~Zach’s POV~

      When we got back to the house, I showed Avery back to her room. She had been there ever since and it had been hours. I decided to see if anything was wrong. Knocking softly on her bedroom door, I waited for an answer. Nothing. I knocked again. Still nothing. Slowly, I cracked the door open and poked my head inside. My heart clenched when I saw her.

      She looked like an angel, sleeping soundlessly on the bed. Her features were so relaxed and carefree. I watched her for another moment until I realised that I was being a complete pervert watching her sleep. I shut the door with a soft click and decided to order some pizza for dinner. I couldn’t be bothered to cook anything at the moment.

      The pizza guy arrived within half-an-hour and I paid him. I had decided to buy two: Pepperoni and Veggie Supreme because I was unsure as to what Avery would like. I had just grabbed a couple of plates when Avery walked into the kitchen.

      I smiled at her, “Hey.”

      “Hi,” she mumbled.

      “Did you sleep well?”

      “Yeah.”

      “Want some pizza?”

      She nodded and hopped onto one of the bar stools while I took the other one. She grabbed a slice of each pizza and loaded them onto her plate.

      I couldn’t help but stare at her while we were eating. She seemed content usually but when you looked into her eyes, you saw pain. Something had hurt her and she had been affected quite badly by it. I wanted to know what it was so that I could help her get past it and then maybe she would let me in.

      I noticed that she was still wearing that red dress with the beer stain on it.

      “Do you wanna borrow some of my clothes until we can buy some for you?” I asked her.

      She looked down at herself like she had just realised what she was wearing. “Oh, right, yeah.”

      We finished the pizza and then she followed me to my bedroom. I opened the wardrobe and searched around for a t-shirt and some sweatpants. There is no way that any of my sweatpants will fit her; they’ll slip right off! Nevertheless, I handed her a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants.

      “They’re clean, I promise,” I said with a smile.

      She smiled too as she took them.

      “I’m not sure if the sweatpants will fit. They’re way too big and those are the smallest I have. Sorry.”

      “It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll just be happy to get out of this dress.”

      The sound of glass breaking made Avery and I jump.

      “What the hell?” I rushed out the room – with Avery right behind me – and headed to where the sound had come from: Avery’s bedroom.

      When we got there, I saw the window had been smashed into and there was a football lying on the ground. I picked up the ball and went over to the window, careful not to step on the shards of glass. That was where I saw the culprits: Mrs Peters’ grandsons were standing in their garden with stricken looks on their faces.

      Mrs Peters stepped out of the back door of the house, took one look at the scene in front of her and went red with anger.

      “Boys! How many times have I told you to be careful when playing outside?!” she shouted.

      “We’re sorry Grandma!”

      “It’s not me you should be apologising to,” she told them sternly.

     The four boys turned to look at me. “We’re really sorry,” they chorused.

      I sighed. They’re just kids. “It’s alright boys,” I told them, throwing their ball back to them.

      One of them grabbed the ball and they all hurried inside.

      “I’m very sorry Officer Andrews, I promise to pay for the window,” she said softly.

      “No no, it’s fine Mrs Peters,” I told her, waving away the apology.

      “I insist.”

      “But–”

      “No buts.”

      I spoke anyway. “I’d very much prefer it if you didn’t pay in money though,” I told her. “Those chocolate chip cookies you make are absolutely amazing. A couple dozen of those would be more than enough as payment,” I told her with a smile.

      “You’re sure?”

      “Absolutely.”

      “Well, alright then,” she said. “I’ll make them and bring some over tomorrow.”

      “Thank you very much,” I said. “Goodnight Mrs Peters.”

      “Goodnight.”

      I turned back around and saw Avery standing behind me.

      “What?” I asked.

      “Nothing,” she said. I saw that she had found an old towel from somewhere. “Here, I’ll help you clear up.”

      She crouched down and started to pick up the pieces of glass and place them on the towel. I crouched down and did the same, being careful of the sharp edges. Avery gasped sharply and when I looked up, I saw that she had pricked her finger. Blood was oozing out of the small cut. Without thinking, I grabbed her hand and sucked her finger into my mouth, swirling my tongue around her fingertip. She let out a small gasp and I looked up to fix my eyes on hers. I get go of her hand and she pulled it back to her chest; the cut had stopped bleeding.

