The Hard Way

by Katie Ashley

  “I probably deserved that. I was pretty hard on him.”

  “Nah, he deserved whatever you gave him, especially with your history.”

  Warmth rushed to my cheeks. “He told you about us?”

  “Yeah, the first day he came home from The Ark. Also, I sorta already knew about you before that because he sometimes talked about you when he was drunk.”

  I gulped. “He did?”

  Jonathan nodded. “Usually I was drunk as hell too, so I didn’t know a lot of the specifics of the story.” At what must’ve been my horrified expression, Jonathan said,

  “Don’t worry, Avery. It wasn’t like he described having sex with you. He just whined about missing you and shit.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  Oh. My. God.

  Cade talked about me when he was drunk. Cade missed me when he was drunk. Jonathan’s revelations had me feeling like I had stumbled into an episode of The Twilight Zone. I wondered what else talking to Jonathan would unearth about Cade. I guessed all I could do was ask and see.

  Just as I leaned forward to get the dirt, I heard a door open down the hall. Damn. I would have to get Jonathan alone another day and ambush him with questions—and yes, I was totally and completely pathetic.

  CADE

  After I got in from The Ark, I had about half an hour before Avery was supposed to pick me up. While she had left work early to get ready, I had stayed behind to play basketball with some of the guys and girls, which meant I was a sweaty, stinky mess. Ordinarily that wasn’t an issue, but that night I was supposed to be getting my holy on while sporting a suit and tie. Because of that fact, I decided I better make the time to hop in the shower.

  Somehow I managed to shave, clean up, and get dressed in a record amount of time. I had just come out of the bathroom and was straightening my tie when the sound of Avery’s laughter floated back to me. Of course Miss Punctual would be early.

  When I threw open my bedroom door, I froze at the sight before me. Avery and Jonathan sat on the couch together playing with Evie while smiling and laughing at each other and at Evie. They could’ve been the perfect picture of a couple, and that thought sent jealousy pulsing through me. It wasn’t just about not wanting Jonathan to have Avery—I didn’t want any guy to have her. I knew I was being stupid since there was no way Avery was going to be mine—ever.

  Avery looked gorgeous as always. She had her hair down and it flowed in waves over her shoulders. She was wearing a simple black dress that did amazing things for her body.

  “Hey,” I finally said.

  Avery snapped her gaze over to mine. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of me in my dress pants and shirt. I liked the way she was looking at me—like she thought I was hot. Yeah, keep looking at me like that, Avery, and we won’t make it to the church tonight. We’ll end up in my bedroom.

  “Hey,” she replied.

  “Sorry for keeping you waiting.”

  “It’s okay.” She patted Evie’s cheek. “This little cutie was keeping me entertained.”

  “And Jonathan,” I added curtly.

  “Oh, yes. Jonathan’s been very friendly.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Jonathan. “Thanks, buddy, for keeping an eye on Avery for

  me.”

  He gave me a shit-eating grin. “Any time. It was a pleasure talking to her.” With Avery looking at Evie, he waggled his brows at me. Oh yeah, I would punch the hell out of him when we were alone.

  “We better get going, Prescott. I don’t want you to be late.”

  With a nod, Avery rose off the couch. She then leaned down to bestow a kiss on the top of Evie’s dark head of hair. “Bye, bye, Miss Evie.” She gave a wave to Jonathan. “It was nice meeting you.”

  When he gave her a cocky grin, a low growl came from the back of my throat. Jesus, why was I being so irrational? What was next? Pissing on Avery’s leg to mark her as mine? I guess the better question was what it was about Avery that brought it out in me. She wasn’t mine. There was nothing except maybe bro code to stop Jonathan from pursuing her. Avery and I were friends now, nothing more, regardless of how I felt deep down inside.

  “Hope to see you again soon, Avery!” Jonathan called as I hustled us out of the apartment. Just before the door closed, I stuck my hand in and flipped him off.

  “So Evvie’s a real cutie,” Avery remarked as we started down the stairs.

  “Yeah. She has us all wrapped around her little finger.”

  “I never imagined you as a baby person.”

  “Oh, I totally dig Miss Evie.”

  “Just Miss Evie or babies in general?”

  I opened the car door for Avery. “Most of the time, I like babies. I’m not a real big fan of when they spit up on you or do the drool shit on you, but for the most part, they’re cool.” At Avery’s surprised expression, I grinned. “Does my stance on babies make my blackened soul a little lighter to you?”

  She shook her head as she slid inside the car. “I never said you had a blackened soul. In fact, I’ve always suggested the opposite.”

  “Even after what I did to you?”

  Avery grimaced. “Okay, maybe I thought you were a soulless bastard then.”

  “I thought as much.”

  “But things change.” She stared up at me. “People change.”

  “Here’s hoping.” I then closed the door and jogged around the front of the car. Once I was inside, I cranked it up and got us on the road. The closer we got to Ebenezer, the more Avery started to freak out. “Jesus, if I’d known you were going to get this worked up, I would have tried to score some Xanax for you.”

