Chapter 19 #2
He hugged me tighter for a second before he released me. “You’d better eat them before they go cold.”
I took a deep breath, let it out, and ate my breakfast.
Avery sat down and picked up his own sandwich, then said, “Oh, and by the way, did you know there was a betting pool at school over when I’d get up the nerve to ask you out?”
I stopped with my sandwich halfway to my mouth. “Wait. What do you mean, when you’d get the nerve to ask me?”
Avery grinned. “I told you, you’re a catch. And I’m awkward and kinda shy. And also Mrs. Freeman is now…” He paused for a second, his brow scrunching in concentration. “Ninety bucks richer, so you’re probably her favorite parent right now.”
“Mrs. Freeman, my grade-school teacher, was betting on whether you’d ask me out?” I blinked at him.
“Not whether. When. Apparently, I’m not very good at hiding when I like someone. And I really like you, Johnny.”
I opened my mouth to ask him why, then swallowed the words before they had a chance to escape.
Maybe I wasn’t everything I was supposed to be, everything everyone had expected, but I was doing my best, and I was doing right by Gracie and the family I’d chosen for myself, and that wasn’t nothing.
To the right people, that was everything.
So instead, I said, “I might have a new job. Steve is selling the business, but he’s arranged for me to talk to a guy about a plumbing apprenticeship. ”
“Oh wow!” Avery said. “Is this where I tell you the pipes make a weird noise whenever I turn the hot water on? Should pipes thump like that? How long until you’re qualified to take a look?” His eyes were dancing.
“Probably a good while,” I said, laughing. “I have to call the guy and get details.”
Avery nodded. “Are you happy about it?”
“Not that Steve’s selling the business, I guess, but it’s a good opportunity. It means more money, eventually at least, and it’s steady work. No more climbing up onto roofs.”
“No more nail guns,” Avery said with a smile.
“Hey, you should be thanking that nail gun,” I said, returning his smile. “I might never have kissed you otherwise.”
“You would have kissed me eventually,” he said. “It just would have taken you longer to get there.”
“Oh, you think?”
“Absolutely. Also technically, we should thank the Percocet.”
I liked how he said we—like we were both winners here.
And looking at him across the little table, I felt the same.
I’d never connected with anyone the way I connected with Avery.
I didn’t know what exactly made him special, but I did know that he was special—to me, at least. Maybe to someone else out there in the world he was just an ordinary guy, but not to me.
Never to me. To me, he was someone I could see a future with, and I’d never had that before, not even with Cassidy.
I loved her, but that was because we’d grown close in the years since Gracie was born.
If Cassidy had never gotten pregnant, we probably would have gone our separate ways after high school and not thought twice about it.
We’d been typical kids. But adulthood had hit us both fucking hard in our faces that last year of school, and now we were like soldiers who’d both survived the same battle, and so we knew we could always count on each other.
If she ever needed something, I’d be there, and she’d do the same for me.
But Cassidy had never made bubbles burst in my bloodstream with just a single smile, and I knew she’d say the same thing about me. She’d never made my heart forget how to beat when she kissed me, not like Avery could.
I’d never wanted to use Cassidy as a pillow while I napped.
Cassidy and I were closer than friends—we were family—but we hadn’t had a choice.
Okay, so I guessed we could have gotten married and then hated the shit out of each other like a bunch of young couples in the same situation did, but we’d been smarter than that.
Smarter and so much more grown-up than we’d ever had to be before that.
Avery, though… Avery was a choice I had made. I could see a future with Avery without being boxed into one. It was difficult to explain, even in my own mind, why that felt so big. Why it felt so important. And so right.
“I’m definitely thanking the Percocet,” I said, “but I think you’re right. I would have gotten around to kissing you.”
“Good.” Avery took a sip of his coffee. “I want to take you on a date. This weekend. Miller says there’s a good Thai place in Hopewell.”
“I’ve got Gracie this weekend,” I said. “The Moores are going away for their anniversary.”
“Next weekend then,” Avery said. “This weekend we’ll go to Walmart and buy crayons.”
“Crayons.”
“I mean, I like Thai food as much as the next guy, but nothing beats a new box of Crayolas. And glitter pens. And googly eyes.”
“Did I tell you Chase found googly eyes on the ketchup? He says he didn’t drop the bottle, but Danny saw him.”
