Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) (24 page)

I roll my eyes and smirk at him. “I’ll call you as soon as I get home, how’s that?”

“
All right, but don’t forget.”

“
I won’t.” I kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you for the nice evening. Much better than standing around at the Heat.”

“
I agree.”

I start walking again. I can feel Sky’s stare on my back, but if I turn around now he’ll think I like him more than I actually do. At least that’s what the romantic movies I’ve seen taught me. Whenever a man or a woman turns around, it’s a sign of their deeper feelings, and I don’t feel more than friendship for Sky.

The streetlamps burn brightly, so I’m not scared to be out on my own. There are no homeless people or junkies on the street corners, no usual suspects who want to beg or steal from me, no arrogant prostitutes. And also, no Quinn. Quinn was the first guy I slept with. It happened when I was only fifteen, and after that, he considered me one of his possessions. I refused and rejected him over and over again, but he was obstinate and kept coming back for gropes.

“
Hey, sweetheart!” someone yells.

I ignore the caller and walk on. I don’t talk to strangers, especially strangers on a lonely street at night.

“
Hey, wait up,” the same voice yells again, and then I hear several male voices laugh boisterously.

I keep the same pace, because I don’t want them to think I’m scared. Instead, I put my hand into my purse and take out the Mace.

Steps that aren’t mine echo off the walls of the surrounding houses. They’re following me.

Fear sends a cold shiver down my spine. The tingling sensation is deeply uncomfortable.

Suddenly, there’s a hand on my shoulder. I scream, turn on my heel, and raise the Mace, ready to use it.

“
Hey, calm down, you dropped something,” a young man says, handing me my wallet.

I take it from him and put it back into my purse. “Thank you,” I answer, perplexed.

“
Is there no reward for the gentleman who found it?” he asks.

“
I’m a college student, and I don’t have any money in there,” I answer and start to turn away. “But thank you for returning it to me. Most people wouldn’t have done that.” Then I start walking away.

But he stops me again and moves in front of me. “Who said I want money?”

“
I … uh … ”

“
I would accept a kiss for my reward.” He grins.

“
No way,” I answer coolly and try to walk past him, but then his friends surround us, and one of them grabs me by the wrist. “Let me go,” I demand.

“
The kiss first,” he says.

I realize I’m still holding the Mace in my free hand. I raise it with a confident expression and push down hard. The man in front of me throws his hands in front of his face and screams, “You crazy bitch!” He turns to his friends. “Beat her up!”

I duck the swinging fists of the first pal and let him have a taste of the Mace, too, but the second one lands me a few blows in the face and shoulder, making me reel. At least now I see that it’s only the three of them. I stagger backward, and then I start running. I run as fast as I can, but the one who hit me seems to be faster than me, for he’s getting closer quickly. I’m not a very good runner, never have been, although my lean body may suggest an athleticism that simply isn’t there.

“
Wait ’til I get you, bitch!” he yells after me.

The fear accelerates my steps, and I keep thinking that I just have to make it into the vicinity of my own apartment. There’s a twenty-four hour campus security shelter close by. I’m already getting a stitch in my side, but I can’t stop.

Don’t stop Dahlia, just don’t stop
, I keep telling myself frantically.

“
Jesus!” I scream as I run smack into someone.

Strong arms immediately wrap around me. “What’s wrong, Dahlia?”

“
They’re following me,” I gasp without looking up, because I know it’s Avery.

“
There you are,” the voice of my pursuer reaches my ear.

“
Fuck off, asshole, or I’ll tear you to pieces,” Avery growls.

A clicking sound. I know it’s a switchblade. I know the sound only too well. “I think your girlfriend owes me and my friends something,” he sneers.

“
And what could that be?” Avery’s voice is cutting.

“
We returned her wallet to her. She dropped it, so we deserve a reward.”

Avery barks out an angry laugh. Then he releases me and steps forward to loom over the much shorter guy. “I won’t say it again: fuck off.”

My pursuer tries to stab at him with the knife, but Avery sidesteps him, grabs his arm, and twists it onto his back until there’s a snapping sound. “Listen to me, and you better listen good: if I
ever
see you or your friends go near her again, you’re going to wish you were never born. Is that clear?”

The guy yelps in pain as Avery twists his arm even farther. “Yes, yes, yes, crystal clear. Let me go, man.”

Avery let’s go of him, but the guy wheels around and tries to attack him again. Avery swings at him hard, and the punch to his chin knocks him off his feet. He falls to the ground and doesn’t stir.

I watch it happen, rooted to the spot. How can a single punch have enough force to knock someone out cold?

Avery puts an arm around me and leads me away from the scene. “He’s not going to bother you again.”

I nod mechanically. “What are you doing here?”

“
I left the others at the Heat after Thierry dragged me there, and I was on the way to your house. Then I heard the screaming and turned around to see if I could help. Then I realized it was you. Come on, I'll walk you home.”

“
Thank you, Avery,” I answer in a low voice.

“
Did they hurt you?” he asks.

“
Yes, but not badly.”

“
What did they do?” he asks angrily.

“
Avery, it’s okay. Seriously,” I insist.

He snorts, but doesn’t say anything else. We walk on in silence.

***

When we reach the house, he looks at me questioningly. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take a look at your injuries?”

My shoulder still hurts badly, but I don’t know whether he has ulterior motives. “There’s nothing you can do about them anyway.”

Then he sighs. “I don’t like the thought of leaving you on your own here now. What if those assholes were following us?”

“
I sprayed Mace into the eyes of two of them, and you just knocked the third one out,” I answer.

