Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) (30 page)

“
All right, then we’ll do it another time.” I sigh.

“
No, no, I think you and Avery should go together. I can’t cancel the rooms and get my money back, so that would save some money.”

“
But that was
our
trip,” I say. “I mean, you wanted to go.”

“
I can go another time, and Ave can show you the pier and the amusement park,” Thierry says. “I’d really still love to go, but my professor announced an exam for next week, and I need to study extremely hard to pass that.”

I heave another sigh. “Okay.”

“
I’m sorry, Dale. I’ll call you once I’ve gotten through this exam from hell,” he apologizes again.

“
It’s not your fault. Just focus on what you need to do. Good luck!”

After I hang up, Avery asks incredulously, “Did he cancel?” We were waiting for Thierry together.

“
He did. He said he has to study for a surprise exam. I don’t know a professor who would do something like that out of the blue, but whatever, it’s a shame he can’t go.”

“
Well, we can still go on our own.” Avery says, and then he laughs. “And if I’m not mistaken, this surprise exam is called Caydie.”

“
Did they get back together?” I ask, surprised.

“
Well, after he told you his sob story he decided to pay her a visit. They had a long conversation and cleared up a few old misunderstandings, but I’m not sure what’s going on now. It’s something, that much is certain. But it could be no more than a quick affair. As far as I know, Thierry doesn’t want anything steady.”

“
Great. So I’m actually getting stood up so he can screw my coworker,” I grumble. But I’m only pretending to be annoyed.

“
I’m still here,” Avery says.

“
That’s not the same. I was looking forward to spending a weekend with your brother,” I retort dryly.

“
What?
” Ave barks, and I burst out laughing.

“
That was a joke.”

“
Oh, just you wait!” he growls. He jumps up and comes at me.

I squeal and try to run away from him. Avery chases me through the apartment and catches up with me in front of the couch. He grabs me, and we tumble down on the couch together.

“
We could cancel the trip and go another time,” he pants. “It’s a forty-hour drive.”

“
Thierry said he couldn’t cancel the rooms so he’d get charged anyway.”

“
So? My brother has money. He can spend some from time to time, instead of always hoarding it.” Avery laughs.

“
We might as well use ’em. Let’s make the trip and enjoy a special weekend. Maybe Delsin and Camille will spontaneously join us.”

“
You don’t give up, do you?”

I shake my head with a grin.

“
I’ll call them.” Avery takes his cell from his pocket and calls Cami. “Hey, it’s me. What are you doing this weekend?”

He nods.

“
My brother just stood us up. Yeah, that crazy trip to Santa Monica. You want to come along? … Yes, I know this is short notice. But see it this way: we are young, we have no obligations—apart from, you know, college—and none of us is going to die if we skip a lecture tomorrow … Sure, talk it over with him … Okay, just call me back as soon as you know … Okay. Love you too … ”

My eyebrows raise at those words.

“
Bye,” he says, hanging up.

“
You love her?” I say.

“
Um … Yes? She’s one of my best friends, and she means a lot to me, so I can tell her I love her from time to time.”

I nod slowly, but I’m not happy with that answer. With a sour look on my face I sit down on the couch again.

“
Dahlia Walker,” he says, sounding amused, “are you by any chance jealous of my best friend?”

“
Yes!”

He laughs out loud. “Oh my God. There’s no need to be jealous of Sweet Thing … I mean, Camille. I love her in a different way.”

“
You have a nickname for her.” I realize that I sound angry. “You don’t have a nickname for me!”

“
I call you Dale.”

“
That’s what everyone calls me,” I remind him, looking at my feet feeling sullen. I know I’m reacting like a spoiled child, but I’m jealous because … Actually, I don’t really know why.

“
Then from now on I’ll call you … Butterfly.”

“
That’s stupid,” I flare up. “What kind of a nickname is Butterfly?”

“
I’d call you Butterfly after your confession. You told me there was a swarm of butterflies in your stomach … never mind … I’ll think of something better.”

“
You don’t
have
to give me a nickname,” I murmur.

“
You just complained that I didn’t.” He smirks.

“
Yes, because you have one for Camille.”

“
Camille is the only person in the world that ever got a nickname from me, but now you’re getting one, too,” he says. “You’re my girlfriend, so you deserve one.”

“
Avery, it’s fine,” I say. “I’m sorry I complained. I don’t have one for you either.”

He sits down next to me and looks into my eyes. “Yeah, how about giving me a nickname?”

I sigh. “Okay, Angel Eyes.”

“
Angel Eyes?” he echoes.

I nod.

“
Where did that come from?”

“
I like your eyes. I’ve never seen dark blue eyes before, and whenever you laugh, they practically sparkle,” I explain. “But I won’t call you that in front of your friends. I can imagine they’d laugh at you.”

Avery shrugs. “I wouldn’t mind.”

But I’ve come up with another nickname for him. “What about Bear?”

“
You want to call me
Bear
?”

“
You’re almost as tall as a grizzly.” I giggle.

He laughs. “You’re exaggerating, but okay, if it pleases you, call me Bear—or Grizzly. I can live with that.” Then he leans in and whispers into my ear, “What about Precious, because you’re invaluable to me?”

When he pulls back, I take his face in my hands and kiss him passionately. He thinks I’m invaluable. While I press my lips to his, I climb onto his lap and intensify the kiss, but then his ringtone interrupts us.

“
Until that moment when I find the one that I’ll spend forever with
,” a voice sings loudly in his pocket.

“
What’s that song?” I ask.

“‘
Gotta Be Somebody’ by Nickelback,” he answers, digging out his phone. “It’s Delsin.”

