I’m so unbelievably proud of her.
As she grins, moving her hair out of her face, she’s glowing. Just sparkling before my eyes, and I couldn’t be prouder. She’s living her dreams, making shit happen, and man, I can’t believe she picked me to go on the ride with her. I just can’t stop falling in love with her. Especially when she is eating ice cream. There is something about Avery and Jeni’s ice cream together that has me in all kinds of knots.
Good knots.
Naughty knots.
“I still can’t believe it,” she laughs before licking the ice cream off her spoon. I know I should be listening, but it’s hard when she’s basically making love to that spoon. If only it were my co— “I mean, this is so awesome, right?”
“Yes,” I say, meeting her gaze. “So awesome.”
She glares, and I think I’m caught. “Brat, stop watching me lick this spoon like it’s your cock. You sicko!”
“You said it, so you were thinking it!” I accuse and she grins as she leans on her elbows.
“Maybe, ugh, shut up.” She starts to turn red, and all I can do is laugh. Smiling back at her, I hold my ice cream out for her and she takes a big lick.
“Oooh, good!”
“Right?” I say, taking another bite. “It’s my favorite.”
“I wish I would have gotten it. Salted Caramel?”
“Yup, the best,” I say with a sigh. I love ice cream. But even with my love for the creamy goodness and with pride seeping out of my pores for Avery, I can’t shake the text Jude sent me not even a half hour ago.
Jude: Call me when she’s not around.
I have no clue why he needs to talk to me when Avery isn’t around, but it’s freaking me out.
“Do you work tonight?”
I shake my head. “No, I took the night off because I knew we were either going to celebrate or I was gonna have to hold you all night as you cried.”
“Aw, my hero.” She grins
I point to her. “Does that make you my princess?” I ask with a teasing gaze and she scoffs.
“Please, I’m a queen!”
“Actually, you can’t be a queen without a king.”
She eyes me. “Fine, I’m a princess. But damn it, you better make me a queen.”
I wink. “I got you.” Grinning, she leans across the table, kissing my lips softly. Melting into her kiss, I go to cup her chin, but she pulls away and gets up. I’m confused. “Where you going?”
“To go meet my other boyfriend in the bathroom.”
“Har, har, har.”
She laughs as she heads down the hall to the bathrooms. When she disappears from view, I pull my phone out and open Jude’s text.
Me: Why?
Jude: I need to talk to you.
Me: Okay, well it probably won’t be till tomorrow.
Jude: That’s fine. It’s not a rush.
Me: What’s it about?
Jude: Her.
My face scrunches up. What the hell is going on?
Me: What about her?
Jude: Jace, relax. We’ll talk tomorrow.
I go to text him back, but Avery sits down again and I turn my phone off.
She eyes me playfully. “Texting your girlfriend?”
“Yup, she’s busy, though.”
“Her loss,” she says with a grin before lacing her fingers with mine.
“Very true. Thankfully, I have backup.”
She laughs. “Yeah, whatever.”
I stand up and now she looks confused. “You meeting her in the bathroom?”
“Please, you made me have to pee.”
She chuckles as I disappear into the back, but I don’t have to pee. Dialing Jude’s number, I wait until he answers. “Really, Jace?”
“What’s going on?” For some reason, he has me on edge. Why won’t he just talk to me in front of her?
“I’ll talk to you later. If it was a big deal, I’d talk to you now. Go celebrate with your girl. This is huge for her.”
I roll my eyes. “You got me worried.”
“Don’t be. I don’t even know how I feel about it.”
My eyes widen. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”
He laughs. “Go, dude. Call me tomorrow. Alone.”
Blah. “Okay. Love you.”
“Love you.”
Hanging up the phone, I shake my head as I try to think of what it could be. It doesn’t make sense, and I wish he’d just tell me now. It’s going to drive me crazy, but I need to let it go. I have a girl to celebrate.
Heading out, I see her at the table, her spoon to her mouth and her phone out in front of her. “Ha, now who’s texting their on the side person?”
