Chapter 43 Avery
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Avery
Forty-eight hours.
That’s how much longer we had with him.
Every hour counted, but I was in my studio. Painting was the only thing that was soothing the unease I felt. The plan was for us to have a date tonight, but I felt like I was constantly on the verge of crying.
I didn’t want Levi to go.
I’d known from the start that he was leaving. Maybe I was delusional, but for the last few weeks, I’d been living in a bubble. A bubble where there was no end in sight. There was no plane ticket, no set day he was leaving. Our time together was never-ending.
But it wasn’t. It was ending.
“Whatcha painting, Blue?”
I looked up from my canvas, but wasn’t startled by Mateo’s presence. He smiled as he lingered in the studio doorway. Like a vampire, he wouldn’t step into the room without an invitation.
“Hi,” I said. I kept my paintbrush and palette in hand as I slid off my stool and went to him. I leaned up on the toes of my sneakers and kissed him hard, smiling as his mustache tickled my skin. “You’re early.”
“I am. I just wanted to creep,” he said. “Levi will be here in a few, too.”
I nodded and kissed him once more before returning to my canvas.
The cactus piece was almost done. The landscape around it was finished aside from a few highlights I wanted to add.
Mateo and Levi stood in the middle, and I felt pretty damn proud of how I’d captured them.
I’d gotten the sparkle of mischief that always twinkled in Mateo’s eyes and the soft, steady expression of care in Levi’s.
It felt like them, but was missing something.
“Can I see?”
“Yeah,” I said. “But don’t critique me or I’ll have a breakdown.”
He snorted as he followed me to the canvas. “I can’t paint to save my life, Blue . . .”
Mateo trailed off as he stood behind me. My muscles tensed as I realized I was letting him see something unfinished. Not only unfinished, but a painting with him in it. What if he hated it? What if he thought it was bad?
“This is amazing,” he whispered. “Baby, you’re so talented. I don’t say it enough. I could stare at your art all day and night and never grow tired of it. I want to always be surrounded by it.”
I breathed out and smiled as his arms slid around me. I leaned back against him, aware that the door was open. Knowing that it wasn’t some odd hour of the night where we could openly love each other.
A little weight lifted off my shoulders as we continued to study the painting.
“Something is missing from it,” I sighed. “I’m not sure what.”
“Would you like my thoughts?”
I considered it for a moment, then nodded. “Gently.”
He pressed another kiss to the top of my head. “It’s missing you, Blue. The three of us are supposed to be together.”
My chest squeezed.
He was right.
“I want him to stay,” I whispered.
“I do too.”
“I don’t know what we’ll do without him.”
“I don’t either.”
“I’m not going anywhere, though.”
“I’m not either. I know we’re in this together, Avery. I just . . .”
Want him too. We both wanted him. Without him, I wasn’t sure what life would look like. The ache in my chest was the same sort of pain I’d feel if Mateo left. Equally sharp and, if anything, worse because I wasn’t sure I’d ever see Levi again once he flew back to Minnesota.
Mateo pressed his face against the top of my head, his arms tightening around me. I dropped my palette and paintbrush on the stool and turned around to face him, pressing my face against his chest and breathing him in. Soaking up his comfort.
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered.
“Will it be?”
“I hope so.”
He tipped my chin up and cupped my face. He leaned in, his lips brushing mine. I melted into him, fighting the tears. Fighting the little monster in my head that screamed it wasn’t enough. Whatever I was, I wasn’t enough to keep Levi here.
“What in the hell is going on?”
My heart dropped. Mateo immediately whipped back, the two of us spinning.
Austin.
In my studio.
Not just at the doorway, but in my fucking studio.
“What are you doing?” I asked quickly. “Get out of my studio! You know you’re not allowed in here.”
I watched my brother’s expression roll through a few different emotions.
Shock, like he was looking at two ghosts.
Betrayal, because we’d lied to his face.
I’d lied to his face. Shock again as his eyes wandered around the room and then to the floor, where there were countless sketches of Levi and Mateo.
Countless sketches of the three of us too.
None of them were sexual, luckily, but that did nothing to lessen the fact that we’d been found out.
“Austin,” Mateo breathed out. “We can explain—”
“I . . .” His eyes drifted from me to Mateo and then back again.
“Austin,” I growled, panic clawing at me. “Get out of my studio. This is my space. Get out!”
He wasn’t hearing me. He wasn’t listening. His gaze moved to the tops of my thighs.
I was wearing shorts, and the bruises from my spankings were visible.
I saw the click happen.
Austin’s eyes lit with rage as he marched towards us. “What the fuck?”
“Austin, it’s not what you think,” I said quickly.
I tried to intercept him, but he pushed past me and straight to Mateo. I grabbed at my brother’s shirt as he grabbed onto Mateo, anger pouring off him in waves.
“Austin,” I pleaded. “Stop this. It’s not what you think—”
Mateo’s voice was steady despite the fact Austin was in his face. “I need you to calm down and let me go, Austin.”
