Chapter 30
Brandon
“Moment of truth.” The words were soft as I said them to myself, my hand slightly jerky while lining up the key to the ignition.
It slid in like butter, the grooves of the key clicking pleasantly when it pressed flushed to the lock cylinder.
I wasn’t sure why I was nervous to be doing this. It wasn’t like I was some wannabe mechanic and this was my first fixer upper. I had plenty of cars under my belt at this point, from beaters to the occasional luxury model that rolled through town with an out-of-state license plate.
What made Avery’s classic so damn nerve wracking?
Maybe because you don’t want to disappoint him.
The thought had me rolling my eyes. Even if there was a sliver of truth to it.
If it turned out his cars were better off laying in a scrap yard, I doubted he’d care.
It would be one less thing on his plate he’d need to juggle in terms of finding and selling the vehicle off to a collector.
Not to mention the pain it was to get all of the stickers and paperwork up to date.
Though at the same time, failing would guilt me immensely. Especially, when he’d spent the last four months paying my damn shop’s bills.
I had to remind myself over and over again that to a billionaire, a couple of thousand dollars worth of expenses a month was a drop in the bucket. If that. Actually, it was probably a misting.
Getting used to being spoiled by Avery was kind of a funny thing. Back when we were kids, I was adamant about not taking a dime from him, regardless of how many times he begged me to let him.
As clever as he was, after a while he’d come to figure out other ways to spoil me that I wasn’t so easily able to refuse. Bus fare to our favorite hangout spots, bringing me lunch every day at school, being the sole filler of gas for his car that we both drove.
Added up, they were all a culmination of Avery’s care for me. Shown through his generous heart and desire to make me happy.
Now that we were older and I had my own income, I’d made it harder for him to revert back to those old ways. Yet even still, his cleverness never ceased to amaze me.
Case in point, my shop’s bills. So far he’d behaved himself and wasn’t going too overboard with taking me out after work. Though, I had a feeling if left to his own devices, I’d soon be eating those words.
It felt strange to be taking advantage of him like that, even if I wasn’t really doing so. Seeing as he was my—
My... boyfriend?
Leaning back from the steering wheel while letting the key go, I sunk back into the seat to cover my rapidly heating face with my hands.
Boyfriend.
That word had been echoing in my head for the past few weeks. Since we’d slept together the first time, actually.
With the fiasco involving Ana and her lawyer-turned-baby-daddy still ongoing, Avery had enough on his plate to deal with without me adding to the mix with a ‘what are we?’ conversation.
I’d reveled in the peace we’d had since they were thrown into the back of two police cars and booked for jail, regardless of their stay only lasting two days before they were both bailed out.
Since then, no one had come around to try and slap another bogus subpoena on the McAllister’s front door, demanding some kind of fucked up version of eminent domain.
I hoped this reprieve lasted. At least for a little while. Avery deserved some fucking time to himself where he wasn’t dealing with crisis after crisis. How he still had a head of thick blond hair with no grays intermingled throughout the strands, I’d never know.
But it was rather impressive.
“Taking a break?”
I jumped, slamming my knees against the steering wheel hard enough to pull a pained grunt from my throat.
Goddamn it. Of all times to sneak up on me...
Avery let out a sympathetic hum before ducking and reaching through the window to settle his hand over my knee. He worked his thumb along the bone, helping to rub out the pain.
“You come for a test drive?” I joked.
His smile had my heart skipping a beat. “Is it road ready?”
“I was in the middle of testing to see if it started first.”
He chuckled. “Kind of looked like you were taking a nap.”
“On the job? I’d never.”
“You’re right.” There was a subtle twinkle in his eyes when he turned them to me, his hand sneaking up from my knee to between my thighs. “You’d be doing something else to help you relax.”
Well, that was one way to put it.
I’d been wanting to have a sit down serious conversation with Avery for a few days now, however, each time I worked up the nerve to pull the trigger and spill my guts as to how I’d been feeling, something always seemed to crop up at the last second.
Whether that was some divine sign or my own avoidance rearing its ugly head, I had a hard time getting myself to go through with it, regardless of Avery’s poking and prodding at me.
It was at least obvious to him that I’d had something on my mind and while he wasn’t privy to the subject of it, he was courteous to know not to push me on it. Figuring that I’d tell him eventually.
