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Silence lingers between us as I drown in wonder and in him. Then I’m breaking through the quiet like I’m bursting through the sea in search of oxygen.
“What are you doing here?” I murmur into the void.
No sound comes from wherever he is, then I hear the faint click of the lamp, and I’m temporarily blinded as light floods the room. After blinking a few times, I find him leaning against the opposite wall.
Shirtless, and a pair of black sweats hang low on his hips that showcase a spectacular V tapering into the waistband.
Fuck, this really wasn’t a good idea.
Avery crosses his arms over his chest, his muscles moving and flexing beneath his tanned skin. “You’re asking me? You’re the one who just barged in here after midnight like you own the damn place.”
“I meant here. At Alpine Ridge.”
Because the real reason can’t be to kiss me and drive me fucking mad with lust that makes absolutely no sense for me to have.
“You’re back on this shit? Seriously?” His fingers sift through his golden hair, frustration evident in his voice. “Couldn’t it have just waited ‘til morning?”
My teeth scrape over my bottom lip and I shake my head.
“I need answers.”
To more than one thing.
The look on his face is one of exhaustion. Physical, but also mental. Like he too has reached his breaking point.
Maybe that’s why, for the first time in over a week, I get a real answer from him.
“I’m trying to get back into Foltyn.”
I blink, registering an answer I wasn’t expecting. “And somehow you think spending a few weeks with a bunch of kids in the woods is going to make the Dean and the entire admissions office rethink their decision to kick you out?”
He opens his mouth, clearly about to pop off at me, but I’m taken off guard when he closes it again without saying a single word. Then his lips form into a tight line, two tiny dimples popping at the corners of his mouth when he does it, like he’s trying to keep from saying something he might regret. Which is…very unlike the Avery I’ve seen in the entire time I’ve known him.
Those blue eyes flick around the cabin, clearly in search of a way out of this conversation. But he must not find a single escape route, because he sighs and mutters, “It was my Dad’s idea.”
“Your dad’s idea,” I repeat dryly.
“It sounds insane even to my own ears, but yeah.” The exhaustion on his face gives way to a hint of misery when his gaze collides with mine. “He thinks if I can get Colin to like me, he might talk to Dean Marshall on my behalf.”
For what might be the twentieth time today, he surprises me. Not only by the honesty in his answer, but how easily he offered it up.
My immediate reaction to this information is to go into protective mode. Specifically for Elijah, who is sure to be nothing more than another pawn in this whole scheme. God only knows the impact this knowledge would have on the kid if he learned the counselor who’s taken him under his wing is only doing so because of some messed up, self-serving ulterior motive.
He’d be crushed.
“That’s…”
“Ridiculous?” Avery supplies.
“Disgusting,” I say instead, my nose wrinkled up to echo my statement. “It’s disgusting that you’d stoop to this level. And I’m sure now, you’re using a kid to get to his father?”
A sharp scoff comes from him. “Like I said, it wasn’t my idea to start with, but I’m not really left with much of a choice. If I want a degree by the end of next school year, Foltyn is the place I need to get it.”
“And Elijah’s just collateral.”
“That’s not true, and you know it.”
“Do I?” I counter, taking a single step toward him. “Because you sure as hell were quick to deny it the other day. And that boy, for whatever fucking reason, looks up to you. Thinks you care about him. All you’re going to do is break his damn heart when he finds out it was all a lie.”
