Chapter 7 Avery
Avery
“I am so, so sorry, Ave.” Gemma fluttered and stammered beside her, still utterly wretched despite the passing of afternoon into evening. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything? Another drink or . . . anything?”
“There’s no need. I’m fine,” Avery reassured her again, keeping the thrum of her headache and the burn in her cheekbone to herself.
Bel’s silent comfort when she squeezed Avery’s arm was more welcome than all the fussing.
“D’you do all your own stunts, Delgado? Or did you pull this one out for the special occasion?”
Avery turned her head slowly at the sound of Sam’s voice as he walked into the clubhouse with Tanner, both freshly showered and casually dressed.
And the memory of being carried from the water, her skin slippery in Tanner’s grip as he held her tight to his chest, mangled the breath in her throat.
Even as dazed as she was, she’d wanted to sink into his muscles, crawl inside his rib cage, and curl up there like a puppy in a kennel of bones. Weirdly peculiar and utterly unwise.
“Shut up, Sam.” When Tanner ran golden eyes over her face, Avery looked away.
“It’s alright. I’m fine,” she repeated, “broken record” style.
Another squeeze from Bel. More guilty shuffling from Gemma. Avery hated the attention, and Bel, like any best friend worth her salt, knew it.
“So you all went to PS High, right? Ave, Tanner, Sam—” Bel’s dark, clever eyes moved between them.
“And Savannah. And Leo,” Sam added, with a nod at the doorway as Leo sauntered in, wearing an old Killers tour t-shirt that was one of Avery’s favorites. She’d borrowed it more than once. Tried to keep it, in fact, but Leo was having none of that.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked.
“She’s fine,” Bel, Drew and Gemma echoed in unison.
“Did you all hang out together?” Gemma asked.
“Hang out where?” Leo caught the eye of the guy behind the bar and asked for a beer.
“School,” Avery murmured.
“Ah. Not so much, really. Ave and I only had a few classes together.” Leo reached for his drink with a smile of thanks. “And Tanner and Sam were the grade above.”
Avery could feel his watchful inspection of her injury.
His and Tanner’s. Drew had patched her up well, but the dressing was scratchy against her temple.
The adhesive, tacky and tight, pulled at her skin.
Three missed calls from her mom during the afternoon and the resulting callback she’d squeezed in before dinner had done nothing to lessen the pounding of her head.
“Bet she was a right little teacher’s pet,” Bel said fondly.
“She was popular with everyone but never a teacher’s pet,” Leo disagreed, loyal in his defense.
“Nah, I reckon I’m right. I can just imagine you getting away with murder, Ave.” Bel swiped Drew’s beer and took a mouthful.
Avery couldn’t help it then. Her eyes slid to Tanner’s face just as his fingers went to his wrist. They fidgeted a moment with the bare skin there and then dropped back to his side. It was a relief when Mia called the group to order for a scavenger hunt—the last challenge of the day.
This time the handouts, framed with cutesy hearts, took the form of a list of objects to be collected and brought back to the clubhouse.
“Points for completing the task and a bonus for the fastest pair home.” Mia gave a yellow pencil to each team, then revealed a bunch of cotton scarves clutched in her other hand like a Machiavellian magician. “Oh, and you have to do it ‘three-legged race’ style!”
There was a kerfuffle as each team grabbed a scarf and anchored themselves together, debating if tight was better than loose and who should go on which side.
Tanner settled onto the stool next to Avery, scarlet fabric wound between his fingers.
Sliding his muscled calf against hers, he bent to tie it around their ankles and she had to force herself not to pull away when the hairs on his leg raised goosebumps on her skin.
“After two events, it’s still tight at the top,” Johnnie told them all with a grin. “Sam and Kash have the lead at the moment, but there’s everything to play for.”
“Yes!” Sam’s fist pump was gleeful. “Winning in points and psychological damage.”
“We should form an alliance and take them out,” Savannah muttered behind Avery.
“Tempting.” Bel’s tone said differently as she shot Sav a glance through narrowed eyes. “But you’re part of the competition, not a co-star in my victory montage.”
“So every overly competitive weirdo for themselves then?” Despite her tension, Avery couldn’t hold back a snigger and she felt Tanner’s low laugh in the soft brush of his sleeve against her shoulder.
Johnnie dragged the whistle from his pocket, blew a swift, shrill blast, and the group dispersed with unsteady strides—good-natured trash talk floating behind them like the contrails of an airplane.
Avery and Tanner watched everyone leave, with Johnnie and Mia following along behind.
