“Thank you! You are officially my favorite person and I’m nominating you for MVP of this wedding.”
Avery chuckled as Hailey grabbed the tube out of his hand and opened it to apply it to her lips. She noticed his eyes follow her movement before she capped the tube and dropped it into her clutch.
She didn’t want to say she was crazy about this man, but she wasn’tnotsaying it.
They spent the rest of the night mingling with their friends, drinking more than they should, and dancing the night away. They were out on the floor rocking out to Whitney Houston, shouting the lyrics and hitting that high note and singing about wanting to dance with somebody who loved them. It was certainly apropos for the moment.
As if the DJ did it on purpose, a slow song came on next and Hailey simply looked around looking sheepish until she turned back to Avery. He was holding out his hand for Hailey to take and once she did, he pulled her against him and started swaying back and forth to the music.
After letting out a deep breath, Hailey tilted her head up so she could look Avery in the eyes.
“Areyou having fun?”
Avery’s lips turned up into a soft smile. “I always have fun with you.”
Hailey was again lost for words so she just smiled and turned back away. Avery spun her a few times and that’s when she realized she should definitely stop drinking. Luckily, she swung back into Avery’s hard torso and he kept her steady in his arms.
Either she was drunk, or she was lightheaded from dancing with Avery. Either was a distinct possibility.
They made it through the rest of the reception and were delighted to find a fried food station with takeaway bags. Mozzarella sticks, sweet potato waffle fries, tater tots. Best wedding favor ever.
Hailey and Avery loaded up and figured they’d have a second dinner back in the hotel room.
The excitement about the food helped calm Hailey’s nerves as they made their way through the hotel lobby and into the elevator. She continued to make small talk about the wedding and the food they were about to enjoy.
Hailey had left one of her room keys with the front desk so Avery could put his overnight bag in the room before he came to the wedding, so when Hailey scanned her card to enter the room, she realized they were finally alone. She didn’t think she was freaking out, until she heard Avery.
“Hailey, you okay? You weren’t answering.”
She waved the comment away with her hand and mustered up more confidence than she actually had. “Oh of course, I was just thinking about this food.”
“Same. We brought so much we could have a picnic.”
“Yes! We can lay all the food out on one of the beds. Which bed do you want to do it on?”
Avery raised an eyebrow at Hailey and then she realized what she said.
“I mean, the picnic. Not … it. Or any other meaning you may have … um. Yeah, the picnic!”
Avery chuckled as he took all the food and spread it out in the middle of the comforter on the first bed. The room was pretty sparse. Bland artwork on the walls, a desk in the corner and a pretty big TV. And quiet. Lots of quiet.
She grabbed a couple bottles of water she had in the mini-fridge and handed one off to Avery before she sat across from him on the bed with the food in between them. Her legs out to the side and leaning on her left hand, she tried to keep her modesty, but the slit in her dress wasn’t making it easy. Avery had seen her in shorts that went higher than this slit, but this was not in the middle of a crowded soccer field, or even on a public beach they’d visited together over the years with the rest of their friends.
This was alone in a bedroom, and that changed everything.
They picked at the fried food and Hailey started thinking the same thing was going through Avery’s mind. She saw his eyes dart to her legs a few times and tried not to look into it. The alcohol was almost completely worn off and her nerves were starting to return.
Trying to calm the craziness happening in her brain, Hailey tried to focus on small talk. But it was not helping. She needed to get off this bed before she did or said something stupid to hurt their friendship.
Standing up and walking over to the mirror above the desk, she sighed and said, “I gotta get these bobby pins out of my hair. It’s ridiculous; my hair is mostly down but there’s still a ton in here.” She needed to lighten things up a bit because things were feeling tense. “Bet you can’t guess how many!”
“How many bobby pins are in your hair? Hmm. I have nothing to base this on. How about eight?”
Hailey gave him a smirk because she knew there were more than that in her hair. Pulling them out one by one and counting, she surprised Avery by finding twelve. Definitely not a record, but for this hairdo it seemed excessive. He was astounded and she could not explain it.
After removing the final pin, she ran her hands through her hair and shook out her curls. She noticed Avery’s eyes on her the whole time.
Feeling like she needed to solidify the fact they werejust friends so she could relax a little more, she decided to bring up a topic she wasn’t actually crazy about while she gathered all the pins into a pile in her hand.
