Chapter 38
thirty-eight
LOS ANGELES, CA
Avery held her hand out and stared at it, her heart hammering in her chest. She imagined her whole face must be bright red, matching the shade of her lipstick. She lingered outside the tent for another minute, collecting her thoughts while the chilly air lowered her body temperature again.
The whole night felt surreal, every turn of events unexpected.
She’d finally allowed herself to feel confident enough on her own, without depending on her parents or a boyfriend for validation at every turn.
She’d thought tonight would be the culmination of all the hard work she’d done over the last months not only on the event, but on herself.
She had finally come to terms with having Teddy in her life as only a friend despite her ongoing attraction to him physically. She’d convinced herself that it would wane over time. But the moment with Teddy had left her reeling.
I’m getting ahead of myself, as per usual. Teddy hadn’t said he wanted anything real. There was no way she was going to be able to resist him much longer, no matter how much it pained her to keep seeing him on his terms. Can I handle a casual relationship and keep my self-worth intact?
It was a lot, and she hadn’t been expecting any of it tonight.
I can do this.
It had really been an emotional and professional roller coaster of a season. But every time a challenge had been thrown at her, she’d risen to the occasion, she reminded herself. I can get through tonight, whatever happens next. I will be okay.
She re-entered the tent, her eyes adjusting to the lights after being in the dimly lit garden.
The guests had all been seated for dinner while she’d been outside and the volume had lowered considerably, chatter replaced by utensils scraping plates as everyone tucked into their salad course.
She made her way toward the front, where Josh was seated with her parents and brothers at their reserved table.
“Josh, I could use your help with something,” she caught him mid-bite and waited as he put down his fork and wiped his mouth with a crisp white cloth napkin.
“Could you do me a favor and sit with Nora?
She pointed to the empty chair at an adjacent table, where Zack should have been seated.
“I had to steal Zack away from her, and she could use some company.”
“Anything for you, beautiful,” he answered, standing up from his seat immediately, like a soldier at attention.
She suppressed a shudder. The word, even in another language, felt wrong coming from Josh’s mouth. That’s what Teddy calls me. It felt contrived coming from Josh, and it confirmed her hunch that Josh’s feelings for her were no longer strictly platonic. Time to nip that in the bud.
She didn’t have more than a second, but she had to do this now, so she could have a clear conscience before her impending rendezvous with Teddy.
She tugged on his arm, moving him a few feet away from the table. “Before you go, can I talk to you for a second?”
Josh looked at her, his blue-gray eyes shining. “Of course, what’s up?”
Avery took a deep breath. She wished she didn’t have to do this right here in the middle of all these people, but she couldn’t have this hanging over her head when she finally had the chance to talk to Teddy later.
“I hope you didn’t get the wrong impression when I invited you to be my date tonight.
I treasure our friendship, and even though we dated when we first met, I thought we’d both agreed we were better as friends.
” She paused. “I just sensed that maybe you thought tonight was more. And I could totally be wrong, but I wanted to make sure we are on the same page.”
Josh’s face fell, but he quickly pulled himself together. “Aves, I enjoy being around you in any capacity. I admit I got a little carried away in the moment tonight, but we’re good. Friends. Understood,” he nodded his head solemnly a couple of times.
Avery bit her lip. Ugh, he was trying too hard to look unaffected.
It didn’t exactly convince her that he hadn’t been hoping they’d be more than friends.
Asking him for a favor and then casually, but unequivocally, friend-zoning him before he could go do that favor, left her feeling like she didn’t quite fit in her own skin.
“Promise you’re okay?” she raised her eyebrows.
“I promise,” he confirmed, clearing his throat. Of course, he’ll be okay, he’s a grown man. Maybe he was feeling a sting of rejection, but Avery knew that he could handle it.
“Right, then. I’m going to switch tables,” Josh pointed his fingers at Zack’s now empty seat.
He walked away, leaving Avery entirely unconvinced that she hadn’t cruelly rejected him in a room full of people, some of whom were his colleagues and important professional contacts. She felt a bit guilty for how she’d done it, but she still knew it was the right thing to do.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Zack announced from the stage, “We hope you are enjoying your meal. I’m Zack Maimon, driver for the Silver F1 team.
