I was going to break this motherfucker’s face. It was as simple as that. He was touching her and it was obvious to anyone with a pea-sized brain that she hadn’t wanted to be touched.
Shoving my hand into his chest, I slammed him back into the wall as my other hand curled into a fist. “What the fuck, man? Do you have a fucking hearing problem?”
“I’m sorry.” Tony raised his hands, shaking. “We were just dancing. Didn’t mean any shit by it.”
“Cam,” Avery cried out.
I shoved Tony back as he started to speak again, and Jase was suddenly at my back, grabbing ahold of me. He wrenched me away, and Tony staggered against the wall.
“You need to chill the fuck out,” Jase said.
I tried to duck Jase’s hold. “Let me the fuck go, Jase.”
“Fuck no.” He was in my face, hands on my chest. “You don’t need this, remember? Getting into a fight is the last thing you fucking need right now. So back down.”
My blood boiled with the need to put my fist through the guy’s face, but Jase . . . dammit, Jase was right. I couldn’t get into a fight. My probation would be revoked, and I couldn’t put my family through that, or Avery.
Avery.
I spun around. A crowd had gathered between us and she stood with Brittany, her face pale and eyes glittering with unshed tears. I started toward her, but Jase blocked me.
“You need to calm down before you do anything.”
Ollie appeared at my side, shoving a beer in my hand. “Jase speaks the truth, man. Avery will be fine, but you . . .” Serious for once in his life, he shook his head. “You need to chill out for a little while.”
I let them push me toward the door and when I looked up, I couldn’t find Avery in the crowd. She was gone.
Sitting on the edge of the bed Jase slept in whenever he stayed in this house, I pulled out my phone, sending Avery a quick text. Jase slammed the door, but I ignored it, waiting for a response. I shouldn’t have let them drag me in here. Right now, Ollie was outside the door, playing guard. I should be with Avery, making sure she was okay.
“What the fuck got into you, man?”
I stared up at Jase. “She used to dance.”
His brows shot up. “What the fuck?” he demanded again. “What in the fuck does that have to do with anything?”
Dropping my head into my hands, I shrugged. I had no idea what the hell that had to do with anything, but I had this feeling that dancing for Avery—for her to do that—was a big deal.
Jase cursed as he spun around and then pivoted right back at me. “What is going on with you, Cam? You don’t get pissed off like this. You don’t get bent out of shape over—”
“Don’t you dare say over nothing.” My chin jerked up, eyes narrowing on Jase as fury roared through me like an out of control freight train. I shot to my feet. “He was touching her, Jase. He was grabbing on her and—” I cut myself off before I said the words I didn’t want to, the ones forming on my tongue.
“So?”
“Are you fucking serious?” I shot forward, but Jase didn’t back down. He went toe to toe with me. “So? You okay with a guy—”
“Fuck no, I’m not, but Jesus H. Christ in a manger, Cam, he was some drunk idiot freshman and you and I have seen much worse go down than that.” His eyes flashed an intense silver, a sure sign he was about to lose his shit. Good. So was I. Again. “And before you say you’ve intervened in those situations, too, I know. We both have, but you’ve never tried to take a guy’s head off.”
He had a point. What the fuck ever. “This is different.”
“Because it’s her?”
The way he said “her” made me want to put my fist through the wall. “You better be very careful, bro, when it comes to your next words.”
His pupils flared wide as he held up his hands. “Look, Avery seems like a nice girl. She does, but the last time I checked, you two aren’t seeing each other.”
“So?” I threw the word back at him.
Jase looked like he now wanted to put his fist through me. “She’s turned you down how many times? And you’re acting like a pissed-off, possessive boyfriend, and the last thing you need is to get into a fight. Or need I remind you that if you do, you break your probation and you will in up in prison? Not jail, but—”
“You don’t need to remind me.” I turned, shoving my hands through my hair. “You don’t understand.”
He didn’t immediately respond. “You’re right. I don’t understand how this girl is leading you around by your dick. Have you ever considered that’s she playing you, for some fucked-up reason?”
