Page 68 of Reaching Avery
She brushed the hair out of my face before kissing my cheek. “You’re welcome.”
“How can we afford it?” I asked. Over a month ago, we barely had any food in the house, and now she was able to buy us new coats.
Her blue eyes clouded a little, and it was a look I knew all too well. Because I was the master of it.
“I just got a promotion at work,” she answered before smiling and patting my arm. “Don’t worry about it.”
Of course I worried. How could I not? She worked at a strip club, so a promotion didn’t exactly sound like a good thing.
Since it wasn’t cold enough yet to wear my new coat, I walked to mine and Declan’s room and hung it up in the closet. Then, I looked through the rest of my clothes, wondering if I should change into something else. It didn’t matter really, since all of my clothes were basically the same, but if itwasa date, I wanted to look my best.
Maverick would be there soon, so I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. The black around my eyes was a bit smudged and faded from wearing it all day, so I opened Mom’s makeup drawer and grabbed her eyeliner.
When I first started dressing like this around thirteen—favoring the emo style—Mom hadn’t even batted an eye. She’d just been like, “Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy. Here. Try this.” And then she’d sharpened her eyeliner pencil and taught me how to apply it.
“Hey, Nosferatu,” Declan said, rapping on the bathroom door before walking in. “I think your boyfriend is here.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I heaved a sigh and looked at my reflection again, fluffing the top of my hair. “Okay. I’m ready.”
We left the bathroom and went into the living room. I wanted to peek out the front window to get a look at Mav before he approached the house. If he was dressed in his same clothes from school, maybe it wasn’t a date and was just a friend thing. But if he’d changed his clothes… well, that could mean something different.
I looked out the window and saw his car, but I didn’t see him.
Crap. I was too late.
A knock sounded, and I straightened up, looking at the door. It had been a while since I’d felt so nervous around Maverick. But in a way, that evening was new territory for us.
“Aren’t you gonna answer it?” Declan asked, crossing his arms and studying me with a mocking expression.
He was such a jerk.
Noticing that Mom and Declan were hovering around me, I rolled my eyes—which seemed to be a recurring thing with me lately. After a second knock came, I opened the door. And my stomach flipped at the sight.
Maverick had definitely changed his clothes. His jeans fit him more snugly, emphasizing the muscles in his legs. He’d put on a blue, button-up shirt that matched the color of his eyes, and the collar was open, revealing the top of the black shirt underneath it. The most impressive thing about him right then, though, was the bashful smile he wore.
“Hey,” he said in a deeper, raspier tone. I was beginning to realize it was one he used when he was nervous.
“Hey.”Why is this so awkward?“Um. Do you wanna come in for a sec?”
His answering smile made the butterflies in my stomach go nuts, fluttering around like they were hyped up on sugar. I guess Maverick was the sugar.
“Sure,” he said.
I opened the door wider and let him in. He was then bombarded by my petite mom and her mixture of curiosity and blatant skepticism. She seemed to tune right into the fact that he was popular. I only hoped she didn’t give him a hard time.
“Hi, I’m Monica. Avery’s mom,” she said, standing in front of him. It nearly made me laugh seeing them so close together. He towered over her by a good five to six inches. “Maverick, right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied with a curt nod and a movie star smile. “It’s great to finally meet you.”
Pretty sure my mom was wowed by him at that point. But, like, how could she not be? Maverick had that effect on people. He wasn’t one of the most popular guys in school because his family was rich or because he was hot. He was popular because he was a damn good person and people genuinely liked to be around him.
And yeah, he was hot too.
Thankfully the introductions didn’t take long. Maverick met Declan next, and surprising to me, Declan decided not to go with us. Not sure why. I didn’t worry, though, since Mom had bought groceries, and I knew he’d be able to eat.
Mom hugged me. “Have fun, bug.”
“Thanks,” I said, quickly returning her embrace. “I hope you don’t have a bad night at work.”
