Avery had been quiet since we left the Surf Shack. Her hands ran along my chest, stroking me absently while we watched a movie. Everyone else had gone to bed, stuffed with ice cream and brownies. The whole house smelled like chocolate and happiness, the kind only sundaes and friends could create.

It was the kind I’d experienced only in short bursts with Avery or the guys, but never with the people I should have—my family. I supposed that was why I’d made my own.

I skimmed my fingers up and down her arm as the credits rolled. The bowl of popcorn on my lap rattled as the kernels rocked against the bottom of the bowl when I shifted. She buried her face in my chest, letting out a big yawn.

“Did you want to watch another one?” She covered her mouth, catching another yawn.

“Why don’t we go to bed? You know you’re going to be up early making breakfast for everyone.” It was her morning ritual: wake up earlier than any human on vacation should and fill the house with smells that could tempt the devil. Every morning, rumbling stomachs were satisfied as we crowded around the oven and stove to see what she’d made. Sometimes I was allowed to help. Sometimes I wasn’t. On those days, I was happy to watch her work.

She grabbed my phone and checked the time. “Wow, it is late.” She didn’t make a move to get up.

Wrapping my hand around her wrist, I ran my thumb over the back of her hand. Contentment wasn’t something I’d gotten used to. I was used to that restless, leap-out-of-my-skin feeling constantly riding me, but with her I could sit in silence, savoring every touch, every breath, committing the moment to memory.

Something Avery had said earlier was stuck in the back of my head.

“You said your dad messed with Fischer’s locker—was your dad going to call the cops on him? Turn him in for the drugs?”

Her body went so rigid I thought something might snap. The silence was no longer comforting. It was stilted and stifling. She pushed against me, sitting up fully. Dragging the blanket off her legs, she stared down at her hands.

“I don’t know. All I know is Fischer was pissed.” Her throat worked up and down.

“Did Fischer threaten your dad? Threaten you?” Rage pulsed in my veins that she’d gone to bargain for her father after he got mixed up with Fischer’s bullshit instead of coming to me for help.

“Not in so many words. I guess Fischer got scared off or something. There weren’t any issues after that. You ready to go to bed?” She hopped up, effectively ending the conversation. The taste of her lies sat heavy on my tongue. Pressing my lips together, I took her hand and led her back to the bedroom.

We slipped under the covers and she was asleep before her head hit the pillow, almost like she’d willed herself unconscious to evade my questions. The steady, even rise and fall of her chest softened the edges of my restlessness.

She was still not being completely open. Things were still taking shape, unfolding slowly. Talks of the future hadn’t progressed beyond our time at the shore, and there were only a couple of days left. My offer for her to stay in my apartment hadn’t been answered.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand. Grabbing it, I opened the message, and she grumbled when I slid my arm from behind her head. Throwing my legs over the side of the bed, I grabbed my computer out of my bag and set up shop in the kitchen.

“What do you need, Randolph?”

“How about for you to answer your phone or email every once in a while?” His blustering belied a gentle soul with a good heart.

“That’s what I pay you for.”

“You pay me to administer your charitable giving, not chase you down. The paperwork is almost finalized, and I’m going to need you to sign a few things. You’re in New Jersey, right? I can have them sent to our Philadelphia offices.”

My ears perked up—it was the perfect excuse to follow Avery. No, of course I’m not following you into the city like a stray who’s finally found a home. I also have business in the city like a normal adult.

“Sure, set that up. Can you have them there in the next couple of days?”

“Of course. Why do you sound so eager?”

“No reason.”

“You’re sure you want to do this, right? This will tie up every dollar outside your trust for the next few years.”

“Yes, do it. I can sign everything as soon as it gets to the office. Why are you up so late?” It was nearly ten in California, way past his bedtime.

“We’re on vacation with the kids, trying to squeeze in some stuff now that everyone’s asleep.”

“Go to bed, man, and stop working on your vacation.”

He grumbled on the other end. “Sign the papers and I won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“Will do.”

We ended the call. I stared at my computer, scrolling through houses and apartments. The first picture I focused on for each was the kitchen. Would Avery like it? Was there enough space? Then I checked to see how close it was to the bakery. Those questions ran through my head as my eyes strained against the bright screen with the overhead light off.

“What are you doing down here so late?”

I jumped five feet out of my seat when Declan appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.

I slammed my hand against the table, my heart pumping so hard it was like I was on the ice during the last game of the season.

“Christ, you scared the shit out of me!” Gulping down some air, I sat back in my chair. “What are you doing up?”

“I came to get some pain reliever for Mak. She had three drinks tonight, which means we’re on a one-way train to headache-ville in the morning.” He filled a glass with water at the sink. “She swears she’s building her tolerance, and at this rate, she’ll be able to have five drinks in a night when she’s in her fifties. So, what are you doing up?”

He slid the glass onto the counter and opened the makeshift first aid cabinet.

“Had some foundation stuff to do. I have to sign some documents for a charity thing I set up, so I’m going to have to go into Philly for a little while.”

Declan rubbed his hands along his chin. “That’s pretty convenient, considering Avery’s time is almost up, don’t you think?”

I closed my laptop. There wasn’t much I could say to that other than the fact that I was following after her and would for as long as it took. I’d lived without her before, and even when I had thought she’d cheated, I’d had to fight my every instinct to give in and forgive her. Now, there was nothing in this world to keep me away.

“How are things going with you two?”

I turned in my seat, resting my elbows on the back.

“They’re going well, I think. We’re still in this weird place. Neither one of us wants to push the other too quickly, but it’s driving me a little crazy.”