I whirled on him, hands clenching into fists. If he hadn’t been my closest friend, the one to pull my head out of my ass when I was on home confinement, I would’ve broken his jaw. I took several deep breaths before replying. “She’s not like that, Jase. I know that’s hard for you to believe. I get it. You’ve been screwed over in a way I can’t even begin to fathom, but she is not like that.”
Shaking his head, Jase turned and leaned against the closed door. “That’s what every guy says before they are royally fucked over.”
“Avery is different,” I told him, pulling out my cell again. No response. A ball of unease formed in my stomach. “You don’t know her like I do. You don’t know her at all.”
He stared at me as he scrubbed a palm over his jaw. “I don’t know you right now.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that.
“What is it about her?” he asked, sounding like he truly wanted to understand the attraction I could barely figure out. “She’s not like any other girl you’ve gone out with. She’s fucking awkward as hell and quiet. She’s pretty, but—”
“She’s fucking beautiful,” I cut in, daring him to disagree.
He didn’t. “Is she worth this?”
“Yes,” I said, glancing at my phone again. Still nothing. “Yes, she is, and I need to make sure she’s okay.”
“Cam—”
“I’m leaving this room right this fucking second and you’re not going to stop me.” When Jase didn’t move, I cursed under my breath and reminded myself that he was only doing this because he was my friend. “I’m not going to go beat the shit out of someone. I’m going to go find Avery. That’s all I care about right now.”
Jase looked away, a muscle flexing in his jaw and then he shook his head. “I’m sure she’s okay, Cam.”
“You don’t . . .” I paused, rubbing a spot on my chest as the white walls in the room seemed to blur. My chest constricted. “You don’t understand, Jase. I think . . . I think something happened to her before.”
Comprehension settled across his face and then he stepped aside. “Aw, shit.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, feeling that horrible sensation along the nape of my neck. “Shit.”
My heart was pounding as I stared down at Brittany. “You haven’t seen her?”
“No.” She shook her head, causing her angel wings to droop. “After you went inside with Jase and Ollie, she said she was stepping outside for fresh air, but she never came back in.”
“Shit.” I glanced down at my phone as I pressed her name on my phone again. Walking out to the driveway, I cursed again when there was no answer. I hadn’t seen Tony inside or anywhere, but I doubted he would’ve gone after her. Jase was right. The guy was just a drunk idiot, but that didn’t tell me where Avery was.
And I had looked everywhere.
Brittany trailed behind me. “She hasn’t answered my calls or Jacob’s. I don’t even think she’s here anymore.” She paused, pushing her hair off her face. “I’m going to go to her—”
“No,” I said, clenching my phone. “I’m going to go.”
“But—”
“I’ll let you know if I find her.” I already started walking and then I was jogging to where my truck was parked near the cul-de-sac.
Slamming the door shut, I turned on the engine and gunned it down the residential street. Unease formed an icy ball in the pit of my stomach. The fear in her voice . . . she had been terrified when Tony grabbed her. The wigged-out feeling was back. As much as I wanted to deny it, to push it out of my thoughts, I couldn’t any longer. Something had happened to her. What, to be exact, I wasn’t sure.
I tried calling her on the way home, but as expected, there was no answer. My hands clenched the steering wheel until my knuckles bleached white. I pulled into the first parking spot I found at University Heights and raced across the parking lot. There was no point in checking for her car. In the darkness, it would be like looking for a needle in a pile of fucking needles.
My stomach was in knots when I reached our floor and rapped my knuckles on her door. If she didn’t answer, I would kick this door in, and if she wasn’t here, I would scour this damn county for her.
Then the door opened and Avery was standing there, eyes swollen and red, mascara and tears laying tracks on her cheeks.
But she was okay.
She was okay.
With my heart reaching my throat, I went inside and wrapped my arms around her, hauling her against my chest. Reaching up, I cradled her close, dropping my chin to the top of her bowed head.
I didn’t trust myself to speak at first and when I did, my fingers curled around the strands of her hair. “Jesus Christ, why haven’t you answered your damn phone?”
She didn’t lift her head as she spoke. “I left my phone in the car, I think.”
