“Don’t you think you should see a doctor?”
“Well, it’s not that bad,” I say evasively.
Avery sits up and examines my shoulder. He touches it cautiously, but I whimper. “Let’s go see a doctor.
“No. I can keep this arm still,” I answer calmly. “It’s okay when it’s still. It’s only a bruise. It’ll be gone in a few days. Believe me, it’s okay, Avery.”
“Why are you so obstinate?” he asks.
“I don’t like doctors, and I also have to work and can’t afford to be sick because of this damn shoulder.”
“You have a job again?”
I nod. “Yes, at the diner. Let’s just wait until Monday. If it isn’t better by then, I’ll see a doctor, okay?”
He tilts his head and studies me, so I put on a pleading face. “If you say so. Do you have insurance with the job?”
“Yes, I do.”
“That’s good.”
I slide off the bed and notice that I’m only wearing panties. “We didn’t … yesterday … or did we?”
“No, we did not.” He smiles and gets up as well. “Do you want to do something together today?”
I take a deep breath. “I have to study. I’m not working next week, so I can get into my college routine, but I really need to make use of every minute I have, catching up on the lectures I’ve already missed.”
Avery gets dressed slowly. “How about tomorrow?”
I shake my head. “I have a lot of material to catch up on. I’m not kidding.”
He utters another sigh. “Can I help you with any of that? We could study together, and I might be able to help you with some things,” he suggests, sounding hopeful.
I rub the back of my neck thoughtfully, but I smile at him. “Maybe you could go get us some breakfast while I take a shower.”
“Do you still drink hot chocolate in the morning, or have you finally switched to coffee?” he wants to know.
“Both.” I grin. “And I like my coffee black. And now I’m going to head for the bathroom, because I feel dumb standing naked before you.”
He chuckles and breathes a kiss on my cheek. “I’m going to take the key, okay?”
“Okay.”
***
“I’m back,” Avery calls as I turn off the water.
“Give me another minute!” I yell back and towel myself dry. It hurts, but I manage to do it on my own. I’ll have to get used to the pain right away, so it won’t slow me down the next few days. I put on my underwear and a dress. Then I wrap a towel around my hair and join Avery in the living room, which doubles as my dining room.
“There you are.” He smiles. “I bought coffee, hot chocolate, a few rolls, and even croissants.”
“Awesome.” I grin and sit down at the table to avoid another kiss.
Avery sits down next to me and studies me intently.
“What’s wrong?” I ask when I notice his stare.
He blushes. “I just realized how much I’ve missed looking at you,” he answers shyly.
I look at my plate because I still feel uncomfortable when I think about what happened on his birthday. “You know my opinion on that by now.”
“Yes, but I’m such an idiot, Dale. I had the most beautiful girl in the world, she was mine, and I sent her away. I must be a lunatic.”
“Do you know how I felt with you?” I say.
He shakes his head. “No. Tell me.”
“I had the feeling I was invincible. I felt so strong, and I was so unbelievably in love with you. But when you told me to leave, I felt as if I was looking after you, but you never turned around, even though you knew I was still looking at you. You left me with the feeling that I wasn’t good enough for you, although you’d told me differently before.”
“That must be a shitty feeling,” he murmurs, sounding ashamed.
“Yes, it is. I don’t think I even felt as horribly when Grandpa … you know.” I shake my head fiercely. “No, forget that, it was a stupid comparison.”
“I can imagine how horribly it hurt, only in a different way,” Avery says. Then he raises his cup to his lips.
I sigh. “I don’t want to think about it anymore.”
“Me neither.”
“Did you love me? I mean before. When … when you didn’t know about my mother yet?” I ask him again.
“I was in love, and all my feelings have reasserted themselves since I saw you in the cafeteria,” Avery admits freely.
I hide my face in my hands theatrically. “That sounds unbelievably dopey.”
“What? That my feelings have returned just like that?” he asks.
“Yes.”
Avery laughs softly, but there’s no mirth in the sound. “Then I guess I’m a dopey idiot.”
I smile at him. “Let’s have breakfast.” He really is a dopey idiot. You can’t have feelings for someone, then crush them, and then, poof, they magically return. But … wait a moment … didn’t I feel that single butterfly rise up in my stomach last night? I remember a whole swarm of them fluttering in my stomach once. Will that swarm ever rise again? I grab a croissant and dunk it in my cup, trying to suppress these musings about my feelings.
“Please give us another chance,” he interrupts the silence that descended on us.
Surprised, I look at him. “This is such a roller coaster, Avery. It’s too fast for me. We haven’t spoken in over three months, and then we suddenly run into each other and you tell me you love me. Afterwards, you modify that to being ‘in love,’ and you also knock someone out because they were chasing me. I’m … confused. And in the cafeteria, it looked as if you and Pearl were together again.”
“We went out together a few times, but whatever was once between us, it was dead and gone.”
“You had your arm around her,” I protest.
He heaves sigh. “I’m still single, but I want us to be together again. The worst that can happen is that it goes wrong.”
“I don’t want to end up an emotional wreck again,” I say softly.
