Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) (13 page)

“
This one is made from mahogany and starts at $5,000,” the mortician explains.

“
I have to be honest with you,” I say sheepishly. “My grandfather and I weren’t exactly wealthy, so it has to be a more affordable model.”

“
Of course, Miss Walker.” He nods in a friendly manner. He doesn’t seem to mind that I’m not here to buy an expensive coffin. He points me to the cheaper models, which of course also
look
somewhat cheap. I closely examine them all. Grandpa’s coffin shouldn’t scream
I am poor
. It should look pretty, even if coffins, by definition, aren’t exactly pretty.

Finally, I choose a coffin made of oak, which is the second cheapest they have but looks a tiny bit like the very expensive mahogany one.

“
And the funeral is to take place next Tuesday, is that correct?” the mortician asks.

I nod.

“
That’s just fine. Then I will take care of everything else and send the bill to the address you gave me, Miss Walker.”

“
Thank you very much.”

“
Goodbye.”

I echo his goodbye and leave the funeral parlor, but only after we quickly talk about the inscription on the headstone, a detail I had almost forgotten. Once outside, I breathe in deeply several times. Tears are stinging my eyes. Now it’s official, somehow made final, that Grandpa is dead.

Slowly, the fact filters into my consciousness and seems to take up all the space in my head.

Suddenly, Avery pulls me into an embrace. “It’ll be okay, Dale.”

I nod quickly and pull away from him. “I know. I … I know.”

He holds on to my hand and guides me over to his car. “Were you able to set up everything?”

“
Yes. The funeral is Tuesday, the family has been informed, and I just hope I can get through this,” I answer hoarsely.

Avery holds the passenger door of the Mustang open for me. I get in and buckle up. “And the notary’s next? The day after tomorrow?”

“
Yes.”

***

I quickly change back into more colorful clothes, because the black stuff seems to drag me down. Avery and I lie together on a deck chair on the balcony and look out toward the ocean. Avery’s perfectly calm, while I feel restless. He has been lazily stroking my arms, my belly, and my cheeks for an hour now, but nothing will soothe me.

“
What’s going on?” he finally asks.

“
I don’t know. I’m probably anxious about seeing the rest of my family. They aren’t that fond of me.”

“
How can anyone not be fond of you?” Avery inquires.

“
Well, to use their own word, I’m a ‘bastard,’” I say as I look at him.

His eyebrows shoot up. “They don’t like you because you were born out of wedlock?”

I nod. “And because I’m my mother’s child. Her siblings weren’t very fond of her, either.”

“
And they take that out on you?” he asks, irritation mounting in his voice. “Sorry to be rude, but your family sounds awfully dense and immature.”

For the first time today I have to smile. We lapse back into silence, I guess because we both don’t know what else to say.

After a while, I turn on my side and snuggle up to his chest, and then I close my eyes.

“
Are you tired?” he asks.

“
No, but I’m dying to relax,” I whisper.

He chuckles and his fingertips play on my cheek. “Then by all means, relax.”

I sigh, because being close to him feels good, and then I realize the butterflies in my stomach have multiplied. Whenever I see him, they flutter up excitedly.

“
Earlier today, I caught Cami with her friends Hailey and Thally downstairs,” he says. “I suspect they’re planning a birthday party for me, or maybe Hailey and Thally wanted to steal a glance at you.”

“
Do you think they’re still around?”

“
Possibly,” he replies. “Do you want to go check?”

“
I could spy on them to find out what they’re up to,” I offer with a smirk.

Immediately, he lets go of me. “Good idea. If they are, in fact, planning a party, then please talk them out of inviting every single person we know. I don’t want to have to act like a watchdog over the house the whole evening. And also, see that they don’t decorate everything in pink. I felt like a little girl last year.”

I get up and giggle. “I can imagine how that would hurt your male pride. Oh, the horror! Lost in a sea of pink balloons.” I laugh but then say, “No, seriously, I understand.”

“
Then you also understand why I love you, Dale.”

I freeze. “What?” I feel as if something hit me in the face. That was unexpected.

“
As a friend,” he clarifies with a smile. “I love you for this, as a friend.”

“
Oh, I see … Okay. I’ll go downstairs and see if they’re still there.”

Avery gets up as well and gives me a kiss.

I grin up at him. “It’s pretty mean to spy on them for you, isn’t it?”

“
Not at all. You’ll make me very happy by deterring them from indulging their rose-colored dreams.” He chuckles and kisses me again.

I giggle and return his kiss at the same time. Then I pull back. “Okay, I’m really going downstairs now. Why don’t you and Delsin head for the beach?”

“
I think it’ll be easier to draw him out by suggesting the skatepark. You go ahead and spend the day with the girls while I force my best friend to get all sweaty and hot.” He laughs.

Together we leave the balcony, then the apartment, and walk down the stairs.

When we enter the downstairs living room, Camille and the other two girls immediately stop talking. They all look at us, and I notice that Cami’s friends are just as gorgeous as she is.

“
Hey, Ave,” the one with black hair cut into a fashionable bob says.

“
Hi, Thally,” he smiles.

“
Hi, Avery … and you must be Dahlia,” the other one greets me. Her blond hair is longer.

I nod. “Yes, hello,” I answer.

“
I thought I would go skating with Delsin and leave Dale with you,” Avery says.

I blush. To me, that sounds as if I needed a babysitter.

“
Sure. Come sit with us, Dale,” Cami says with a smile.

“
Thanks,” I reply. I kiss Avery goodbye and then walk over to them, sitting down in one of the armchairs.

“
And where can I find Delsin?” Avery asks.

“
He said he wanted to go surfing,” Cami answers.

