Fries Before Guys

by Vale, Lani Lynn

“I’m going to have to cancel our lunch plans,” I found myself saying. “I’m going to go to her doctor appointment.”

  Katy rolled her eyes.

  “You’ve got it bad, little brother,” she teased.

  I did.

  And I wasn’t even going to deny it.

  “I like her,” she continued as if I hadn’t ignored her. “She’s a great person.”

  She was.

  Avery was a beautiful human being, inside and out.

  And to see her be so independent was humbling.

  I wasn’t even that independent when I was her age.

  “All right then.” Katy patted my shoulder. “You go meet with your girl. I’m going to go get my drive on. How about we meet at your place for dinner? Bring Avery.”

  I rolled my eyes at her order, then got in my SUV and started it up before googling how to get to her doctor.

  I found it easily enough.

  But getting back there to see her wasn’t nearly as easy.

  “Listen,” I said to the woman. “I’m her boyfriend.”

  Or… at least I wanted to be. Pretty badly, actually.

  But it was like the moment that I told her I wanted something more, she backed off as if she was protecting herself from where we might lead.

  The receptionist smiled at that and led me to an exam room.

  “The doctor will be in to see y’all in a few,” she said.

  I walked right in, my brow lifting in surprise when I saw Avery’s face.

  “Derek!” she said, standing up quickly.

  Her excitement to see me seemed like a good sign.

  But looks were always deceiving.

  “Is this him?” the woman with Avery asked.

  I’d yet to see her before.

  I’d gone to one other appointment with her and we’d seen the doctor’s PA, not the doctor herself.

  Which I assumed was who was in front of Avery now.

  “Yes, Dr. Neil,” Avery said shyly. “This is him.”

  I wondered what had been said about me, but instead of asking, I walked up to stand beside Avery.

  “I was just explaining to Avery how this was going to go,” Dr. Neil explained. “She was telling me that you were her ride home. I told her we had to use a bit of sedation here because of the pins.”

  I looked down at Avery and she widened her eyes.

  “I’ll be right back with a nurse,” Dr. Neil said. “And we’ll get started.”

  Dr. Neil left, leaving the door partially open as she went.

  “I swear to God,” Avery said urgently. “I had my phone out to text you. Look.”

  I looked, finding a partially written text message that said, ‘Hey, I know you’re busy but I’m about to…’

  I sighed. “You know I would’ve come to the entire appointment if you’d only just told me.”

  She opened her mouth and blew out a breath of air.

  “Derek, do you realize what you’ve done for me over the last couple of months?” she asked.

  I tilted my head sideways. “Yes, I do.”

  She looked at me imploringly.

  “Then you know that I’ve asked you to do a lot and have done nothing in return,” she said. “I honestly hate having to lean on you so much. Especially when I have nothing else to give back to you. You don’t need me. And honestly, Derek, that really sucks.”

  I looked down into her eyes, reading the sincerity there.

  “Up until a week and a half ago, I had dinner every night,” I said.

  Her mouth snapped shut, her teeth clacking audibly.

  “I had someone to talk to every night about my day,” I continued. “Sure, I had to drop you off and pick you up, but again, I enjoyed doing that because I got to spend time with you.”

  She looked down at her lap.

  “I thought that you felt that, too,” I continued.

  She brought her hands up to her face and scrubbed it.

  “I’m a walking disaster,” she said. “I’ve done nothing but make you work since I came into your life. And I really don’t like being a burden.”

  “Is it a burden when I want that person to be there?” I asked. “When I want to do those things for you?”

  “You don’t want to get me dressed in the morning,” she countered.

  She snorted out a laugh.

  “Getting you dressed in the morning was the highlight of my day those first few weeks,” I explained.

  She brought her head up and peeked at me from between two fingers.

  “It’s been a lesson in control these past few weeks,” I said, touching the metal haloing her forehead. “Probably a good thing. I’m not sure you’re ready for anything more.”

  Because on a scale of one to ten, I was at about a twenty-three of wanting her.

  She narrowed her eyes at me, her hands dropping from her face, and said, “Well you hide it very well then, because I’ve been tied up in knots these last few weeks. I finally had to move myself out because I was having these… thoughts.”

  My eyes zeroed in on hers when she said what she’d said.

  “What kind of thoughts?” I rasped.

  She straightened then, her face coming closer to mine.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she whispered.

  “Like what?” I challenged.

  “Like you want to eat me alive,” she answered.

  The door opened and a nurse and Dr. Neil bustled in.

  I made sure not to take my eyes off of hers when I said, “Because I do.”

  ***

  We walked slowly out of the office, my hand in hers.

  “This feels so weird,” she murmured. “My neck muscles feel like they’re just gone. Is my head bobbing?”

  I wiggled the neck brace that the doctor said we’d probably need for the first few weeks due to the muscles that’d atrophied in her neck and shoulders.

  “That’s why she sent this,” I said. “You want to put it on?”

  She shook her head and nearly toppled right over.