“What do you mean, calm down?” Austin yelled.
“It’s not what you think,” I insisted, trying to stay calm. Ice crept through my veins as he shoved Mateo back, the tension in the room making my heart race. I didn’t like this. “The bruises were consensual. It’s not what you think.”
“Did he hit you?” Austin asked, turning back to look at me. “Did either of them hit you?”
“Austin, it’s not—”
“What’s going on?”
Levi emerged in the doorway, filling up the frame. He immediately barrelled toward us, straight to Austin.
My brother spun around, his grip still on Mateo as he glowered at Levi. “You fucking lied to me, Levi. Did you sleep with her?”
Levi’s expression blanked, his eyes darting to me and then Mateo.
“I slept with both of them,” I blurted out. “We’re dating. We’ve all been together the last few weeks.”
“What?”
“I’d really like you to take your hands off both of them,” I whispered. “Please. You’re making me nervous. I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.”
Tears blurred my vision as the panic crept up. Icy, freezing, making everything spin. I didn’t want him to find out like this. I didn’t want any of this. I—
“Did they do that to you then?” He growled, gesturing at my thighs.
“It’s none of your business. They’re not Kevin. They’re nothing like him. I need you to calm down because you’re making me—”
“Really? Because I just walked in on you kissing my best friend and you have fucking bruises on your legs, Avery. And then you’re also sleeping with my other friend too?”
“Hey,” Mateo interjected. “We need to take this outside. Not in Avery’s studio.”
“Fuck you,” Austin growled, tightening his grip on Mateo. “Why the fuck have you been hiding this from me? Why the fuck have either of you been hiding this from me? You know Avery is off-limits. I’ve said that for weeks. For fucking years!”
“This is why we didn’t tell you,” I said.
“Avery is an adult,” Levi said. “And if you don’t let go of Mateo right now, I’m going to make you.”
“Fucking make me then—”
Levi grabbed Austin’s wrist and twisted him away from Mateo, but he was ready for it. Mateo stepped toward me and looped his arm around my waist, pulling me back as Austin threw a punch.
I screamed as it landed. A crunching noise followed from Levi’s nose, but he was hardly fazed by it. Even though I knew he was a hockey player and could take a punch, my heart dropped. Mateo cursed, pulling me back further.
“I have to separate them,” he said quickly. “Will you be okay?”
No, I wouldn’t be. Nothing was okay. Nothing. “Please,” I rasped as Austin took Levi to the floor.
Mateo released me and put his arm around Austin, putting him in a headlock and hauling him off Levi with ease. Austin grunted, clawing at Mateo’s arms and kicking out.
He released him and Austin stumbled forward—and straight into my canvas.
“No!” I gasped, covering my mouth as he and the easel tumbled to the floor.
“What in the fuck is going on—oh shit.” Dallas, Evie, and June all filled the doorway, but Evie grabbed Dallas’ sleeve before he came in.
Levi sat up, blood dripping down his nose. Mateo helped him up, horror painting their faces as we all looked at Austin.
The canvas had snapped.
My knees felt weak. I sank to the floor, tears streaming down my face as I stared at it. Austin rolled to the side, getting up, paint sticking to his back. He looked down, his expression softening.
“Fuck,” he whispered. “Avery . . .”
“Get out.”
“Avery—”
“Get the fuck out. Now.”
Austin glowered at Levi and Mateo as he staggered to the doorway. “I’m not done with either of you.”
“Austin, stop!” I yelled, a sob breaking free. “I’ve been dating both of them behind your back because of how you act. This is your fault. Not theirs. You never listen to me. You don’t listen—”
“Avery, I listen all the time. I—”
“No, you fucking don’t! You broke my number one rule which is that this is my space. No one is allowed in here.”
“Mateo was in here.”
“Because I let him,” I cried. “I let him in here. I wanted him in here. But that doesn’t give you an excuse. This is my space. Mine. It’s all I fucking have in this place. I’ve spent weeks on that painting—”
“On a painting of my best friends kissing?”
“Fuck,” Levi sighed, wiping his nose. “Austin, Mateo and I have been together too.”
He blanched, looking around the room until he finally noticed our other brother. “Did you know this?” he asked Dallas.
Dallas shook his head. “No, but you’re over-reacting and you need to come out of Avery’s studio.”
“I’m over reacting? You’re not even fucking reacting, Dallas. You’re not doing anything. Per fucking usual, it’s on me to handle everything.”
Dallas leaned forward without crossing the threshold and grabbed Austin by the shirt, dragging him out.
“I need everyone out,” I whispered.
Mateo gave me a pain-stricken look, and I looked away from him. From Levi.
“Please. I need to be alone for a few minutes.”
Mateo slid his hand into Levi’s and led him to the door. “We’ll come back. We’re going to go talk with Austin. Okay? It’s going to be okay.”
All I could do was nod. But nothing, absolutely nothing, was going to be okay.