Page 45 of Reaching Avery
Chapter Twelve
Avery
I’d been sitting near the tracks when I’d heard the crunch of gravel and seen the headlights from a car. Not many cars came out that way, but when they did, I’d take off to the trees and stay there until they passed. I hid in the trees and watched the car pull off the road and cut its lights.
The person inside didn’t move.
For a moment, I thought it was some druggie who’d come to the tracks to get high—it wouldn’t have been the first time. Or maybe a couple who’d come out there to have some privacy and screw. But then, I looked closer and recognized the make of the car.
Maverick?
I left the cover of trees and approached his car, wondering why he was just sitting inside. Why had he come out there? When the answer struck me—that he must’ve come to see me—my heart jolted and a strange surge of warmth went down into my belly.
At the window, I could see him staring straight ahead, and I tapped the glass to get his attention.
What followed was unexpected—and freaking hilarious.
Maverick shrieked and punched the glass, and once I was passed the shock, I started laughing so hard that I had to hunch over, put my hands on my knees, and try to catch my breath. The expression of horror that’d been on his face sent me into another round of giggles.
The car door opened, and I looked up to see Maverick grinning too, even though his eyes were still a bit wide with fear.
“Holy crap, Avery, you damn near killed me.” He released a half laugh, half sigh of relief before shutting the door. “All I saw was a dark mass move and then your face at my window. My heart is still racing.”
“So, you’re saying I have a scary face?” I asked, just messing with him.
He raised a brow. “In the dark, when I’m already scared shitless, and you have all that black around your eyes, plus pale skin? Uh, yeah.”
“Point taken,” I said, fighting off another laugh. When I met his stare again, he was watching me, and the smile fell from my lips. A brief silence passed between us. Now that the effects of him being scared had faded, and the laughter had subsided, the nervousness I usually carried around people returned. “So, what brings you to my side of town?”
“You,” he answered right away, and then his mouth popped open, and he cleared his throat. “I mean, uh, I was just driving around and it was a spontaneous decision. I had a hunch you’d be here.”
So many questions I wanted to ask. Why did he care so much? How was I even on his radar? Out of all the people he could have on his mind, why me? But I didn’t ask any of the things buzzing in my head.
“And, dude,howcan you stand to be out here all by yourself?” he asked, and I was thankful for his awesome way at keeping the conversation going. “I know I’ve asked it before, but dang. It’s unsettling.”
Little did he know that I’d encountered worse monsters than anything that could possibly be hiding in those woods. Not much scared me anymore.
“I love the silence,” I answered with a shrug. “Hard to explain.”
“Try,” he said.
I turned around to walk back to my favorite spot.
If I was going to attempt to describe the weirdness in my head, I wanted to at least be comfortable. The clunky footsteps behind me let me know he was following, and I smiled at the sound and overall craziness of the situation.
In what world would someone like Maverick ever take an interest in me? Even as a friend, it seemed too out of the box. We were night and day—with me being the night, clearly.
“Whoa, you seriously sit this close to the tracks?” he asked, plopping down beside me. “Isn’t it a bit scary? I mean, a train could come so fast you’d have to haul ass or risk being splattered.”
“Just part of the excitement, isn’t it, big guy?”
My area was in the open, so the moon shone down on us, and since my eyes were adjusted to the dark, I could see nearly all details of his face.
He leaned in closer. “Are you telling me that you’re an adrenaline junkie, Avery?”
I looked at him and was taken aback by just how attractive he was—his square jaw, nose, and set of his mouth. It should’ve been a crime to be that good looking. The sudden closeness, and the way he’d said my name, caused my pulse to quicken and my breaths to shorten. Hopefully he didn’t notice.
“Maybe,” I answered, glad my voice didn’t shake. This was all so new; having a crush. If that’s even what it was.
