“Definitely. You look gorgeous, Dale,” Cami answers, and the others nod in agreement. “Avery will be all goggle-eyed when he sees you like this.”
“Let’s hope so.” I smile.
The bass starts to pump outside, and it seems that the first guests have arrived, too, because the wind carries voices through the open window.
“Let’s go. The boys will be waiting for Dale and me,” Cami says, and we all follow her out.
Chapter 11
As soon as we step outside, we disperse. Hailey and Thalia, who told me to call her Thally, have run over to greet some other friends of theirs. Cami’s looking for Delsin, while I search the crowd for Ave, but I don’t see him anywhere.
I slowly walk through the sand and keep my eyes open for him. Suddenly, someone grabs my wrist and turns me around. “You look great.” Avery smiles at me, pulling me close and kissing me softly.
He tastes of alcohol. I don’t particularly like the taste, but it’s his birthday, so I don’t complain. It’s also the first time I’ve seen him drink at all.
“Thanks,” I say once he breaks the kiss.
“Would you like something to drink?” he asks.
“Yes. Water or Coke, if possible.”
Avery pulls me with him as he weaves through the throng of guests, who are already chatting or dancing. I only see young people, probably a lot of his fellow students.
We finally reach a beach bar that is all wrapped in bamboo. I notice the girls have really planned out every detail. I didn’t know it was a themed party, because the decoration was supposed to be red and blue. But now there’s this Hawaiian vibe, and even though Cami mentioned it earlier in the kitchen, I’m still surprised by the thoroughness of it. Of course, it’s very fitting for a beach party.
“Can I have a Coke for my babe?” Avery asks the barman loudly.
A giant bowl filled with ice cubes and Jell-O shots sits on the counter. When did they arrange all of this? I wonder.
Avery hands me a plastic cup filled with Coke. “Cheers,” he says, tapping his cup with mine. There’s beer in his, as I can see and smell now.
“Cheers,” I echo and take a sip.
“I’ve got to introduce you to someone,” he says, grabs my hand, and pulls me along with him again. He greets almost everyone by name as we pass them, although there must be thirty people or more here. I’m not sure what the exact number is, since I haven’t counted.
“Thierry? Thierry!” he calls out to a tall, dark-haired young man.
Oh God, is he going to introduce me to his brother? I panic.
Thierry notices Avery and comes over. “Hey, little brother.” He smiles and hugs Avery. Wow, Thierry is even taller than Avery. How is that possible?
“Hey, old man,” Avery counters. “I’d like to introduce you to Dale, my girlfriend.”
Thierry looks at me and his smile widens. “Aren’t you the girl who worked for Granny?”
I nod. “Yes. Hi.” I extend my hand. Unlike Ave’s, Thierry’s hair is cropped very short, but his eyes are the same dark blue. He also looks as athletic as his brother.
He takes my hand, but instead of shaking it, he pulls me into a tight embrace. His hug is so hard I think I heard my vertebrae snap.
“I’m so glad my brother finally found a decent girl,” he whispers into my ear.
If only that where the case.
“That’s enough. You're crushing her.” Avery smirks and pulls me from his brother’s embrace.
Laughing, Thierry takes a step backward. “I’m sorry, but Granny has told me so much about her I feel as if I already know her. And then you kept gushing about her on the phone.”
Avery shifts his weight when I look at him inquiringly. “I should say hi to the other guests. There are more people arriving,” he says, probably to escape his older brother’s teasing.
“Want me to come with you?” I ask.
“No, you stay with me, Dale,” Thierry interrupts. “Avery’s friends are mostly jocks and jerks you don’t have to meet.”
I suppress a giggle.
“Yeah, stay with Thierry. Get to know my idiot brother,” Avery agrees. Then he kisses me on the cheek. “Don’t run away, I look forward to dancing with you.”
“Okay,” I answer before breathing a kiss onto his lips and letting him leave. Of course, I stare after him.
“You have fallen hard, girl,” Thierry states.
I look at him. “Pardon?”
