Chapter Thirty-One
Maverick
“Okay, calm down,” I said into the phone as Sarah spoke so fast she’d put an auctioneer to shame. “Breathe. Now talk.”
“Travis and I did it!” she exclaimed so loud, I had to jerk the phone away from my ear. “I’m no longer the depressing V anymore!”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a virgin,” I told her, thinking of how Avery had been one before me. “Please spare me the details, but did you guys at least use protection?”
Yeah, I had to be the protective, parenting type. I didn’t know Travis’ exact number, but the amount of notches on his bed was definitely more than seven.
“Duh. I’m not stupid,” she said before scoffing. “Ohmygosh, Mav. I think I love him. Not just because he took my V-card, but because he’s everything I’ve ever wanted. Has he said anything to you about me? Do you think he likes me more than Chelsey? Oh my god, what if I suck in bed and he goes back to her because she has the freaking vagina of gold.”
“First of all… eww,” I said, cringing at the V word. “Second, he basically dumped her to go out with you. So I think that pretty much means he likes you more.”
She squealed, almost making me go deaf in my right ear.
“Oh! He’s calling me. I gotta go.”
She hung up before I could even say bye. I shook my head and put my phone down.
Deciding to get lost in a different world for a while, I turned on Sims 4 and continued the game with me and Avery. His character painted a portrait of a banana and then admired it before laughing and then leaving it to go make sandwich.
A rapping at my bedroom door threw me out of my game, and I flipped around in my chair. “Come in.”
Dad walked in. “Hey. Can we talk?”
Already not liking the way this conversation was going, I gave a hesitant nod. “Sure. What’s up?”
“It’s about Avery’s mom,” he said after coming into the room and closing the door. He was in his casual clothes, which to him still meant a nice button-up shirt and jeans.
I didn’t tell my parents about Monica’s job. It wasn’t my business to tell anyway. When Avery and his family had come over for Thanksgiving, everyone had gotten along great. Mom adored Monica and had asked me to invite them all over again, which I had. They’d come over that past weekend for Sunday dinner.
“Okay…” I straightened up in my chair instead of my usual slouch. “What about her?”
“I hope this doesn’t come off wrong, but I know what she does for a living,” he admitted, scratching at the back of his neck. “I’ve known since the night we met her at your opening night.”
“How do you know, Dad?” I asked, balling my fists. If he had cheated on Mom, I was going to kick his ass.
“Oh stop,” he said like it was the most ridiculous assumption ever. Which, you know, it wasn’t. “I never visited the strip joint, but friends of mine have. Seth, one of the younger surgeons at the hospital, likes to boast about all his exploits, and he came into work one afternoon, telling me and a few others all about it. He had a picture of her.”
My eyes were still narrowed. “And you just had to look at the picture? Classy, Dad.”
“I’m not perfect,” he said, and right as I opened my mouth to make a sarcastic remark, he silenced me. “Big shocker, I know. The point I’m trying to make is now that your mom and Monica are becoming close, I told your mom about Monica’s job—and how I found out about it, so stop giving me that look. She wants to help.”
“Monica won’t accept a handout,” I said. “I’ve offered Avery money in the past, and he shot me down. Even the small things I buy him like dinner and a twenty dollar CD player make him uncomfortable.”
“It won’t be a handout.” Dad walked over and sat on the edge of my unmade bed. Thank god I’d washed the sheets since the last time Avery was over. “Your mom knows a lady named Barb, who’s the owner of Surfs Up and they need a hostess. The pay is ten dollars an hour, so more than minimum wage. Barb said she could start right away.”
Surfs Up was a super busy restaurant in Port Haven. They served mostly seafood, but they had the surf-n-turf items, as well as burgers and fries for those who hated fish. I’d only been in there once with my mom but the staff dressed really laidback with jeans and T-shirts, and it was an easy-going atmosphere.
I looked at the time on my laptop. It was only six o’clock. “I can go over there now and talk to her about it.”
“Be careful,” Dad said as I stood up to get my shoes. “The roads might be a little slick.”
“Always am.”