He answers the phone with, “What’s up, dude?” Then he follows up with, “One moment, I’m going to put you on speaker so Precious can hear you, too.” Avery taps the display on his phone.

“
Are you talking about your cat or your girlfriend?” Delsin says sarcastically.

“
Don’t you think my girlfriend is precious?” Avery replies.

“
Um, let’s talk about going to Santa Monica. Cami said she wants to go, but I’m not ready to sit in the car for forty hours straight. So, I called my old man, and he said we could use the jet,” Delsin explains triumphantly.

“
His father has … Your father owns a
jet
?” I ask doubtfully.

“
Yeah,” Delsin answers. “My dad sits on a bigger pile of cash than the damn president.”

“
Don't exaggerate, Delsin,” Avery interrupts. “So when do we have to be at the airport?”

“
The jet’ll be ready in about two hours,” he says.

“
Great. Where we supposed to meet?” Avery asks.

“
Tell you what. You come over here, and then we’ll all go together,” Delsin suggests. “That should be the easiest way to make sure we all get there on time.”

“
Okay. We’ll be at your place shortly then.”

“
Right on. See you, dude,” Delsin says and hangs up.

“
Jesus. His father owns a jet?” I repeat. I’m more than surprised, but mainly I keep thinking that I never expected to fly in a private airplane in my life. To be honest, I never even thought I’d fly at all.

“
Yeah, but Devin—Delsin’s dad—is pretty down to earth,” Avery assures me. “Even though he could afford to throw money out the window if he felt like it.”

“
And the beach house was a gift from his father, too, right?”

Avery nods. “You could certainly say his dad tries to compensate for not being there during Delsin’s childhood.”

“
Wouldn’t it be better to spend time with his son, do things with him, instead of giving him giant presents?”

“
I guess so, but that’s just the way it is with parents like that. My parents do it too, trying to buy Thierry and me to make up for a childhood spent mostly with our grandparents,” he explains.

“
When will you introduce me to your parents?” I ask.

His eyes widen in surprise. “You don’t want to get to know them, believe me.”

“
Why not?”

“
They’re rather … strange,” Avery answers.

“
What does that mean?”

“
Well, the most important thing in my mother’s life is to look good in front of her friends, and my father’s rarely home. When they do have spare time together, they like to travel. I don’t see much of them.”

“
So you don’t want to introduce me to them? I understand if you don’t. I mean, I’m not really the dream daughter-in-law incarnate.”

Avery grabs me by the shoulders and stares into my eyes. “I don’t want you to worry about my parents’ opinions, because that’s unimportant. You are
my
dream, Precious. Do you understand?”

I nod. “I do.”

“
Good.” Smiling, he strokes my cheek. “I love you,” he says, and then he kisses me.

***

When we get to the airport with Delsin and Camille, I begin feeling scared. The private jet frightens me, though I can’t say why.

“
I don’t want to get in,” I whimper as we walk toward the plane.

“
Why not?” Cami asks. I’m clinging to her arm.

Avery and Delsin are already on the plane, and we can hear them arguing over who gets to sit on which couch. A couch on an airplane? It all sounds strange to me.

“
I don’t know. For some reason I feel scared and anxious,” I answer helplessly.

“
It’ll pass. Come on, we’ll board, and then you sit down with Avery, and I’m sure we have some pills to help with flight anxiety,” she reassures me. “They’ll calm you down if nothing else does.”

“
Hey! Where are you?” Delsin says, appearing in the doorway to the jet.

“
Dale is scared,” Cami answers unhurriedly.

Delsin nods and vanishes from the door. “Dude, your girlfriend is scared,” I hear him say. “Move it and encourage her.” The amusement in his voice annoys me. I’m not used to flying in a plane, let alone a private jet, so they could be a little more understanding, couldn’t they?

Avery appears in the entrance and smiles at me. He reaches out his hand. “Do you trust me?”

“
Yes, I-I trust you,” I stammer and take his hand.

“
Then get in. I’m with you, and nothing’s going to happen to you, Precious. Promise!” He smiles.

After his loving words my feet start to move of their own accord.

“
That’s my girl,” he murmurs and leads me inside.

As soon as we sit down, the door begins to close and a man in a blue uniform talks to Delsin about the details of the flight.

“
Maybe you should just try to get some sleep,” Cami suggests. She’s sitting in the seat across from me and fastens her seatbelt as she talks.

“
I’m not tired,” I answer shyly. I feel so embarrassed about my irrational fear of flying, but I can’t help it.

Avery sighs. “Just lean on me and close your eyes.”

I nod frantically. “Okay. How long is the flight?”

“
Less than six hours,” Delsin says and sits down next to Cami. “Like Avery said, close your eyes and breathe deeply, and it won’t be bad at all.” Then he pulls some chewing gum from his pocket. “And maybe you should take one of these, so the pressure on your ears won’t be so bad.”

“
Thank you,” I answer, taking one of the proffered strips and unwrapping it.

Shortly after we’ve all buckled ourselves in, the plane starts to move, and I lean against Avery. My eyes are closed, and I chew nervously on the peppermint gum to avoid the dreaded feeling of clogged ears.

I don’t know how much time has passed when someone pokes me softly in the shoulder. “Hey. We’re airborne. Everything’s fine.” Avery smiles when I look at him.

At the moment, I can’t say whether the tornado in my stomach is caused by my anxiety or by him, but it’s definitely not a pleasant feeling this time. I feel nauseous. “I think I-I need to go to the bathroom. Is there a bathroom somewhere?” I stammer.

“
Are you feeling okay?” Cami asks.

I shake my head. “Not really, no.” My hands tremble as I unbuckle the seatbelt. “Where is it?”

“
I’ll show you,” she says and gets up with me. She leads me to a small room.