“Me neither. Dale, I felt taken for a giant fool because I had to hear it from Pearl, of all people. She practically wallowed in the shitty way I treated you and kept bringing it up again, even when she and I went out. I don’t want someone like that. I want you. You are perfect for me. You are the girl I’ve always dreamed of.”
“If that were the case, you would have acted differently. I can’t be the girl of your dreams. If you wanted me … ” I pause, taking another deep breath. “I think we should try to be friends first.”
His shoulders sag as he stares down into his cup. “But there’s a chance that we—”
“Yes,” I interrupt him impatiently.
He looks at me again and ventures a shy smile. “Thank you.”
I merely nod, and then I remember my croissant. It’s been soaking in the hot chocolate for a long time. When I lift it out of the cup, the tip comes off. “Damn,” I swear, fishing it out with my spoon.
“Head in the clouds?”
“No, just distracted by our conversation.”
“Oh.”
Silence descends again as we eat. I realize I’m very hungry, but I keep thinking about the things we just discussed. I try to remember what Grandpa told me before they took him to the OR.
“I’m sure that you will find happiness in this life.” Those were his exact words, and maybe he was talking about Avery. But if he knew what happened afterwards, he would think me crazy for even considering giving Avery another chance.
“Thierry told me you got your driver’s license,” Avery breaks the silence.
“Yeah, a few weeks ago, because we’re going to take a trip together,” I say.
“Where do you plan on going?”
“Santa Monica,” I reply. “Your brother wants to visit some friends, and I’d like to see the pier and Pacific Park.”
“Would it bother you if I came along?” he asks.
“I think that should be up to Thierry, not me. It’s h
is trip, after all, but he keeps postponing it, so I’m not sure it’ll ever happen.” I smile.
He smirks. “Thierry is great at making plans, but less so at going through with them. But if you really want to go, the two of us could make the trip?”
“But I promised Thierry I’d go with him. Wouldn’t it be unfair if I went on the same trip with you instead?”
Avery gives a sigh of resignation. “Yeah, although it’s a pity.”
“I don’t want to leave him out. That’s not my style.”
“I get that, but I can still think that it’s a pity, can’t I?” he insists with a half-smile.
“I didn’t say you can’t,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get on your nerves.”
“It’s okay, you aren’t.”
We finish breakfast, and then Ave helps me study for a while. Even though he’s studying architecture, he grasps the content of the lecture notes quickly and explains a few things so that I understand them, too.
Chapter 15
It’s been two weeks since Avery stayed overnight. We ran into each other a few times, but only briefly and on campus. Mostly, I’ve tried to evade him so I won’t become weak again. Meanwhile, my shoulder has stopped hurting. The attacker must have landed an unfortunately hard blow, but nothing’s broken.
“Hey, Dale.” Sky waves as he enters the diner where I work. I’m working the late shift tonight, and Thierry promised to come at closing time to see me home safely. When I told him about my unfortunate encounter with the three thugs, he decided he wouldn’t let me walk home alone on my late-shift nights.
When Sky and his friend sit down, I walk over to their table. “Hey. How are you doing?”
“Still as dandy as I was this morning.” He grins. “May I introduce you to Blake?”
I nod at his friend. “Hi. My name’s Dahlia, or Dale for short.”
He shakes my hand. “Nice to meet you, Dale. I’m Blake.”
“Nice meeting you, too.” I smile at them and take out the small notepad I use to write down orders. “What would you guys like?”
“I’ll take the chicken strips and the chili fries,” Sky says.
“Make that two,” Blake adds when I turn to him.
“Anything to drink?”
“Coke,” they answer in unison.
“Coming right up.” I smile as I leave the table.
“Shit, man, that girl is hawt!” I hear Blake’s voice as I walk over to the counter. Heat infuses my cheeks. I clip the order to the wheel in the pass-through between restaurant and kitchen, turn the wheel, and hit the bell that tells Andrew there’s a new order to prepare. Then I pour the two Cokes and bring them to their table.
“Thank you, Dale,” Sky says and smiles at me.
“Thanks,” Blake echoes. Blake is a handsome guy. He wears his blond hair short and spiked-up with gel with the tips dyed black. His skin is very tan; Miami people are really a bunch of sun worshippers. His eyes are an intense bright green. They practically radiate as he smiles at me.
“You’re welcome. The food will be ready in a minute.”
I proceed to take the order of the next round of guests and collect the money from another table before I return to my spot behind the counter. The job’s not that exciting, but it earns me enough money to get by without having to take from my savings account.
***
Unspectacular. That’s my verdict on this day, which has finally reached its end. Me and my coworker Caydie, who’s three years older than me, have already balanced the drawer and changed from our waitress uniforms back into our own clothes.
“Man, am I glad this day is over. I hate it when DJ comes in to eat,” she complains.
“The guy in the leather jacket who stared at you earlier?” I ask.
She nods. “Yes. He’s my ex, and he won’t accept the fact that we broke up, so he keeps showing up.”
“If you want me to, I’ll take his orders from now on. Then you don’t have to deal with him anymore,” I offer with an understanding smile.
“You would really do that?” she asks, and her freckled face brightens.
“Sure. Why not? I think you would do the same for me if Avery, my ex, showed up here.”