  I caught her around the waist.

  “I can shake my head!” she said on the front walk that led out of the building.

  I snorted and pulled her in close, her body pressed up against mine.

  “I have to go back to work,” I muttered. “I took a lunch break, but it’s getting time I head back.”

  She patted me on the chest and pulled away, but almost reluctantly, as if she couldn’t quite convince herself to leave my arms.

  But then my phone went off, indicating a SWAT call.

  “Fuck,” I hissed, pulling back and reaching for it.

  She pulled away from me completely and started heading toward my car.

  “I can call an Uber,” she offered.

  I shook my head and walked her to the passenger side, making sure she was settled safely inside before I walked around the front.

  “I’ll take you to the station and get someone to run you back home,” I countered. “You’re not riding in an Uber again.”

  She smiled.

  I drove fast through the streets of Kilgore, arriving at the station in less than five minutes.

  I was pulling into the assigned parking spot for my cruiser when a few of the men that were on my team came pouring out dressed and ready to go.

  They had my bag and were tossing it into the back of the armored vehicle.

  “Shit,” I said. “My team leader’s gonna be pissed.”

  I got out and called out to her over my shoulder. “Go ask my dad for a ride!”

  Then I was in the back of the vehicle and the doors were slamming shut.

  I never made it back over to her that night.

  By the time I finally got home, it was after one in the morning, and all of her lights were off.

  I chose to head straight inside my own house and fall into bed instead of waking her up.

  What I didn’t kno
w was that she was standing at the front door waiting for me.

  Chapter 12

  I don’t like you.

  -T-shirt

  Avery

  I walked out of my duplex and kept my eyes on my feet.

  My camera bag was slung over my shoulder, and my neck felt wobbly as fuck.

  But I was halo-free, and I had a job to do.

  I didn’t look at Derek’s place.

  He’d been home all day long and hadn’t once come over to talk.

  Which made me second-guess everything that he’d said the day before.

  Maybe I was just reading into the things he was saying, making them more than they were meant to be?

  I didn’t know.

  What I did know was that I’d been hired by the school to take photos of the prom, and I was going.

  Sure, I was dressed up, because I didn’t want to be that butt ugly person dressed in jeans and a t-shirt while everybody else was dressed in their finest.

  Luckily my mom had a dress in her closet that she’d worn to her own prom that I’d been able to fit into, or I would’ve been that loser dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

  As it was, I didn’t get to have my hair done professionally, nor did I get my nails painted like I’d heard so many other girls getting to go do before the prom.

  I had to paint my own nails.

  And I was wearing a pair of my mother’s high heels that were a half size too small.

  I guess I should’ve counted myself lucky that she had any at all.

  I lifted the hem of my dress and walked to my mom’s SUV that Katy had returned full of gas the night before, unlocking it and sliding inside.

  The doctor had mentioned that I couldn’t drive if I couldn’t move my head well, but my mom’s SUV had a shit ton of mirrors and a backup/cargo camera that would enable me to see what was behind me.

  Which meant dire needs called for extreme decisions—like taking my mom’s SUV and driving it for the first time since she was teaching me how to drive in it.

  Backing out of my spot, I waved cordially at the man who was sitting in his car outside of my house.

  I wasn’t sure who he was, but he must’ve belonged there because it wasn’t often that people even drove in here. At least not this far down.

  He looked familiar, so I’d obviously seen him before, but I was so fucking nervous that I couldn’t place him.

  I was going to the prom.

  Alone.

  Taking photos of my happy classmates and being forced to smile at them when they had made my life a living hell these last two years.

  I’d gotten an email today from my guidance counselor saying that I was in the running for Valedictorian.

  Me.

  I’d somehow managed to do the impossible.

  Or someone had managed to do poorly enough that I was allowed to sneak in there.

  Whatever the reason, my week of final exams next week would let me know where I ranked amongst my peers.

  I’d also been informed that Rachel wouldn’t be walking at graduation by the principal himself who’d called me that morning to explain. He’d also told me that Rachel wasn’t allowed to attend prom or after-prom activities, either.

  Not that I’d be going to those.

  I was to take photos of the prom and was also told that I didn’t have to take them the entire time. Just enough that they could put some in a slideshow at graduation.

  Parking my SUV in the back of the lot, I was just slipping out of the vehicle when I saw a name lighting up my phone screen.

  “Hey, Katy,” I said as I answered. “What’s up?”

  “Would it be okay if Logan and I came to test drive the car again?” she asked. “He wants to make sure it’s as good as I’m saying before he agrees to buy it.”

  I looked at the keys in my hand.

  “That’s fine,” I said. “But I took it to prom. I can leave the keys in the seat and you can take it. How long will you be?”

  “Where is prom being held?” she asked.

  “Maude Cobb,” I answered. “I parked in the very back of the lot.”

  She said something to who I assumed was Logan.

  “Logan says to leave the keys in the gas cap or something, not inside of it,” she said. “What time will you be done there? I’ll make sure that we don’t leave you stranded.”

