Chapter 3 Avery
Avery
That voice. Those eyes. That body! Jesus Christ. It all caught her completely off-guard, although it shouldn’t have.
Avery had told herself that seeing him would be easy.
She’d imagined they would only need to be polite from a distance in the large crowd of wedding guests.
A nod. A wave, maybe. Only now, with Tanner right in her space and no warning, neither of those would meet the brief.
He was so close she could reach out and lay her palm on his chest. Fit and fine, he was an unsettling wall of muscle, blocking her view of everyone around them.
“Hi.” The single syllable was unsteady, so Avery shored it up with casual confidence and tried again. “I didn’t think you were going to make it this weekend.”
Tanner raised his bottle of beer, a careful twist to his mouth. “Surprise.”
Yes. Yes, it was.
A surprise to be hit by a gallery of snapshots from high school.
A surprise to feel so floored by this man-version of the boy she’d once known.
A surprise to have that damn nickname snag her heart like a fishhook.
“Savannah must be thrilled you’re here.”
“Well, she squealed so loud my head is still ringing, so you could be right.” Tanner picked at the label on his bottle, feet scuffing the floorboards and his tawny eyes never leaving her face.
“Right, guys! If I can have your attention . . .” When Johnnie banged a glass on the bar for quiet, her relief was immense.
Tanner turned to listen and, behind his back, Bel mouthed “Oh. My. God!” with exaggerated annunciation, black eyebrows scrambling in quivering arcs toward her hairline. While Avery smoothed her own expression into nonchalance, her stomach continued to fold in on itself like a sea anemone.
He stood so near, she could feel the heat from his body and it made her lightheaded.
She watched Gemma check him out with huge, greedy eyes while trying to pretend she wasn’t looking at him at all.
And she wasn’t the only one. That girl there was looking, too.
Three out of four of the group in the corner.
Those two near the window were even whispering together and fanning themselves. Avery didn’t blame any of them.
She cataloged the similarities to younger Tanner even as she studied the tiny flowers on her dress with total concentration: the messy hair with a mind of its own, the amber eyes, the dimple, the height, the goddamn electricity.
The differences centered mainly around his bulk.
The guy was stacked now, his lean, lanky days firmly behind him.
His olive cotton shirt hung loose over beige cargo shorts, sleeves rolled back to his elbows.
The whole look was understated—casually, carelessly on point—and only someone who’d known both Tanners would be able to appreciate how far he’d come. How glossy he seemed.
The white Chucks that completed the outfit were a throwback to high school, but this pair, although not new, was in far better shape than the ones he used to wear.
Avery recalled those other sneakers, the soles flapping loose. The sharp crack of her head against the wall in the school hallway as Tanner had tripped and crashed into her, bowling her over like a set of pins. She’d had a bruise like an egg on the back of her head for days.
“Shit! I’m so sorry.” His face had loomed over hers while she was still seeing stars. Scruffy hair, the color of wet sand, brushed his eyebrows and he pushed it back with agitated fingers.
“I’m OK.” She wasn’t sure she was.
Flicking at the toe of his tattered and filthy shoe, he’d glared at the broken rubber band that lay like a worm between them on the linoleum floor.
“Stupid thing snapped. I thought it’d hold out longer.”
“Not really made for the job,” she’d pointed out.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Thirteen-year-old Avery had pulled a hair tie from her wrist. “You can have this if you want. I always carry a spare. This one’s pretty tough and it’s got good stretch.”
Tanner Stone’s wide and irreverent smile had broken slowly across his face, revealing that one shallow dimple in his right cheek as he pulled the elastic over the toe of his sneaker and let it snap around his shoe.
His eyes were two toffee candies. And Avery would have given him a dozen more hair ties if she’d had them.
“Concentrate, cupcake.” The nudge from Bel caught her in the ribs. It was an effort to tune back into the present.
“Tonight is just for relaxing, but Savannah and Griff have given their approval for a little friendly competition this weekend. Nothing too demanding, so no need to worry!” Johnnie raised his voice to continue.
“We’ve put you into pairs for some special activities, and points will be awarded for each one.
Dig deep and try hard because the Bach Bash champions will be crowned on Sunday evening and you’re going to want that trophy.
