Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) (6 page)

“
Right now it feels rather right,” I reply, as I tie my shoes. “You’re really nice, Camille, and so is your friend, but I don’t belong with you all.”

“
Could you stop saying that?” she says. “We had fun together, and nobody looked at you sideways. Even I buy my clothes at Forever 21, and that store is really not expensive.”

“
I don’t even know that store,” I counter. “I buy my stuff at Salvation Army. Everything I own has been worn by other people before me, and I don’t like to think about the things they did in these clothes. Couldn’t you just tell the guys I need a few more minutes in the restroom? That sounds awkward, but it’s my only hope of keeping Avery from following me again.”

Camille takes a deep breath. “I’m not going to lie to my best friend. I’ll keep your secret, but if you go and he asks where you went, I’m going to answer his question truthfully.”

“
Fine.” Then I leave the bedroom, walk down the stairs, and almost run from the house, nervously looking around. The front of the house is worse than the back. The street is filled with luxurious beach houses, and I know I’ll draw attention. It is
so
different from Liberty City. Everything is neat and tidy, expensive cars are parked in the street, and the front yards look picture-perfect. I have no idea how to get to the bus stop from here, because I’ve never taken this path, but I can’t go back down to the beach and take my usual route now.

Panic-stricken, I turn right because earlier, before Avery invited me over, I went left. I reckon this is the right direction, but I’m confused.

After a mere hundred yards I hear someone yell behind me. I don’t turn around, hoping they’re not yelling to me.

“
Wait up!” someone calls.

I look over at the other side of the street, but there’s no one there. Nor is there anyone in front of me, so I finally turn around. Of course it’s Avery running toward me. He’s thrown on a shirt but is still wearing his swim trunks.

“
Why are you leaving?” he asks as he stops in front of me.

“
I lost track of time, and I should be home before my grandpa starts worrying.”

“
Then I’ll drive you.”

Before I can even protest, he grabs my wrist and pulls me along. His grip doesn’t hurt but is almost tender.

“
Avery, I … I’m going to take the bus.”

“
No! I’ll take you,” he insists. “If you don’t want to spend the whole day with me, that’s okay, but please let me at least take you home.” I can clearly hear the irritation in his voice.

“
Please let me go,” I beg softly.

He turns around and stares at me. The look in his midnight-blue eyes is telling. He’s angry. “Why are you running away? Tell me the truth!”

I look at the ground, trying to free my hand from his grip, which is now unyielding.

“
I won’t let you go before you tell me, Dahlia.”

He really won’t let me go
, I think in alarm. “Please, Avery. Let me go,” I repeat. I’ve rarely felt this cornered in my life. And I’m frightened by the way my body reacts to the closeness of his.

He finally loosens his grip and then pulls his hand away.

“
I’m poor,” I say. “Dirt-poor, and I didn’t want to tell you because I’m always treated the same way by people like you. Either they ignore me, or they sneer at me like your girlfriend did.”

“
Ex-girlfriend,” he corrects.

“
Whatever,” I reply. “You shouldn’t have left her because of me or because of her words. I am not interested in you. I was only being nice to you because your grandma was my job.”

“
Oh, you call that being nice?” he asks with a grin.

I nod.

“
Great. Nice is the little sister of shitty. Ever heard that saying?” he murmurs.

I bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing.

“
Seriously,” he says. “Why would I care where you live? I’m interested in who you are. Money doesn’t buy happiness.”

“
A little more of it would buy me quite a large chunk of happiness,” I say wistfully.

Suddenly he puts his hands on my cheeks and forces me to look at him. “Tell me again that you’re not interested in me,” he demands softly.

There’s a lump in my throat and the tears blur my eyes. “I—” But I’m unable to say any more because he leans down and kisses me roughly. I immediately freeze, not returning it, and simply wait for him to be done. I don’t even react when the tip of his tongue touches my lower lip. Only in this way can I support my statement that I’m not interested in him. Finally, he pulls away.

“
Whoa,” he says. “That was uptight, unequivocal answer.”

“
See? I’m not interested in you.”

He shakes his head with a broad smile on his face. “Yes, you are.”

“
No, I’m not!”

“
Yes, you are.”

“
No!” I say, getting angry.

Avery laughs. “Yes, you are.”

I take a deep breath to avoid exploding. “I better go now.”

Again he holds me back, but this time he takes my hand and wraps his around it. “I’ll drive you, and I won’t accept your damn no.”

“
I’ll walk. It’s only a little over ten miles,” I say sheepishly.

“
You were going to walk? That would be crazy when I can drive you! Plus, it’ll give me more time to spend with you.”

“
I live in Liberty City,” I inform him.

His jaw drops. “Really?” After regaining his composure, he murmurs, “That’s worse than I thought.”

“
I told you I don’t fit in here. I don’t even know what brought me to your part of the beach. I won’t bother you anymore.” I tear my hand from his, turn on my heel, and start walking away.

“
I don’t care where you live,” he calls after me. “It’s who you are that counts, not your bank account or the label in your clothes. Only you, Dahlia!”

Another deep breath gives me the strength I need to put one foot in front of the other.

He curses softly, and then I hear him walk away, but only moments later he’s driving next to me in a red convertible. “Get in, Dahlia.”

“
Avery, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go to Liberty City in that car.”

“
And I think you still owe me dinner,” he replies.

My shoulders droop. “Why are you so persistent?”

