Page 89 of Reaching Avery
“Whatever,” Noah responded. He couldn’t hide his smile, though.
Maverick walked over. “Hey, you,” he said as he faced me, slipping his arms around my waist. The closeness only made me uncomfortable for a split second, but he must’ve still seen it, because he backed off a little. “Sorry if you’re bored.”
“I’m not,” I said before nodding to Noah and Bastian. “I just met your friends. My meeting with Bastian was very reminiscent of yours and mine.”
Mav chuckled. “So you smacked into him?” When I nodded, his grin widened. “Ah, I think it’s all just part of your charm, shorty.”
The three of them talked some after that, and I stayed at Mav’s side, trying to follow their conversation. Only a little bit was said about school before they moved on to another topic. Noah’s birthday was on Halloween, and he was having a huge party the weekend before it that would be a celebration for both.
“It won’t be like last year,” Noah said, sitting beside Bas at the table. “Dad and Pops are going away that weekend because of some book convention thing for Dad, so they aren’t having my party like usual. Jace knows a guy whose family owns a lot of land, and there’s an old barn like way out in the middle of freakin’ nowhere, and he wants to have it there. A buddy of his is gonna rent some kegs.” On the last part, he wiggled his eyebrows. “Do y’all wanna come?”
“Maybe,” Maverick answered, placing his hand at my lower back and looking at me. As his sapphire eyes met mine, I had to remind myself to breathe. “We’ll talk about it.”
I liked the ‘we’ part of that way more than I probably should have. That’s what we were, though—we. Night and day might’ve been complete opposites, but they complemented each other.
Just like we did.
***
Mav had to work until eleven that night and I stayed with him until about nine-thirty before leaving. He hated the idea of me walking home, but I reassured him that I was used to it and would be fine.
As I left Brew Emporium and got on the sidewalk, I was still smiling from my time with him.
Even though he’d been working and had to step away when a customer approached, we’d gotten to talk a lot that evening. More than we got to at school. I had laughed so much that my stomach hurt.
Noah and Bas had stayed a while, and it was awesome getting to know them. Noah was a bit crazy, but a good kind of crazy. He talked about zombies and he even mentioned thatDead Smashgame Ben had let me play before. When they left, it’d just been me, Mav, and his co-worker Garrett—who turned out to be super funny and flirty.
I had stood at the counter and talked to them. Garrett had flirted with me some, but I’d known it was in good fun because Mav only got a little jealous.
At the memory, I smiled and almost bumped into a pole. I shook my head at myself and kept walking.
During the times when Mav came from behind the counter to wipe off tables and clean the area, I had walked beside him. He told me more about him growing up—how he and his dad used to be close, but things got complicated between them when Mav came out.
That topic had then shifted to him asking me to go to dinner at his house so I could meet his parents. Of course, I said yes, even if the thought made me feel like I was going to puke.
Something I liked was no matter who was around, Maverick was the same person. If he was holding my hand when someone looked at us, he didn’t let go. Even if that someone snarled their lip a bit at the sight. If another friend from school stopped by, he hadn’t blown me off or pretended I wasn’t there. Instead, he’d introduced me and made me part of the conversation.
It had been one of the best days I’d had in a while. Unexpected too.
I was in such a good mood that I didn’t even let the cold air bring me down. Shoving both hands in the front pocket of my hoodie, I walked as fast as I could.
The nicer part of Port Haven disappeared behind me, and it was like walking into a different world. Before my neighborhood, there was a span of countryside—well, more like just a lot of trees and some fields. But it was country to me. The lights from town faded, and before too long, I was in almost complete darkness, with the exception of the moonlight. I wasn’t afraid of the dark, so it didn’t bother me.
When I got home, it was after ten. Declan was asleep on the couch, and the TV was on some stupid sitcom. I went over and gently shook him awake.
“Hey, D. Go get in bed.”
His dark eyes focused on me before closing again. Soft snores sounded seconds later. I tried waking him, but it was pointless. Once he was out, he was out.
With a sigh, I put an arm behind him and lifted him off the couch. I’d had to carry him to bed countless times, but it’d gotten harder over the years. And the fact he towered over me now didn’t help. But still, I carried him to our room and laid him in bed. After tucking him in, I went back into the living room.
There was one channel we got that played awesome black and white shows late at night, and I loved it. I grabbed the remote and changed it over, smiling when I recognized the creepy intro toThe Twilight Zone.
I didn’t cut that night. My memories of Maverick, and the amazing way he made me feel, kept the dark at bay. I ended up falling asleep on the couch, and when I dreamed, it wasn’t of the nightmares that always plagued me. Not of my dad when he was drunk or the times he’d hit me.
It was of Mav. Of us sitting on that rock by the water, holding hands and talking about infinities.
