Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Avery
June’s house was ten minutes from mine, and five from Evie’s. I barreled through June’s front door, kicked off my shoes, ran straight to the living room, and threw myself on June’s couch between the two of them to sob.
“Oh honey,” Evie said, rubbing my back. “What in the hell happened tonight?”
I couldn’t form the words to explain yet. I just needed to cry it out. They were patient with me, holding me between them as I cried. I was an ugly crier too—one of the ugliest—but they didn’t care. They just loved me the way my mom should have.
June got up and left for a couple minutes, then returned with three plates full of pasta and garlic bread. I sat up slightly, sniffling as I took my plate, clearing my throat.
“Sorry,” I sighed. “It was bad.”
“Whatever she said clearly hit something,” Evie said.
The three of us settled on the couch and dug into our food. Despite the fact I couldn’t breathe through my nose, the pasta and bread cut straight through the sadness like a soothing carb balm.
“She’s depressed,” I finally said. “She’s not going out anymore.
She’s lost weight. I think the first year, we expected her to be grieving, but it’s been a lot longer than that now.
And I think she’s gotten worse. Dallas came over on Friday for dinner and Austin stopped by too.
We decided we wanted to talk to her tonight about going to therapy. ”
June let out an abrupt laugh and covered her mouth. “Sorry. I just know that didn’t go over well.”
“It did not,” I said.
Evie sighed. “I do not envy either of you. My mom will be your mom too.”
“She is,” June chuckled. “I’m tempted to call her up just so Avery can have a hug without strings attached.”
I chuckled and took another bite of fettuccine, thinking about Evie’s family.
Out of the three of us, her relationship with her parents was by far the healthiest. They were both happy and good and loved her.
They were so fucking proud of her. And June and I had definitely not spent hours at this point in our friendship with Evie talking about how much we wished our moms were like hers.
“I think being an only child helps,” Evie said. “I got all their love.”
“There should be plenty to spread around,” June said. “I think you just have good parents, Evie. They’re balanced people.”
I nodded in agreement. “So true.”
“Well, they love when you come over. Their door is always open, too. But maybe knock first.”
I grinned and laid my head on her shoulder, stretching my legs out. June’s couch was large and comfortable. We called it the “Breakdown Couch,” because if one of us needed to cry, we always convened here. The cushions were permanently stained with our tears.
“The kicker was that she said my dad always understood me,” I said. “And she said she was sorry she wasn’t him, but in that sarcastic, condescending tone. And it just sent me over the edge.”
“Damn,” Evie muttered. “That’s low. Even for her. Your mom has her issues, but she’s not usually mean like that.”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “So I’m done. Dallas walked me out.”
“I bet he was worried,” June said.
“He was. And Austin started arguing with her. I didn’t hear what they said, but I could hear his tone on the way out.”
“Good,” Evie said. “Maybe she’ll listen to them.”
“I hope so,” I said. “I do want her to be better, you know? I’m hurt and angry, but I don’t want her to be depressed. I want her to be happy. I want her to want to know me.”
At this point, that felt like a pipe dream.
“It’s her loss,” Evie said gently.
“Agreed.”
June tucked her legs against her body and balanced her plate on her knee. I could feel them both looking at me now—despite the upsetting dinner, I smiled.
“All right,” I said. “I’ve cried it all out. Life sucks, so does family. We can move on to other things.”
“Mateo things? Levi things?” June chimed.
“Yep.”
“Thank god,” Evie said. “I’ve been dying to know. Dying.”
“Oh,” I said, sitting up slightly. I pointed my fork at her. “You’re a bitch, by the way. Mateo told me you’ve known he’s liked me for years.”
“That son of a bitch,” Evie groaned.
June let out a soft giggle. “I’ve known too.”
“What?!”
“Girl, we have eyes.” Evie gave me a half amused, half exasperated look. “Why do you think we encouraged you to make a move?”
“Okay,” I said. “Well, maybe, both of you could have been like ‘Hey, Avery, we know Mateo likes you,’ because that would have made me make a move faster.”
“We did say that,” Evie said.
“We certainly did.” June raised a brow. “We have texts to prove it.”
I made a face and bit into my garlic bread. “Okay, well. I don’t know what to say to that.”
“What you can say is all the details of what happened. And how Levi fits into all this too,” Evie prodded.
“Okay, so . . .” I trailed off and fought a smile. “Mateo is really fucking good in bed.”
Evie and June screeched and I gripped my plate like a shield so my pasta didn’t fly everywhere from their excitement.
“I fucking knew it!” Evie yelled.
“I knew it! Oh god, I bet he’s got a big dick,” June exclaimed.
They both fell silent and stared at me.
“He does,” I confirmed.
They screeched again and Evie held up her hand. “Not that size matters. He has know how to use it.”
“We all know that flirty bastard knows how,” June said with a grin. “Oh my god. I want all the details. Every single one.”
I smirked and took another bite of pasta before spilling everything to them.
Did I spare any details? No. I even told them about Levi interrupting us for baking soda, and how Mateo suggested he join us.
I told them about our texts and late night calls over the last week, and how good it felt to be talking to him like this.
“You’re going to get railed by both of them,” Evie said smugly. “I just know it.”
“I don’t know,” I snorted. “I mean, maybe? Maybe not?”
“It’s not a maybe,” June said. “I give it a week, tops. Your birth control better be up to date.”
I barked out a laugh. “IUD, baby. This uterus is locked down like Alcatraz.”
“Good, because I foresee double cream pies in your future,” Evie said.
The three of us laughed until we couldn’t breathe, and I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. I finished telling them about the rest of our time together and then relaxed into the couch with a big, silly smile.
“Damn,” June sighed. “Well, now I’m jealous. But also proud. Good job.”
“Thanks, I tried so hard.”
“And now he’s seducing Levi?” Evie asked.
“Yeah, but who knows if that’s actually happening,” I said. “Levi is a little tough. I’m not quite sure he’d be open to being together, or the three of us being together.”
“And what about you? What do you think? I don’t think you’ve ever dated two people at the same time,” June said.
“I haven’t,” I said. “It feels like it could be right, though? I knew a few polyamorous people when I lived in Austin, and they made it work. Although, again, I’m not sure if Levi would actually want to date, considering I don’t think he’s staying here.”
“Well, only one way to find out,” Evie said.
“True.” June let out a soft hum. “See, I could get on board with having a girlfriend and a boyfriend.”
Evie laughed. “At this point, I feel like I need to be in a pack dynamic, like one of those omegaverse books. I just want to be pampered like a princess.”
I grinned. “I could see that for both of you.”
“Our little omega,” June teased Evie. “I would not want to live in a house with multiple men, though.”
Evie smirked. “The trick is having one of them into being our sexy maid.”
My brows shot up. “Damn, Evie.”
“What? Don’t give me shit about my latex maid fantasies, Avery. We all know what you’re into.”
My grin was downright evil. “You have a point.”
And now, all I could think about was what it would be like to be kinky with Levi and Mateo. I’d probably melt right into the floor between them.
“We require updates about this next week,” June said. “And right after it happens. None of this waiting until days after bullshit.”
“Yep,” Evie said. “I want to hear everything.”
“I’ll keep you updated,” I said. “If there’s even anything to update about.”
They both rolled their eyes, because we all knew there would be something.