I wanted to.
I needed to.
The problem was the fear of rejection. Of him telling me—or rather reminding me—that his stay here in Ellington Heights was coming to an end. Soon, he’d be on his way back to the city where we would no doubt have yet another falling out. Gradual, of course, as we’d always done so.
At least this one wouldn’t leave me wondering if he was dead or not. That was at least a little comforting, though tragic all the same.
“Hey...” He cupped my face, pulling me out of my daze. “I was only kidding. You can tell me I’m being an ass, Bran.”
Oh, how I loved this lovably oblivious man.
Reaching up, I wrapped my hand around his wrist in order to keep his hand pressed to my face while I leaned forward to grab the key still hanging in the ignition. Torquing it forward, the car’s engine stuttered twice before finally roaring to life with a healthy rumble.
The seat under me vibrated from the horsepower, getting me a little horny in the process.
I loved the power of a good and well taken care of engine. It spoke to the humanistic genius that was machinery.
Avery’s laugh cut through the sound of the motor. “Oh, that’s a nice sound.”
He leaned his upper body against the frame of the door, keeping his other hand in place on my knee.
If I wanted to, I had the ability to pull him down into a kiss—and he’d let me do it.
In the middle of my damn shop where just anyone could walk in.
He wouldn’t care in the slightest if we were caught.
Didn’t that mean something? Wasn’t that a prime example that I was getting too much in my own head about his feelings for me? He told me he liked me, spoke those words that I’d be longing to hear since I was sixteen.
Yet, I was still convinced that he could easily walk away from me at any time. We had no label. There was nothing keeping him here other than an old friendship. I wanted more so badly but didn’t know how to ask for it.
How could I when it would mean asking him to give up his life in the city?
“We taking it for a joyride?” he suggested.
I killed the ignition instead, letting go of his wrist. “Needs new tires first. I only wanted to make sure I wasn’t working on a dead machine.”
“Makes sense.” He stood back in order to pop my door open for me. “You hungry?”
The butterflies in my stomach kicked up at the sight of the plastic bag that had been set down by his feet. Always bringing me food. Always making sure I was taken care of.
Ugh, my poor heart couldn’t take it.
“Av...”
He trapped me against the side of the car the second I climbed out of it, cradling my face in a tender hold. I was kind of thankful the shop had cleared out for lunch. I wasn’t at all ashamed or embarrassed about Avery being here or getting caught with him—quite the opposite, in fact.
The thing was, I wanted to keep these moments private and between us without the annoyance of other parties poking fun at us. Commandeering Avery’s attention and time was a precious thing at this point, and wasn’t something I was going to be apologizing over, either.
“I missed you.” He whispered the words against my skin, sending a shiver racing up my spine.
I fisted my hands around the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer to me until we were practically molded together. This was perfect.
“I’m surprised you’re out and about.” A smile teased at my lips. “Thought I wore you out too much last night.”
He breathed out a laugh. “What, are you calling me old?”
“Never.”
He nipped at my ear lobe. “Liar.”
I slapped his back in response. “You didn’t need to come all the way out here just to bring me lunch. Though, I do appreciate it.”
“I wanted to.” He leaned back to look at me. “Plus, I had a meeting earlier.”
“Don’t tell me there’s another lawsuit coming your way.”
I wouldn’t put it past Steele to drag this on for the next few years with lawsuit after lawsuit, no matter how many of them got thrown out. If there was a way to waste Avery’s time and money, that was the golden ticket.
“Actually...” He nuzzled his nose against mine. “It was over me quitting my job.”
That had me jerking my head back instantly. “What?”
He frowned slightly. “My VP swung down from the city. I handed over all of my passcodes and admin privileges to him over breakfast.”
“That—for...” I could barely get the words out. “Why?”
His mouth opened and shut a few times, clearly at a loss as to how to answer my question.
Why the hell would he throw away a career like that just because he was going to be faced with some hiccups regarding Ana and Alexander Steele?
That was letting them win. That was letting them get in his head while convincing him there was no way to fight them unless he was stuck here in Ellington Heights.
The worst part was that stupidly selfish greed to be happy over his decision. I couldn’t let him do that to himself, or his career. What kind of... whatever-I-was would I be?
“Avery, you can’t stay here.”