Page 43 of Reaching Avery
“Yeah.”
The mention of his looks had me picturing him. Which was just perfect, because my body started reacting to the thoughts… while I was looping arms with Sarah. I tried to shake the image of Avery’s sexy bottom lip that gave him that pouted look. How soft his skin had been when I’d grabbed his wrist while he’d been sitting in the passenger seat of my car. The way his lips parted sometimes when I talked to him; how they’d curved a bit the day I’d told him Chris and I’d broken up.
My pants felt tighter, and I was thankful I wasn’t wearing those god awful crotch huggers anymore. At least my jeans somewhat hid the fact that I was thinking of Avery a bit too much.
Thankfully, Sarah didn’t notice. “You have a crush on him, don’t you?”
“Maybe,” I answered, receiving a playful snarl from her. “Okay, maybe a lot. Am I an ass for already liking someone else?”
I didn’t mention that I’d liked Avery even before Chris and I’d ended things.
“Not to me,” she answered, digging in her purse for her keys. Once they were found, she unlocked her car, opened the door, and faced me. “Look, Mav. Chris is the ass in the equation. If he can shack up with some guy while you guys are dating, you can have a crush on a guy when y’all aren’t. Stop overthinking everything.”
After we said bye, I got in my car and watched her drive off before quickly adjusting myself. I drove home and said hi to my parents before going up to my room… where I then flopped on my bed and pulled out my phone, scrolling through Instagram for like the hundredth time that day.
I’d hardly ever gotten on that stupid app until Sarah told me to get on and look the week before. Now, I checked it religiously, as if just to torture myself.
Chris and his new boyfriend looked happy together. With me having a thing for Avery, I really shouldn’t have cared about what Chris did, but I guess a small part of me still loved him—still craved what we’d had before he had moved away to college.
If he could be happy, why couldn’t I?
Knowing Sarah should’ve been home too, I texted her.
Me:Hey, chick. Um, would it be bad for me to make a move on Avery?
Her response came through seconds later. The girl practically had her phone glued to her hand.
Sarah:So… like a rebound? Do u even know if he’s gay?
Me:Not sure if he is. And idk. Is it a rebound if I really like him?
I didn’t wait for her answer before I tossed my phone beside me on the mattress and buried my face in my hands. I wasn’t sure who the hell I was anymore.
Did I want Avery just to spite Chris or did I want him because I’d felt that draw since the first day I’d laid eyes on him?
Reason told me I barely knew him. But my heart told me I knew him better than reason allowed.
For weeks we’d talked on and off, and within that time, he’d started working his way into my thoughts more and more. I needed to see him. Maybe it’d help me figure it all out.
And I had a good idea where I’d find him.
“Where are you off to?” Mom asked as I came down the stairs. “You just got home.”
“Just gonna drive around for a while,” I said, giving her a one-armed hug. “I’ll be home before curfew. No worries.”
Since I wasn’t an out of control teenager who partied and did all of that crap, my parents trusted me. So, if I wanted to go somewhere, it wasn’t difficult to get them to agree.
Walking to my car, a chill spread across the exposed skin of my arms, and I jogged back into the house to grab a light jacket. It was September, and the approaching fall weather was already seeping into the area and could be felt the most when the sun was setting. Before I backed out of the driveway, I checked my phone.
Sarah:U might wanna find out before u make a move, baby boy. Don’t wanna get slugged in the face or something.
I chuckled and put my phone in the cup holder.
As I drove through my neighborhood—one that was well kept and filled with fancy houses that were much bigger than what they probably needed to be—I thought of Avery’s house, and how different our lives were. I didn’t know much about his personal life, other than what I’d seen with my own eyes.
He’d said he had a younger brother. What about his parents?
Instead of driving through town, I took the back way, turning onto Boulder Street. It was a narrow, two lane road that went on the outskirts of town, and came out near the train tracks—right where I hoped Avery would be. Night had taken over completely by the time I got there. And yeah, it was creepy as hell.
