“Go on,” Avery cajoled, snatching the cupcake and taking a bite. “Yum. Can’t go wrong with yellow cake and chocolate fudge icing.” She held it out to me. “Here comes the airplane!”
“I feel like you’re enjoying this too much,” I said but opened my mouth and let her feed me a bite of cupcake. It was more sugar than I’d had in a year.
My tongue brushed Avery’s fingers, and she visibly shivered. I suddenly registered that she had changed her outfit. She was wearing high-waisted cropped pants that accentuated her curves and a cut-off shirt that was tied in front, revealing a hint of creamy midriff. She was barefoot, her toenails painted a sparkly purple.
“Tasty, yes?” she said, putting the remainder of the cupcake in her mouth and licking the frosting off her fingers.
I suddenly realized that it was going to be a lot more difficult living with Avery than I’d thought.
19
Avery
The house was bizarrely quiet after Blade’s little brothers left.
“I think my ears are ringing,” I joked, adjusting my crop top. I couldn’t help but notice how Blade’s eyes followed the motion. I turned on the ball of my foot and hurried to start picking up the mess his brothers had made.
“I can call them back here to clean that,” he said, his deep voice very near behind me. I wanted him to be doing other things behind me.
No sex, Avery! Remember Nathan!
“I’m not sure what room you want me in,” I told him. “I figured I would take the guest room with the light-gray walls, unless you want me to take the one with the dark-gray walls.”
“Nothing wrong with gray,” he said.
I sat down in my swinging chair and pumped my legs.
“I can tell it’s your favorite color,” I said. “I should put some sparkly candles in your bedroom.”
He made a face. “Please don’t. I need to air this place out as it is.”
“What? It smells like freshly baked cupcakes!”
“I know. That’s the problem.”
I twirled around in my chair, reveling in the fact that I could reach my arms out and not touch another person or piece of furniture. My hand hit Blade’s thigh. It was hard as a rock.
Down, girl.
Blade grabbed the sides of my chair, stopping me mid-spin.
“Am I making you dizzy?” I teased.
“Avery, we need to talk.”
“Uh oh.”
His eyes narrowed. “You can’t sleep in either gray bedroom.”
“Like, I have to sleep in the living room? I mean, this couch is big, so I guess that’s fine.”
“No,” he said, clearly frustrated. “You know what I mean.”
“I literally don’t.”
Blade rubbed his jaw. “I don’t know how to put this delicately…”
“I have to sleep in the bathroom, the garage, the laundry room? I can do Cinderella.”
