I swallow back a smile and nod slowly. Then I put the pills on my tongue and wash them down with a sip of water. “Thank you.”
“Don’t you want to lay down?” he asks.
“That’s okay,” I murmur.
He sits down next to me and pushes me slowly back until I’m leaning against the back of the couch. “You really need to relax.”
Of course, I push against him. “Would you please stop? I don’t want to lean back.”
Avery immediately pulls back his hands. “Okay,” he murmurs.
After a moment of awkward silence, he says. “Let’s repeat my earlier question: Why did you run away yesterday?”
“Because the bus was coming, I was tired, and I didn’t want to become Pearl’s repeat victim,” I reply.
“It would have been faster in the car,” he insists.
“Possibly, but I don’t have to talk when I’m riding the bus.”
“You didn’t have to talk to me either.” He’s quiet for a moment then says, “I tried to follow the bus so I could at least take you home from the bus stop, but a red light thwarted my efforts. However … I know that bus line does not go to this part of town. Where do you really live, Dahlia?”
“Not around here,” I say evasively. He’s not going to get a clear answer. I get up and walk over to the door. “I’m going to put my glass away, and then I’ll start cleaning the house.”
As I leave the room, I hear him say, “I knew it,” under his breath, but I don’t react. I don’t want to lower my guard and set the record straight, because I’m afraid he’ll treat me just as awfully as his girlfriend did. In the kitchen, I start polishing the counter. I have to distract myself from Avery Morrison’s presence somehow.
He clears his throat behind me. “Why are you always running away?”
I exhale in resignation. “I’m not running away, I’m just trying to avoid you. There’s a small difference.”
Avery smirks a little. “You would get along great with my best friend. She has a loose tongue just like yours.”
“Is that so?” I say, showing no real interest.
“Maybe you could come over to our place some time? We live right next to the beach. Well, I live with my two best friends—they’re dating. It’s their house.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say. “I don’t want to meet your girlfriend again. One unwarranted attack is really enough for me. But thank you for the offer.”
“So I should stop making an effort?”
“Yes.” I throw the rag into the sink, as the counter is shiny enough.
“Are you going to tell me whether or not Pearl was a little bit right about where you come from?”
And then I crack. I blurt out, “She was wrong! I’m not poor, even though my clothes might suggest otherwise. I just don’t strut around wearing fancy designer dresses like that ass from the fairy tale—the one who shits gold coins! I don’t want anything to do with you or your friends, otherwise I wouldn’t have run away yesterday. For the last time: please stop annoying me. I just want to do my job in order to pay for college.”
He raises his hands in defense. “All right, all right. I was just trying to be nice to make up for Pearl’s nastiness. Message received: you can’t be bothered with me.”
“Bingo.” I walk out of the kitchen. I have no idea where I’m supposed to go to escape his inquisitive eyes. Finally, I call from the hallway, “Since your grandmother is out, I’m going to pass on today’s pay. I’m not scheduled to come in tomorrow, so please tell her I’ll be back the day after.”
Again, Avery follows me. “Can I take you home?”
“No,” I say, and leave the house quickly.
Chapter 3
One week and one red slip later, and I’m on the job hunt again. I was fired because the day I went home with my massive migraine, someone from the agency came to Trudy’s for a check and neither of us were there. The notice was all legalese and incomprehensible, something about not fulfilling the duties stated in the contract. I haven’t told Grandpa yet, because I’m afraid he’ll be angry with me, or worse—disappointed.
I’ve come to the beach again, where I found the morning paper in one of the trash cans. I sit on the shore reading the want ads until I’m interrupted.
“This is a private beach,” somebody says.
I raise my eyes from the paper. “Sorry, I’m going,” I apologize in my small voice. “I didn’t mean to intrude; there was no sign, otherwise I wouldn’t have sat here.” I try to fold up the paper that has pages scattered around me.
The man puts his hands on his hips and continues to stare down at me. He looks at his watch, like I’m wasting his time.
