Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) (21 page)

“
How can you be so sure? Avery has fallen in love with you, and I can’t believe he’s going to throw that away lightly. But even if he does, then at least you’ve found some new friends. Cami and Thally are really fond of you, and I like you, too. And you’ve won over Thierry easily, being the only one willing to dance with him.” Delsin adds a smile to his final words.

“
Four for one sounds like a good deal if we don’t make it,” I murmur, sounding unconvinced.

“
I’m sure you’re going to make it,” Delsin asserts. “Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon.”

My answer is another nod, because I really don’t know what else to say. Delsin’s embrace has steadied me a little, and it really is nice to have found new friends, even if I might have lost Avery.

***

Cami and Thierry bought so much that it won’t all fit in my fridge. They have to cook a few dishes so nothing will spoil. I don’t eat a lot, because I just don’t feel like it, but the three of them finish off the rest of the food. We have a good conversation, even if I can’t really contribute anything to their stories of college life, but that doesn’t bother me. It’s exactly the kind of distraction I need more desperately than I knew.

“
Caramel and I are going to head out now,” Delsin says, after we’ve done the dishes together.

“
Okay,” I answer with a smile.

“
It’s good to see that’s still there.” He grins.

“
That what’s still there?” I ask, confused.

“
Your smile,” Delsin says.

I put my fingertips to the corners of my mouth. “Oh. You’re right.”

“
And we like your smile,” Thierry chimes in.

“
Do you want us to take you home?” Cami asks him.

“
Should I leave as well or can I stay a little longer, Dale?”

“
It’s up to you,” I answer.

“
Okay, then I’ll stay a little longer and take a taxi later,” he decides.

Cami and Delsin walk to the door. I follow them and hug them both before they leave. “Thanks for coming,” I whisper to Cami.

“
Always,” she answers softly.

They finally leave, and I look after them until they’re out of sight, only then closing the door and returning to Thierry, who’s sitting in Grandpa’s armchair, studying me.

“
You look better than when we arrived,” he says.

“
Thanks.” I sit down on the couch again.

“
I talked to him on the phone a bit ago.”

Would anyone care to take the red-hot knife out of my chest? Thank you!
I think. But I say, “He won’t talk to me.”

“
I know, but he asked how you are,” Thierry tells me.

“
What did you tell him?” I want to know.
I hope he didn’t tell Avery what a mess I am
.

“
The truth, so he knows how much he hurt you,” Thierry growls. “I can only apologize for my brother’s words, because it was really shitty to abuse you in front of all those guests.”

“
That was the best way to get rid of his fucked-up girlfriend, his ball and chain,” I muse bitterly.

“
You know you were no ball and chain. Avery is in love with you!”

“
If that were the case, he wouldn’t have sent me away, nor would he have called me a crack whore,” I object. “He probably never felt anything for me at all.”
Sure, try to tell yourself that. You know it’s not true
. A change of subject would be helpful now.

“
What would you say to going on a trip together? How about Santa Monica?” Thierry suggests. “I was thinking of going there for a few days to meet some friends, and I could take you along.”

Did he just read my thoughts? “That would be awesome! When were you planning on going?”

“
In a few weeks. I’ll let you know as soon as I have the details,” he replies.

“
How cool. I’ve always wanted to visit Santa Monica Pier, to see the real place,” I tell him. “I’ve seen it in movies and fell in love with the special atmosphere.”

“
That sounds cute.” He chuckles, and it sounds exactly the same as Avery’s chuckle.

I smile at him. “I’m not cute. Cute is for ponies and little babies!”

He laughs at that. “If you’re not cute, what are you?”

“
Just dandy,” I blurt, starting to laugh as well now. The nonsensical conversation does wonders for me, distracting me from my sadness. “That was a joke.” I gasp for breath.

When we’ve both stopped laughing, he tilts his head to the side. “I’m looking forward to the trip.”

“
Me too. I’m sure it’s a great place.”

“
But you have to be ready for a couple days of driving. I want to take the car because I’m a bit scared of flying,” he explains.

“
No problem at all, and maybe I’ll have my driver’s license by then. Then we could even take turns driving, if that’s okay with you,” I offer. I’ve been meaning to take my driving test soon, because even though I took driving lessons in high school, I wasn’t able to take the exam after we ran out of money.

“
Sure. Do you want to go online and look for the nearest driving test center?” Thierry asks cheerfully.

“
I don’t have a computer,” I admit.

“
Then I’ll go home and fetch mine, and come back in an hour. I can drive my own car back here.”

“
Okay.”

Thierry gets up, and I walk him to the door. “See you in an hour. And woe betide you if you don’t let me in.” He smirks.

I take the extra key from the hook behind the door and hand it to him. “Take this one, then you can let yourself in.” I smile.

“
Great. See you in a bit.” He kisses me on the cheek and is gone.

***

We look up several driving schools, and I write down their phone numbers, planning to call them in the morning to check the cost, because I’ll certainly need a few more lessons to get back into shape.

Thierry yawns after he has closed the laptop.

“
Are you tired?” I ask.

“
Yes, and I shouldn’t have finished the beer I brought,” he replies.

“
Do you want to stay? My bed is large enough for two,” I offer.

His eyebrows shoot up. “You know that I could misconstrue that, don’t you?”

“
I mean stay overnight to
sleep
here, not to have sex,” I answer with a smirk. “I’ll admit that I don’t really feel comfortable here on my own now, since it’s Avery’s old apartment, after all.”

“
Then I’ll gladly stay, Dale.”

“
Thank you.”