” A rowdy cheer went up before Johnnie calmed everyone again with the flat of his hand.
“Listen carefully and I’ll read out the teams of two. ”
Avery didn’t listen carefully at all.
Does he want something, or is there another reason he’s come over here now? Where’s his girlfriend? Why does he still seem so familiar when so much has changed?
Tuning out ninety-five percent of what Johnnie was saying, Avery held a whole conversation with herself and picked at her thumbnail—right up until she heard their names.
“Avery and Tanner.”
What? No!
Johnnie’s expression was a touch apologetic. He shrugged, smiled, and moved on. Avery, horrified that her plans for a restful weekend had just gone up in smoke, registered the lack of surprise on Tanner’s face.
Bel turned on Drew with a ferocious whisper. “Did you know he was going to do that?”
“He mentioned in the car that he might have to sit out of the games because of all the organizing.” Drew scrubbed at his eyebrow. “I thought he’d told Avery.”
“I don’t mind sitting them out.” She grabbed the solution with both hands.
Still Tanner said nothing, though his fingers snapped the clasp of his watch open and shut.
Bel pulled a face. “That’ll be boring for you and it doesn’t seem fair on Tanner.
” She eyed him shrewdly. “Nice to meet you, by the way. Please tell me you’re carrying a non-career-threatening injury or something that’ll give the rest of us an advantage along the way. Or we might be forced to mess you up!”
Drew snorted. “She’s not joking. My girlfriend might be small but she’s insanely competitive.”
Avery wondered if that was a wince Tanner had smothered, but if he did it was gone in an instant, and he unleashed an infectious grin that sent her falling back through time with a sickening lurch.
She tugged on the jagged edges of her composure while her friends absorbed him effortlessly into the group, her suggestion to sit out the activities left lying in the dust as they trampled all over it.
“Where’s your girlfriend?” Avery interrupted, trying to get them back on track. “Why aren’t you in a pair with her?”
Tanner shrugged, the small gesture evasive. “She’s not here.”
“Right.” OK, that was unexpected, too. “Excuse me a moment.” She slipped from her stool and threaded her way across the room.
Johnnie was chatting with Savannah’s maid of honor, Mia, at the other end of the bar. Avery hesitated to interrupt until she remembered that he had tied her to Tanner for a whole weekend without a heads-up.
“Can I have a word?”
Looking over his shoulder, Johnnie pulled a face before he caught himself. “Sure. I’ve got a minute.” They took half a step away from Mia but there was nowhere else to go without leaving the clubhouse.
Avery leaned in, keeping her voice low. “Some warning would have been nice.”
Johnnie reached out to squeeze her wrist. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d mind and it’s not going to work for me to join in—someone’s got to be in charge of the judging.”
“Please. There must be something else you can do.” Avery was one step away from begging. “I don’t mind tagging along with another team or swapping with someone else. Loads of people would like to pal up with Tanner.”
“What’s the big deal?” Johnnie glanced past her and held up an apologetic finger to Mia, his attention clearly divided.
“Griff says he’s a nice guy. And everyone else is happy in their teams. Plus, I’ve got no one who wants to change partners and no one to pair Tanner with if you back out, since he’s turned up alone.
” He laughed and corrected himself. “That’s not true.
There are plenty of girls who’d swap in a heartbeat, but their boyfriends would kill me!
” He tried a winning smile. “Come on—it’s going to be fun.
And the games are only part of the weekend. ”
“Johnnie?” Mia rejoined them. “Did you say you’d put the scorecards with the packs of bottled water? If you did, I can’t find them.”
“No, I stashed them behind the bar. Over in the corner.” He was moving away even as he spoke.
Mia shot her an apologetic glance. “Sorry, Avery—there’s just so much to keep track of. If I’d known being maid of honor was this stressful, I’d have thought twice.”
Avery gave her a weak grin. “No worries.”
Johnnie took that as a sign he was off the hook. “Thanks, Ave. You’re a star. I’ll catch you later!”
And that was that. Her weekend spectacularly derailed, Avery turned on reluctant feet and headed back to her friends.
In her absence, Tanner had piled a plate high enough to feed a family and was tucking into a loaded hamburger.
There was something fiercely elemental about the way he devoured his meal in enormous bites; it raised the hairs on the back of Avery’s neck.
