“You should just bring a friend. It will be way more fun. Let’s see, who could you ask?”
Abby tapped her fingers against her chin while looking at the ceiling.
“What about our friend Zach? He’s totally single.”
Was it just her imagination or did Avery just stiffen next to her?
“Or Brian! He would totally go with you. Want me to text him for you?”
Abby’s eyes moved over to Avery and her smile grew. There was absolutely no way Hailey was going to look in that direction this second. She’d love to ask Avery, but she wasn’t sure if he would be up for it after everything she’d been through. Yet, Hailey couldn’t ignore the fact that her heart started racing thinking about asking him.
“I dunno. I guess I’ll think about it?” Hailey had noidea how to play this. She certainly didn’t want to go with the guys Abby was suggesting and she knew that Hailey didn’t really like Brian because he always made really gross comments to anything that walked by with boobs. So, why would she suggest him?
“Brian is a total sleaze, Hailey could do better than that,” Avery added with a surprising growl in his voice.
“Oh yeah? Like who?” Abby said, her eyes filled with mischief. Was she trying to make Avery jealous? Or goad him into going with her? If there was one thing she didn’t want, it was for Avery to feel pressured to go with her.
“I don’t think I’m ready to think about that at the moment so why don’t we just drop it? Cole, are you still going to that concert this weekend?”
Nailed it. When Cole got excited about something he absolutely took over the conversation so Hailey knew they were done with that chat. She took a second to glare at Abby, but Abby just grinned back.
After taking a deep breath, she took a glance at Avery, who was already looking at her. She offered him a small smile. He smiled back and nudged her arm with his elbow playfully. Hailey’s smile grew before she turned back to the conversation.
Before too long, everyone was ready to head home. She got a ride here with Abby from the game so Hailey expected her to take her home. She sidledup next to her to walk out when Abby looked at her phone and gasped.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe it. My sister just texted me that she has to run one of her kids to urgent care because he’s running a fever. I gotta get over there to watch the other kid.”
Hailey peeked. There was nothing on Abby’s phone. Not to mention, Abby’s sister only had one kid.
“Hey Avery, Hailey’s on your way, could you take her home?”
Hailey gave Abby a death glare that Avery couldn’t see. Geez, she was really manipulating this. Freaking puppet master.
“Yeah, of course I can. It’s no problem.”
Hailey turned back around to Avery. “Are you sure? I could just call an uber.”
She didn’t mention that one of the other five people here could also take her home.
“Nah, don’t waste your money. I’ve got you,” Avery said with a little bit of a blush rising in his cheeks.
Avery saying “I’ve got you” did very strange things to Hailey’s body. Suddenly, everything was warm and it felt like her stomach dropped a little.
She walked to Avery’s car reluctantly, a simple blue Honda sedan. Avery was practical and she liked that.
As she settled into his car, she wondered why it felt like there was less air for her to breathe.
This is no big deal. We’re just friends.He wasn’tjealous earlier.
Hailey wondered if she should just ask him. She took a calming breath.
“I was—”
“Did you—”
They said at the same time. Turning toward each other, they started laughing and that helped Hailey feel a little bit more at ease. Avery relaxed a bit too, and he started the car and drove off toward her apartment.
“You go ahead,” Hailey offered. She certainly wasn’t going to turn down a delay for her question.