“Shit, Avery.” I pulled back, cupping her cheeks. “I’ve been blowing up your phone—so have Jacob and Brittany.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
“You’ve been crying.” Anger rose again. “You’ve been fucking crying.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Have you looked in the mirror?” When she shook her head, I closed the door behind me and then took her small hand. “Come on.”
She swallowed hard, but let me tug her along. I took her into the bathroom and flipped on the light. She sucked in a sharp breath as she caught sight of her reflection. “Oh God . . .” Our gazes met in the mirror, and then she dropped her head into her hands. “Perfect—just perfect.”
“It’s not that bad, sweetheart.” The knot in my chest ached as I gently pulled her hands away. “Sit down.”
Avery sat on the closed toilet seat and stared down at her fingers. “What are you doing here?”
Grabbing a washcloth, I ran it under the tap and then knelt in front of her. Disbelief kept me from speaking at first. “What am I doing here? Is that a serious question?”
“Guess not.” She hadn’t lifted her gaze.
“Look at me. Dammit, Avery, look at me.”
Her chin jerked up, eyes narrowed until only thin strips of dark brown showed. “Happy?”
My molars cracked as I grinded my jaw. “Why would I come here? You left a party without saying a word to anyone.”
“I told—”
“You told Brittany you were getting some fresh air. That was three hours ago, Avery. They thought you were with me, but when they saw me later they knew you weren’t. After what happened with that asshole, you scared them.”
Her face fell. “I didn’t mean to. I just left my phone in the car.”
Silent, I swiped the washcloth under her cheeks, erasing the streaky makeup. “You didn’t need to leave.”
“I overreacted. The guy . . . he really hadn’t done anything wrong. He just surprised me and I overreacted. I ruined the party.”
“You didn’t ruin the party. And that son of a bitch shouldn’t have been grabbing you. Fuck. I heard you say ‘let me go’ and I know damn well he did, too. Maybe I shouldn’t have reacted as . . . strongly as I did, but fuck it. He was grabbing you and I didn’t like it.”
Her shoulders slumped forward. “You didn’t need to come here. You should be at the party having fun.”
I honestly couldn’t believe that she thought I should be at the party while she was here crying. She watched me, her features pinched with confusion. “We’re friends, right?”
“Yes.”
“This is what friends do. They check on each other. Brittany and Jacob would’ve been here, but I made them stay there.”
“I need to get my phone and call—”
“I’ll text Brittany. I got her number.” I sat back, watching her. “The fact that you wouldn’t expect anyone to check up on you is . . . I don’t even know what it is.”
Her mouth opened, then she shook her head and started to look away. I palmed her cheek, stopping her. Using my thumb, I chased away the last of the tears that had been there. Her damp lashes lifted, and I would give anything to take back every one of her tears that fell.
“Why were you crying?” I asked. “Wait. Did that fucker hurt you, because I will—”
“No! Not at all.”
“Then why?” I held my breath as she turned her cheek into my palm. “Talk to me?”
“I don’t know. I guess I was just being a girl.”
My brows shot up “You sure that’s all?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
There was more, there had to be, but how did one ask a question like that? I didn’t know. “You okay?”
Shortcake nodded.
I moved my hand down, brushing my thumb over her lip by accident, but when I did, she inhaled softly. Our eyes locked. The same feeling I had while we were at the party hit me in the chest. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to make her forget Tony and the party and all those tears. But the first time I kissed her I didn’t want her to taste her own tears.
Closing the space between us, I pressed my forehead to hers and let out a tired breath. “You drive me fucking insane sometimes.”
“Sorry.”
I pulled back, searching her face. “Don’t run off like that again, okay? I was worried shitless when I couldn’t find you and no one knew where you were.”
Shortcake stared at me and then she scooted forward, pressing a kiss to my cheek, surprising the ever-loving shit out of me. My eyes widened as I leaned back, unable to look away from her. I started to say screw the not kissing part right now, but I stopped myself. “Avery?”
“Cam?”
With all seriousness, I held her gaze. “Go out on a date with me.”
There was a tiny second of hesitation where her lips parted and two tiny pink spots bloomed on her cheeks, but then she spoke and at first I didn’t think I heard her right, but I did.
“Yes,” she said.