathtaking." I replied.

"Which I don't right now?" He asked. "I remember you telling me I looked deliciously stunning all the time. My sleep included."

I tried keeping a straight face, but then my lips twitched into a smile. "I do not remember saying that."

"No?" He murmured, shifting closer. "Maybe I should remind you?"

I gave a small chuckle, pushing him back. He stepped back, and I knew he'd done it on his own because there was no way my light shove would push him back even an inch. A look of hurt crossed his eyes before it was gone, and he shook his head, giving me a smile. "Of course, always playing by the rules."

"Rules are easy."

"And easy is not something you want, Ava." He whispered to me. "Or has it really been that long and I don't know you anymore?"

It was a rhetorical question. There was no way in hell he didn't know me, and he knew that. Elias and I had a much deeper bond than a mere relationship. We'd never been in one, we'd never put a label to us. Maybe that's why things turned upside down at a point of time. He was the only reason I didn't do casual hookups. He taught me they never work. He taught me they didn't remain casual always.

"We agreed it won't happen again." 

"We didn't agree. I never agreed." He said, crossing his arms. He was wearing a sleeveless white tee and his muscles bulged at the move. "Is that why you ignored me these four months?"

"You- you ignored me as well!"

"Because you fucking asked me stop calling." He said, his eyes now losing the softness and being replaced by another emotion I was quite familiar with. Anger. "And you know I always do as you say, Ava. Always."

"Look, I don't want to fight-"

"Sure. Why did you come tonight?"

"I-I didn't know you were going to be here." I looked down.

"That doesn't matter. I asked you why you came to a boxing ring of all places on your second night in the city. You could have gone to a club and had fun. But you didn't. Why?"

When I didn't look up, he softly grasped my chin and forced my head up. His face was confronted into an expression of fury but his hold was the gentlest it had been in a long while. His eyes didn't soften when I fumbled. "Use words, Ava."

"I missed you." I said, barely above a whisper. "And this place felt the closest to you."

The smile that spread across his face lit up my entire world. His face brightened at my words, and he seemed to have forgotten he had been angry at me just a minute before. He had known I missed him, but he'd never expected me to say it out loud. I never said it out loud. I never expressed. My confession surprised me as well.

"Stop looking at me like that." I mumbled, looking down.

"You missed me." He repeated, grinning. He looked more beautiful when his guard was down, and this was one of those moments. I didn't want to stop looking at him, and at the same time I knew I should. "That made me happy."

I felt a laugh bubble out of my chest. He was sinfully sexy a minute, and the next he acted like an adorable child. I'd expected things to be awkward between us by how they had ended, but I was glad nothing had changed. "Had you been here this whole time?"

"I moved a week after you left." He said. "Where's Jett?"

"Where do you think he is?" I raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

He swore under his breath. "Here as well? Really? Can't they just control their hormones for an hour?"

I lifted up on my toes, pressing a feather light kiss to his jaw. "Like you do?"

He froze for a second, his arm wrapping around my waist and pulling me closer. "Don't play games with me, amor." He murmured. "We both know who'll win."

"You?"

He smiled. "Didn't you want to play by the rules?"

I nodded, and he stepped back. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. When I opened them again, he was already looking at me. He motioned to me with his eyes, and I followed him outside. The boxing ring had been forgotten and almost everyone had a drink in their hands. When they saw Elias, their faces turned excited. Some even came up to him to introduce themselves. 

Elias gripped my wrist and pulled me in front of him, holding my shoulders and walking behind me like a human train. I chuckled, which cut short when I noticed the hateful gazes I was receiving from the women. I smiled at them, giving them my middle finger. They wanted my wrath and they'll delightfully get it.

We found Isabella and Jett in front of the bar, gyrating against each other. We stopped walking. Elias groaned behind me, pushing his head in my neck to cut off his view. "Ask your brother to stop doing that to my sister in front of me."

I knew his move was pretty much innocent. But when I felt his warm breath hitting the coldness of my skin, I shivered. And I had a feeling it wasn't because of the cold. And by the way his hold on my shoulders tightened, he knew as well.

"Hermano! You killed it!" Isa exclaimed when she noticed us. She sauntered to us as Elias lifted his head up, his face softening when she pulled him down for a hug. "I knew you'd win."

"He was a beginner, Isa. Of course I'd win against him. It would have been an insult to boxing if I didn't." He said. "The next matches won't be this easy though."

"Of course you'd say that." Jett said, shaking his head. "So that when you do win, you'll say you won a tough match and that'll boost your ego."

Elias chuckled, giving him a hug. Jett and Elias had been best friends for a solid ten years. They'd met back in school when they'd both beat up a guy they mutually hated. Since then they'd been inseparable. I remember my exact thoughts when I saw him for the first time. And they were not very lady like. I was still a teenager back then, so I labelled it off as a teenage crush and let it go. Jett moved to Las Vegas after a while, I moved to Los Angeles. And coincidentally, or not so coincidentally, Elias chose the same city as mine.

Maybe it was because I wasn't with my family anymore, and that we were alone in the same city, I became eerily aware of the fact that Elias was attractive. Sinfully so. My thoughts for him became wild, hot, lustful. There was an attraction between us and both of us knew that. When we gave it a try, we knew we didn't want to stop anytime soon.

"You both were together, weren't you?" Isa murmured in my ear. "Did you have sex?"

"Huh? You think ten minutes would be enough with him?" I said without thinking. Blood rushed to my cheeks when I realised what I'd just said, and I spluttered for words. "I-I mean, w-we, no."

Isabella was cackling and I wanted to smack her. Jett and Elias were too busy in their conversation and I was thankful they hadn't heard what I'd just said. Elias looked at me as Jett said something to him, then towards his sister who was clutching her stomach. Putting two and two together, he smirked. He didn't know what had happened, but he knew both of us clearly well to know that I'd just been teased by Isabella. And he loved it when I blushed.

"We're stopping by a club to celebrate his win." Jett said to me. "Pity you can't join us."

"Why?" Isabella looked at me and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. 

"She has work tomorrow." My brother rolled his eyes. "Her boss transferred her to Vegas of all places, and all she can think of is working."

"I came here, didn't I? This wasn't work." I said defensively.

"Yeah this was something entirely different." Isabella chuckled. "C'mon, bonita. It'll be fun."

"Look, I want to. But I have to wake up early-"

"Ava," Elias called out. His eyes met mine and I lost my breath. I was afraid there would be a time when I literally won't be able to breathe because of him, and my body wouldn't care. My body never cared when it came to him. He brought out a side of me which I never knew existed. The submissive side. The side which made me willingly surrender myself to him every fucking time, and I loved it. "Come."

And of course my traitor mouth couldn't help but agree.

-⍣-

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