Chapter Sixteen – Avery
Chapter Sixteen
AVERY
With my fingers to my lips, I dashed back into the house, softly shut the door, and made my way up to my room.
My entire body was still humming after Beck’s attentions. When I stepped into my bathroom, I shut the door and sagged against it. If my parents had come home minutes sooner or later, we would have been caught. I slapped my hand over my mouth until the threat of laughter slipped away.
Turning on the water in the shower, I stripped out of my clothes and stepped under the hot spray, careful not to get my hair wet. Quickly washing my entire body, I rinsed and stepped out of the shower. Reaching for a towel, I dried off, wrapped it around my body, then headed to my closet.
After spending way too much time finding something to wear, I ended up with a pair of jeans, a cashmere sweater, and boots that were not practical at all for snow. I looked in the mirror and smiled. “At least you look cute.”
The doorbell rang, and I realized I hadn’t even had time to put on makeup. I blew out a breath and quickly started down the steps.
“I’ve got it,” my father said, walking much faster than he normally would.
“I thought you were taking a nap,” I said, following behind him.
Ignoring me, he opened the door and smiled. “Beck. How was your time with Bradly?”
Beck’s smile faltered some, and I willed him to stay calm.
Don’t break. Don’t break. Don’t break.
Right at that moment, Bradly came walking up. “Hey, Dad. I thought you were volunteering this morning?”
My father looked between my brother and Beck before he answered. “I got the wrong day.”
Bradly laughed. “Bet Mom was pissed.”
My father let out a huff and motioned for Beck to come in. “Where’s your coat?”
“In the rental,” Beck answered with a smile.
“So what are you and Avery going to do this morning?” my father asked.
“I thought I’d take Beck to that new kolache place on Main.”
Bradly pouted. “What? That place is amazing! The cherry kolaches are the best.”
I smiled and reached into the closet to get my coat. My gloves were in the pockets, and I pulled them out. “They are. So are the apple ones.”
“Avery, don’t forget the lunch plans with the girls. We’re meeting them at one-thirty,” Mom said as she walked up and stood next to my father.
Beck helped me put on my coat, and my heart skipped a little in my chest. He was so thoughtful and such a gentleman—except in the bedroom. My cheeks instantly heated at the thought.
“Why are you so flushed, Avery?” Bradly asked, a knowing smirk on his face.
“I was rushing to take a shower and get ready,” I replied, trying my best not to look at Beck or Bradly. Instead, I made the mistake of looking at my mother, who raised a single eyebrow.
Shit.
I averted my eyes and looked at my dad. He was clueless, thank God.
Clearing his throat, Beck said, “Should we head out?”
“What are you doing after breakfast?” Dad asked, walking us to the door.
Beck and I looked at each other before I finally said, “Just showing Beck around the area. Nothing big.”
“Well, have a good time, and be careful driving on the roads, Beck. They’re all clear now, but there’s a chance of a storm coming in later.”
With a nod, Beck said, “Will do, sir.”
He placed his hand on my lower back and kept it there as we walked down the steps and to his rented SUV.
“Do you think they suspect anything?” he asked softly, holding the door open as I slid in.
“Nope.”
I decided not to tell him that I was pretty sure my mother knew. Of course, he was aware Bradly knew he’d at least been in my room…and I knew my brother wasn’t going to let that one go for a very long time. I pushed the thought away.
Once Beck was in the car, he started it, turned around, and headed down the drive.
“So, what should we do after we go to the kolache place? It’s Sunday, so I’m thinking most everything is going to be closed today or not opening until later.”
Turning in the seat, I just stared at him.
He glanced my way quickly and asked, “What?”
“Beck…we’re alone.”
He smiled and reached for my hand, bringing it to his mouth. “I know. This’ll be fun.”
I wanted to laugh. How was he not putting two and two together?
Clearing my throat, I pulled out my phone and looked something up. The address for Bitterroot Inn was quickly entered into my GPS, and I hit Go. The directions started to play through the speaker on my phone.
“Where are we going?” Beck asked.
“We’re going to 139 Bitterroot Plaza Drive.”
It only took him about five seconds, and he laughed. “The hotel.”
“Yes. The hotel. There is no way anyone or anything can interrupt us there.”
“Don’t say that!” he said with a look in my direction. “You’ll jinx us.”
I giggled. “How was your day yesterday with your uncles?”
He didn’t say anything for a minute. “I guess I need to get used to hearing that. Do you think they mind that I’m not calling them uncle?”
Shrugging, I replied, “I don’t think it bothers them, but then again, I don’t think I should be answering for them, either.”
“Yeah.”
“But the day was good?”
A wide smile spread over his face. “It was really awesome. I got to meet Blayze and Hunter. They’re both great. Blayze was interesting to talk to. He wanted to know all about my grandfather’s ranch, and we chatted about that for quite a bit.”
“That’s good. Were you able to meet anyone else?”
He nodded. “Lily and Maverick, and of course you know I met Josh and Nathan. Stella mentioned something about planning a family dinner before I leave to head back to Texas.”
An ache developed in my chest at the mere mention of Beck leaving, but I did my best to ignore it.
“Brock, Ty, and Tanner took me somewhere that, um…well…it left me feeling pretty emotional afterward.”
I adjusted in my seat so I could look at him. “Where?”
When he didn’t say anything, and seemed to be struggling to hold back his emotions, I reached for his leg and placed my hand on his thigh.
“Beck? Are you okay?”
He let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, so sorry. I’m trying to get myself in check.”
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
Beck snuck a look at me and smiled, which made my heart skip a beat.
“They brought me to an area that was my father’s,” he said. “Where he was going to build a house. You can even see where he’d cleared some trees for that very reason.”
