Bearly Consenting: Russet Falls Series (4 page)

Chapter Six

The dinner seemed painfully long, and Avery sighed with
relief when she was able to sink back into her bed late that evening. Sleep
found her quickly, and she tossed and turned, sleeping restlessly until at last
the sun came up. She dressed and went downstairs. She would spend the morning
and then most of the afternoon with her mother, and her father if he emerged
from his den. Then, thankfully, she would head home and throw herself back into
teaching.

Everyone was still sleeping, so when a knock came at the
door, she wasn’t sure who it could be. Tentatively, she pulled the door open
and there stood Drew.

They stared at one another, neither speaking, and both
somewhat disbelieving that they stood before one another.

“Hi,” Drew said quietly.

“Hi,” she whispered.

Her heart was pounding so loudly against her chest, and she
knew that Drew would be able to hear it. He was a werebear after all.

“I didn’t know you would be home,” he said, his voice just
as she had remembered it, but somehow a little smoother.

She swallowed and nodded. “I’m sorry about your father.”

Drew blinked. “You know how I feel about him.”

She nodded; she wasn’t sure what else to say.

“I’m sorry about Russ,” he said politely.

“Thank you.” Avery knew that Drew knew she and Russ had
never been close, but she appreciated the condolence.

“I need to see you,” Drew said, his voice gruff.

Avery inhaled sharply. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
She looked at Drew standing on her doorstep, his stubble that much darker, his
dark hair not as slick today but more reminiscent of how he used to leave it
wild. He was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans that fit well. Even when he
dressed down, Avery could still pick up on his expensive clothes.

“Please, Avery,” he said quietly.

“Drew—” she began, but then she heard someone moving
upstairs.

Drew heard it too.

“Our spot. Eleven,” he said quickly, before turning and
moving swiftly down her driveway.

And like that he was gone.

What the hell?

She closed the door and slowly walked back into the house.

She didn’t want to see Drew, didn’t want to talk to him.

But she knew herself.

She would show up at eleven, because how could she not?

“Avery?” Her mother asked from the top of the steps, “Was
someone here?”

“No,” Avery fibbed quickly. “No one.” She looked up at her
mother. “I was going to make us breakfast.”

Her mother smiled. “That would be nice.”

The morning passed slowly and Avery found herself stressing
over what to wear.

She hated that even after all this time she was worrying
over such minor details.

Finally, she settled on a pair of black leggings, flats and
a long floral top.

“Where are you going?” her mother asked as she grabbed her
bag and made her way to the door.

“Just going to say hi to some friends before I head back
home.”

Her mother gave her a long look. “Okay,” she said slowly.

Before her mother could doubt her anymore, she hurried out
the door and got into her car.

The entire time of the short drive to “their” spot, Avery
tried to talk herself out of going.

“This is ridiculous,” she muttered. “I have nothing left to
say to him. No reason to see him.” She turned off the road and parked at the
edge of the woods. “He broke my heart,’ she whispered to herself. “This will
just be closure.”

She followed the dirt path that led to their old overgrown
tree by the lake. She had walked this past so many times, and she felt like she
was seventeen all over again. How many times had she met Drew here? How many
times had she kissed him on the flat rock by the lake? It was like slipping on
an old, familiar sweater.

She ducked past the overgrown trees and there was the lake,
the flat rock and the overgrown tree, full of pale pink blossoms.

And Drew.

He sat on the flat rock, just as he had done hundreds of
times before, but this time he was grown up Drew.

He smiled when he saw her and then he caught himself and he
tried to look more serious.

Avery’s hands were shaking, and she stuck them behind her as
she slowly made her way towards him. She shouldn’t have come. This would only
make things so much harder when she had to return home later today.

“Hi,” he said tentatively, scooting over to make room for
her.

Avery looked at the vacant spot on the rock. It would be so
easy to sit down there next to Drew, and yet that was part of the problem.

“Hi,” she said quietly, standing before him, shifting her
weight from one foot to the other.

“Are you going to sit down?” he asked, smiling at her.

“Umm, I’m not sure.”

“Okay.” He didn’t push her.

Avery raked a hand through her hair. “Why am I here, Drew?”
she couldn’t help asking. “I don’t really understand.”

Pain moved across Drew’s face and he looked away, out over
the lake. “I owe you an apology, Avery,” he said, his voice soft and resolute.
“What I did to you, what I did to us, seven years ago—well, it never should
have happened.”

“I didn’t understand you then, and I don’t understand you
now,” she said with frustration. “Stop speaking in damn riddles!”

Drew looked at her, his eyes sad. He sighed and changed
topics. “How are you, Avery?” he said her name with the same loving tone that
he had always used.

It cut through her like a knife.

“I’m fine,” she snapped.

She took a deep breath. “I’m fine,” she repeated. “I don’t
think this was a good idea. I shouldn’t have come.” She turned to leave.

“Wait!” Drew called after her. “Please, Avery. It was such a
shock seeing you yesterday. I want to talk with you. I want to know how you
are.”

She looked back at him and she could tell that he was being
genuine and honest.

She knew that she was curious, too. She wanted to know what
was going on in Drew’s life as well.

Even if it was something that she would shed tears over
later.

She moved to sit beside him, the stone warm from the sun.

They sat shoulder to shoulder, not saying anything for a few
moments.

It had always been so easy between them.

Avery closed her eyes, turning her face up to the sun, and
inhaled. It would be so easy to just reach over and place her hand over Drew’s.
It would be like riding a bike.