      “Erm… thanks,” she said without looking at me. “I think that’s the last of the glass.” She folded the edges of the towel and tied the ends together to make a little bundle. Standing up with it, she left the room.

      I slowly stood up and sighed. I couldn’t call anyone to fix the window at the moment, it was too late for that. I would have to temporarily stop the wind from getting in. I headed out the house and went to the garage where there was a thin piece of board wood just big enough to cover the window. I grabbed my tool box, grabbed the wood and headed around to the side of the house to nail over the window. After about 20 minutes, it was all secure but when I went back inside the room, there was still a draught coming in through a few small gaps. Avery would get cold during the night.

      I went to the living room and saw her watching some TV programme. She had changed but only into the T-shirt and so her long, slender legs were on display. I fought the urge to go and run my hands over them as I sat next to her.

      “Avery.”

      She turned her head to look at me. “Yeah?”

      “Okay… so I tried to fix the window by nailing a board to the outside of it but there’s still a draught and there's gonna be a strong wind tonight,” I explained. “I’ll have to call someone in to get it fixed properly so in the meantime, you can sleep in my room while I sleep here.”

      “Oh no Zach, I’ll sleep on the couch, it’s fine.”

      “No way,” I said. “You’re sleeping in my room.”

      “No Zach,” she said. “You’re already letting me live here, I would feel really bad if I took your bed too.”

      “Fine, then we’ll both sleep in it.”

      She was silent for a moment. “Okay, fine,” she said finally and then turned back to the TV.

      We sat in silence for a while, just watching the screen. I wasn’t paying attention though. My eyes were on Avery’s naturally tanned, sexy-looking legs. I wanted to run my hands up her up her legs, her thighs and caress the very heart of her until before replacing my hands with my lips and pleasuring her until she screamed out my name. It was so sexy hearing her cry out like that. While I was fantasising about her, I realised that I was getting hard and there was a noticeable bulge at the front of jeans. Hoping to God that she hadn’t seen in, I adjusted my position on the couch and continued staring at the screen. My eyes however fell on her shoulder instead. The T-shirt was too large for her and her flawless skin was on display for my eyes to feast over. I decided that I needed to distract myself from her. I stood up and went to my room to have a cold shower.

~Avery’s POV~

      Zach stood up and went into his room. Thank God, I thought. He smelt so damn good; I felt like I was drowning in his intoxicating scent. I recognised the scent from when we first had sex; I could feel his body pressed up against me as he drove into me over and over against the side of his black car. Snap out of it, Avery! I scolded myself.

      My eyes flicked to the TV and I saw the credits of the programme. Sighing, I switched the TV off and decided that it was time for a cold shower. When I got to Zach’s room, the door to his ensuite bathroom opened and he stepped out with only a towel wrapped around the lower half of his body. Oh my God, why is this man so tempting? His hair was a wet mess and strands stuck to the sides of his face. Droplets of water were still scattered over his body and I wanted nothing more than to stroke his taut, hard muscles.

      He smiled when he saw me. “Are you going to bed?” he asked.

      “Yeah, after I take a shower.”

      He nodded, went over to his cupboard and tossed me a clean towel. I caught it one-handed and headed to the bathroom. After a quick shower, I dressed in panties and Zach’s white T-shirt before stepping back into the bedroom. Zach was nowhere to be seen. I quickly crossed the room and slipped into the bed, breathing in Zach’s unique smell.

      The door opened and Zach walked in wearing only boxer-shorts. Oh please tell me he doesn’t sleep in just boxer-shorts, I begged internally. I wouldn’t be able to keep myself from licking his abs.

      Zach headed straight for the bed and slipped in on the other side. Oh great! I thought sarcastically. Then I realised something and shot into a sitting position.

      I turned to look at Zach who looked alarmed. “I’m sorry, do you usually sleep on this side?” I asked, gesturing to the side that I was on.

      He chuckled softly. “No, I always sleep on the left.”

      “Okay,” I said, lying back down and facing him.

      He just looked at me with those gorgeous eyes of his. I felt like he was looking into my soul but I couldn’t look away. He had me locked in his gaze. I managed to look away and pulled the covers slightly higher. Then I finally closed my eyes so that I didn’t have to be captivated by Zach.

      It was then that I felt a light pressure on my lips. I opened my eyes in alarm and was just in time to see Zach’s face pull away from mine.

      “Goodnight Avery,” he whispered.

      I flushed from the delicate kiss before answering: “Goodnight Zach.”