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“You know what, Ev? I think you might be good for our team,” Creed drawls.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Evander
Despite my urge to claim Avery, I managed to rein it in. We all have. It’s been six weeks since we decided to group date, as Avery jokingly called it, and it has gone smoother than I anticipated.
After everything that had been thrown at her, she surprised us all by holding it together. There were moments I worried she’d break, but she’d rally and focus on her physical therapy or lose herself in a book. She somehow drew on this quiet inner strength that left me in awe.
True to the deal Creed and Hawk struck, we all started dating Avery. We all had our time alone with her, but we also spent a lot of time together. The parameters of my relationships had changed, not just with Avery but with them too. We’d relaxed around each other, letting our guard down as we realized we all had one common goal—to make Avery happy.
It was hard—every goddamned pun intended—because I wanted to fuck her so bad, I could barely think of anything else. But I needed to prove to her that what I wanted went beyond sex. Same for the others. At times, I worried they had a history with each other that I couldn’t compete with. Then I reminded myself that for every good moment they built together, there was a bad memory ready to unravel it. In a way, they had it twice as hard as me. Avery and I could afford to let our feelings grow organically, falling a little deeper for each other every day. Hawk and Creed had to focus on repairing the damage they had caused. Theirs was a balancing act I didn’t envy.
Now I am standing here waiting for Avery to arrive for our third date, and a part of me feels like a fucking kid going to prom.
“Why do you look like you need to shit?” Hawk asks from the sofa, digging into a bag of chips. I ignore him, focusing on the door that leads to the bedroom, wondering if Avery is having second thoughts.
“Maybe he ate something bad,” Creed offers. He curses as Hawk throws a thunderbolt at him, stunning Creed and taking first place in the race in his Mario Kart battle.
“I can hear you, you know.”
“We know. Now listen before Avery comes out. There are a few things we need to tell you so you don’t mess up.” Hawk pauses the game and sighs.
I turn to look at them again. “This ought to be good. Alright, out with it.”
“Well, her favorite kind of food is fish. Take her to any seafood restaurant and you’ll have a happy clam on your hands,” Creed starts.
“That’s a good one.” Hawk nods. “Mangos are her favorite fruit, and mango sorbet her favorite dessert,” he adds.
“She’s terrified of heights, so I wouldn’t do anything involving roller coasters. Oh, and she tires easily, so you should have her back before ten,” Creed finishes.
“Really?” I smirk.
“Yup. You can thank us later.”
I cross my arms over my chest and glare at them. “Avery hates seafood. The smell makes her gag. She’s allergic to mangos. They make her break out in hives. And she loves roller coasters because she has a low-key obsession with theme parks.”
“How the hell do you know all that?” Hawk asks, shocked.
“He asked.” A soft voice has us all turning to see Avery walk into the room. Fuck me, she looks like a walking wet dream. She’s wearing a black fitted skirt that hits just above her knee. It has thigh-high splits on either side that give glimpses of her toned legs when she walks, and she’s teamed it with knee-high boots that will be starring in all my fantasies later. I have to fight a hard-on as my eyes move farther up her body. I take in the tight cream V-neck sweater and the fact that her hair is pulled back, exposing her neck—that’s begging to be kissed.
“Yeah, you’re not going out like that.” Creed stands up and crosses his arms.
“What are you talking about? There is nothing wrong with what I’m wearing,” she huffs, walking up to me. As soon as she’s in reach, I yank her to me and press a soft kiss on her lips, ignoring the protests from dumb and dumber.
“You ready?”
She grins. “Hell, yeah.”
I take her hand and lead her to the door as Creed yells at Hawk, “Tell her she can’t go out in that.”
“You’re being an idiot, Creed. I’m not showing any skin.”
“You don’t need to. That outfit leaves nothing to the imagination.” Hawk shakes his head. “Your skirt is so tight, I can see the outline of your panties.”
I open the door and turn when Avery stops to look at Hawk. “Now I know you’re lying because I’m not wearing any panties.” She smirks before shoving me out the door and hurries out behind me.
She laughs as I scoop her up and run to the garage, knowing those fuckers will be right behind us. Unfortunately for them, I prepared for this. I pull the key out of my pocket and pop the locks on the truck before placing Avery gently in the passenger seat. Once she’s in, I slam the door and jump in the driver’s seat as they round the corner. I start the ignition and tear out of the garage before they get the stupid idea to follow us. Not that they can. When I took the keys from the lockbox earlier, I changed the code so that they couldn’t get in to get keys of their own.
