He slowly scooted over, swinging his legs around, and then heaved himself off of the seat. My eyes widened as I reached out to catch him, only just barely steadying us both before we careened down onto the driveway and ended up in a heap.
Avery’s arms came around me again, tugging me closer until I was pressed up against him once more. His face was buried in the crook of my neck, his warm breath ghosting over my skin and sending a shiver rolling up my spine hard enough to make my entire body twitch.
“Don’t hate me.”
Not being able to help myself, I ran my fingers through the ends of his hair. “I don’t. Whatever gave you that impression?”
“S’cause you don’t want to be around me.”
“To be fair, we don’t really know each other anymore.”
“Hate that,” he mumbled.
I couldn’t help but smile a little. “Is this you trying to tell me you want to be best friends again?”
He nodded.
Truth be told, I wasn’t sure I could handle that.
The more likely scenario was that now more than ever, I was going to make my feelings obvious enough for him to pick up on, no matter how hard I tried to suppress them from not only him, but from myself as well.
It wasn’t fair of me to put that kind of pressure on him in any sense, but especially with him still dealing with his father’s estate and the mess that came with it.
What sense would throwing my own drama into the mix make?
None whatsoever.
Able to wiggle out of his hold this time, I grabbed him by the arm and led him up the front steps to my house. It was a small thing, no wider than a trailer, but was something that I proudly called home. The outside’s curb appeal could certainly use a little work, but who the hell had time for that anyway.
Unlocking my front door, I ushered Avery inside and flicked on the hallway lights. I pointed to where the shoe mat was, taking off my own and then waiting for him to do the same before I tugged him down the hallway.
“You can take my bed,” I said, pushing the door open to my room once we reached it.
Like the rest of my house, the master bedroom was pretty small, but with it only being me here, I never found the need to complain about it.
Why have more room that would just remain empty?
Avery’s gaze was curiously darting around the space, taking everything in all in once as I turned the fan and light on. Once Ilet go of him, he wandered over to my dresser, picking up some of the small photo frames I had sitting there to inspect them.
Pictures with my mom and brothers from childhood, a few of me and my sister, and the rest of our siblings, along with one of Avery and me—all of them were neatly set side-by-side in a uniform row that looked quite out of place in my undecorated room.
When he picked up the one of us—a fishing trip we’d taken one year where both of us caught the smallest bass you could ever imagine—he traced his finger over the glass in a languid motion. Like he was trying to memorize it.
I watched him quietly, keeping my distance over by the door.
He set the frame down carefully, stepping back while looking over his shoulder at me. His eyes were half-lidded and slow blinking, the kind of expression that most people would think was Avery trying to make eyes at them.
I knew better, though. Knew to not give into whatever pathetic excuse my mind was trying to come up with in order to cross the distance and pull him into a kiss.
“Bed?” he said, finally turning back to it.
“Yeah.” My voice was hoarse.
He settled down onto the edge of the mattress, putting both of his hands on his thighs while spreading his legs wide. He eyed me expectantly, a strange expression coming over him.
“You want a change of clothes? I think I’ve got some oversized stuff.”
When he didn’t answer me, I took that as a sign to grab him a pair anyway. The worst thing he’d do was not wear it.
