Page 121 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

Chapter Twenty Two

Aiden

I never thought a single girl could make me lose all sense of rationality and control, but Avery did. Jealousy had taken up permanent residence inside me. And I fucking hated it.

Every fucking time she was on the phone to him, I wanted to punch something. Anything. I knew why. I hated she relied on someone else. Even though she belonged to me, she still had a life outside of us. One she outright refused to let me in on. Their friendship was out of fucking bounds. Fuck. I hated I couldn’t say no when she asked for permission to phone him regularly. I hated it all.

When she smiled, laughed, called him a prick. Those things got to me. Avery might be in my bed every night. She might enjoy what I did to her, but she was withdrawing from me. I could fucking feel it. I had to do something about it.

“Why do you look so pissed off?” she asked, sitting next to me on the sofa when she finished her phone call.

“I’m not.”

“Aiden…”

She ran a finger down my arm. I tried not to be affected by her touch. Tried and failed.

“It’s him, isn’t it? Because I refuse to talk about it.”

“Just leave it alone.”

She leant towards me and kissed my cheek.

“I’m sorry.”

Fuck. She had nothing to apologise for really. I was being a dick.

“I said leave it.”

She captured my face in her hand. Her lips trailed along my jaw. And I fucking lost it. She couldn’t use sex to placate me.

“I’m not in the mood, Avery. Go and sit over there before I fucking make you.”

She moved away from me immediately, her eyes flashing with hurt and confusion. It hit me. Avery wasn’t withdrawing from me. I kept pushing her away. I ran a hand through my hair.

For fuck’s sake,stop being a dick to her.

“Sometimes you make me feel like I’m completely alone.”

She looked after her hands.

“Is it so wrong that I want to be close to you? That I want to know you? We sleep in the same bed every night. We have sex, but I’m not really a part of your life. I’m a toy you play with when you’re bored or horny. I can’t say no because I want you but I don’t want to feel like this.”

She thought I treated her like a toy. No fucking wonder she sought out her best friend. I was the fucking problem. Not her. I put my hand out to her.

“I want your help with something.”

She eyed me with suspicion.

“Did you even hear what I said?”

I nodded. I wasn’t about to respond to her outburst since I had no fucking clue what to say. All I knew was I had to fix it and stop making her feel like I only wanted her for sex. I wanted inside her head. I wanted to see her smile. And I fucking adored the way she always had a dimple in her cheek when she was concentrating too hard on her drawings.

“Why am I not surprised you won’t say anything?”

“Avery…”

She shuffled over to me but didn’t look happy about it. I didn’t try to touch her, instead, I turned the laptop towards her. Her eyes fell on the screen. The moment it registered, she looked up at me.

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