Page 128 of Reaching Avery
Chapter Thirty-One
Maverick
“Okay, calm down,” I said into the phone as Sarah spoke so fast she’d put an auctioneer to shame. “Breathe. Now talk.”
“Travis and I did it!” she exclaimed so loud, I had to jerk the phone away from my ear. “I’m no longer the depressing V anymore!”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a virgin,” I told her, thinking of how Avery had been one before me. “Please spare me the details, but did you guys at least use protection?”
Yeah, I had to be the protective, parenting type. I didn’t know Travis’ exact number, but the amount of notches on his bed was definitely more than seven.
“Duh. I’m not stupid,” she said before scoffing. “Ohmygosh, Mav. I think I love him. Not just because he took my V-card, but because he’s everything I’ve ever wanted. Has he said anything to you about me? Do you think he likes me more than Chelsey? Oh my god, what if I suck in bed and he goes back to her because she has the freaking vagina of gold.”
“First of all… eww,” I said, cringing at the V word. “Second, he basically dumped her to go out with you. So I think that pretty much means he likes you more.”
She squealed, almost making me go deaf in my right ear.
“Oh! He’s calling me. I gotta go.”
She hung up before I could even saybye. I shook my head and put my phone down.
Deciding to get lost in a different world for a while, I turned onSims 4and continued the game with me and Avery. His character painted a portrait of a banana and then admired it before laughing and then leaving it to go make sandwich.
A rapping at my bedroom door threw me out of my game, and I flipped around in my chair. “Come in.”
Dad walked in. “Hey. Can we talk?”
Already not liking the way this conversation was going, I gave a hesitant nod. “Sure. What’s up?”
“It’s about Avery’s mom,” he said after coming into the room and closing the door. He was in his casual clothes, which to him still meant a nice button-up shirt and jeans.
I didn’t tell my parents about Monica’s job. It wasn’t my business to tell anyway. When Avery and his family had come over for Thanksgiving, everyone had gotten along great. Mom adored Monica and had asked me to invite them all over again, which I had. They’d come over that past weekend for Sunday dinner.
“Okay…” I straightened up in my chair instead of my usual slouch. “What about her?”
“I hope this doesn’t come off wrong, but I know what she does for a living,” he admitted, scratching at the back of his neck. “I’ve known since the night we met her at your opening night.”
“Howdo you know, Dad?” I asked, balling my fists. If he had cheated on Mom, I was going to kick his ass.
“Oh stop,” he said like it was the most ridiculous assumption ever. Which, you know, it wasn’t. “I never visited the strip joint, but friends of mine have. Seth, one of the younger surgeons at the hospital, likes to boast about all hisexploits, and he came into work one afternoon, telling me and a few others all about it. He had a picture of her.”
My eyes were still narrowed. “And you justhadto look at the picture? Classy, Dad.”
“I’m not perfect,” he said, and right as I opened my mouth to make a sarcastic remark, he silenced me. “Big shocker, I know. The point I’m trying to make is now that your mom and Monica are becoming close, I told your mom about Monica’s job—and how I found out about it, so stop giving me that look. She wants to help.”
“Monica won’t accept a handout,” I said. “I’ve offered Avery money in the past, and he shot me down. Even the small things I buy him like dinner and a twenty dollar CD player make him uncomfortable.”
“It won’t be a handout.” Dad walked over and sat on the edge of my unmade bed. Thank god I’d washed the sheets since the last time Avery was over. “Your mom knows a lady named Barb, who’s the owner ofSurfs Upand they need a hostess. The pay is ten dollars an hour, so more than minimum wage. Barb said she could start right away.”
Surfs Upwas a super busy restaurant in Port Haven. They served mostly seafood, but they had the surf-n-turf items, as well as burgers and fries for those who hated fish. I’d only been in there once with my mom but the staff dressed really laidback with jeans and T-shirts, and it was an easy-going atmosphere.
I looked at the time on my laptop. It was only six o’clock. “I can go over there now and talk to her about it.”
“Be careful,” Dad said as I stood up to get my shoes. “The roads might be a little slick.”
“Always am.”
After grabbing my coat—because it was freaking colder than Snow Miser’s ice lair outside—I got in my car and started it, letting it warm up some before putting it in reverse and backing out of the driveway. The sun had already set—since it did so way too early this time of year—and I flipped on my headlights.