Rocking lightly on his toes, constantly moving, he was charisma wrapped in a dazzling package, his smile flashing out between mouthfuls.
The infamous Tanner Appeal was clearly working overtime.
Bel, Drew, and Gemma talked over each other, chatting as if they’d known him for years.
Even Leo had a lazy half-smile as he sat back and observed.
It was all too reminiscent of Avery’s father and the way he became the center of every gathering he attended. It pushed uncomfortable buttons.
Avery’s eyes narrowed on Gemma. Her last hope. She snuck a hand between Bel and Drew and tugged on Gemma’s elbow, teasing her out of the group.
“Hey, babe! Get you with free access to the NHL beefcake this weekend . . .” Gemma murmured out of the corner of her mouth. “His muscles have muscles!”
Avery ducked her head close to Gemma’s ear. “You want to be the lucky one? Just say the word and I’ll pair up with Leo instead. Tanner’s fun and you’re single.”
“Are you mad? You know how long I’ve been holding out for this weekend. This is my big chance.” Gemma shot a sideways glance at the group and Avery’s heart sank.
Gemma’s torch for Leo had been carried for so long and with such a tight grip that the only person left, ironically, in the dark was Leo.
Her friend’s outwardly bubbly personality masked surprisingly low self-esteem.
When awkward flirting and heavy hints had failed to make the impact Gemma craved in the early days of meeting Leo, she’d hesitated to be more obvious about her feelings.
The result was an ongoing friendship that only Leo was entirely happy with, but Gemma lived in perpetual hope.
And Avery didn’t have the heart to take that hope away from her.
The clubhouse seemed to have shrunk since Tanner joined their group.
The roof was lower, she could swear it was.
If it had been warm before, now it was stifling—even with the doors thrown open to the evening air.
Avery slid back into the group; the conversation ebbing and flowing around her.
And just a few inches from her elbow, the boy she’d put her neck on the line to rescue—who’d turned into the man she’d tried her hardest to forget—devoured another hamburger, seeming as unperturbed as anyone would be if they had the world at their feet.
Tanner caught her eye and raised a brow.
Twisting a stray strand of hair, Avery pinned a smile to her lips. “Looks like I’m all yours, partner.”
She wished she could take back the words the moment she said them. The frown that gripped Tanner’s features as he cleared his throat made him look temporarily less assured, more distant. And he didn’t come back with the smart response she’d expected. Instead the silence stretched.
At school, Avery had been the one with the world at her feet—a big, shiny fish in a small judgmental pool—while he’d struggled through each grade with poor marks and no lunch.
Though she knew he’d heard the gossip, the disparaging comments about his shabby appearance and his family’s straitened circumstances, Tanner ignored it all.
And, like an iridescent beetle or the wind in the pines, he’d drawn Avery’s attention.
She’d found herself fascinated by his big wide smile because he used his whole body to express his happiness.
Tanner smiled with his mouth, his eyes, his cheeks, even his hands.
He made a person want to turn their face to him and soak up his joy like a sunflower under summer rays.
Serious had never looked right on Tanner Stone. Not then and not now.
Fortunately Bel, who had never met a silence she couldn’t conquer, rallied the conversation like a trooper.
“I heard a sports reporter describe hockey as a cross between ballet and murder,” she said. “Graceful but violent. It made me wish I’d taken it up.”
“‘Graceful but violent’ is my go-to answer when anyone asks me how you are,” snickered Drew, looping his arm around her neck.
Leo gave Bel a poke. “They haven’t built a penalty box that could hold you. They’d need a shark cage.”
As the banter swirled around them, Avery could have sworn Tanner’s white Chucks shifted an inch closer to her stool.
Putting it down to the number of people fighting for room in the enclosed space, she tried to ignore the fact that her pulse was beating at the base of her throat like the footsteps of an invading army.
And though she avoided his eyes, she was more than aware of the cautious glances he threw in her direction, as if he wasn’t sure he liked what he saw.
Avery told herself it didn’t matter what Tanner thought of her.
Any connection they’d ever had was ten years past its sell-by date and he had no solid place in her future.
It would be safest all round to focus on the present. The weekend looked like it was going to be challenging enough.