After grabbing my coat—because it was freaking colder than Snow Miser’s ice lair outside—I got in my car and started it, letting it warm up some before putting it in reverse and backing out of the driveway. The sun had already set—since it did so way too early this time of year—and I flipped on my headlights.
Port Haven usually had moderately cold winters, but not ever anything too crazy. That night was the exception. The temperature was a degree under freezing. It had rained all day and was still drizzling a little.
As I drove, my tires slid a bit on the pavement, and I slowed down. I followed the main road for a bit before turning on Boulder Street. When my tires slid again, my knuckles whitened on the steering wheel due to me holding it so tight. I was going the speed limit, but I let off the gas a bit more and started going five under.
If anything could help keep my speed demon ways in check, it was the threat of black ice.
I made it to Avery’s place without crashing my car—yay—and I got out and jogged to the front door. One knock. Two. Then, it opened to reveal Avery with some creamy white stuff on the side of his mouth.
I was… dumbstruck. It reminded me of a certain moment from the last time he’d stayed the night with me.
What the heck had he been doing before I showed up?
“Well, don’t just stand out there like a psycho,” Avery said, grabbing my arm and tugging me inside. “Get in here. It’s cold.” He shut the door before wrapping his arms around me. “What’s up, big guy? Not that I’m complaining you’re here, but we hadn’t planned anything.”
All I could see was the white stuff on his face. With a furrowed brow, I studied it before lifting a hand and poking at it.
He jerked with surprise. “Why did you poke me?”
And being the curious guy I was—I mean, for science, right?—I licked my finger. “Is that alfredo sauce?”
“How embarrassing.” Avery slapped a hand to his face and wiped it off. “I’m cooking dinner. You hungry?”
“I could eat,” I said before leaning in and licking away some of the sauce he’d missed.
“I’m not on the menu right now,” he said, trying to look tough but failing. “But alfredo spaghetti is.”
“What’s for dessert?” I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.
“Who’s here, bug?” Monica asked before she rounded the corner. “Oh, hi, Mav. I didn’t know you were stopping by.”
She looked drained. The bruise on her face from the jerk from the club had mostly faded, but the dark circles under her eyes and her lack of energy aged her a few years.
“I actually came to see you,” I said, which caused Avery to cock his head. I brushed my lips across his cheek before approaching Monica. “My mom got you a job, and you can start tomorrow.” The surprise on her face brought some life back into her. “It’s at Surf’s Up. Not sure you know the place, but it’s a seafood restaurant. They need a hostess and think you’ll be perfect.”
“I…” She shut her mouth as her bottom lip trembled. “I don’t know what to say.”
Avery ran up and hugged her. “I think the word is yes, Mom.”
“What’s going on?” Declan asked, raising up from the couch and rubbing at his eyes.
“Sorry to wake you, Princess Naps-A-Lot,” Avery said in a taunting tone, “But Mom just got a new job.”
“Really?” He flew off the couch and came over, his brown hair a tousled mess. The back of it kind of looked like a chicken’s butt.
As they had their family moment, I rocked on my heels, feeling a bit awkward.
“Thank you,” Monica said, still hugging her sons. “Karen is a godsend. Please tell her thank you when you see her.”
“I will,” I said.
Monica said she was going to take a quick shower, and Declan went back into the living room.
“Wanna help me finish dinner?” Avery asked before running his teeth over his bottom lip in that sexy way he knew I loved. “There might be a delectable dessert waiting for you if you do.”
I slapped a hand to my chest. “What kind of guy do you think I am?”
“Only the best,” he said with a smile in his voice.
He stood on his toes to kiss me, and I wrapped him in my arms, feeling like the luckiest guy in the world.
I stayed for dinner and helped Avery clean up afterward. And yeah, there might’ve been a lot of making out before I eventually drove back home later that night. He’d tried taking me up on the dessert thing, but I didn’t want him thinking that was all I wanted. So we’d kissed, and then I’d left.
When I got back home, I played a bit more on Sims 4 before opening up a search engine and looking up the local college. I clicked on the science program and read about it, and my excitement for graduation grew even more. I then went to the engineering section and looked up programs Avery could take—which then led me to researching scholarships.
If I was going to college, so was he.