Banging Reaper (Pounding Hearts 1)

“Give me some room,” I hiss at him and push at his chest.

“Why Avery?” Ethan asks angrily. “Why keep playing these games? I’ve waited long enough for you.”

“What games?” I ask Ethan. My push did nothing to move him. Fucker weighs a ton.

Ethan pushes himself against me. I have to bite my tongue to keep from screaming in outrage.

This is so not how I expected this to go. If anything, I expected he might get pissed off at me again and try to shove me into another wall.

“I’ve been waiting on you. I thought I’d wait until you finished college then ask you to marry me. I thought I’d get all my partying out now then we could settle down together and be happy. But I can’t wait any more. I have to have you now, Avery.”

Ethan kisses me. His mouth covers my mouth, and he slobbers all over my lips and chin. His tongue pushes at my seam but I press my lips tightly together, ready to bite if his tongue penetrates me.

I shove hard at his chest and when he doesn’t stop, when that doesn’t budge him, I clench my hands into fists and start punching him. Ethan groans. I struggle to lift my knee. He must sense it coming. With an angry snarl, he grabs my face and stops trying to kiss me.

“Why do you keep fighting what’s between us? Can’t you feel how much I want you?”

“Oh my God, Ethan,” I gasp and push at him again as he grinds his erection into the zipper of my jeans. “Get the fuck off me before I scream.”

“I love you, Avery. I fucking love you,” Ethan tells me. I have no doubt he honestly believes it.

“You’re hurting me,” I whine. His hands press hard on the side of my face, his fingers tangled in my hair. Pulling on me, bruising me. I feel tears stinging my eyes.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Ethan apologizes and his grip softens.

I can’t help but cringe as he starts planting kisses on my cheeks. As if his kisses could soothe the hurt he just caused.

“Stop touching me. Please.” I tell him. The anger, the outrage, it’s morphed into somethi

ng else. Something cold and sad. Small and painful. How did we come to this? Did I do this?

Ethan leans back and his baby blues flare at me. “You’re such a fucking bitch. Always so ungrateful. I’ve done so much for you. I’ve proven myself to you. And this is how you repay me?”

“Repay you? I didn’t know you were running a tab. You always told me not to worry about it.”

“Well, that was when I was planning on asking you to marry me. Now I can see you’re not good enough to be my wife. You’re just going to have to repay me with this.”

He reaches down and forces his hand between my thighs, cupping me in his hand.

No, I didn’t do this. He’s just an asshole. A self-entitled asshole who’s always had a hidden agenda. And I’m so done with him.

Everything inside me revolts at the way he’s touching me. I lift my chin in the air with as much bravado as I can muster and warn him, “Get your fucking hands off me or I will scream.” To show I’m not playing around, I raise my voice and yell, “I fucking mean it, Ethan!”

“Fucking bitch,” Ethan yells and jumps back. “I swear if you tell anyone…”

I bristle beneath his glare as he looks at me now as something that’s beneath him. Something he’d rather step on.

“Tell anyone what? That you just sexually harassed me in the hall?” I challenge him. I’m not afraid of him. No, each second he’s near me, each second he looks at me as if I’m lesser, as if he honestly believes he’s greater, I feel like I swell with conviction. “Or that you cheated? That you hired four goons to handicap your opponent?”

“You can’t prove it,” he smirks at me and crosses his thick arms confidently in front of his chest.

I knew it, I knew he fucking did it.

“Maybe not,” I bluff at him and his grin grows even smugger. It just ticks me off. I straighten from the wall and flip my hair back, over my shoulder. “But I don’t have to. It doesn’t matter. You’re still going to get your ass kicked.”

Ethan laughs and shakes his head at me. Now I just know I have to stick around, whether Chase wants to see me or not, just so I can see the match.

“Go the fuck home, Avery. You don’t belong here. And don’t bother showing up at the office Monday. We’re done, bitch.”