Chapter 7
AVERY MOORE
The smell from the grill is amazing. It fills the entire backyard of my childhood home with a barbeque aroma that makes my stomach grumble with anticipation.
My dad is making his famous BBQ ribs, a bit messy to eat but always worth it to scrape the sauce off your cheeks and lick them from your fingers.
He won an award for the BBQ sauce at our county fair when I was ten and has never let us forget about it.
Every time he whips out the recipe, he reminds us of that fated day.
And every time he reminds us, we all groan even though we’re as proud today as we were the day he got that trophy he displays above the fireplace mantel.
In lawn chairs, I sit next to my mom, a glass of tea in each of our hands as we watch the guys play football in the yard. My neighbors are over, a wonderful gay couple that we’ve grown close to over the years, making the football party five grown-ass men fighting over a ball.
My eyes can’t help but track Reid’s every freaking move.
The grin hasn’t left his face since he got here, and what shocked me most is that my parents treated him like he was their own child.
My father slapped his back, and my mother gave him a bigger hug than she gave me.
She even pecked his cheeks, leaving a red mark from her lipstick. I stood there, dumbfounded.
How often did he come home with Dustin while I was away for two years? Even more so, why had my parents never mentioned his name when I would make my regular Sunday calls to catch up?
My mother reaches over and pats my hand that’s resting on the lawn chair’s armrest. She looks just like me, except for the graying blonde hair. I get my dark hair and bigger figure from my father. “Have I mentioned how happy I am that you’re back?”
I don’t tear my eyes away from whatever weird football game they’re playing as I answer her, “Only a million times.”
“Well, a million and one then. It’s been so dull here without my baby girl.”
Glancing over at her, I chuckle under my breath. “I’m not that thrilling.”
She scowls. “Sure you are. Dustin doesn’t like to go shopping or have girl chats. I tried.”
I laugh even harder and turn back to the football game. My laughter draws the attention of Reid, and he looks my way, staring a bit too long, and he ends up getting bumped into by my dad. “I wish I was there to see it when you tried.”
Like always, her smile is so graceful. I bring the tea up to my lips as she explains, “He didn’t come home for a full two weeks after I gossiped about my girlfriends and their sex lives.”
Tea flies out of my mouth and onto the dead grass below our chairs. “You told him about their sex lives.”
She shrugs. “I had no one else to talk to.”
“You could have called,” I say, smiling wide and wiping my chin with the back of my hand. “I would have listened.”
Turning to the game, she takes a beat before she says anything. And when she finally does, it’s soft. “I didn’t want to be a bother.”
I frown. “You’re never a bother. Why would you say that?”
“Well,” she begins, blowing out a breath. “I could tell Neil didn’t like you calling home so often. I didn’t want to add to…whatever his problem was.”
My frown deepens. “That’s not true.”
She looks at me sidelong, long enough to get her point across. “Every Sunday, you’d get off the phone when he asked you to, and it was never a long conversation. I know it was because he didn’t like it when you called home. He was controlling, Avery.”
The football game seems to be over because the guys, laughing, head to the grill. I turn to my mother, but I watch Reid. His shirt clings to his body, showing off his muscles with every stride that he takes. “He was?”
She nods. “Very. It concerned me that you always gave in to him.”
I look back to her when Reid catches me staring. I didn’t miss his grin, however, having been caught red-handed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
She shrugs and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “You seemed happy.”
“You really thought I was happy?”
Another shrug is my only answer.
Back then, I thought I was. But when I moved out and had some reflection on the travel back home, I realized I was never happy with Neil.
He wasn’t the same guy I started dating in high school.
He had changed, and it wasn’t until he had destroyed me that I realized how much.
He turned into someone I didn’t recognize and, in turn, changed me, molding me to fit to his needs and not my own.
It was never a give-and-take. It was always a take.
“Did you ever like him?” I ask, unsure if I want the answer.
My mother usually tells it to me straight, so if she’s been harboring her dislike for him all these years, I’ll be shocked and a little hurt.
I’ve always been a momma’s girl, always looking to please her even though that isn’t really hard.
She’s a loving and caring mother, always has been.