“I’m just saying, the way you stare at my brother, you must have fallen hard,” he repeats.
I sigh. “I guess you could say that.”
“And the same applies to him, I can see that. Especially in the way he can hardly take his eyes off you.”
My eyes search the crowd for Avery, and when I find him, I can see that he really does keep throwing glances my way.
When I look at Thierry again, he’s smiling at me. “You’re a cute couple. But, apart from being with Ave … what do you do? Study at The U?”
“No, not yet. But I just applied,” I explain. “I wouldn’t be able to start before the spring term, because I only sent in my application last week.”
“That’s right. Granny and Avery told me you had to earn the money for college yourself,” he says.
Shit! Why did Avery talk about this with his brother? “Yeah, that’s true,” I say aloud. “But my grandfather just died, and my financial worries have evaporated for now.”
“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss.”
I nod slowly. “Thanks.” As soon as I mention Grandpa, my good mood seems to evaporate as well. I can almost see it waving at me from the ocean as it vanishes.
“Would you like to dance? You look like you wanna dance,” he decides, grabs my hand, and pulls me with him toward the other people who are dancing on the sand.
“I don’t think I’m a good dancer, so I apologize in advance for stepping on your toes.” I smile innocently at him.
He mirrors my smile. “I’m no good either, but we can always let the music move us. Plus, there are so many people around us; nobody will notice what we’re doing.” He laughs and puts his hands on my hips. “Just move with the music, okay?”
“Okay.” I listen to the rhythm for a moment, and then I try to move in time. I shake my hips to the beat, and Thierry matches my moves. Our bodies move in time, which makes me wish it was Avery who was dancing with me, but he’s still welcoming all his friends.
The music becomes faster, so we try to become faster, too, and enjoy ourselves. Thierry’s moves are more for show now, though his dance style is quite unorthodox. I’ve also loosened up and fool around happily, because the main thing is to have fun, right?
For several songs we dance, goof off, and laugh a lot. Thierry is nice and also handsome, but I’m still in the process of falling irrevocably in love with Avery. Tomorrow, I’m going to tell him the truth about me, and I can only hope that he’ll still be speaking to me afterward. If not, I’m going to have to live with that. Of course, I’d prefer if his feelings didn’t change because of what I tell him, but I can only know whether that’s the case after I tell him. At least I haven’t linked my fate with his completely yet, otherwise his rejection would probably kill me, provided he rejects me. Stop with the negative thoughts already, I chide myself. Pessimism is my worst habit.
“God, I need something to drink,” Thierry gasps.
He offers me his arm, and I take it with a giggle. Together, we walk over to the bar. The giant bowl with the Jell-O shots is almost empty already. How is that possible? I thought I made far too many of them.
“Give me two beers,” he calls to the busy barman. But it seems to take too long, and suddenly Thierry leaps across the counter. I look at him in wide-eyed amazement, and he opens two bottles of beer, which were intended for later, when the kegs have been emptied. Then he comes back to me, walking around the bar this time. “Cheers,” he says, handing me one of the bottles.
I take it. “Thanks, but I normally
don’t drink,” I say.
“Do you want me to get you something else?” he asks, smiling.
I shake my head. “No. I’ll just drink this one beer, it won’t kill me.”
We clink bottles and I take a sip, looking around for Avery once again. Then I finally find him. Next to him is none other than Pearl, who has her hand on his upper arm and is whispering in his ear.
His expression changes from cheerful to angry when he spots me.
I gulp. “Uh-oh,” I murmur. “There’s Avery,” I turn to Thierry.
“I’ll get you to him safely.” He chuckles and offers me his arm again.
“He looks rather angry,” I state.
“Must be because of Pearl,” Thierry answers, still happy and excited from the dance.
The butterflies, which usually feel so good when they started to flutter up in my stomach, are making me queasy now. What happened to Avery’s great mood, and why is he staring at me like that? I ask myself.
