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“What?” he asks as he turns on the car.
“I want to make sure Rory has a ride. She hasn’t responded yet.”
He sits back in his seat and nods. Neither of us says anything and the silence stretches between us. I want to bring up what happened over the summer or something…anythingthat would allow us to have a real conversation about that one interaction that was not like any of the others we’ve had. Yet suddenly, I feel more sober than I did moments ago. It’s as if the palpable tension mounting between us was counteracting my intoxication. What I wouldn’t give for a shot of tequila.
“I never thought he was good enough for you,” he blurts while staring straight ahead.
“Why?” I ask.
His brown eyes find mine and he lowers his chin with a laugh. “You have to ask? Saw a thousand and one kids like that in my day. In high school, college, while I was in the league.” He rubs a hand down his face. “Watched him hit on three other girls before he found you on the dance floor.”
While I know he’s trying to make a point that Nate Reynolds has, in fact,notchanged, it still stings that I wasn’t his first choice.Fucker.My phone vibrates in my hand and I see it’s from Rory telling me that Justin hasn’t had anything to drink and he’s taking her home soon.
“Rory is fine. Justin’s taking her home.”
He nods and slowly backs out of the parking space. “Now she may not actually be good enough for him.”
“Hey,” I frown. Rory was one of my favorite people in the world, even if she was a bit of a mess and I wasn’t going to let anyone talk shit about her.
“I know Justin was not one of the kids drinking in my basement that Rory so eloquently confessed earlier, and nine times out of ten he was everyone’s designated driver. He’s a good kid.”
It’s only about a fifteen-minute drive to our houses so if I have a prayer at round two of our hookups, I needed to turn this conversation towards something infinitely sexier than anything that makes him remember that I was once akiddrinking in his basement.
Or maybe that does it for him?
I turn my gaze towards him. “What would you have done if you caught us all those years ago? Caught me one of the times I was sneaking upstairs to the kitchen for more snacks because I always got voted to do the dirty work.” I roll my eyes. Evidently, my years of dance and the fact that I was a natural at being light on my feet, made me the one that always had to do all the sneaking around. I even had to go meet the pizza guy once when I was so drunk, I confused the front door with the coat closet and somehow fell into it.How Theo never woke up that time, I’ll never know.
“I don’t know. Probably try to sober you up so your parents wouldn’t kill me.”
“First of all, they wouldn’t kill you.”
“Fine, maybe so they wouldn’t killyou.”He corrects.
“That’s all you would’ve done?” I lean across the truck. “You wouldn’t have tried to discipline me yourself? Maybe take me over your knee and spank me?”
He turns his head toward me, giving me a look that tells me he’s not amused.“I know what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?”
“Avery…what happened between us…” He trails off. “I’m sorry. I should have known better.”
“Than to what? Kiss the nineteen-year-old girl that lives next door?”
“Than to kiss the nineteen-year-old girl, that isyou.”
“What’s the big deal? We’re adults.”
“There’s a very big deal in the form of my son and your best friend.” He shakes his head. “Lucas would hate me forever. You’re…well, you know how my son feels about you.”
“We’re friends,” I tell him.
“Because you won’t marry him.” He chuckles.
“Because I don’t see him that way,” I correct, irritated by his words. “We’ve talked about it. A lot, Theo. Yes, there were feelings there before, but he’s moved on. He doesn’t want me.”
“Sure, Avery.”
“And so, what, I don’t get a say in this?”