“
Oh, okay. Then I’ll go get my board from the basement and forget about skating for today.” He winks at me. “See you later, darling.”

I watch him leave in open-mouthed surprise. He’s gotten in the habit of calling me Dale, but he’s never called me
darling
before. He disappears through a door underneath the stairs.

“
You seem to have him wrapped around your finger,” the one with the black hair—Thally—states.

I nervously wring my hands because all three of them are looking at me. “I don’t know.” I shrug.

She smirks. “No need to be embarrassed. We’re happy for him. You can only be better than Pearl.”

“
How did you end Avery meet?” Hailey wants to know.

“
Through his grandmother. I worked for a senior care agency that sent me to her house, and that’s where I met him.”

Hailey and Thally both nod.

“
We were in the middle of planning his party,” Cami says.

“
Should I leave?” I ask, feeling insecure.

“
No! You only have to keep silent about our ideas,” she reassures me.

“
I will. Um … but … I do think he knows what you’re up to, because he asked me to make sure you don’t decorate everything in pink,” I confess.

“
We’re not going to torture him again this year. The decorations will be blue and red,” Thally says.

Meanwhile, Hailey scrutinizes me in a strange way. “I think it’s unfair. Only a few weeks ago, I could have had him.”

“
You could not!” Thally counters. “He was not even interested in you, and you have Logan now. So why don’t you leave Dale alone and focus on the party instead?”

Hailey makes a face at her.

“
What about food? Which caterer should we get? Delsin told me he’ll pay for the food if it isn’t too expensive,” Cami takes over again. She has a notepad in her hand and obviously wants to focus.

“
We could go with Tony’s,” Thally suggests. “It’s Avery’s favorite Italian restaurant, and I think their catering is really affordable.”

“
Is everyone okay with Tony’s?” Cami asks.

“
Sure,” Hailey says.

I don’t say anything because I don’t really want to be part of the planning. I don’t feel like part of the group.

“
What do you think, Dale? Is Tony’s okay with you?” Cami asks.

I shrug. “Sure, why not? If it’s his favorite restaurant, then it’s probably a good idea.”

“
All right, so Tony’s it is,” she states and scribbles a note.

“
We already talked about decorations. Now all that’s missing is the drinks,” Thally says.

“
I could make a strawberry punch and some Jell-O shots,” I offer. “I have a recipe for those.” I found them in a magazine years ago and kept the page to make when I organized Grandpa’s seventieth birthday party with Mr. Wilkers.

“
That would be awesome! When I try to make Jell-O shots, they never turn out quite right,” Hailey sighs.

“
Well, I seem to have a knack for things like that.” I smile.

“
I just discovered she’s a worthy addition to our ranks,” Hailey announces. “She makes Jell-O shots.”

That makes me giggle in an embarrassed way.

“
Okay, Dale, what do you need for that?” Cami asks.

“
I’ll buy the ingredients, and the drinks will be my contribution to the party. After all, I did crash your preparations,” I point out, still smiling.

“
Well thank you very much, Dale,” Cami says before turning to her friends. “Now, who’s in charge of the cocktails? Do we want to hire a waiter or are you satisfied with strawberry punch? And how many kegs do you think we should order?”

After that, the party preparations are actually fun. We talk a lot about Avery and Delsin and the time before Camille and Delsin were a couple. It’s a story full of heartbreak due to misunderstandings between the two of them. But I like the part where he rescued her from her awful ex-boyfriend like some knight in shining armor. Cami says she still sometimes worries that her ex, Kieran, might show up and try to make her life miserable, and I can understand her fear because he seems like a real asshole. The other girls are nice, although Hailey remains rather aloof. She seems to be overly fond of Avery, which is strange, considering the boyfriend of hers Thally mentioned.

“
Are you and Ave an item?” Cami asks when Hailey has gone to the restroom.

“
I don’t know,” I answer. “We kiss, have sex, and practically live together, but it still seems to be no more than friendship.”

“
What would you like it to be?” Thally wants to know. I found out that her real name is Thalia.

I blush violently and stare at my hands. “I think I’m falling in love with him,” I confess.

“
Oh my God, how cute!” Cami squeals.

“
Yeah, but he said earlier that he only loves me as a friend, and that there isn’t more to it. I don’t think I’m good enough for him.”

“
That’s bullshit,” Thally says. “Haven’t you noticed the way he looks at you? I have
never
seen him this dreamy, not even with Pearl, and he was after her for a long time.”

“
That’s true.” Cami nods. “Pearl did not only treat him badly, she also only wanted someone to have sex with and to drive her around. That woman is such an egotistical maniac.”

It’s obvious that they dislike Pearl, maybe always have disliked her. And I especially dislike her after she humiliated me in front of Trudy and Avery. “I’ll just wait and see how things develop between us. Who knows, maybe he’ll have his sights set on another girl by the time of the party. Anything is possible, so I don’t want to set my heart on him just yet.”

“
Set your heart on who?” Hailey asks as she returns to the living room.

“
Nobody,” I say.

She flops down on the couch and scrutinizes me again. “Are you a student? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at The U.”

“
No, I just applied there a few days ago,” I tell her.

“
And what would you like to study?” She fixes her gaze on me, and it feels as if she wants to nail me to the couch.

“
Teaching and law, I think.”

“
I see. Well, hopefully they’ll accept your application.” She grins and takes a sip from her glass.

“
Don’t be so bitchy, Hailey,” Thally chides her openly.

“
I’m not bitchy—I really have my fingers crossed for her,” she defends herself angrily. “My God, yes, Ave is hot and totally my type, but he made it very clear that he’s not interested in me. I don’t begrudge them their happiness.”