We smile at each other, and I’m glad I won’t be on my own for the night. I hope I’ll be able to sleep, because the last few nights, recurring nightmares kept waking me up. The scene at the beach party unfolded in front of my eyes again and again.

I look at the clock above the door, which was already there when I moved in. It’s past ten, and I ought to go to bed now. “Do you need a T-shirt or anything?”

Thierry laughs. “I don’t think one of your girly T-shirts will fit me.”

“
I also own some larger T-shirts, and I think you could fit into one … but you’d have to try ’em on—your back is as broad as Avery’s.”

He nods. “It’s a Morrison thing. We love sports.”

“
What kinds of sports do you play?” I ask, curious.

“
I box, but not competitively.”

“
And Avery?”

“
Avery plays football. He’s on the college team. The
Hurricanes
or something,” Thierry replies. “He’s the quarterback, and a rather tough player.”

“
Wow,” I blurt. “I took for granted that he did a lot of sports, but I don’t think he ever mentioned playing football.”

“
I don’t think he talks about it a lot, but now you know the reason all the ladies are after him,” Terry explains. “As team captain and quarterback, and with his looks, it’s no wonder he’s the idol of all the bleach-blondes.”

“
And you’re not a fan of team sports?” I ask. “Or why do you prefer boxing?”

“
Because it’s fun. I played football in high school, too, but then I had an accident and wasn’t allowed to go on. So I switched to boxing, and I really like it.”

“
I see, so it was more of an involuntary switch,” I say.

“
No, not involuntary. I wanted it. I mean, I could have taken up rowing or whatever, but I wanted to do something really athletic and challenging,” he says.

I don’t know much about sports, so the conversation tapers off, and I suggest, “Shall we go to sleep?”

“
Sure. I’m in danger of falling asleep in this armchair.” He smirks and gets up.

We go to the bedroom, and I take one of the large T-shirts out of the closet. I sleep in clothes like that. I hand it to Thierry, who tries it on. “If they’re all the same size, I’ll have to sleep in one of these belly tops,” he comments dryly.

I turn around and look at him, laughing out loud. He looks ridiculous. His jeans ride on his hips, there’s a wide strip of tan skin showing. The T-shirt only covers his chest, not even his belly button. “Maybe you should sleep in your shorts, after all,” I guffaw.

He makes a face. “Did you just call me fat?” he pretends to flare in anger.

I shake my head. “No, your T-shirt is just a few sizes too small.” I laugh so hard my own belly hurts, and the tears start to flow. He really looks too goofy.

“
If I ever sleep here again, remind me to bring my own clothes.” He smirks and pulls the tight T-shirt over his head.

“
Yes, do that. I think it might be nice if you stayed overnight from time to time, you know … when I feel alone.”

“
If you're lonely, you call me, and I will come.” He smiles.

“
Thanks, Thierry.”

He hands me the T-shirt, leans down, and kisses my forehead. “You are very welcome, Dale.”

Chapter 13

Three months later …

A completely new era of my life has commenced. College has started. I’m looking forward to meeting many new people, and I’ve found another job that earns me enough money to get by, so I can use Grandpa’s money solely for tuition and other college-related stuff. I’d never take the job that Trudy offered me, because I was too afraid to meet Avery. I haven’t heard anything from Avery. I visited him once, my only attempt to speak with him, but he sent me away immediately. According to Cami, he was still too hurt to talk to me, but he could have at least let me explain. The only thing I expected of him was a few minutes of simply listening to me. I could have told him why I had kept the truth from him.

But it didn’t happen.

I have my first teaching lecture today. They made an exception, allowing me to start in the middle of a term. It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t mentioned in my application that I was caring for my grandfather. It was a little white lie, and I was lucky the dean understood my situation and showed sympathy. I had to make up for the lectures I’d missed since the beginning of the semester, and the professor gave me all the material in advance to enable me to do that. Of course, I’ve walked around campus a few times already, but I’m still lost looking for the lecture hall. I run around, clutching the piece of paper with the room number, but I can’t find this particular room anywhere.

“
Hey, Dale. You need any help?” Cami calls from down a hallway.

I lift my head and look around, and then I spot her. “Hi. Yeah, I think I’m lost. Do you know where that is?”

She looks at my piece of paper and then gives me directions. “Should we meet for lunch later?”

I shake my head. “No. I have to get my student ID during my lunch break, but we could meet in the afternoon if you’re not busy then.”

“
Tonight would be better. I need to get my ass to the library this afternoon. How about I drop by at your place around seven?” She smiles.

“
Great. See you tonight.”

“
The red suits you, by the way.”

The compliment makes my cheeks as red as my hair has recently become. I felt I needed a change in my appearance, and dyeing my hair seemed to be the least extreme change I could think of. I also bought myself some new clothes, more up-to-date ones. Really, I’m just taking pains not to stand out in the midst of all the college students.

I follow her directions and finally find lecture hall D420. I take a seat at the edge of a back row, feeling too shy to be near people again. Then I take out a notebook and the course textbook.

Somebody sits down next to me. Two somebodies, actually. One is a young woman with light brown hair that curls naturally, the other a young man with blond hair. I study both of them shyly.

When they notice my scrutiny, they look at me. “Is there anything wrong? Why are you staring like that?” the girl asks.

I look away. “I’m sorry, I … It’s my first day, and I just wanted to see who’s sitting next to me,” I answer sheepishly.

“
Oh, okay. My name’s Kelsey. What’s yours?”

“
Dahlia,” I answer softly.

“
Nice to meet you. The Hulk next to me is Sky, by the way,” she introduces her friend.