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I've never had a woman run away from me like that. I didn't expect more than that kiss last night. Not that I didn't want more than a kiss. I wanted to taste every inch of her body and how it felt to have her legs wrapped around my waist.
I roll my eyes, trying to get my body to settle down. Just thinking about Avery has me acting like a thirteen-year-old with no control. I could call Trev, but he's still pissed at me from last night. The texts I got complaining about my grandmother were funny and quite profane.
I can't work, and I can't call my best friend. Maybe I should do something else. I could sit here and obsess, which is never good, or get out of the house. I opt for the second idea and head out to do something, anything, to get Avery off my mind.
An hour later,I'm wandering the aisles of Nerdvana. The store is whimsical but well-maintained, with lots of places to relax and read. If it had been opened when I was a teenager, I would have spent all my time here.
"Jon Howard!" Everly yells out, waving me over. She's one of the store's owners, and honestly, she scares me a little. She's a tall drink of water with black hair and blue eyes. As I approach, I see her shirt and smile. It reads, 'Customer service is not something I agreed to.'
"It took you long enough to stop by and see me."
As she says it, a man steps out of her backroom with a baby on his shoulder.
"Been busy."
The woman's wit is sharper than my grandmother's. The smirk she gives me is more of a warning than anything else. Estella stings with her barbs. Everly leaves gaping wounds.
"So, I've been reading on the JSE."
I roll my eyes.
"And you would be?"
I look at the man who doesn't fit in this shop. He's wearing a tailored shirt and tailored dress slacks. His hair is perfectly in place. He's the kind of guy who would love to be on the cover of GQ, and he could pull it off.
"I would be Jon. Are you Everly's worse half?"
"Worse?"
"There is no way I was about to say better half. She would kick my ass."
"Damn right," Everly says. "This is not my man. This is his brother Carter Hawthorne. Carter, this is Jon Howard."
"Oh, of the Avery slash Jon poll?"
Everly smiles. "Yes."
I blink. "Wait, what?"
He hands Everly's little girl over to her. She cuddles her daughter to her chest and smiles. This is so different from the Everly I remember from my youth. She's a couple years younger than me, but I remember a rough and tumble girl who didn't take crap off anyone. She grew into a sarcastic and confident woman. And now she was making goo goo noises at her daughter. It's kind of sweet.
Carter walks around the counter to stand next to me. He holds up his phone.
"They have a poll on who they think will end up with the house."
I look at the poll that I somehow missed and frown. It's running fifty/fifty, so that's at least something. But still. I'm the hometown boy or man.
"I own the house."
"Not what your grandmother said at the last LOL meeting."
This snags my attention. I study him for a long moment, but he only smiles at me.
"Carter is an honorary LOL. Only your roommate and my man's brother have been honored with the title."
"She's not my roommate."
Everly chuckles. "Sure. Anyway, there's a lot of discussion on who will move out first."