She laughs. “Um, no, actually, I’ll looking at your timeline.”
I narrow my eyes playfully. “Stalker.”
She grins, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Shit. What did I do? “Well, if I weren’t a stalker, I wouldn’t know that Delanie Collins is so excited to see you this weekend and is hoping you’re ready for some fun.”
I laugh. “When did she post that?” I sit down and grab her phone. Sure as shit, there is a post on my timeline from her. Why didn’t she just text me that? “Hm. Yeah, she’s coming in for a late celebration of Baylor’s birthday. They’re best friends.”
She doesn’t look convinced. “Friend of yours?”
“I used to sleep with her.”
Her eyes widen. “Awesome, and you’re seeing her while I’m out of town?”
I grin at her suspicious eyes and shake my head. “We are going out for Baylor’s birthday.”
“With her?”
“Whoa, Jealous Jenny, calm your tits. I’m going with Markus, and I would go with you, but you’re leaving me for the weekend.”
She gives me a deadpan look. “’Cause I’ve got to.”
“Okay? So you go, I go, and then we meet up for hot sex when you get back.”
Shaking her head, she takes a bite of her ice cream. “I knew you were using me for sex.”
I scoff. “Please, you know it’s ’cause your daddy can get me first in the draft.”
That has her laughing and I laugh too before leaning across the table to kiss her cold lips. Pulling away, I smile. “Delanie is nothing to me, not when I’m completely and utterly in love with you.”
Her cheeks burn as she waves me off. “Aw, Lame Line Larry, I’ve missed you.” I grin and she takes my shirt, pulling me back across the table to her. “I love you more.”
I wink before kissing her lips. “That’s right.”
Shaking her head, she leans back, continuing to eat her ice cream as I devour mine. It’s so damn good, and I never want to stop eating. But that’s cut short when she clears her throat, causing me to look up. “So while I was in the bathroom, I was thinking about something. But I’m unsure how you’ll feel about it.”
“Well, I can’t tell you how I feel about it if you don’t tell me what it is.”
“This is true,” she says as her lips curve. “It’s about your dad.”
I make a face. I haven’t talked to him since my game. We’ve texted, but it’s mostly been about money or about me going to dinner. He hasn’t brought up the game and neither have I. Also, he hasn’t asked to come to another game. Which is awesome.
“What about him?”
She shrugs. “Should I call him and thank him?”
I shrug back. “That’s up to you.”
“Have you talked to him?”
I shake my head. “Nope, not since the game. I mean, we text but nothing serious.”
“So he hasn’t brought up the game?”
“Nope, not at all.”
“Hm. What do you think?”
“I think it’s up to you.”
She chews on her lip for a second, looking out the windows before taking a big bite of her ice cream. As she thinks, I ogle her, loving the way her cheekbones are so prominent on her face. It’s so sexy. She’s sexy. When she said she wanted to wear a dress to her interview, I was all for it. But I wasn’t prepared for the red number she pulled out. It’s a long dress that stops below her knees and hugs her body. It’s hot, especially with the black high-heeled boots she’s got on.
“I think I do want to thank him,” she says as she turns her head to look at me. “I mean, I don’t like him because of what he’s done to your family, but I appreciate his help.”
I nod. “Want to call him now?”
She bites her lip. “Is that okay?”
I shrug, pulling my phone out and dialing his number. “Yeah.”
I thought I would be nervous calling him, but I’m not. We wait as it rings, and when my dad answers, I say, “Hey, Dad. I’ve got you on speaker. I’m with Avery.”
“Oh, hey, Avery. How did it go today? I saw that Stu emailed me, but I haven’t been able to check it.”
“It went great,” she says, and I smile as she beams. “I wanted to thank you because I got an internship there and also a showcase in March.”
“That’s wonderful. Congratulations,” he says, all happy and shit.