“What? Am I supposed to leave this here and litter?” I ask.
He shakes his head sternly and looks me up and down. “No, it’s good that you’re taking all your garbage with you.”
Always the same kind of dig from strangers.
“It’s all right, Deacon,” a woman’s voice calls. “She can stay.”
I turn to see a familiar figure. Her long brown hair is pulled back in a ponytail and her brown eyes are practically beaming at me.
“I’m leaving,” I tell her. “Don’t want to bother anyone.” This Deacon guy has already turned his back.
“You’re not bothering me.” She pauses. “Weren’t you further down the beach last week, drawing in the sand?”
I nod slowly and stand. “Yes, I was. I’m sorry again, I didn’t mean to intrude here.” Then I turn to walk away.
“Why don’t you stay?” she offers. “My friends are arriving any moment. Then there would be four of us, and there wouldn’t be an odd man out.”
“I’d rather not,” I decline politely. “But thank you. Have a nice day.”
“Dahlia?”
I freeze and then turn to see Avery approaching us. Unbelievable.
I roll my eyes and tell the girl, “I have to go.”
“Do you know Ave?” she asks.
“Unfortunately, yes. But I really have to go now.” I plod hastily through the hot sand.
“Dahlia, wait up,” Avery calls, and suddenly he grabs me from behind.
With a little too much force I break away from him, and the sleeve of my shirt tears.
“Oh no,” I breathe, close to tears. That was my last long-sleeved shirt. “Thanks for destroying my clothing.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispers as he pulls his hand back.
“That doesn’t get me a freaking new shirt!”
He doesn’t seem all that bothered by the shirt incident and changes the subject quickly. Why don’t you come see my grandmother anymore?”
“Someone took my job so I wouldn’t have to see you anymore,” I lie.
His face looks stricken. “Jesus. I promise I won’t show up when you’re there anymore. Just promise you’ll go back to help her. She says the new guy makes her irritable, and she wants you to come back.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Once again, I turn away from him to take a deep breath. “Because I was fired. I’m looking for a job.”
Avery sighs. “I’m sorry. Please come hang out with us. We could go for a swim, or just lie in the sun and talk. Use it as a distraction or, if you want to, you could check out some online want ads on my laptop.”
“Are all your friends as superficial as Pearl?” I ask.
“Not at all,” Avery answers with conviction.
I sigh. “Well I didn’t bring a bathing suit,”
“I’m sure Sweet Thing can lend you one of hers,” he answers with a smile.
I raise my eyebrows at the nickname. “And you’re going to leave me alone after today?”
“I have a few conditions,” he says with a smirk.
I study him openly. He really is handsome. He wears his black hair a little longer than most guys, but he looks trim and dapper. His skin is very tan and his eyes are as blue as the ocean behind us. “Conditions?” I e
cho.
“You allow me to take you out to dinner tonight and then I will take you home,” he says. He flashes me a wide smile that probably makes a lot of hearts beat faster.
“Dinner’s fine, but I’ll take the bus home.”
He looks exasperated. “Why?”
“Because I really like taking the bus.” I smile at him.
He chuckles and offers his hand. Reluctantly, I shake it to seal the deal. Avery walks me back to the girl I was talking to earlier, and now there’s a man with her—the guy from the beach last week.
“Hey, guys, this is Dahlia,” Avery says.
“Oh, we know her,” the man says. His hair is rather long, too.
“What? How?” Avery asks.
“We met her last week, just before the party,” the girl answers. “My name’s Camille, by the way, but everyone calls me Cami. Apart from these two. They call me Sweet Thing and Caramel.”
“And this weirdo is my best pal, Delsin,” Avery says.
“Hi,” I say shyly.
“Sweet Thing” Avery goes on, “didn’t you go shopping yesterday? Do you happen to have a bathing suit for Dahlia? Maybe a bikini?” He raises one eyebrow.
I feel like hiding my face in my hands, but I manage to maintain a straight face.
