Page 93 of Reaching Avery
I opened the passenger’s door for him before walking to my side and sliding into the car. After starting the ignition, I put on my seatbelt because I knew Monica was still watching, and I wanted to make a good impression.
Avery smirked, having caught me checking the window where his mom was still standing. “Suck up.”
“Dude, your mom kinda scares me,” I said, and nodded to his belt. “You buckle up too.”
Once he was buckled, I slowly backed out onto the road and drove off at, like, grandpa speed. Avery laughed, and although I tried to fight it, I did too. When we were out of sight of his mom, I sped up a little.
“Is thisVale?” Avery asked after I turned up the volume. Before I could answer, he said, “Hell yeah. That’s Andy’s voice. Damn. I haven’t heard any of their new stuff yet.”
“I bought this for you,” I admitted, getting suddenly shy for some reason. “So you can take it when I drop you off later.”
“I appreciate that,” he said, smiling at me before gazing out the window. “But I don’t have anything to listen to it on. We can just keep it in here.”
Whether he liked it or not, I was going to stop by the store before taking him home later and buy him a CD player. They were only like twenty bucks, and to me, that was nothing.
As we entered my neighborhood, I watched him out of the corner of my eye. He looked at the houses as we passed them and slouched down a little in his seat. I tried to put myself in his shoes, but I couldn’t even imagine the thoughts in his head.
Social status didn’t mean anything to me, and I didn’t think of him differently for not having as much. If anything, it made me want to just spoil the heck out of him. Not out of pity, but because I cared about him.
“You okay?” I asked after I pulled into my driveway and cut the engine.
Avery inhaled before slowly releasing the breath. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just feel like I’m going to puke a little. That’s all.”
“My mom’s gonna love you,” I said, hoping it helped him relax.
“I just really like you, Mav.” His voice cracked, and he faced away from me. He took my hand, squeezing it. “If your parents don’t like me, that’s huge.” When he finally looked at me again, his eyes reflected the nerves in his voice. “I don’t want to lose you.”
Monica’s words came back to me; about how Avery didn’t show emotion easily. And in that moment, he was so vulnerable.
I brought his hand up and kissed his knuckle. “You won’t.”
We got out of the car and walked toward the porch. Avery scanned the yard before moving his gaze upward, and by the expression on his face, I suspected he was wowed by the size of my house. It was way too big for only three people. I was about to say something—anything—to get the focus off it, when he surprised me.
“This is amazing,” he said, smiling. “I want to design homes like this someday.”
“Dad had it built for my mom as a wedding gift,” I explained, grabbing his hand. It was a little clammy, and I gave it a reassuring squeeze. The poor guy was going to keel over with anxiety if he didn’t breathe. “You ready?”
He nodded.
And then we went inside.
