Page 112 of Reaching Avery
Ricky coughed, and I shot him a glare. He was such an ass.
“Like your mother said, wonderful performance,” Dad said, nodding. He didn’t hug me, but I got the feeling he wanted to, but was unsure.
So, I hugged him. “Thanks.”
“Nice to see you again, Avery,” Dad said before giving a tight smile.
Avery moved closer to my side. “Yeah. You too.”
It was awkward, but at least it wasn’t a train wreck like the first time they’d met. Progress.
The biggest surprise of the evening was when Avery’s mom made her way through the crowd toward us. She was wearing a tight black sweater, red skinny jeans, and black pointed stilettos.
Avery’s eyes widened right before he broke out into the warmest of smiles. “Mom! I thought you had to work tonight.”
“I do,” she said, pulling back from hugging him and rubbing his arms. “But I told them I’d be in later because I needed to see my bug in his opening night.”
“I didn’t actually perform,” he said, blushing. “I just helped with the backdrops and stuff. You didn’t have to go out of your way for me.”
She took his chin in a gentle hold. “Of course I did. I’m so proud of you.” Her blue eyes landed on me, and she pulled me in for a hug too. “You were wonderful, Maverick. They should’ve made you the star.”
By that point, my parents were looking between us, confused. Well, Dad was confused. Mom was tentatively smiling, waiting to be introduced.
“Hi, I’m Monica, Avery’s mom,” she said, holding out her hand to my mom. “You must be Karen. My bug told me about you.”
Avery looked down at his feet as waves of embarrassment rolled off him. I’d never seen his cheeks so pink before. I put my arm behind him, resting my hand on his lower back. It seemed to be his spot.
When he was feeling antsy, I’d hold him there and he’d visibly calm.
“It’s lovely to finally meet you,” Mom responded, shaking her hand before looking at my dad. “This is my husband, William.”
Dad shook Monica’s hand, still with a bewildered expression. Not sure what his deal was. Perhaps it was because Monica looked so young, which I understood, because I’d had a similar reaction.
The three of them started talking after that. Mainly Mom and Monica, while Dad just stood there listening. I lost interest when the topic turned to Monica’s shoes and where she bought them. That was about the time Dad lost interest too and began looking around at other people.
While they were engaged, Ricky tugged on Avery’s arm.
“Dude,that’syour mom? Holy crap.”
“Yeah, and she means the world to me so keep any disrespectful comments to yourself,” Avery said, furrowing his brow.
“I was just gonna say that she looks like a nice lady,” Ricky said, putting his hands up in surrender. “That’s all.”
“It better be all,” Avery said, giving Ricky the one-eye. Clearly, he was joking, but there was a note of seriousness behind his behavior as well. Understandable, though.
“What do you do for work?” Mom asked, drawing my focus back to them.
Avery had never gone into any details about her job. Not that it mattered, but it’d made me curious more times than I could count. I mean, Ben had told us about his mom being a mortician during my first hangout with him.
Highly doubtful that anything could be weirder than that.
Monica’s smile faltered a little, and I saw the wheels turning in her head. Dang. Averyreallytook after her: in appearance and in mannerisms.
“I dance,” Monica answered.
“I’ve always wanted to dance,” my mom said. “I was born with two left feet, unfortunately. Instead of doing a plié, I do the pancake.”
“Aw, doll,” Monica said with a musical laugh, reaching out to touch Mom’s arm. “I could teach you how, if you wanted. You have the body for it.”