I could feel tears pricking at the back of my eyes. That had to have been emotional for Beck and his uncles.
“It was the strangest thing, Avery. I swore…I swore I could feel him there with me. I know that sounds crazy.”
“No! It doesn’t sound crazy, Beck. Not at all.”
He shrugged. “Needless to say, feeling him there made me miss him. I don’t know how you can miss something you never had.”
“That’s just it,” I said, squeezing his leg lightly. “Your dad was taken from you, and just because you never met him doesn’t mean that he didn’t leave a hole in your heart. I’m sure your mother spoke of him so often that you felt like you knew him, even if you didn’t know certain details. So you felt like he was there, growing up.”
He gripped the steering wheel tighter. “That’s exactly it.”
We drove for a few moments in silence, and I knew Beck was taking the time to gather his emotions.
“They told me that my father would have wanted me to have the land, and that it’s mine to do whatever I want with. I mean, not sell, of course…but if I wanted to build a house on it, I could. This morning, Stella and Ty Senior told me that they’re going to have their lawyers put it in my name, since it’s still in my dad’s.”
“Beck, that’s amazing. I mean, how do you feel about all of this?”
He laughed, but it was a distant sound. A laugh that said he couldn’t believe any of this was happening to him. “They hardly know me, Avery. You hardly know me, and here I am, making you come with my mouth in your parents’ home.”
“That wasn’t a bad thing, Beck.”
Sighing, he pushed a hand through his hair. “I know, it’s just… I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I just met you all, and somehow I feel like you and I have been friends forever, and I don’t want to fuck up simply because I can’t keep my dick in my pants.”
“Is that all this is?” I asked.
Glancing at me, Beck asked, “What?”
“This thing we’re doing. Are we just fucking because we can’t stay away from each other?”
“Avery, no. I-I…I feel something for you. I don’t know how to describe it but, no…shit, it’s so much more than that.”
I nodded. “Good. Because it’s more for me as well.”
“But,” he said, pushing those fingers through that luscious hair again. “I don’t know what the future holds. I live in Texas, you’re in Montana, and I would never ask you to leave your family.”
“I’m not worried about what’s going to happen next, Beck. I just want to spend time with you. Be with you, show you Montana and all the things I love about it. Just like Uncle Brock, Ty, and Tanner want to share the ranch with you. They want to give you a piece of their brother, and yes, it’s only been a couple of days, but they already want you in their lives. So do I…and we don’t have to figure out what that looks like right now. You said you were staying for two weeks, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s just focus on those two weeks.”
Beck pulled into the Bitterroot Inn’s parking lot and parked. I had long since turned off the driving directions.
He was holding onto the steering wheel as if it were a lifeline.
“Are you okay?” I asked with a soft laugh. “You look scared.”
Turning his head, he smiled. “I’m nervous as hell. I feel like this is my first time having sex. Or maybe it’s the sneaking around…but I feel like we’re doing something wrong.”
My hand covered my mouth to hide my giggle. “We are sneaking around.”
“I know! Your father is going to kill me. I’m almost twenty-eight years old and I’m worried about a girl’s father catching me. So much has changed over the last few days.” Beck just laughed.
With a shake of my head, I said, “We’re only here in the now, remember?”
“Yeah, your dad is in the now, as well. He’s probably figuring out I was up in his little girl’s room, doing naughty things to her with my mouth.”
I swallowed and squeezed my legs together at the memory. “If you don’t get me into your hotel room soon, I swear I’m going to drag you into the back seat, and to hell with who sees us.”
Beck flung open the door and jogged around to my side. He opened the door and held his hand out for me.
We walked into the hotel lobby and up to the reservation desk. “I lost my key to my room and was wondering if I could get another one.”
The hotel clerk looked at Beck, then to me before she started to type on her computer. “What’s your last name? I’ll need to see your ID.”
My phone rang, and I looked to see who was calling. It was Dexter.
“Excuse me,” I said, as Beck looked at me questioningly. “It’s nothing important.” Walking as far away as I could, I answered. “Hello?”
“Avery, it’s good to hear your voice.”
“Oh, hey.”
“I was wondering if you’d like to go out to dinner tonight, or maybe sometime this week?”
I felt like such a slug. “Um, Dexter, I’m so sorry. I really appreciate you calling and asking me out, but I’m kind of in a relationship right now.”
The phone went silent. Then, “Since last night?”
“Yes. Since last night.” When the man of my dreams made me orgasm up against my mother’s Subaru Outback. “It’s kind of a long story. He wasn’t sure, and last night he saw me, and…”
“He got jealous, and now he wants you.”
“Sure, yeah, something like that.”
Dexter sighed. “Avery, you don’t need a guy like that. I mean, if he didn’t already know what he had right in front of him, he isn’t worth it.”
I watched as Beck handed the girl his driver’s license. My eyes swept over his body. He was wearing jeans, cowboy boots, and a long-sleeve shirt. I’d meant to ask him why in the hell he wasn’t wearing a jacket.
“Trust me, he’s worth it, Dexter. I’m so sorry if I led you on in any way.”
“What does he have that I don’t?”
I wasn’t about to touch that with a ten-foot pole. “I have to run. Again, I’m sorry, Dexter. You deserve to be with a girl who isn’t using you to make another guy jealous.”
“Is that what you were doing?” he asked.
Sighing, I said, “I sure hope not. I’d like to think I’m more mature. I need to go. Bye, Dexter.”
“Yeah, okay. Bye, Avery.”
The phone went silent, and I shoved it into my coat pocket and made my way back to Beck. By the time I approached the desk, he’d stepped away and held up a key card.
“Ready?”
I felt my entire body tremble with excitement. “So ready.”