“Uh … yeah, I’m sure I have something,” she says. “Come inside with me, Dahlia.” She smiles at me as she leaves Delsin’s embrace.
“Run along,” Avery murmurs close to my ear. I nod slowly and follow Camille to the large beach house.
As we climb the whitewashed wooden stairs that lead up to the front door, she asks, “How do you know Avery?”
“I was a caretaker for his grandmother for a short while, but unfortunately I was fired,” I tell her.
“Did you screw up?” Her voice is warm, and thankfully she doesn’t seem to be reducing me to the state of my clothes.
“Kind of. I went home with a migraine and forgot to call my boss and let him know.” That’s close to the truth, but I don’t want to tell her I don’t even have a phone to call him with.
“That’s awful, firing your employees instead of having a little compassion,” she says as we walk into the house.
“Ah, yeah, I liked working for Trudy because she’s really sweet, but I can’t turn back the clock. I practically begged them to take me back, but it’s no use. I have to find something else.”
“Are you in college?”
“No, I’m working to save up to go eventually,” I explain. “I couldn’t get a grant, or else I would have enrolled this fall.”
Inside, we climb another set of stairs and enter a bedroom, where Camille opens a closet. “I bought a new bikini yesterday, but the bottoms are a little too tight for me. If you like it, it’s yours.”
“Oh, I couldn’t, Camille.”
“Call me Cami, and you have to take it. I really want you to have it if it fits, because then I don’t have to go back to exchange it. They always make a big deal when you try to return beachwear,” she explains with a smile.
“Do I look that indigent?” I ask in a quiet voice, lost in my deep-seated fear that everyone sees only my poverty—not me.
With a sigh, she hands me the bikini and walks over to the bed. “No. I can see you’re not wearing the same kind of clothes my friends do, but then again neither do I. Why should I judge your clothes before I know the person who wears them?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, but most people do, and it bugs me. Avery thinks I live in the same neighborhood as his grandma, but … that’s not the case.”
“Why don’t you just tell him the truth?”
“Because then he’d make fun of me.”
Cami shakes her head. “Maybe others would, but not Ave. Granted, he’s wealthy, but I’m his friend and I come from a farm in Texas. He doesn’t differentiate like that, as long as he likes a person. Why are you embarrassed about where you live?”
“I’m the daughter of a junkie from Liberty City,” I murmur. “There’s only embarrassment in that.”
Camille raises one perfect eyebrow. “Why are you telling me all this when you don’t know me, but you can’t tell Avery?”
I shrug. “It just slipped out,” I answer sheepishly. “I’d be grateful if you didn’t tell him, either, even though I know that’s asking a lot of you, given that we only met a few minutes ago.”
She studies me for a moment before shrugging. “Okay. My lips are sealed. Don’t ask why I’m going along with this, I don’t know. But I won’t tell Ave.”
I breathe a sigh of relief, wondering why it feels as if a great weight was taken from me. “Thanks, Cami.”
She gives me another warm smile. “Now go try that thing on, or else they’ll come barging in here to see if we’re making out or something,” she jokes.
“Okay. Where’s the bathroom?”
“You can change behind the folding screen. I’ll go get some more towels.”
I slip behind the Japanese-style folding screen and undress while Camille leaves the room. The bikini is a little … revealing, but I really like it. It’s green and the bottoms are more of a retro cut, which is very comfortable. I pick up my clothes and emerge from behind the folding screen.
“You can leave your stuff in here if you want, then change again when we come back,” Camille says.
“If that’s okay,” I say hesitantly.
“Of course. I wouldn’t have offered if it wasn’t.”
“Where should I put them?” I ask shyly.
“Just throw it all on the bed,” Cami says with a smile.
As I walk over to put my clothes on the bed, she studies me.
“You look great,” she says.
“Thanks, but I feel a little naked,” I admit abashedly.
Her smile grows wider as she walks over to the closet and takes out something else, which she hands me. “How about a sarong? You can wrap it around your hips; maybe that will feel better.”
