Chapter 12

Rowan

I watch the cop that saved Ava leads her away. For some reason I hated how he was holding her hand. Like seriously, was it a must he holds her F***ing hand?

I didn’t know why the hell seeing the two of them together irritated me but it did. I didn’t like whatever was going on between them.

I feel soft hands holding mine and it’s then I realize that my hands were balled into a fist.

“You okay?” Emma asks and I turn to face her.

Her beautiful face brings me back to the present.

‘She’s the one I want, the one I’ve always wanted‘ I remind myself, pushing back the thoughts of

Ava,

I didn’t want Ava so it shouldn’t bother me whether another man takes interest in her, right?

“Yeah, I am” I reply and smile at Emma.

She smiles back at me and just like the first time she did, her smile captures me. Enthralls me and takes me back to the time when we were together.

Minutes later, Ava comes back with the cop. She is laughing at something he said. She looks so peaceful and at ease around him.

Somethings grips my heart and the irritation that had faded comes back two folds. Damn it! What the hell was happening to me?

I’ve never cared for her much, so why the F*** did I feel like punching Ethan to a bloody pulp? =

“Aren’t you going to say hi to us?” Travis‘ asks Ava,

He had put down his gun and taken off his earmuffs off.

Gabe does the same and comes to stand beside me. We were twins but we weren’t identical.

Looking at us side by side, you wouldn’t even tell that we were actually twins.

Ava gives her brother a cool look. The warmth that was on her face a few seconds ago completely gone.

“No, there is no need for that” she answers.

“What do you mean there isn’t any need, we are family?” Travis asks in a hard tone. Irritation in his voice

“Since when? Last time I checked you only had one younger sister, Rowan had one love and Gabriel, well, he never wanted me as a sister in law. Since the woman you all preferred is standing. right next to you, I don’t see why I should bother making any pleasantries.” She says it as a matter of fact.

Her once expressive face gives away’absolutely nothing. She leaves us all shifting from one foot to another feeling awkward. She was right. We were never really pleasant to her even when she tried.

“You’re being such a bitch” Emma snaps. “Is it wrong that your brother wants to hear from you?”

Ava laughs. A sarcastic and cold laugh. Something I have never heard from her.

“Thanks for the complement Emma, you see, they all thought I was a bitch so I decided that it was high time to live by their expectation and let me tell you, it’s quite invigorating”

Emma goes to reply but Ava cuts her off.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get away from all of you before your drama chases Ethan away”

With that she takes Ethan’s hand and walks away, not bothering to look back at us..

So the cops name was Ethan? I make a ment*l note to have him investigated. There was just something about him I didn’t like.

They get to a booth and Ethan begins taking her through what I assume is the same process we were taken through. I pull my gaze from them and focus on the rest

“What the hell just happened?” Travis asks, ‘completely flabbergasted.

Gabe smirks. “Ava finally grew some balls”

He looks like he’s enjoying this way too much, which I can say is a far cry from the rest of us.

“Let’s just finish what we were doing and get out of here” Emma says irritably.

With one last disgusted look directed at Ava, she takes my hands and turns us around.

Both Gabe and I were already licensed gun holders. I was here to offer support to Emma and Gabe was here because he hasn’t gone shooting for a long time and he thought it would be really fun.

After a while I give up beacuse I can’t focus.

F***! I should be concentrating on Emma but my eyes keeps wandering to my ex–wife. No matter how much I try, I can’t keep my eyes from her and the bastard.

It also didn’t help that I noticed every F***ing move he made. His arms on her hips as he positions her. How close he was to her backside or how his l*ps were too close to her ear as he whispered something in her ear.

“Ro?”

“What?” I snap at my brother.

This has never happened to me before. Ava has never affected me until now and I didn’t F***ing understand why.

“You’re not okay, what’s bothering you?” he asks me lightly.

“Nothing, why would you think that something was bothering me?”

Damn it! Why the hell did it seem like he was caressing her with the way his hands glided across her arm? And what the F*** was she giggling at?

“The fact that you’re glaring at your ex–wife and her hero” he states.

“He’s not he F***ing hero!”

“He is…in case you’ve forgotten he did try to save her so, that makes him a hero in her eyes”

She turns to him and gives him a look I’ve never seen in her eyes before and it didn’t sit well with me.

“Shut the F*** up Gabriel” I growl.

He chuckles, obviously finding all this funny.

“Look, you have to pull yourself together. You came here with Emma so you can’t spend the entire F***ing time staring at Ava. Emma is the one you want remember plus she’s noticed your attention is divided” 3

That snaps me back to my senses. I look at Emma to find her sitted down, her hands on her lap and face turned down. Shit! Gabe was right. Emma didn’t deserve this, we were supposed to be starting over and here I was obsessed with Ava, who seemed to have moved on.

I place down my gun then sit down next to Emma.

“I’m sorry Emma, my head is just not in the right place today”

It wasn’t a lie. For some reason, Ava had me all twisted up today which was unusual.

She places her hand in mine and then k*sses my cheek. “I understand. You’ve been married to her for nine years so it’s understandable you would be watching after her, after all we don’t really know this Ethan guy. He’s a cop but he could also be bad news.”

I sigh in relief and nod. She was right. I was just looking after Ava She was after all Noah’s mother. There was nothing more to it.

About thirty minutes later, I watch Ava leave the arena. This was the first time that the cop wasn’t see some F***ing sense.

“What the F*** Rowan?” she all but screams when I enter the ladies room and lock it behind me.

I walk towards her, my steps controlled and measured.

“What the F*** was that out there?” I snarled at her.

“I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about” her brows are furrowed as she answers.

I was in the mood for her st* pid games. I needed to say what I was supposed to say and go back to Emma.

“Don’t play dumb with me Ava, what is going on between you and the douche bag?

She smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “Oh that? That is none of your business and his name is Ethan by the way”

“I don’t give a shit what his name is.. I just want to know what the hell you’re doing with him”

Why was she being so difficult? She wasn’t like this before.

A sinister gleam glows in her eyes and I just know that I won’t like her F***ing answer.

“The way to get over someone is to get under someone else, that’s what I’m doing”

I don’t know what comes over me but I see red. Moving, I pin her b*dy to the wall behind her and cage her with my arms.

“You’re sleeping with him?” I growl at her, unable to contain my anger at the thought of another man touching her.

“It’s none of your business whether I’m F***ing him or not, we’re divorced, remember?”

She is right but I still can’t help myself. The need to erase his touch on her skin consumes me. As if they have a mind of their own, my hand go to her hips. The feel of them very familiar.

Her breath hitches letting me know that she probably wasn’t unaffected. I get close. So close that I can taste her breathe on my l*ps. I completely forget where we are and who we were here with.

All of a sudden she shoves me away. Snapping me back to the present.

“What are you doing Rowan?” she whispers, tears start filling her eyes. “You can’t do this to me, I won’t let you. Emma is back, she’s right here so if you want to k*ss someone, k*ss her and stop whatever game you’re trying to play with me.”

With that she side steps me and leave. Banging the door behind her.

I take a deep breath and run a hand through my hair.

Why the hell did I do that? And what the hell was I thinking?

“F***” I yell before punching the wall I had pinned her on.

Again, Ava was right. I finally had Emma with me so why the hell was I about to sabotage that by almost k*ssing her sister?

Emma is the one I’ve always wanted yet for some reason I can’t seem to get my unwanted ex–wife out of my head.