We finally reach him. “Hey,” I say, stepping away from Thierry to take Avery’s hand, but he pulls it away. “What’s wrong?” I ask, feeling confused and humiliated by his rejection.
“You should go get your things and leave, Dahlia,” he answers, sounding extremely drunk.
“What? Why?” My confusion is mounting.
“Maybe because you didn’t tell him the whole truth about you, Little Miss Crack Baby,” Pearl blurts out.
I stare at her as if she’d just hit me. She’s grinning triumphantly, almost diabolically. “How … ?”
“When were you going to tell me about that, Dahlia? WHEN?” Avery yells at me.
“Man, could you please discuss that alone with your girlfriend, instead of in front of all your guests?” Thierry interferes.
“With my girlfriend?” Avery slurs angrily. “I don’t have a girlfriend anymore. I’m damn stupid, and I’m single!”
“Let me explain,” I plead as my vision blurs. I can’t believe he just broke up with me in front of his ex.
“No. You lied to me, and I had to learn the truth from my damn ex-girlfriend! I want you to leave!” he screams at me. “Get lost, you crack whore!”
I press my lips together in a thin line, force myself to nod, and turn around. I push my way through the throng of guests to get to the house and fetch my things. His last words hurt like hell. It feels as if someone stabbed my heart with a red-hot knife.
“Dale, what the hell is wrong?” Cami asks as I pass her.
“Ave … he broke up with me,” I force out hoarsely, but I fight the tears, not wanting to cry in public. I don’t want to give Pearl that last bit of triumph. I walk on, faster and faster, until I race up the stairs to Avery’s apartment.
My tears blind me as I search for my bag, which I quickly fill with my stuff. The only thing I want now is to get away from here without having to speak to anyone else.
But of course Cami comes rushing into the bedroom. “What happened, Dale?” she asks.
I start violently. “He broke up with me and told me to get lost.”
“But why?” she repeats.
“I think Pearl just told him what I kept from him,” I cry, slumping down on the bed. “I would’ve confessed this afternoon, but I didn’t want to ruin his party! But now he’s furious with me.”
“Fuck! And I was the one who told you to talk to him tomorrow, not today. Oh God, I’m so sorry, Dale.” Cami sits down next to me and pulls me into her arms, but I resist.
“I should pack my things and go home.”
“But it’ll take a whole hour to walk,” she says.
“I think it’ll clear my head to walk,” I answer, getting back up and putting the rest of my things into my bag.
“I didn’t drink anything. I’ll drive you home,” Cami decides and gets up as I carry my bag toward the door. I take everything but my toiletries. Avery can keep them or throw them away. He paid for them anyway.
Feeling unbearably sad, I place my present for him on his bed so he can open it later, when he goes to sleep. “Thank you, Cami,” I croak.
“I just have to tell Delsin quickly that I’ll be gone for a short while, so he doesn’t worry. I’ll be back in a minute. Just stay in the hallway downstairs, okay? The hyenas won’t get you there, and you’ll be safe from their gossip.”
I nod, and then we go downstairs together. I sit down on the lowest step while she goes looking for Delsin. I put my head down on my knees and decide that I will somehow have to blot this evening from my memory.
I should remember the good times and forget about the awful moment that feels like it has torn my heart in two. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I murmur and hit my head against my knees several times. I mustn’t let this drag me down and crush me. I have to move on, and I can’t allow myself to drown in self-pity. You are strong, Dahlia, get your act together, I chide myself.
“Here you are. I was looking for you,” somebody says.
I raise my eyes and look at Thierry. “I’m waiting for Camille; she offered to take me home.”
“You want to leave the field to this scheming bitch without a fight?”
“He sent me away,” I answer hoarsely.
Thierry sits down next to me and pulls me into an embrace. “I’m sorry Avery acted like an asshole. It was the alcohol talking. That’s not the way he talks normally.”
“That’s not an excuse for breaking up with me. But I should’ve been honest with him. It was my mistake, I know that. I just don’t understand how Pearl could know about my past.” I sniffle.
