Chapter 29 Avery
Avery
If Savannah had been manifesting perfect weather, she’d done a great job. The wedding fell on a beautiful day, when the sky was the color of cornflowers and the heat stopped just shy of sweltering.
Squeezed into Drew’s car, with Leo up front and Gemma and Bel alongside her, Avery linked her arm through Bel’s on the back seat as they drove to the venue.
She wasn’t a toucher in general but the past couple of weeks had left her craving some comfort, and she only ever really felt this way with her friends. And, more recently, Tanner.
But thinking about touching Tanner was not allowed.
Even thinking about thinking about touching Tanner was hazardous.
God! If only her body would get the memo that Tanner Stone was not for her.
She’d barely seen him since his injury, and they’d never discussed—or revisited—that kiss in the kitchen.
He’d pushed her away just as she’d been tempted to take a step closer, and it was messing with Avery’s brain until she didn’t know how to feel anymore.
She missed his easy company with a strength that scared her more than taxes or tarantulas.
For such a walking green flag, Tanner had danger written all over him.
More and more, he invaded almost every one of her thoughts.
Their connection was too addictive, his offers of support too enticing.
She was scared she might never sleep with anyone else who could make her feel so good, and guilt-stricken that her messed-up family situation had forced him into the surgery he dreaded.
The suspicion that she could fall for Tanner in a big way terrified her.
And if she did, Avery wasn’t sure she’d ever find her way out again. Just like her mom.
In short, she was a seething mess of worry and panic, and it was exhausting.
“Those colors are absolute fire on you,” Bel said as she unthreaded her arm to reapply her lipstick in her compact. With a grateful smile, Avery ran her hands across the satin material spread over her knees.
It was a bit of a splurge purchase, but she’d not been able to resist the sleeveless multi-toned dress with the low, softly draping neckline.
It skimmed her hips and fell to mid-calf, with a long side slit which flashed her legs.
Blending from a deep plum at the top into pink just below her breasts, the color shifted again in a subtle wash to teal as it hugged her butt.
Darker and darker to the hem. She’d fallen in love with it online and placed the order with a squeal.
“Someone’s gonna love it,” Bel whispered in her ear now, eyebrows comically waggling.
“Babe, let me remind you of our mantra.” Avery adopted a stern tone. “‘We dress for ourselves. If we dressed for guys, we’d spend most of our time naked.’”
She wasn’t wearing this for Tanner, it was all for her.
It had been a long time since she’d felt like buying herself something pretty, especially with the workshop to rebuild and the vindictive comments still targeting her online videos, and she needed the injection of confidence. Avery hoped it would all settle soon.
But as it turned out, someone did love it.
Tanner’s confident stride faltered as they came face to face for the first time in days.
“You clean up good, Stretch,” he drawled huskily, that dimple setting Avery’s heart knocking in her chest. His left hand rose to fiddle with his strapped-up shoulder.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she replied, a little breathless, a little shy, and her greedy eyes took delight in ignoring all cautionary warnings, devouring him from his head to his shoes.
In a pale gray check suit and white dress shirt, Tanner was the image of cool, sharp elegance, and the navy sling did nothing to counteract it.
He made Avery’s mouth water. It’d been the same at school, back when he had nothing to offer but that damn grin.
And now, with adulthood bringing adult feelings, his smile stoked such an instant fire deep in her belly she had to check each time that her clothes hadn’t melted straight off.
How on earth was she supposed to resist him when he looked like this?
“Oh, listen to the two of you. Utterly adorable.” Bel clutched at her heart, her best “Proud Mama” look on her face. “You’re the loveliest. No, you’re the loveliest! It’s too cute for words.”
“Pull yourself together, man. You’re showing the rest of us up.” Drew gave Tanner a friendly shove as he walked by, but it was with twenty percent of his usual force.
Left alone as the others wandered off, they both gave a half-laugh.
Time was a fluid concept within the circle of Tanner’s presence and Avery fought an overwhelming urge to step forward and press against his chest, lift her lips to find his mouth.
She could almost taste him from here. Her body knew the fit of him now, and it didn’t recognize the need for reins.
It was a big problem.
“How’s your arm?” she asked, hearing the nerves when her voice cracked on the question.
“Much better.” He glanced down. “Only wore the sling for sympathy. Might lose it later.”
Avery, examining his face, saw the remnants of stress behind his smile. God knows he had a right to be concerned.