“
Because I want to get to know you better, and because I insist on fulfilling my end of the deal. You know I’ll leave you alone if you come to dinner with me now.” He attempts to lure me in with a grin.

My feet won’t carry me any farther. They seem to have grown roots.

“
Come on, Dahlia, no need to be afraid.”

After exhaling in frustration, I give myself a push and get in the car with him. I buckle up and look at the road. “Where do you want to go for dinner?”

“
What do you like to eat?” he asks.

“
Everything but Italian. We’ve had spaghetti almost every day recently,” I explain without looking at him.

His half-smirk makes me shiver again. Goosebumps. “I’m fed up with that, too. Delsin and I aren’t the greatest cooks, so we have pasta a lot.”

“
What about Camille? Can she cook?”

“
Yeah, but she doesn’t see why she should be the one to take care of the food all the time. We take turns, but her dinners are always the best.”

“
She’s really nice, and Delsin seems cool.”

“
They’re both my best friends, but it was a big mess until they finally found each other.”

I nod slowly because I don’t know what to say to that.

“
So how about Chinese?” he asks.

“
Okay.”

“
I know a nice restaurant close to school.”

I put my hand in my pocket and take out my money to count it. “Is it very expensive?” I inquire.

“
Don’t worry about that, Dahlia. My treat.”

“
Would you mind calling me Dale? Everybody calls me that, and I prefer it.” I look at him for the first time since I got in his car.

“
Of course, Dale.”

“
Thanks, Avery.”

I study him for while, discovering the slight stubble on his cheeks, and catch myself wondering how that might feel on my skin. With a shake of my head I push the thought away. “I have a really guilty conscience,” I finally say.

“
Why?” he asks, throwing me a glance as he drives.

“
Because you broke up with your girlfriend because of me.”

Avery clicks his tongue. “I chased after Pearl for a long time, because she seemed nice, but when she treated you so horribly, that opened my eyes to her true character. I don’t want to waste my time with someone like her.”

“
But she was right, even if it was awful to say so.”

“
Dale, I can’t imagine what your life is like or how you feel, but you surely don’t deserve words like that.”

We ride on in silence. What am I supposed to say anyway? Anything I could say to explain my life would probably sound plaintive and whining. I don’t want that. We’re going to have this dinner, and then I won’t have to see him anymore. Only two more hours, maybe three, and then I’m free again.

Chapter 4

I stare at the menu, feeling helpless. I don’t know any of these dishes, so I don’t know what I might like. “What would you recommend?” I ask sheepishly.

“
How about the
Eight Delicacies
for two?”

“
What’s that?”

“
Different meats, vegetables, and rice,” Avery explains, looking at me over the top of his menu.

“
I see.” I nod and smile at him shyly.

“
You want to share that?”

“
Yeah, I think I do.”

“
You
think
you do?”

“
Okay, we’ll share the
Eight Delicacies
,” I decide, folding the menu and putting it away.

“
Right on. I just hope we can eat it all. The servings are huge, so I often have to take home half the meal.” He smiles.

“
That means you don’t have to worry about your next meal, since it’s already prepared.”

“
You got me there. I love not having to cook.” He leans forward and puts his elbows on the table. “Tell me something about yourself.”

“
What do you want to hear?”

“
Your age, what you do, and everything else,” he answers.

I gulp. “Will you promise me something?”

“
Of course. Whatever you want, Dale.”

“
You have to keep it to yourself. I won’t see your friends again, but I still want this to be confidential.”

“
Promise,” he says in a hoarse, slightly sad voice.

“
I’m eighteen,” I tell him, gaining courage as I speak, “and I just finished high school. My grades weren’t good enough to get a grant or a scholarship, so I started working for that senior care agency. I want to earn the money I need for college. I’m an orphan, and I live with my grandpa in Liberty City. We’re getting by, sort of … What about you? What’s your major? How old are you?” I know how old he is, but I want to get him to talk so I don’t have to.

“
I’m twenty-two, and I study architecture—so does Delsin. We want to open our own company after college.”

“
Your grandma said you were twenty-three,” I say, confused.

“
Granny mixes stuff up sometimes. My brother Thierry is twenty-four, and I’m twenty-two. What would you like to study, once you have enough money?” He sounds genuinely interested.

“
I think it’s going to be education of some kind. I want to work with people, and I think I’d be good at teaching,” I explain before taking a sip of my water.

“
Sounds interesting. I started out taking several different subjects. Apart from architecture, I was doing law and engineering minors, but I’ve already learned law isn’t for me. I’m keeping the minor in engineering to have something to fall back on in case I don’t make it as an architect.”

His blue eyes glow with enthusiasm when he talks about college. He really seems to like it. I envy him. “And what could keep you from making it?” I ask.

“
If you look at the economy and the job market and calculate the cost of planning a house or public building, and then try to estimate my future pay … It’s going to be hard. But Delsin and I are lucky enough not to be completely dependent on salaries. That’ll make it much easier starting out.”

“
I wish I could say the same,” I murmur despondently.

Avery tilts his head and looks into my eyes. “I … ” he starts, but then falls silent again.

“
You what?”

“
Good evening, what can I get for you?” the waitress interrupts.

“
The
Eight Delicacies
for two, please,” Avery orders.

She writes it down and vanishes again, leaving us in silence. Awkward silence.

“
I hate changing the subject, but you have beautiful eyes. Emerald green, really.”

My eyebrow shoots up. “Is that what you were going to tell me before we were interrupted?”