“Now tell me, how are you?” Drew asked. “You don’t live on
the clanlands, do you?”

Avery shook her head. “No, I don’t.” She wasn’t sure how
much she should share with Drew.  “I live in Portland now.”

Drew’s head snapped up. “So do I.’’

What were the chances?

“Really?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes.”

She turned to look at him, and his eyes searched her face.
“I live in the Hawthorne neighborhood,” she told him.  “What part of the city
do you live in?” Avery was more in the suburb part of Portland, but she was so
shocked to learn that she and Drew lived in the same city.

Drew held her gaze. “Lake Oswego.”

Avery’s eyes widened. That was the most exclusive part of
Portland.

“Wow,” she whispered.

Drew looked away.

“I wanted to speak to you because I owe you an apology.”

“It’s been seven years,” Avery pointed out.

“I know.”

“Can you at least explain things to me now?”

“No.”

Avery pursed her lips.

She had thought about Drew often.

Okay, more than often.

A lot.

All of the time.

Sure, there were times when she didn’t think of him as much,
but not a day went by when she didn’t think of him, or wonder what the hell he
had meant. And now here they were, having come full circle, seven years later,
and he still wasn’t going to tell her what his reasons had been.

“I don’t know why we’re here, then,” she said, her voice
turning icy.

“I can’t explain, I just can’t,” he said sorrowfully. “But I
can tell you that I did what I had to do at the time.” He paused, looking out
over the water. Avery followed his gaze and saw a small ripple in the water.
“I’ve missed you, Avery.”

Avery whipped her head around to look at him. “Don’t say
that!”

“What. Why?” he asked.

“I don’t want to know that you have missed me! You have no
idea what it was like! You blindsided me seven years ago, and then completely
disappeared. I had no answers! Nothing! Everything around here reminded me of
you and I left as soon as I possibly could.”

Drew balked at her words. Obviously he didn’t know anything
about what had happened to her.

She couldn’t stop now—she was too worked up.

“I went to Southern California—I lived by the beach. But not
even the culture shock of SoCal could shake you from me! I finished school and
moved to San Francisco but that was no different either. And now I’m in
Portland, and even still I wonder what I did? What I could have done to push
you away without any explanation?”

“Avery, no,” his words were thick with pain. He grabbed her
face, holding it tightly, and Avery gasped from his touch and the electricity
that ran through her.

It was still there.

Their desire, their attraction, their feelings for one
another—it was all still there, and just as strong, bubbling just under the
surface.

“It was nothing you did. Nothing.”

“Then why can’t you tell me?” she implored, feeling like
they had gone back in time to that day seven years ago.

“I just can’t.” He released her face and looked away and
Avery realized that she just needed to accept it.

“Fine.” She crossed her arms across her chest, her face
burning where his hands had touched her skin.

“Tell me about what you do,” she said softly. She wasn’t
going to fight anymore. She couldn’t bring herself to do it.

 He had learned a little bit about her and now she wanted to
know about him.

“There’s not much to tell,” he said modestly, “I run a global
trading business but I also have a few other small business ventures.”

Avery nodded, pretending that she knew what those things
meant. She knew global trading had to do with international markets, but that
was pretty much where her knowledge stopped.

“What other ventures?” she couldn’t help asking.

Drew turned to look at her, his gaze piercing once more.
“Real estate for one.”

“And are you seeing anyone?” Avery couldn’t help asking,
twisting her fingers nervously as she looked down at her shoes.

“No. No I don’t have anyone important in my life.”

Avery’s heart flip-flopped a bit and she cursed herself for
even caring.

“And you? Anyone special in your life?”

“No, there’s no one,” she said a little too quickly.

“What do you do for work?” Drew asked curiously.

Avery looked back over at him and smiled a bit. It was a far
cry from what she had planned on doing. “I teach kindergarten.”

It took Drew a beat, but he laughed. “Really?”

“Yes. And I love it.” She smiled again, feeling herself
relax as she stretched out her legs.

“I think that’s fantastic. I’m proud of you.” He paused. “Is
that weird to say?”

Avery turned pink from embarrassment and ducked her head.
“No, it’s not weird. I get it. I’m proud of you too, Drew. It looks like you
really made something out of your life. You seem to be doing really well.”

Drew nodded slowly but there was something sad and dark to
it.  “There’s a price for everything, Avery.” His words were so grave that
Avery couldn’t help but look up at him. His expression was so sad that it nearly
broke her heart.

“So, we’re living in the same town,” Drew said slowly, “Both
of us unattached,” his voice trailed off.

Avery’s heart picked up speed.

No, no, no. This was very bad. Drew’s words should not
excite her. She should not anticipate or expect anything.

“Maybe we could see each other sometime?” Drew asked.

Avery was quiet for a moment, not sure how to respond.

She knew that she would love to see Drew. But where did it
go from there? Would anything come of it? Did she even want anything to come
from it?

Everything felt so wrong, yet so familiar and she was so
confused by everything.

“I’d really like to see you,” Drew said, his voice deep and
persistent.

It was the same Drew sitting before her, yet he was
different in so many ways. He was grown up now, and refined. He wasn’t the same
kid who had grown up in a run-down house with a ripped pair of jeans and
sneakers that flapped when he ran.

Did he look at Avery and think she was different too?

Drew grabbed her hand, and again Avery felt the electricity
course through her. Ever nerve-ending tingled from his touch.

“Please, Avery.”