But to know that I disappointed her by staying with Neil…
She glances away, and I get my answer.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask quietly.
She returns her gaze to me and repeats herself. “You seemed happy. I didn’t want to be the reason you were heartbroken. Though, I should have said something; I realize that now. I could have saved you the heartache.”
“It’s not your fault.”
She pinches her lips together and then says, “It feels like it, in a way.”
I reach over and grip her hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’m doing okay now, Mom.” Sort of.
Nodding slowly, she squares her shoulders. “Now we just have to get you back on that horse.”
I groan and slump in my chair, draining my tea. “I don’t know about that.”
Reaching over, she squeezes my forearm. “Is there any interest in your life?”
Without meaning to, I flick my gaze to Reid, and being the smart woman that she is, she follows my gaze. A giant smile spreads on her face when she turns back to me. “Oh, my goodness. You like him?”
The frown returns to my face. “I do not.”
She chuckles under her breath and leans in conspiratorially, but my attention is still on Reid.
I can’t help it; he’s a magnet for my attention even if I say otherwise.
There’s something about him that I just can’t wrap my head around, and that scares me.
The last time that happened, I dated the asshole who turned me into the relationship shrew that I am today.
He’s talking to my brother and one of my neighbors as they hover around the grill while my dad bastes the meat.
God, he’s gorgeous. Dustin says something to him, and he throws his head back and laughs, and when he brings his head back down, his gaze lands on mine.
And…I can’t look away. We hold each other’s eyes for a good few seconds until one of his eyebrows rises and a smirk takes over one side of his lips.
I shake my head and look back at my mother, who is grinning like a fool, having caught the entire interaction. “You do,” she says. She gives my arm another squeeze before returning her hand to hold her drink.
“I don’t want to start anything.”
She scoffs. “And why not? He’s a handsome man, and we’ve spent a lot of time with him. He’d be perfect for you.”
“Yeah, I thought the same thing about Neil, remember?” I swirl the ice in my cup to keep my attention anywhere but on Reid, who is still watching me.
“You were young. Young love is hard to determine who is worth your time and who isn’t.”
“I’m still young, mom.”
She holds up a finger. “But wiser. I trust that you know what’s good for you, and he is good for you.”
“I’m just not ready,” I say with a sigh, wanting the subject to drop before we get to the part where it’s about my self-esteem.
“But-”
I stand abruptly from the chair. “I’m going to get some more tea.”
Without another word, I head to the house and climb the porch steps. I can feel Reid staring at my back the entire way, and it makes my shoulders bunch to have that much attention on me.
Once inside, I head to the fridge and grab the tea pitcher. Quietly, my mind reeling and my eyes on the verge of tears, I fill my cup. Then, I turn around to rest against the counter but startle, finding someone else in the kitchen with me.
The kitchen and the dining room are one space, and Reid is leaning against a dining room chair about ten feet from me. His arms are folded across his chest, and his face is expressionless.
I place a hand over my racing heart. “You scared the crap out of me. I didn’t even hear you come in.”
“I wasn’t trying to be sneaky,” he rumbles. God, his voice is like silk. Goosebumps rise over my skin.
We stand there in silence for a few minutes, both of us staring at one another, willing the other to speak what’s on their mind. I start the squirm, but instead of giving in, I grab the pitcher and hold it up. “Thirsty?”
He nods. “But not for a drink.”
I gulp and grip the pitcher tighter. “What do you want, Reid?”
“You,” is his simple answer.
“You don’t even know me,” I say, shaking my head and putting the pitcher and my glass down. I rub at the goose bumps along my arms. “You can’t want someone you don’t know.”
He raises those beautiful eyebrows again. “Are you telling me you don’t feel this weird thing between us?”
I look down at my sandals, a denial on my lips, but I can’t bring myself to say it out loud.
“That’s what I thought.” He takes a step closer. “Why did you lie to me, Avery?”
I snap my gaze back up to his. “About my name?” He nods, and I blow out a breath. “I told you. I have my reasons.”
“And I want to hear them.”
I jut out my chin, hoping to stand my ground as he steps another step in my direction. “No.” I owe him nothing. I won’t give in to this feeling between us.
He cocks his head to the side. “What guys have you dated like me?”