“They’re a classic for a reason,” Avery said. “So, Walmart date this weekend, and a Thai food date next weekend?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I would love that.”
Avery gave me a soft smile. “Please don’t think I’m throwing you out, but I need to get moving if I’m going to make it to school on time.”
I checked my phone. “Shit. Yeah, I gotta go. Gracie’s teacher has a real stick up his ass about being on time.”
“He sounds like he’s an excellent teacher,” Avery said, grinning.
I stood up to put our dishes in the sink. “You have no idea,” I said. “He’s a real asshole.”
When I turned around, Avery was crowding up into my space.
We kissed.
When we drew back, his eyes were bright. “Is it too soon to say I’m falling for you so bad, Johnny?”
I didn’t even hesitate. “Nope. Me too.”
He groaned. “Oh my god, get out of here before we both decide to call in sick and spend the day in bed instead!”
“Would that be so bad?”
He swatted me on the ass. “Yes! Now get out of here!”
“Fine. But I’m coming over tonight,” I said. “I have plans, and they don’t involve construction paper.”
Avery’s voice dropped, hitting that teasing, slightly bossy tone that made me go weak at the knees. “Yeah? You planning to let me teach you a thing or two, Johnny?”
Jesus. Now I really did want to call in sick and spend the day in bed. But Gracie was waiting, and so was real life. I leaned my forehead against Avery’s. “You can show me whatever you’d like tonight. But I really gotta go.”
And then I left—but not before stealing one more lingering kiss.
When I got home, Danny had already left for work, and Cash was still in bed. Gracie was eating cereal at the kitchen counter, and Chase was standing behind her with a bunch of elastics in one hand, half a messy braid in the other, and her hairbrush in his mouth.
“Daddy! Uncle Chase can’t do my hair like you do!”
“I see that,” I said and raised my eyebrows at him.
Chase dropped the brush and elastics onto the counter. “I’m out. This is too hard.”
I nudged him out of the way and picked the brush up. “Thanks, man.”
He glared at me, but he was lying to himself if he thought I believed it for a second. Chase’s scowl was nothing more than protective armor.
It didn’t take long to make Gracie’s hair respectable—it helped that I’d had plenty of practice with my own long hair—and some colorful clips pinned down the parts that weren’t cooperating. Still, we were racing the clock after she insisted on tying her own laces.
Gracie chattered all the way on the short drive to school, always excited for a new school day.
I’d miss that when she started dragging her feet when she was a little older.
Although maybe she never would—Danny always said I liked to borrow trouble, but that was second nature with a kid.
There was a lot to worry about. Lot to celebrate too.
I parked out on the street in front of the school, not wanting to get caught in what passed for Goose Run’s idea of a traffic snarl inside the parking lot. I held Gracie’s hand all the way to the classroom, another thing I’d miss when she grew out of it.
Avery was waiting at the door, and he looked good.
Okay, he looked normal, in his khakis, polo shirt, and rainbow lanyard. But it wasn’t Avery the teacher I was seeing right now. It was Avery my boyfriend, who’d cooked me breakfast this morning and let me use his stomach as a pillow last night. And who’d also half choked me with his cum last night.
I was sure my face was bright red as Gracie and I approached him.
“Good morning, Gracie,” he said. “Good morning, Wilder.”
“Hi, Mr. Smith!” Gracie held her hand up for a high five.
“Ready for another fun day?” he asked her, dimples appearing when he smiled.
“Yes!”
“Do your snacks need to go in the refrigerator?”
Oh, shit.
Gracie dumped her backpack on the floor and unzipped it. A moment later she looked up at me, eyes wide. “Daddy!”
“Uh,” I said. “I, um—”
I forgot the fucking snacks.
Avery raised his eyebrows and gave me a look I hadn’t seen since the first few weeks of the school year.
Then his mouth wavered, and his smile reappeared.
From behind his back, he produced a small yellow lunchbox and slipped it into Gracie’s backpack.
His mouth barely moved as he murmured, “I figured you might have forgotten.”
He stepped aside so Gracie could dart into the classroom.
“Don’t make a habit of it, Mr. Wilder,” he said, and then winked.
The asshole.
But he was my asshole.
“See you tonight,” he said in an undertone.
“See you,” I said, an echo and a promise, and then I grinned like an idiot all the way back to my truck.