“
You’re one tough girl, you know that?”

“
Not that tough,” I reply and rummage for my key. When I find it, I unlock the door.

I should offer him something to drink, at the very least
, I think.

Resigned, I say, “Would you like to come up for … you know, a cup of coffee or anything?”

The corners of his mouth twitch. “Yes. That would be nice.”

I hold the door open for him and then follow him inside. As we reach the stairs, he steps aside to let me go first.
He would catch me if I fell
, I can’t help thinking. It’s cute.

When we’re inside the apartment, I quickly lock the door. After what just happened, it makes me feel safer to lock myself in.

Avery turns on the light and takes a good look around. “You changed a few things,” he states.

“
Not too many. Okay, I painted the walls red, but the furniture is the same. I had to do something with my spare time,” I say. Then I walk into the kitchen. “What would you like to drink?”

“
Coke, if you have any, or just water.”

I take a bottle of Coke out of the fridge and two glasses from the counter, then I walk back into the living room.

Avery is already sitting on the couch, and he takes the Coke and glasses from me. He pours us a glass each while I sit down. “Where did they hit you?” he asks. When he looks at me closely, he nods. “Oh, I see.” He tilts his head to look at my cheek. “Where else, Dale?”

“
The shoulder,” I admit.

“
Can I have a look?”

I nod reluctantly.

“
Could you take off your jacket and the top?”

“
Yes,” I breathe, but when I raise my hands to unbutton the jacket, I flinch.

“
Want me to help?” he asks softly.

I look at him in pain and lower my hands helplessly.

He cautiously unbuttons my jacket and pulls it slowly over my shoulders. And within a single moment, it all comes rushing back. Not the emotions, but all the memories that I had managed to successfully repress for the last few months. Next, he helps me out of my top and puts it aside. His eyes roam over my chest briefly, but with a shake of his head he focuses on my shoulders. “Left or right?” he asks.

“
He hit me in the right shoulder,” I explain.

“
Do you have any ice?”

“
Yeah, in the freezer.”

Avery gets up and disappears into the kitchen. I try to look at my own shoulder and see that it’s turning purple. I gingerly touch it with the tips of my fingers and whimper.
Maybe I should see a doctor
, I debate. I still haven’t gotten over my antipathy to physicians and hospitals.

He comes back in with a bag of ice and places it gently against my shoulder.

I make a face. “Thank you, Avery.”

“
Is it okay, or do you want me to take you to the ER?”

“
It’s okay.” I hold the bag of ice in place with my left hand.

“
Dale, I … ”

“
Don’t, Avery. Not now,” I interrupt.

“
You hate me, don’t you?” he asks.

I shake my head. “No, I don’t hate you. But I’m still hurt … and disappointed. You didn’t give me any chance at all to explain.”

“
Then explain it to me now,” he says softly. “I … I kept asking myself why you didn’t trust me.”

“
I trusted you, but I was scared. All my life, every person—and I mean every single person—who ever discovered the circumstances in which I grew up, turned away from me. I was always the crack baby whose mother died of a drug overdose, who grew up poor and couldn’t make it. I kept feeling there was no way I could be good enough for you. I kept wanting to tell you, but then Pearl came along and told you at the party that I didn’t want to spoil for you. Maybe you wouldn’t have judged me, but you would have worried about who I was, and I wanted to save you from that.” Only then do I pause to think about what he just said. “You had three months to ask me to explain it. Why did you wait until now?”

Avery sighs. “I was afraid you’d tell me to go to hell after I treated you like I did. I couldn’t blame you if you sent me away and never talked to me again.”

“
That’s not a good explanation,” I say softly and look away. “I’m cold. I … I’m going to put on something else.” I stand.

Avery takes my hand and rises as well. “Thierry told me that I should stay away from you for a while, because I hurt you so deeply, but at least he kept me in the loop about how you were doing. I know that none of this explains why I abused you and told you to leave, but that’s because I simply can’t explain it. I can’t take back those words; that’s impossible. But you would make me damn happy if you gave me another chance. I want to make up for it.”

“
Did you love me?” I ask bluntly, because I finally need to know what he felt for me when we were together.

He lets go of me. “I was madly in love with you, and I still am. Every day without you has been damn hard.”

“
You could have come here and talked to me,” I repeat.

“
I was scared,” he counters.

I sigh. “What if … if you learn another thing about me that doesn’t fit into your perfect world? I’m not the girl anyone wishes for. I’m only—”

“
The girl I want,” he interrupts.

Tears start to well in my eyes. “I’m going to change,” I say softly and disappear into the bedroom. I’m running away from him, I know that, but what am I supposed to do? Simply forgive him and pretend nothing happened? I can’t do that. Grunting and whimpering, I put on an oversized T-shirt before I return to the living room, considering telling him the whole story.

Avery is standing at the door, but he turns around when I clear my throat. “I wanted to wait for you to come back, to say goodbye,” he murmurs.

“
You’re leaving?”

He nods deliberately. “Yes, I don’t think you want me here any longer.”

“
I thought we could sit down and … and I could tell you the whole story,” I say. “Maybe that would clear up some of the misunderstandings Pearl created.”

“
Is that what you really want?”

“
Yes, Avery,” I say in my quiet voice. “I want you to know everything, so you can understand why I never told you. So you finally understand me.”

“
Okay.” He sits down in Grandpa’s armchair and looks at me expectantly.

After taking a very deep breath, I walk over to the couch and sit down. “Of course I can’t tell you about what happened when I was still a baby, but I can tell you everything I remember.”