  I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at the time.

  “At least a couple of hours,” I answered.

  “Okay, cool,” she chirped. “Thank you so much, Avery. You’re the best.”

  Grinning, I hung up and shoved the phone back inside my camera bag before hoofing it across the parking lot.

  By the time I made it to the front doors, I had a fine sheen of sweat on my upper lip and forehead, and my neck was already screaming.

  I smiled at the front desk attendant and gave her my name.

  She smiled, checked me off of some list, and pointed to the entrance with a smile.

  I walked inside and stared in awe at the transformation.

  Our theme this year was ‘ice’ or whatever that meant, and the entire place was straight out of a scene from Frozen.

  I blinked in awe, wondering how the hell they’d accomplished this, and pulled out my camera almost on autopilot.

  I moved through the room then, taking photos of the decorations, and thankful that I could get a good look before all of the students started arriving.

  I was knee-deep in glitter and tulle when I turned with my camera in hand and caught my first glimpse of a couple arriving.

  I moved to the edge of the stage and started snapping pictures, capturing the smiles and laughs of the students as they arrived.

  One by one, group by group, they showed.

  The music was switched to something techno, and the students cheered.

  I felt like I was on the outside, looking in.

  As if I was experiencing this, but also not experiencing it at the same time.

  Granted, in the grand scheme of things, this class wasn’t my original graduating class. But with Kilgore being as small as it was, the juniors were just as friendly with the seniors as they were with the sophomores.

  Kilgore’s prom was actually a mixture of juniors and seniors. But there were so many underclassmen here that this might as well have been a prom for the entire high school.

  A holler had me looking toward the entrance again, and this time the entire room went silent.

  The only thing that was making noise was the music on the speakers that were set up near the stage.

  The student body had gone utterly silent.

  I looked up from my viewfinder and spotted Derek entering the ballroom. Derek being the cause of all the quietness.

  He was wearing a tux.

  Full-on tux.

  It was black and fit him like it was specifically made for him.

  No store-rented tux for Derek Roberts.

  I lifted my camera and zoomed in on Derek, my breath catching in my lungs when I caught a look of his clean-shaven face.

  I loved seeing all the bearded guys that were on the SWAT team, and a lot of the times, Derek’s scruff went right along with them.

  But then there were other times that he shaved for some seminar or felt like it was getting too long.

  I moved my camera to pan down his corded neck to his chest.

  The shirt underneath his jacket was also black, as well as his tie. The only hint of color on him at all were the tiny little dots that were on his tie.

  Silver.

  Just like my dress.

  His hair was combed and parted to the side, slicked back into some semblance of control, and so not him.

  My heart skipped a beat when his eyes finally locked on mine.

  And when he started to prowl toward me, I somehow knew that he was pissed.

  I bit my lip and continued to snap pictures as he moved.

&nbs
p; A corded neck here. A square jaw there. A narrowed eye.

  Beautiful full lips.

  Smirking mouth.

  I dropped my camera when he cleared his throat right in front of me.

  I swallowed hard. “Derek.”

  He tilted his head slightly and said, “You said you didn’t want to go to the prom.”

  I blinked.

  “I didn’t,” I stated dumbly.

  “Yet you’re here,” he snapped.

  Whispering started toward my left and I narrowed my eyes at Brittany, the cheerleader that loved to give me just as much shit as Rachel.

  She was whispering to another jock that was on the football team.

  I rolled my eyes at them and took hold of Derek’s hand, leading him through the crowd to a room that led to the back hallway and the food preparation area.

  He stayed with me, never once letting go of my hand.

  I looked over my shoulder at him when I led him into a small, unoccupied room.

  Then, once the door was closed behind us, I put my bag and camera down on the table and turned to face him.

  He narrowed his eyes when he saw me holding my neck.

  “You should be in the neck brace,” he murmured.

  I rolled my eyes. “It would’ve looked great with this dress,” I said sarcastically.

  He growled. “You know what would’ve looked great? You on my fucking arm as I took you here.”

  “Why would I have thought you’d want to go to my prom?” I snorted. “You’ve been more than vocal about how young I am.”

  He ground his jaw together for a few moments before saying, “I understand that. What I also understand is that you’re a lot more grown-up than I am. Which I’ve already told you plenty of times before.”

  I rolled my eyes all over again then threw up my hands in frustration.

  “You’re off the hook, Derek!” I said. “I’ve been okay doing this. I would’ve been okay doing everything! I don’t need you!”

  He frowned ferociously at me.

  “Don’t you think I know that?” he hissed. “I know damn well you’re more than capable of doing everything on your own. That first night you were home from getting that brace put on, you took a shower by yourself because I wasn’t there. You exhausted yourself and dressed yourself in my clothes because you couldn’t figure out how to get your own on.”

  I blinked.

  “The next day, I was there, yet you still took a shower by yourself. And you figured out how to get dressed in your own clothes that day.” He threw up his hands.