“Did you hash everything out about the breakup? No more shouting matches seems like a good thing.”

“It is, and I think we have, but it feels like there’s still something unsaid between us.”

“Did you get the full rundown on her dad?”

My ears perked up. “Yeah. What do you mean?” Her dad had never been the most responsible guy. Holding down a job at Rittenhouse seemed like the most he’d been able to do. I hadn’t known him before his accident, but Avery swore his forgetfulness was because of that, though I didn’t know how you could forget to pick up your kid every day for a month.

“Totally sucks. Avery’s had to handle way too many things. Mak’s been pretty tight-lipped about it, but man, he’s definitely made life a hell of a lot harder for all of them.” Declan shook his head. “I’m sure you know all about it, though.” He smacked me on the shoulder.

I nodded, not wanting to admit that I probably knew less than he did by the sound of it. A lot of my questions about things outside of our relationship were met with the resistance of a master safe. It hurt to know Avery didn’t trust me to talk about it—had never trusted me enough.

“What’s going to happen when the summer’s over?”

Raking my fingers through my hair, I squeezed both sides of my head. “I know what I want—I want to wake her up, ask her to marry me, and take her with me to LA, but I know that’s a terrible fucking idea. This is what screwed things up before. Other than our misunderstanding, I pushed so hard for what I wanted, I didn’t think about what she needed and what she was going through.”

“What does she want?”

“I don’t know. College? She got in, right? That’s a big deal for her. Alyson is in California, though, so that’s in my favor.”

“What happens when you go back to LA?”

“What the hell is this, an interrogation? I don’t know. If I did, I’d be buying whatever I needed to make it happen—a house, a college, whatever it took.”

“Maybe that’s part of the problem.”

I stared back at him.

“Maybe it’s not about the money, or it shouldn’t be. It’s not about buying anything. Sometimes these things just take time. Hell, it took Mak and me years to get over a simple fight in high school. It wouldn’t be insane for you guys to take things slow.”

“But I don’t want to take things slow. I need her. I need her more than I’ve ever needed anything. I’d walk away from hockey right now if she asked me to.”

“You know she’d never do that.”

“Maybe that’s why I’m willing to do it. I know how things were without her. You saw how I was.” I ran my fingers across my scruff. Shaving had gone by the wayside once Avery started running her fingers along my face like she used to. That was part of the reason I’d always made sure I was clean shaven. The feel of the hair on my face had been a constant, painful reminder of her.

“Yeah, a moody pain in the ass.”

“Thanks.” I lifted one eyebrow and shot him a glare.

“All I’m saying is, you’re both getting back into this, and if it’s going to be a relationship that lasts, you two need to be on the same page. You need to make sure whatever got in the way last time is not an issue anymore.”

He picked up the glass and the bottle of pain reliever. Walking back into the bedroom, I pulled back the covers and slid my arm back under her head.

She mumbled something and her eyelids fluttered, the light catching the sleepiness in her eyes.

“Where were you? I missed you.” She ran her fingers along my cheek. The scrape and scruff made her smile.

“I had to take a call. Go back to sleep,” I whispered.

“What if I don’t want to?” Her hand dipped down between us and she slipped it under the waistband of my boxers.

I groaned as her fingers wrapped around the head of my cock. The half-mast grew with each stroke of her hand.

“Don’t start something you don’t plan on finishing.”

She licked her lips and slipped the fabric down over my crown. Pre-cum covered the head, and using her thumb, she spread it around then continued her strokes.

“I plan on finishing it, all right.” Slowly sliding down the bed like she was doing it just to put me on edge, she pushed back the blankets. Her nails skimmed across my skin and a shudder shot down my spine.

My cock strained against her hold. I dug my hands into the mattress beneath me and let her continue her exploration.

“I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on me all this time.” Her breath whispered across the head of my cock.

“That’s not even possible. I’m your buffet—feast at your leisure.” I groaned as she found my rhythm, the same one we’d practiced many afternoons in my bed.

“So you’re saying if I wake up in the middle of the night and you’re sound asleep but I have the urge to taste you, I should go for it?” She licked the crown, running her tongue along the edge.

I threw my head back. “I’d be so pissed if you didn’t.” My words barely made it through my clenched jaw.

“What about after a game? What if you’re super tired after a game?”

I shoved my hands into her hair, pulling it back so I didn’t miss a suck or swipe of her tongue.

“There is nothing on Earth short of decapitation that would ever make me turn you away.”

She grinned at my words and took me into her mouth. I grabbed a pillow and shoved it over my face. Yelling into it, I was about to come already. The muscles in my thighs clenched and everything centered around her hot, wet mouth enveloping me. The temptation was too much. I had to look, couldn’t stop my gaze from burning into hers.

Her cheeks hollowed and the suction made my eyes roll back in my head, but I forced them to stay open, forced them to watch her bring me to the edge quicker than anyone else ever had.

“I’m going to come.” My words were short and clipped.

She took me in even deeper, the tip of my dick hitting the back of her throat.

I slammed my free hand down on the bed. The spasms racked my body, and she swallowed down every bit of me.

Black dots danced in front of my eyes. Slowly, she crawled back up to my chest. With my hands still in her hair, I pulled her to me. I kissed her until she was writhing beside me. It looked like our late-night interlude was about to turn into a morning wake-up call for the house.

“Roll over, Ave.” I palmed her ass, letting my fingers sink into her soft flesh. She yelped and grinned at me before getting onto her hands and knees.

Damn, I love her.