“I think I can answer that. Her father’s a cop, rather high up in the department. Maybe she just sat down at his computer and did some research. Considering everything I heard about her, she’s a calculating bitch.”
I hear the clicking of heels coming closer and look up to see who’s approaching.
“I found Delsin,” Cami informs me. “He said he’s going to talk to Avery tomorrow, once he’s awake and sober again.” She jingles her car keys.
I pull away from Thierry and stand up. “Thanks for the hug.”
“You’re welcome. Would you give me your number? I like you, and I think we can still be friends, even if my brother is a complete idiot sometimes.”
“I’ll give it to you later, Thierry,” Cami interrupts. “Are you coming, Dale?”
I nod at her and follow her to her car.
We get in, and she starts the engine. “There are wet wipes in the glove compartment, if you want to get rid of your makeup,” she says softly.
“Thank you.” I open it and take out the wipes. Then I fold down the sun visor and clean my face, checking the tiny mirror to see whether I got rid of all the black smudges around my eyes.
“I really hope Avery snaps out of it quickly. Did many people notice his meltdown?” she asks.
“The way Pearl was grinning, I suspect all of Avery’s friends know what happened by now,” I answer.
Cami sighs. “I am so sorry. If I hadn’t kept you from telling him today, and if he had heard it from you, I’m sure he would have reacted differently.”
“I don’t know, but if he so readily called me a crack whore, then he obviously only sees my mother’s deeds, not my own character,” I whisper. “I don’t want to think about it anymore, I just want to go to bed.”
“He called you what?” she blurts. She sounds upset, even angry. I can’t assess her emotions unequivocally, because I don’t know her that well yet. But then she adds, “I’m going to kill him.”
“No, it’s okay. That was exactly the reaction I was expecting. I guess I should be glad it happened before I fell for him completely,” I answer calmly. I’m frightened by my own dispassionate reaction. I don’t even know why I’m saying this. I guess I simply want him to be okay, to be happy. It’s no use for Cami to berate him.
“It is not okay. Nobody can say something like that about you and get away with it. Not even Avery. So your mother did some bad or stupid things. That is not your fault. You didn’t cho
ose to be her daughter!”
“I didn’t, no,” I agree.
For a few minutes, we don’t talk, and then we finally reach the house I live in now. “Delsin said you shouldn’t worry about the apartment or anything. He’s not going to throw you out just because Avery was stupid enough to break up with you.” She takes a deep breath. “You and I, we're going to stay in contact, okay?”
I look at her and force out a smile. “I’d like to be friends with you, but if that means you’re in trouble with Avery, I can understand if you choose him over me.”
“As if I would even think of choosing between friends! He better respect who my friends are.”
“Okay. Can I call you?” I ask shyly.
“Any time, Dale.”
I hug her once I’ve unfastened the seatbelt. “Thank you, Cami.”
“Don’t even. I’m here for you whenever you need it,” she whispers.
I nod, pull away from her, and get out. Cami hands me my bag, and I walk over to the house, where I quickly unlock the door to my apartment.
I let the bag drop to the floor and walk into my bedroom with slow, mechanical steps, feeling like a robot that might malfunction at any moment. I undress and lie down under the sheets. I haven’t even bothered to turn on the light, because all I want to do is sleep and forget.
Then I pull the covers over my head, hoping they can protect me from the merciless world outside, just like I did when I was a child, when my mom injected another shot or was servicing different guys. That was my naïve way of keeping the world from doing me harm.
I close my eyes, but I can’t find peace. Get lost, you crack whore. I hear Avery’s words echo in my head again and again. He sounded hateful when he uttered them. I want you to leave.
Little Miss Crack Baby. Pearl’s humiliating epithet joins the awful chorus.
I keep my eyes closed because I don’t want to start crying again.
“No!” I say out loud. “I can’t allow this to poison my heart! I’m stronger than this!” I try to brace myself for the onslaught of depression. I only wanted to be good enough for him. Turns out that was the dumbest mistake I ever made.
Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) Page 14