Even the guy behind the bar disappeared somewhere, and the silence that settled over the clubhouse was a living, breathing entity.
Tanner’s body was as relaxed as hers was taut, though his knee jogged her own with its bouncing.
Avery tried to channel some of his chill into her muscles.
Tried not to fixate on his toned forearms a bare inch away on the bar, or the lower half of the tattoo edging out from beneath his shirtsleeve.
She wished she’d had the time to study his ink in more detail at the lake, but she hadn’t wanted to be caught staring—or drooling.
The cleverly etched Icarus on his ribs, wings outstretched and soaring toward the sun, was a charcoal-shaded work of art, even at a glance.
As well as the pine trees, Tanner had three words written beneath his right collarbone in a cursive script and some lines of lyrics on the underside of the opposite arm.
Avery was desperate to know what they said.
She was immune to the various charms of most guys she met. They could flirt themselves inside out and Avery felt nothing. Tanner merely existed in her vicinity and the urge to study him and document his idiomatic appeal tugged needily at her core. It was disconcerting.
“I’m fine with sitting this one out if you don’t feel up to it,” he said, breaking the silence.
Realizing she’d been quiet for too long, Avery reached for Mia’s handout. “And give up on our shot at the trophy? No chance.”
Tanner gestured to the door. “Shouldn’t we get started then?”
Avery chewed on her lower lip as she examined the list. It was a relief to have something to focus on. “I’m thinking we need to work smarter, not harder.”
He peered over her shoulder and they read through the items together.
Scavenger Hunt
Something yellow
Something useful
Something that smells good
Something shorter than a toothbrush
Something soft
Something that tastes nice
Something loud
Something wet
Something round
Something sharp
Something light
Something you can fold
Something heavy
Something white
Something hot
Something that makes you happy
Something flat
Something only an adult would use
A keepsake
Something that starts with the first letter of one of your names
“O . . . K . . .” Avery murmured finally. “I think we should be fine, if we just . . .”
Hiking her purse onto the bar, she tugged a Kleenex free from a small packet and placed it next to the pencil. From an inside pocket, she fished out a foil square between finger and thumb.
“Condom.” Avery held it up. “Cherry flavored.”
Tanner’s eyebrows rose, along with one side of his mouth. “So it is, Stretch.” The expression on his face sent a plume of heat spreading through her bones but she didn’t let it show. “The ankle restraint will be an added novelty but I’m game if you are.”
The teasing was obvious and gentle; it felt like intimate fingers tugging at her hair. When Avery held his gaze and the smile slid away from his lips, she wanted to call it back.
“Your face looks so sore.” Tanner’s eyes traced her cheekbone, then settled on the dressing at her temple. They turned steely as she opened her mouth. “Don’t tell me you’re fine. I’m not listening to that shit. I’ve taken enough hits to the head to know when something fucking hurts.”
Avery found herself nodding instead. “Yeah, it’s sore.”
“There was a lot of blood.”
“Good job it’s fresh water. No sharks.”
That wide, infectious grin tugged at his mouth. “I’d have sacrificed Sam to save you if it came to it.”
“I won’t tell him if you don’t.”
“Deal.” He lifted a bottle of water to his lips and took a long swallow. “Your friends seem like a cool bunch. When they’re not trying to kill you.”
Avery gave a small snort. “Yeah, Gemma’s as clumsy as she is sweet. She can fall over in the middle of a flat field but she’s literally the nicest person I know. She teaches kindergarten.”
“And Bel?”
“No one could call Bel nice or sweet—and expect to live.” Avery smiled at the thought. “She’s amazing. A total queen.”
“Amazing, how?” Having Tanner’s whole focus was a heady feeling.
“She has a mind like a bear trap—she qualified as a lawyer last year. She’s terrifyingly ambitious, a total badass, and really funny.
” Avery rolled the yellow pencil back and forth on the bar.
“Her parents live in Chicago and she has four brothers—all lawyers, all obsessed with their work. They’re kind of humorless.
You know, ‘time is money’ and all that. Next to them, Bel’s like a firework in an ash cloud. ”
“Sounds like you’re lucky to have her.” Tanner’s knee bounced. “But you’ve always had a lot of friends. You were popular at school with all the right people.”
Avery gave a dismissive snort as she assessed the items in front of her, playing for time. “I’m not sure any of us actually enjoyed each other’s company. It was more about teenage networking and maintaining an image back then.”
“What changed?”