“Of course I would. Do you have a new boyfriend at the moment?” she wants to know.
I shake my head. “Nope.”
Caydie shakes out her strawberry blond hair. “Oh, I thought you were with this mystery guy who picks you up after the late shift,” she admits.
“That’s Thierry, my ex-boyfriend’s brother.”
“Avery, Thierry … Wait a minute. You dated Avery Morrison, captain of the football team?” she asks, suddenly all wide-eyed curiosity.
I nod. “But that was more than three months ago. We broke up when some things came between us.”
“Oh, and I suspect these things were all called Pearl Stiles.”
“How do you know so much about him?”
“I know them both, we grew up together,” Caydie explains. “And I also know that she’s a total bitch.”
“Oh, well, I wouldn’t call her bitch,” I muse.
“What would you call her?”
“An ugly, calculating monster.” I smirk.
Caydie giggles in surprise. “Yeah, that fits better. The worst is that she still tries to sneak up on Avery hoping to get him back. He recently visited his parents, and only a few minutes later, she was at their door, too. The scene she was making because he doesn’t want to be with her anymore … It was unbelievably embarrassing, at least in my eyes. I’ve rarely seen anything more gratifying from my balcony,” she finishes in an amused voice.
“What happened exactly?” It’s great that she knows Ave, because now I can finally talk about my failed relationship with someone from the outside, someone who wasn’t there when we were together.
“Well … She arrived about fifteen minutes after he went in, marched into the house, and obviously talked him into discussing their issues in the backyard. I only noticed their argument because she kept yelling at him. So I went out on the balcony to eavesdrop. That may not be very tactful, but I admit I can be quite nosy.
“In any case, she told him she was better than the wallflower he was pining after, that he should finally see the light, and so on and so forth. But then Avery suddenly screamed at her. He told her not to talk like that about the woman he loves. The whole thing ended with Pearl crying bitterly and Avery’s dad threw her out of the house after she’d taken to vandalizing the yard. Mrs. Morrison is the proud owner of some prize-winning rose bushes, and Pearl had started to rip them apart. You should have seen her go postal. It was quite a sight.” Caydie laughs. “I’ve never seen so much drama outside the movies.”
I chuckle. “I wished I could’ve seen that. She’s the one who separated us with her awful mouth, so I guess she deserved to be taken down a notch.”
“Oh, believe me, she deserves that and a lot more.” Caydie grins.
We start laughing out loud. It’s nice to know someone who likes Pearl as much as I do … not at all.
Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door, and we both start. But it’s only Thierry. “Thanks for waiting with me. Can we take you anywhere?” I ask Caydie.
She shakes her head. “No, thank you. Thierry and I have a difficult story of our own, and my car is outside anyway.”
“You two dated?” I blurt out.
“Yes, when I was in high school,” Caydie says.
“Wow.”
“But that’s long past.” She smiles and walks with me to the door.
“Will you tell me more about it?” I ask curiously.
“What shift are you working tomorrow?” she asks.
“Late shift again.”
“Then I’ll tell you tomorrow after work,” she promises.
We leave the diner, and Caydie locks the door.
“See you tomorrow.” I smile.
She kisses me on the cheek. “Tomorrow, pumpkin.
”
I look after her to see that she makes it safely to her car before I get into Thierry’s. I notice he’s also looking after Caydie. “Hi,” I say. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“No problem, it was only a few minutes,” he says, waving a dismissive hand.
“Still, it wasn’t nice to make you wait.”
“There are worse things, Dale.” Thierry starts the car. On the street, Caydie is ahead of us, and he follows her closely.
“Old love never dies, they say,” I tease.
He flinches, and then he looks at me. “What?”
“Nothing, forget it.” I giggle as I buckle up.
“I know her,” he says. “I didn’t know she works here.”
“She mentioned that you two know each other,” I say vaguely.
“Yeah. Way back. And it didn’t work out. But I don’t live in the past. I prefer to look toward the future.”
“Sounds like a good attitude,” I agree thoughtfully.
“Maybe you ought to make it yours then,” Thierry suggests.
“Maybe, but sometimes the past seems too good to put it to rest,” I admit. “And I feel I can take strength from some of my memories.”
“Which ones?”
“Well, memories of my Grandpa, especially when he told me he was proud of me just before he died. And also some memories of Avery.”
“Maybe it’s the same for me with Caydie,” he murmurs.
“I thought you said you didn’t live in the past,” I protest.
“That’s true most of the time, but whenever I see her, I somehow feel better than I did before. We only broke up because of a stupid fight, and it was her best friend who provoked it.”
“What happened?” I ask, genuinely interested.
“Pam told her I made a pass at her and hid one of her earrings underneath my pillow,” he explains. “Caydie found the earring, recognized it, and yelled at me. More than that. We had an awful fight. We both cried a lot, and in the end we sort of made up, but then Pam claimed I slept with her. Which led to Caydie breaking up with me and with Pam.”
“Sounds like a really rotten thing to do,” I say.
“Pam was a fucked-up little bitch who destroyed everything she couldn’t have for herself,” he answers angrily. “I still hate her for it.”
Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) Page 19