“I’m sorry I’ve been a dick this past week,” Tanner said roughly, and his throat constricted as he swallowed. “I just needed some space.”
She’d known that. Had even told herself to try to use it to distance herself a little. But it hadn’t worked for shit.
“That’s OK.” Avery shrugged. “I get it.”
“No hard feelings?”
She grimaced. “Hey, you’re talking to the girl who dragged you into the bar scrap in the first place. I should be asking you that.”
Shaking his head, Tanner took a step closer. “No hard feelings on my part, Stretch. Not a single one.” He offered her the crook of his left arm. “How about we put all this aside for today and just enjoy ourselves?”
With only the smallest of hesitations, Avery slotted her hand through his elbow, her heart thrilling in secret delight at the opportunity to touch him so publicly. After all, appropriate contact was practically compulsory at weddings, right? It would be rude not to.
Only, this contact felt less appropriate than it might look.
The heat of Tanner’s body through the sleeve of his jacket had Avery’s fingers clenching as her palm burned, and his thigh brushed her hip with each stride.
His natural scent mingled with his cologne—a mixture of wood and something peppery that tickled the back of her nose—triggering a mini firework display in her brain.
It was a good job the venue went some way toward a distraction or she would have been toast before the ceremony even started.
When Tanner led her into the rustic barn, Avery’s jaw dropped at the vast space, exposed beams, and tastefully decked-out interior. “Wow—this is stunning!”
“It’s over one hundred years old. Savannah was bending my ear about it.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“You have to cross a little bridge to get to where they hold the ceremony. It’s this way.” Tanner guided her across the timber flooring and out through a huge sliding door at the rear.
Guests milled with drinks in hand, laughter and uplifted voices layering over one another like a serving of lasagna made from buoyant feelings and happiness. Avery couldn’t see Bel, Drew, or Gemma in the swathe of people but spotted Leo chatting with Johnnie and Mia nearby.
A young guy with a practiced smile offered them drinks from a table set up on the grass, and Avery gave up Tanner’s arm so he had a free hand to take one.
“Come say hi to Dex,” Tanner said, threading his way between groups of people until Avery spotted his mom, Henry, and two brothers in conversation with an older couple. “He got in late Thursday so he’s just about over the jetlag.”
They were greeted with smiles of welcome.
“Avery, this is Griff’s mom and dad. Avery’s an old school friend.” Tanner made the introduction without fuss, raising his glass to his mouth left-handed when he’d finished.
“What a gorgeous dress!” said Cassidy.
“Thank you. You look beautiful, too.” Warmed by the compliment, Avery might have given Tanner’s mom a kiss on the cheek if Dex, taller than she remembered and wearing black-rimmed glasses, hadn’t stepped forward to drag her into a friendly embrace.
They’d been in the same grade at school, even teamed up in Debate Club once.
But Dex had been smarter than her and a math nerd, so their contact had been limited.
“Hey, stranger.” His grin was softer than Tanner’s. “Good to see you!”
Tanner gave his brother two seconds before nudging his arm firmly from Avery’s shoulders.
“You too,” said Avery, taking a sip of her drink. “Love the glasses, but where’s the British accent? I thought you might sound like Jude Law by now.”
“I didn’t realize that’s what the single ladies are after.” Dex lifted an eyebrow. “Would it work on you?” Tanner’s arm came possessively around her waist and Dax swallowed a smirk. “Ah, don’t worry . . . gotcha, bro.”
“Tan doesn’t need the accent. He’s cashing in on the sympathy card,” Reid chipped in carelessly, and Avery felt Tanner’s flinch through the fingers that flexed on her hip just before he released her.
Henry seemed to spot it too, smoothly diverting their attention with an unexpected confession. “It worked when I met your mother.”
“Henry Marler!” Cassidy narrowed her eyes at her partner. “I helped you get home because you told me you’d fallen off your bike and might have a concussion.” She turned to Avery. “Ten months it took him to own up to the fact he’d come off his bike a week before we met. A week. Concussion, pah!”
Avery giggled. And Tanner relaxed again, smirking with his brothers, while Henry looked quite pleased with himself.
“I’m not often a quick thinker. That was some of my finest work,” he said, pressing a kiss to the back of Cassidy’s hand.
“People are taking their seats.” Griff’s dad nudged his wife. “Better not keep the happy couple waiting.”