Not wanting to go there, she straightened on the bar stool and brushed the question off. “Everything changed. I found my crew. I grew up and met Bel through an apartment share. She helped me care less about who my parents considered suitable friends.”
Tanner gave a low hum. “And Leo? The two of you seem close.”
Avery didn’t know if Johnnie and Mia’s return at that moment was a relief or a disappointment. She set the scavenger list down over the Kleenex and the condom.
“That was fast! And with an injury, too. Very impressive.” Mia gave Tanner a high-five, blotches of color highlighting her cheekbones as she looked side to side. “Where’s your haul?”
“We’ve got it sorted,” Avery answered noncommittally.
“We do?” Tanner asked out of the corner of his mouth.
“We do.”
She bent her head to run him through her plan.
With her lips a fraction from his ear, it was hard to ignore the close-up detail of the stubble on his jaw and the clean, soapy scent of his skin.
Even the cotton of Tanner’s t-shirt against her arm gave her a sensory shiver.
And the curve of his smile grew wider as she whispered.
Other pairs were coming back now, laden with random objects—some big, some small. The first few were out of breath, having taken the task seriously. Bel and Drew barged alongside Savannah and Griff in the doorway, creating a plug of bodies in the narrow space.
“You’re gonna break my ankle if you keep shoving, babe!” Drew’s plea was pained.
“First place has gone already so you’re playing for runners-up positions,” Johnnie called from the end of the bar.
Avery and Tanner gave the couples a smug little wave.
“Dammit, Ave—what the fuck!” Blinking between them, Bel was clearly torn between pouting and punching.
When the room was full again, the group formed a ragged semicircle around the bar, Avery and Tanner in the middle. Mia stepped forward to join them.
“Care to explain exactly how you’ve completed the list?” she asked skeptically, her brow a perfect furrow.
Avery moved the scavenger hunt checklist to one side. Underneath it, neatly placed, lay the yellow pencil, the Kleenex, and the condom. Tanner gave her a smirky chin lift and she plucked the tissue from the middle.
“This is flat, white, useful, soft, and I can fold it. It also starts with a T.”
“You’ve got to be freakin’ kidding me,” Bel groused, without heat. Others let out groans.
Avery hid a grin as she picked up the pencil and waved it. “Yellow, light, sharp, shorter than a toothbrush.” She licked along the length of it. “And wet.”
“Gross,” said Gemma.
“Pretty sure that’s not shorter than my toothbrush.” Griff tried to get picky.
Tanner plucked the pencil from Avery’s hands and snapped it effortlessly in half. “It is now.”
Reaching for the foil packet, Avery held up the condom. “This is something an adult would use and it makes you happy.”
“Makes me happier not using one,” Drew chimed in.
“Makes me happier than having a baby,” countered Bel.
“It’s round—well, inside the packet, it’s round,” Avery continued, “and it’s flavored so it should taste nice.” Her face expressed doubts about that. “Anyway, I’d like to give it to Tanner.”
He took it from her hand with a grin. “Thanks, Stretch. I’ll treasure it.”
“Now it’s a keepsake.” She was beginning to enjoy herself.
The heckling grew from a few lone voices to a rumble, but everyone was smiling, even as they complained.
“Tanner’s hot and heavy.” Avery reached for her glass and took a few sips. She couldn’t look at him when she said that.
“And Avery smells good.” He tipped his head toward her, his nose less than an inch from her hair. She steeled herself to sit still.
“So, that’s it, I believe.” She shrugged. “We’ve covered everything on the list.”
Mia was ticking each point off the sheet of paper in her hands. “Wait—you forgot something loud.”
Avery wrapped her free ankle around the leg of the barstool beside her and tugged. It hit the floor with a crash, narrowly missing Mia’s toes.
“Alright, Phineas and Ferb, that’s a wrap.” Sam shook his head.
Chuckling beside him, Kash kicked at the pile of stuff by his feet. “I can’t believe we have to put all this shit away now.”
Johnnie conferred with Mia and then announced, “Delgado and Stone get full marks for the scavenger hunt.”
“And lateral thinking,” drawled Griff.
Leaning closer, Tanner bumped her elbow with his. “Nice one, Stretch. You say Bel’s smart but that was fucking clever.”
Avery smiled. And just for a little while, the pain in her head receded and the weight of responsibility on her shoulders felt lighter.
She sipped her drink, leaned into the warmth of Bel’s arms when they threaded around her neck, and made no mention of the fact that her ankle stayed bound with Tanner’s as the chatter rolled on around them.