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17
AVERY
Determined notto end in a heap on the tiled floor this time, I limit my number of drinks and stick to wine. The champagne flows freely, the bar crowded, and the hubbub in the room rises to shrieks of laughter.
Bryn drags us out of our hidden corner and to the edge of the throng, despite my protests. On high alert for Mia, I stand as close as I can to Bryn without touching.
“Do you honestly like these parties?” I ask him. “They don't seem very ‘you’.”
Bryn shrugs and drinks from his designer bottle of beer. “Not often. When the four of us came to parties a few years ago, we used to have a laugh, wind up some of the beautiful people. Jem and Dylan would go one step further and take them home. Or to the bathrooms.”
I pull a face. “Did you used to do that?”
“Not much. Hazy days. Stopped that shit about three years ago.” Bryn lowers his voice. “Until recently. I need you to keep me on the straight and narrow.”
Bryn and sex. Two images I try desperately to keep apart in my head but the idea of him naked and uninhibited isn’t helping the situation.
A girl around my age in a slip of a dress, heels so high I can't figure out how she stays upright stares at us as she carefully walks past. Girls like her?
“You okay? That didn't upset you did it?” he asks.
“What?” I return to earth and away from planet rock god. “No! Jesus, your life past or present is nothing to do with me.”
“Cool. You just looked a bit vacant for a moment there.”
“The party is overwhelming me,” I lie.
“Okay, we won't stay long. Just long enough… Ah! There she is.”
I snap my head around to where Bryn's looking over my shoulder. On the mezzanine above, a tall, slender girl with long brown hair looks down at us over the glass partition. I’m not close enough to see her expression but I’m willing to bet it’s a sour one. Her head disappears into the crowd and the next minute Mia strides toward us, determination on her face and a champagne flute in her hand. She flicks a look over my appearance and straightens, adjusting the strap of her short, scoop-necked, and undoubtedly expensive green dress, face indicating she’s amused by my clothes. This girl is stunning; exactly the sort whose gym-fit body should be attached to a rock star’s arm.
“Hey, Mia,” says Bryn, and I tense as he slides an arm around my waist.
Her full, perfectly painted red lips purse as she shakes her glossy hair over one shoulder. “Another of your one-night hook ups?”
“Nope.” Bryn pulls me into his side. “Not Avery, she's special.”
Still not addressing me, Mia sips delicately on her champagne. “Funny, I haven't seen her at your place.” She narrows her eyes at me then a slow smile plays at the corner of her mouth. “Does she know about the other girls? She doesn’t look like the kind of girl who’d be happy to share you.”
A muscle in Bryn's cheek twitches and he avoids my eyes, as Mia’s words crush my remaining dream about this becoming a relationship. “We split for a couple of weeks and recently reconnected.”
I attempt to shuffle away from him but his grip tightens again. Mia watches with a curious smile. Bryn will have to try harder to convince his friend.
“Right,” she says.
“It's true. I'm serious about her, Mia. There's just something about Avery I can't explain.”
Obviously because you hardly know me. He strokes a strand of hair from my cheek and I shiver at the spark this sets off across my face. The gentle way he rests a hand on my hip is too natural and unfair. Is he expecting me to touch him in return? I'm more than willing and with each glass of wine; the voice suggesting I throw myself at him grows.
“Hmm.” Mia's disbelief continues.
“You'll see a lot more of Avery if you don't move out.”
Mia skulls her champagne and runs her tongue across her teeth. “I'm leaving soon, you know that.”
A guy appears behind Mia, tall and muscular, similar to Bryn in a lot of ways apart from his crew cut. He has the same sharp features but his nose looks as if it's been broken a few times. He grins at Bryn and holds out a hand.
“Hey, mate.”
