And she is, but she’s not alone. Ava’s there.
“Hey, Vaughn, what can we do for you?” Ava smiles at me.
Charly hasn’t looked at me. She’s over on the other side of the trailer, looking through a drawer.
“I just need Charly for a minute.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. Charly, Vaughn needs you,” Ava calls to her before disappearing into the back.
I see Charly’s body stiffen.
“Is it important, or can it wait?” she says without even looking up, her voice as rigid as her body. “I’m busy right now.”
Pretending to look through a drawer. Right.
“It’s important,” I say in a voice that means I’m not fucking around.
I won’t have her avoiding me and hurting over something that she thinks happened that definitely did not when I can fix this with a few words.
She pauses and then slowly rights herself before turning to face me. The hurt in her eyes that she’s trying to hide slays me.
“Fine,” she says tonelessly, her eyes narrowing, her hands going to her hips. “What’s so important that it can’t wait?”
If she wasn’t hurting and this wasn’t a fucked up situation, I’d be turned on right now.
Okay, maybe I’m a little turned on, but she’s hot as fuck. And, when she’s angry, she’s off-the-charts hot.
“I ripped my shirt,” I lie, knowing that Ava could be listening to what we’re saying right now.
“Okay, give it here, and I’ll fix it for you.” She sticks her hand out, knowing full well I don’t have a ripped shirt and that I definitely don’t have one with me.
“It’s in my trailer.”
“Convenient.”
I step closer to her, and she steps back.
I hate that so fucking much.
I grit my jaw. “We need to talk,” I say in a whispered voice. “And we can’t do that here with Ava listening.”
“Maybe I don’t want to talk to you,” she hisses.
“I don’t care if you do or not; you’re going to. I won’t have you thinking something that’s not true when I can clear this up for you right the fuck now.”
She laughs, and there’s not a trace of humor. “I’m not an idiot. I know what I saw, Vaughn.”
“And I know what happened.” I step toward her again, and she doesn’t back away this time—probably because there’s nowhere for her to go. “I’m going nowhere, so you’d better come with me to my trailer if you don’t want me to cause a scene and let everyone know what’s going on between us.”
Her eyes narrow to slits, and her lips pinch. “You won’t do that because you have more to lose than I do.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “Right now, I don’t fucking care if the whole world knows about us. I care that you hear me out.”
“Fine,” she huffs as she shoulders past me. “Let’s get this over and done with.”
“Oh, we won’t be done,” I mutter behind her. “Not by a fucking long shot.”
“I’m popping out for a few minutes, Ava,” she calls out before stomping out of the trailer.
Arms folded, she marches her way to my trailer, ignoring me the whole way.
The minute we’re inside and alone, I lock the door. “What you saw isn’t what you thought it was.”
She laughs bitterly, her face reddening with anger. “You couldn’t have used a more cliché line if you’d tried. But whatever, Vaughn. You’re free to do whatever you want. We’re not together. We’re just fucking.”
Well, if that doesn’t sting.
I know she doesn’t really mean that. She’s hurt and angry, and she’s lashing out, but it still pisses me the fuck off.
“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” I bite.
“Do I?” Her voice pitches higher. “Because, from where I’m standing, that’s all we seem to be doing.”
“I told you last night that I’m serious about you!”
“And I thought you were just messing around!” she yells back at me.
I grab her arm, crashing her into my body, and I slam my mouth down on hers. She fights me for all of a second before wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me back.
I break off, breathing heavily and pressing my forehead to hers. “Does this feel like I’m just messing around?”
“No,” she whispers.
I take her face in my hands, tipping her head back, forcing her eyes to meet mine. Knowing I have her attention, I say what I’ve needed to since she walked in on Piper and me, “Pins…Piper just turned up here and let herself in. I was in the shower, hence the lack of a shirt. I told her to leave, but she wouldn’t listen. She said she wanted me back. But I don’t want her, Charly.” My words are clear, so there’s no misunderstanding. “You just walked in at the worst moment possible. I was just about to shove her off me, I swear. I don’t want her. I don’t even fucking like her. Honestly, I don’t know what she thought she would achieve by turning up here.”