His eyes were red, and his cheeks tear-stained. He was breathing heavily, as if he’d been running. He took a deep breath and his lip trembled a second before he spoke, as if completely unsure of himself.
“James?” His voice cracked, and I felt like a knife had been plunged into my gut.
Is it over now? Was he upset because I’d lied to him? Did he think I tricked him on purpose; that I was playing games?
“Yes, baby. It's me.”
Avery’s standoffish stance melted as he released a choked sigh. I took a step forward and Avery slammed against me, throwing his arms around my back. I held him tight, bringing my hand up to cradle the back of his head as he sobbed into my chest.
“It’s okay,” I murmured. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you now.”
I glanced over Avery’s head at my brother who was standing slack-jawed staring at us. Then Avery stiffened again, and I loosened my grip enough for him to take a small step back as he stared up at me.
“Avery, I’m sorry I—”
Avery shook his head. “No, listen. We have to go. David found out about the letters. He knows!”
“What happened to your face?”
The left side of Avery’s face was all puffy, his eye especially. There were black smudges all down the side of his face and upper lip. It looked like the ink marks on the side of my left hand after I'd been writing.
“We have to leave,” he repeated. “He’s going to come here! I can’t let him find me.”
“Okay, let’s go. Let’s get you outta here.” I wrapped an arm around Avery’s shoulders and tucked him into my side as I looked over at Jack. “Move his car into the back storage garage so no one can see it.” I paused. “Are you good with that?”
Avery nodded and fished his keys out of his pocket. Jack collected the keys.
“Do you still have that phone he can track you on?” I asked.
Avery shook his head against my side as I led him out of the roll-down and across the parking lot to my car. The second I got Avery into the passenger’s seat and the door closed, I fired off a text.
ME:Hey, sorry to spring this on you, but I’ve got Avery and we’re headed to the house. His face is messed up and he’s scared.
By the time I got into the driver’s seat and started the car she’d replied.
JENNA:No problem, I’ll see you soon.
Avery remained silent, staring out his window as I navigated the winding side streets towards home. As my whirlwind of emotions began vying with each other to bubble to the surface first, Avery seemed to pick up on my unease. Without saying a word, or even looking over, he simply stretched out his arm and rested his palm gently on top of my thigh.
As if by magic, my intrusive thoughts died down, and I felt myself sighing deeply. I took one hand off the wheel and laced my fingers with his; glancing over, I could see the very corner of his mouth curl up in the reflection.
Peace.
I pulled the car up to the curb and killed the engine. I’d considered driving around a few more minutes, or ‘missing my turn’ just to have another few minutesof Avery’s hand quietly intertwined with mine. But Avery had been through a lot today already, and I wanted to get him settled. Settled as best I could before I went and had a nice little chat with the police department.
I already loathed David, for obvious reasons, but seeing Avery come into the shop scared and beaten had me fantasizing about beating the life out of David’s beady little eyes with my bare fists. Of course, David was a little pussy-ass bitch, and there was no doubt that his first course of action would be to put a bullet in my brain.
So, this was going to have to be handled differently.
“Baby, I need to know exactly what happened. In order to keep you safe, we need to get David out of the picture entirely. We’re going to have to report the abuse and document your injuries. You need to file for a restraining order. We need to talk to your parents.”
Avery’s nose scrunched up as his lip quivered. “I told my mother. She told me that David has a- a tough job and his behavior is basically to be expected. And that I shouldn’t throw my entire life away over alittle tiff.”
I thought I was going to spontaneously combust. “A little tiff?!”
Avery flinched and pulled his hand away at the sound of my raised voice. I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood.
“I’m sorry. I didn't mean to shout.”
