Chapter 24
Avery
Nobody stands me up
Excitement sizzles in my body like bacon on a hot pan.
This has been a fantasy for so long, and never in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen.
I am finally going on a date with Cas. The thought alone makes my heart soar like an eagle taking flight.
I’m sure my nonstop giddy dancing has nothing to do with the rapid thumping of my pulse.
With excitement, though, comes anxiety and all the possible worst-case scenarios. What if he realizes I'm not what he wants? What if this doesn't work out and I lose my best friend again? What if he doesn't show? Ugh, fucking anxiety.
These thoughts do nothing to calm my nerves.
The inside of my head looks like a murder board with strings floating every which way.
If my face doesn't give my feelings away, my room sure does. My closet looks like it had a temper tantrum all over my once spotless floor. Everything needs to be perfect tonight, and that includes my outfit. I’m still freaking out when Brianna walks into the room.
“Did your closet throw up?” she asks, staring at the mess at my feet.
“I, uh, can't figure out what to wear.” I look at her hopefully. If anyone knows how to handle my chaos, it’s Brianna.
“Help me.” She finally looks up at my face and bursts out laughing.
“Rude,” I say. “Here I thought my best friend would come and help me sort through this shit, but she comes in and laughs at my clear distress. Might have to put out an ad for a best friend.”
Bri clutches her side as she slowly recollects herself before speaking.
“Ha, like you can find anyone as amazing, talented, beautiful, and wonderful as me. Get real, Ave. I’m the best person to ever walk into your life and you know it.
You gotta admit, though, this is funny as hell.
Miss always has her shit together is a complete mess. ”
I roll my eyes, but end up laughing with her.
“You know it's not nice to gloat, but you’re right. My room is a complete mess. I’m a complete mess.
Please help me, oh amazing, talented, beautiful, and wonderful best friend a girl can have.
” My pleading has a hint of sarcasm, but Bri doesn't miss a beat.
“Thank you for recognizing my awesomeness, even if it was said with sarcasm. Okay, let's take a look at what we have. We want Cas to toss you over his shoulder and have you for dinner instead.” Bri winks at me. She fucking winks at me. The audacity of this woman. We spend what seems like hours finding the perfect outfit. Cas didn’t give me any details about where we were going.
Not having all of the information mildly irritates me.
The last thing I want is to show up in a tight dress with heels I can barely walk in if we are just going to the local pizza joint.
We finally land on a tight, silky, lavender slip dress that stops mid-thigh and pair it with sky-high, white, peep-toe heels.
We leave my hair down in waves, letting it rest over one shoulder.
I put the final touches on before walking over to the mirror to give myself a once over.
I twist my body every which way and I’m in complete amazement at my reflection.
I can’t remember the last time I felt this beautiful.
I cup my face, careful not to ruin my makeup, which is stunning yet subtle.
Bri has many talents, but makeup is definitely high on that list. There’s a gold shimmer dusted across my eyelids, and atop that is the faintest hint of eyeliner.
My eyelashes have always been naturally long, so I wear just a hint of mascara.
My hands move down the curves of my body and I have to hold back happy tears.
Bri would kill me if I ruined her work. The sound of Bri clearing her throat shakes me out of my moment.
“Ave, you look stunning. He won’t be able to keep his hands off of you for long.
I bet ten bucks you don’t make it to the restaurant,” she says.
With that thought, my eyes widen with panic knowing we’ve never done anything physical.
The possibility of kissing Cas has fear buzzing through my body like I’m drunk on tequila shots.
The thought of actually having sex with him?
I’ll admit, Cas has starred in many of my solo fantasies, but actually being that vulnerable with him terrifies me.
Bri doesn’t know about our lack of intimacy because I’m afraid of her response. She’s always been more open with her sexuality, whereas I’ve always been more timid. But I’ve never been good at hiding my emotions from her because she immediately notices the shift in my demeanor.
She’s speaking before I can collect myself. “What’s going on here? I thought Cas being unable to keep his hands off you would make you blush and be all cute. Instead, your face is all scrunchy and weird.” Damn it. Why is she so good at reading me?
“Um, well, we uh, we haven't exactly…”
“Shut up! You haven't? Like not even kissing?” My face must have said it all because she says, “You do like him, right? I mean, y’all practically eye fuck each other when the other isn’t looking.” She is completely gobsmacked.
“I do, I-I like him a lot. I mean, we’ve come close plenty of times, but neither of us ever follows through. It's not like we don't want to because we do. Well, at least, I think we do. I know I do.”
“Well, how does he make you feel? And I’m not talking about emotions, but physically?”
“Bee.” Fuck, when did it get so hot in here? It feels like I ate an entire bag of flamin’ hot Cheetos.
“Aves.” She juts out her hip and quirks an eyebrow, waiting for me to answer.
I let out a groan before relenting. If I don’t, we’ll be here for ages. “He makes me feel erotically charged all the time. When he looks at me, my throat fills with dust and I just want to climb him like a tree. Does that answer your question?” I sass back.
“So pretty much he makes you horny and you wanna fuck like bunnies. Got it.”
“I didn’t say—ugh, yes that’s exactly it. I wanna lick his abs and have him fuck me into next year.”
“Yes girl. Now, I believe my hot best friend has a date with her man tonight. I expect full details from start to finish—especially how many times you finish. If you know what I mean.” She wags her eyebrows at me and I roll my eyes at her.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, now get out of here. Cas should be here soon and I don't trust you to keep your mouth shut.”
“I am deeply offended you would think—Yeah, you’re probably right.
” Bri takes her time gathering her things.
She's stalling, so I take the liberty of picking up her stuff and throwing it at her before shoving her out the door.
Her laughter fills the halls and slowly fades away as she makes her way outside.
Cas will be here soon and my stomach is doing a full out gymnastics floor routine.
I stop when I start to wobble around, remembering my death trap heels.
The last thing I need is to go to the hospital with a broken ankle.
As the time inches closer to seven, I can’t help but feel that something’s wrong.
Which is weird because nothing happened today to elicit such a feeling.
I try to free my mind of the thought, but it's stuck like superglue.
This is supposed to be a happy day, not a day of overthinking.
Telling my brain to stop the negative thoughts is like telling a toddler no.
You tell a toddler no, and they just do it, despite you while giving you a wicked grin.
It’s finally time, so I anxiously walk up to the door and peek out one of the large rectangular windows only to see an empty driveway.
Cas is probably just running a few minutes behind.
I try to shake off my concerns, telling myself there’s nothing to worry about.
Yet part of me remains unconvinced. My footsteps echo as I walk over to my navy L-shaped couch and try to wait patiently.
With each passing minute, my mind and body grow more nervous as the worst-case scenarios from earlier play through my head like a broken record.
It’s now a quarter to eight. Worry and anger float around in my body, with anger taking the lead by a wide margin.
What the fuck. How can he just stand me up like this?
He was the one who asked me out, not the other way around.
If he didn’t want to go out with me or changed his mind, why not have the fucking decency to tell me instead of making me wait here like a damn fool?
My anger grows with each thought. I have two options: keep waiting around letting my feelings fester or march up to his door and demand an explanation.
My feet have me up off the couch and out the front door before I realize what’s happening.
I stomp my way over to his house and pound on his front door, ready to give him a piece of my mind.
When he opens the door, the color completely drains from my face looking at his disheveled appearance. All my anger is replaced with fear.