Page 103 of Reaching Avery
“I just want to go home,” he said in an emotionless voice.
Knowing I wasn’t going to reach him that night, I nodded and started walking again. I wasn’t going to force him to talk to me. His footsteps sounded from behind me. Strange how footsteps could seem sad, but his did.
When we reached my car, I unlocked his door and opened it for him before going over to my side.
On the whole ride to his house, we didn’t say anything. Music played softly through the speakers, and neither of us moved to turn it up. Just the low rumble of the engine and occasional quiet guitar solo filled the cab of my car.
I tried to think of something to say to turn the night around. It had been going so awesome before I’d opened my big mouth. But the only thing on my mind was: why wouldn’t he talk to me?
“Thanks for today,” Avery said, breaking the silence, once I pulled up to his house. “See you tomorrow.”
“Wait.” I snagged his attention before he got out of the car. He stopped moving, but kept his hand on the door handle. “I don’t want to end the night like this. With us being weird. It nearly killed me last night. I can’t do it again.”
Avery lowered his gaze. “I’m sorry, Mav. Sorry for keeping you at a distance and for all my mood swings. I… I don’t think we should do this anymore.”
“What?” I asked as my heart dropped into my stomach. “You want to break up?”
He nodded. “You deserve better than me.”
“Stop saying that,” I snapped, causing his eyes to flash to mine. Anger surged in my chest. Not at him, but at the situation. “I don’t want anyone else, Avery. I want you. Not going to lie, it’s hard, but I want to make it work. Because somewhere along the way, I think I fell in love with you.”
Tears sprang to his eyes. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew the real me.”
“Then show me the real you, dammit,” I said in a broken tone. “Because you’re kind of breaking my heart here.”
I couldn’t read his expression. He stared at me before looking away.
“I don’t want to break up,” he whispered. “But I need more time. I’ve gone my whole life keeping this stuff locked in my head, and it’s not easy confiding in someone.”
“Okay,” I said.
Relief replaced the fear knotted in my gut, but I knew things wouldn’t be the same between us. Not anymore. I had to believe we were headed in the right direction, though.
Hesitantly, Avery leaned over and touched his lips to mine. He was trembling. I returned the kiss before pressing my forehead to his. We stayed that way for seconds—minutes. When he eventually pulled away, I let him, and he got out of the car before walking through the grass toward the porch.
I waited until he was inside before driving home.