Unfortunately, Al Roker was called back to New York due to the storms back east. I hope you won’t mind if my teammate, Teddy Ross, and I fill in tonight as your auctioneers? ”
The audience erupted in cheers and Avery thought she even heard catcalls and whistles from some of the ladies in the crowd. She felt a rush of satisfaction. Yes, he really is that hot. And if they only knew the real him, well, they’d be as gone as I am.
“Our first item up for bid tonight is this gorgeous yellow helmet signed by none other than our very own Teddy Ross, the second fastest driver on the team,” Zack announced, roasting his teammate a bit.
Luckily, the crowd was filled with F1 insiders who understood that it was good-natured ribbing between teammates and laughed.
The rest of the crowd followed suit, and the atmosphere turned jovial.
Okay, this is promising. She scanned the tables—who is going to bid?
“Our starting bid for this helmet, the actual one Teddy wore last week during the race, is $1,000. Do we have $1,000?”
“Zack, we have $1,000 from the gentleman in the red suit,” Teddy pointed to an NBA player whose hand shot up. You never knew who would be into memorabilia.
“How about $1,500? Do we have $1,500?” Zack sniffed the helmet. “Friends, I can verify officially that this is indeed the one he wore during the race. I’d know that smell anywhere.” More laughter from the crowd.
Eau de Teddy? Yeah, I’d know that smell anywhere too.
Avery wished she could catch Teddy’s eye, but he shrugged his shoulders and grinned at Zack, then turned to scan the crowd, looking for the next bidder.
They are adorable. Even better than Al Roker would have been. Avery wished having the two of them up there had been her idea to begin with. Maybe it would be the start of an annual tradition.
The helmet ended up going for a whopping $7,500.
Avery had projected it would bring in around $5,000, and she was pleasantly surprised by the good-natured bidding war that had broken out between the NBA player in red and an older woman.
The rest of the auction proceeded in much the same fashion, with lots of back and forth between bidders and light-hearted jokes from the drivers-turned-auctioneers.
“And that concludes our live auction. Thank you all so much for the support and generosity,” Zack thanked the crowd.
Caroline leapt on the stage, tapped Teddy on the shoulder, and whispered something into his ear.
Teddy tapped his mic, “Zack, we have some breaking news. I was just informed that we raised a record-breaking one million dollars tonight. Yes, that’s right everyone, never before has the Silver end-of-season gala done this well. Big congratulations to all, the Silver family, especially Avery.”
Avery’s mouth went dry. Holy shit. I’ve done it.
She’d raised more than enough for the new gym and for the scholarships.
Teddy’s eyes finally found hers, and she got the eye contact she’d been craving.
Avery felt her face dissolve into a full-on ear-to-ear grin.
It was like she was in a movie, where everyone else disappeared, like she and Teddy were the only two people in the room.
I’m about to be a puddle on the floor. Record-breaking results the first year I’m in charge of the gala with Teddy the one to break that news to me.
She wished the moment would never end. Surely, life couldn’t get any better than this.
Her heart pinged. Ok, fine, there’s one thing that would make life better than this.
The crowd erupted in applause one more time as the waiters reappeared with platters of peppermint brownies and slices of sheet cake.
And that was it. Her work was done.
She thought she’d feel a tremendous sense of relief, like the weight of a million breaks had been lifted from her shoulders. Instead, it felt like someone had poked a teeny-tiny hole in a balloon in her chest, letting a fraction of tension seep out. The balloon hadn’t popped.
Maybe after she finally had her chance to talk to Teddy. Yeah, it was going to pop alright, either exploding with heart-shaped confetti or gut-wrenching heartbreak.
“Avery, come sit down now and relax,” Ben called to her from her family’s table, breaking her near-euphoric reverie.
“I can’t. There’s one more thing I have to do,” she replied as she looked around for Teddy. He was no longer on the stage.
Her mom smiled. “I see. Does it have something to do with our unexpected auctioneer?”
“How did you know?” Avery asked.
“Well, I didn’t think he showed up tonight because he’s crazy about charity events and making small talk. Go on, then,” her mother waved her on, excusing her from the table.
She turned around to the tent entrance. Every fiber of her being wanted to take off the Cinderella heels and run outside to Teddy. But she knew she couldn’t, that it would cause a scene.
“Excuse me,” it was Lenny again.
Now, really?