I hate to think this, and it may make me a dick, but why does he like Avery? I mean, I love her, she’s great. But so are Claire and Baylor. Both great women who complement my brothers perfectly, and my dad hates them. He’s never even spoken to Baylor and is nothing but rude to Claire. It’s weird. I don’t know what’s up, but it makes me nervous.
“Thank you,” she says, looking guilty. I don’t blame her. I feel the same.
“So, you two out celebrating?”
“Yeah, with ice cream,” I say and she flashes a grin.
“Sounds like fun. But damn, boy, didn’t I raise you right? Take her somewhere fancy.”
She rolls her eyes and I smile. “Maybe later.”
“All right. Well, I got a call coming in soon and I’m preparing for it. Congratulations again, Avery. Hey Jace, text me your game schedule so Ellen and I can come again. I’ve been meaning to ask you for that.”
My heart drops into my gut. I suck in a breath, while Avery shakes her head. I look up at the ceiling. There is really only one thing I can do.
Be honest.
“Yeah, Dad, I don’t know. It bothers Mom, you being there.”
“Your mom has a boyfriend. She doesn’t care about me.”
Why is there remorse in his voice? He left her. What the hell?
“Yeah, well, I don’t know. I just don’t think you should come.”
He pauses, and Avery brushes her hair off her shoulders, watching me. “And you’re saying this because of your mom?”
“Yeah, I don’t want to upset her.”
He doesn’t say anything, just lets out a long breath. I feel sick. Like utterly sick. I don’t want to disappoint him. But then, did he care about my feelings when he broke up our family? No. So why should I care about his? Probably because I’m hoping one day, he’ll do right by my mom and she’ll take him back. Then Jude and Jayden will come home and we will be a family again. I know that’s a stupid thing to want. We are all grown up, and they grew apart, but I would do anything to have my family back together.
But then I look across the table and I realize she is what I want most.
“Okay, son. I respect that.”
That pulls me from my thoughts, and my face twists in confusion. “You do?”
“Yeah, I mean, I’m the one who hurt her. You’re being a good son, and I respect that.”
Am I being punked? I look up and even Avery is confused and in disbelief.
“Okay, thanks,” I croak out.
“All right, bud. Let me let you go. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Yeah, bye, Dad.”
“Bye, y’all.”
When I hit end on my phone, I turn to Avery. “I don’t know about that.”
Her brows are touching and her lip is curled. “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know him, but that seems kinda fishy.”
“Hmm.” I tuck my phone into my pocket. I don’t know what he is up to, but man, I’m so tired of worrying about what he is going to do. I just want this to be easy, I want to enjoy my year, get into the NHL, and live. Fuck, he drives me crazy, but I have to let that go.
Because nothing matters but celebrating with Avery.
“Fuck it. You almost done?”
She nods, reaching out and taking my hand, lacing her fingers with mine. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just don’t trust him.”
“Me either,” she says slowly. “I don’t trust my family either, and I have to spend three days with them starting Friday.”
I balk. “Ew, gross.”
“Exactly.”
“Do you think I’ll meet them?”
She shrugs. “Maybe one day.”
“Do you want me to meet them?” Why do I care? I don’t want to meet the people who hurt her.
“Do I want to show off my superhot, sexy, talented, amazing boyfriend to my family?” she asks with a grin. “Yeah, but I don’t think it would make me happy the way it should. They’ll find a way to ruin it, so maybe I’ll keep you all to myself.”
I grin, cupping her behind her neck and pulling her toward me. “That’s a good place to keep me.”
“I think so,” she says with a wink.
“I am hot, too. And talented. I think you did good there.”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s suffocating in here with your ego, you know?”
“Eh, hush. You love my ego.”
She blows a raspberry, but it’s only for a second before I press my lips to hers, my eyes falling shut as her kiss takes me to another world. One where there is no pain for either of us. Where we both come from happy homes with no drama at all. But when she pulls away, I’m ripped back into reality, staring into her turquoise eyes.
This reality, yeah, it can be tough, but it’s also pretty freaking great.
With her in it.