“Thanks, Camille.” I wrap it around my hips and tie a knot on the left side. “Like that?”
Another moment of scrutiny, then she finally nods. “If you feel comfortable, it’s perfect.”
“Yeah, I do feel good.”
“Okay, then let’s go join the guys.”
Together we leave the bedroom and walk down the stairs. “How old are you anyway, Dahlia?”
“I’m eighteen. You?”
“I’m twenty … What do you want to study once you can afford it?”
“I … uh, I want to be a teacher. That would suit me, I think. What’s your major?”
“The sciences. Biology and chemistry, but I’m thinking of changing that. I’m still a freshman, so I could switch to law or something, but I haven’t really decided yet,” she tells me as we walk down the steps to the beach. “Oh! The boys are already in the water. Come on!” She starts running.
With a sigh, I follow her but stop at the water’s edge while she throws herself into the surf. I’m hesitant to go into the water without having anyone to hold on to. The waves are stronger than me, I know that.
“Come on, Dahlia!” Avery yells from a little ways out.
I shake my head, which induces him to trudge out of the water and come toward me. When he looms in front of me, his wet skin glistens in the sun. He looks like a cutout from an expensive magazine. Downright hot.
“Come in the water,” he murmurs.
“Would you give me your hand?” I ask shyly. “I … I know the waves don’t look that bad today, but I’m still a little afraid they’ll drag me down.”
He holds out his hand and I flinch as I take it, because it’s so cold. “I’ll hold on to you. Promise.”
“Thanks, Avery,” I say softly and walk slowly into the surf with him. The very first wave makes me stumble, so he pulls me close to his side.
“If we do it like this, you won’t fall,” he reasons.
“Okay.” I smile up at him and for some reason, I’m enjoying the way he’s pressing me close to his bod
y. He emanates the kind of security I’ve wanted for most of my life. We walk into the surf until the water reaches my chest. I’m not very tall, so it’s still shallow here. Avery’s still holding me, my head level with his chest. I don’t even want to know how tall he is, it would just intimidate me even more.
“Should we join Delsin and Sweet Thing or do you want to stay right here?” he asks.
“What do you want? I don’t want to decide,” I answer.
The corner of his mouth twitches up. “Then let’s stay here; we can always go out there later.”
“Okay.” That seems to be my favorite word today. I keep saying okay or all right, as if I don’t know any other words.
Avery takes a step back and studies me. “That bikini really suits you.”
In spite of the cold water I can feel heat infuse my cheeks. “Thank you,” I breathe.
“But you should put the strap back up.” He reaches out his hand and pulls the wayward strap onto my shoulder. The touch of his fingers is so soft that my skin answers with goosebumps. Why does he make me feel like this?
I clear my throat, force a smile, and splash him with water as soon as he steps back.
“Oh, that was mean,” he laughs and tries to catch me, but I slip away.
“You can’t catch me.” I smirk, but then a big wave sweeps me off my feet and pulls me under. Avery grabs my arm and pulls me back up.
“Are you all right?”
I spit out saltwater but then nod happily. “Everything’s fine.”
He wipes the wet strands of hair from my face. “Let’s swim out to the others.” But just then he’s pulled underwater, thrashing as he disappears from my view. For a moment, I’m terrified.
But then I see Delsin. He and Avery are wrestling underwater.
I look around and see Camille, who is swimming toward me. She has a wide grin on her face. “Delsin’s fooling around again.”
I smile as the boys break through the surface again, laughing. “Asshole,” Avery mutters.
“Ouch. You hurt my feelings just because I thwarted your sad attempt at flirting?” Delsin teases.
“Let them mess around, and let’s go back up the beach,” Camille says to me. “I could use a little peace and quiet.”
I agree with a nod, but Delsin pulls her close to him and kisses her with a passion I’ve only seen in chick flicks. It’s a beautiful kiss, but I feel awkward staring at them, probably showing my own yearning for something like that.
Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) Page 3