  Avery shot me a death glare. “I don’t need drugs. I just need to think about something else.” She inhaled and exhaled a few deep breaths. “Jonathan’s brother,” she blurted out.

  “Evie’s father?” I questioned. When she nodded, I said, “His name was Jake.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “He got blown up on a tractor over in Gilmer County when he was visiting his grandfather’s farm.”

  Avery gasped in horror. “Oh my God, how tragic. I was thinking something like a car accident.”

  “Yeah, it was pretty terrible. It was just a freak thing. He and some of his cousins were shooting off guns and one nicked a fence and hit the tank of the tractor Jake was sitting on.” Avery once again gasped while bringing her hand to her mouth. “It was a quick way to die for Jake, but it was horrible for his family. This last year has been hell for Jonathan. He and Jake were really close. Brandon and I have tried to get him through the best way we could.”

  “I’m sure you guys have helped him more than you could ever know.”

  “I hope so. He’s a good guy.”

  “He seemed like it.”

  I cut my eyes over to her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Avery gave me a funny look. “Um, that he didn’t treat me like a douchebag like some guys would, and he was nice and welcoming.”

  “Trust me, you don’t want to go there.”

  “Go where? What are you talking about?”

  “You do not want to start anything up with Jonathan.”

  “Oh, my God, Cade, I didn’t say I wanted to date him—I just remarked that he seemed like a good guy.”

  “He’s a good guy and friend, but he’s a total manwhore when it comes to girls.”

  “I see you two have a lot in common.”

  “Easy with the claws, Prescott.”

  “Only if you’ll go easy with the wild assumptions about me and Jonathan.”

  I glanced away from the road to pin her with a stare. “You think he’s hot, don’t you?”

  Avery giggled. “I’d have to be blind to not think he was hot.”

  I gripped the steering wheel tighter. I did not like the idea of Avery drooling over Jonathan. Being a selfish bastard, I only wanted her drooling over me. “Should I have put a towel down so your damp panties wouldn’t wet the seat?”

  Avery threw her head back
and laughed. “Come on, Cade, you should know me well enough by now to know that regardless of how handsome he is, Jonathan is not my type.”

  A relieved breath whooshed out of me. “That’s good since he’s kinda seeing someone.”

  “You mean you just went through all that when Jonathan has a girlfriend?”

  “They’re not exactly dating, but they like each other.”

  “Good for him.”

  “I wouldn’t necessarily call it a good thing.”

  “Is it the fact that he likes just one girl, or is it the girl in particular?”

  “Nah, I’m cool with the girl.”

  “I see.” Avery made a little harrumphing noise before crossing her arms over her chest. “So the idea of monogamy still scares you, huh?”

  “Hold on, we were talking about Jonathan—how did this become about me?” I protested.

  “I could just tell by the way you said it.”

  “And just how exactly did I say it?”

  “Disdainfully and with disgust.”

  “Um, I don’t think I said it any differently than anything else I was talking about.”

  “Okay, so if you didn’t, then does that mean I’m to believe you’re now okay with monogamy?”

  “I’m fine with it.” When I cut my eyes over to her, Avery cocked her brows challengingly at me. “Okay, so maybe I’m fine with it for other people, but not entirely myself.” Taking my gaze off the road, I stared intently at her. “Not entirely doesn’t mean never, ever. Like Jonathan, under the right circumstances and with the right girl, I probably could try.”

  “You were willing to try with me three years ago,” Avery countered softly.

  Oh, hell. She just had to go and bring that up. My left hand flew from the steering wheel to my collar to unloosen the button that felt like it was choking me. The truth was it was more like the conversation was strangling me. For the life of me, I didn’t know why a simple conversation with Avery felt like I was tiptoeing through a minefield. With one false step, the conversation could explode in my face.

  “Yeah, I was gonna give monogamy a whirl, and look how I managed to screw that up. I couldn’t even choose you over football.”

  Avery remained silent as she stared out the window. “It doesn’t really count,” she finally murmured.

  “It doesn’t?”

  She turned her head to look at me. “Your father’s ultimatum put you between a rock and a hard place. The choice you made then doesn’t reflect your actual ability to be faithful to someone…to love someone.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I mean, I hope you’re right.” An uncomfortable silence hung over us. Thankfully for me, we arrived at the church, and from the way Avery turned almost green, I was off the hook for the moment with the serious talk. I barely had time to park before Avery bailed out of the car. I was suddenly paranoid that she was trying to get away from me, but when I came around to meet her, she said, “Sorry, just needed some air.”

  “No problem.”

  When we started walking toward the church, I reached out for Avery’s hand. The moment our skin touched she whipped her head around to stare wide-eyed and open-mouthed at me. I was sure that while she was shocked as hell by me doing that, she also wondered if I had any other motives behind it. “You’re going to do fine,” I reassured her.

  “I wish I shared your confidence.”

  “Seriously, Prescott, you’re way too hard on yourself. There is nothing in your life that you ever do half-ass. I’m sure that when you sit down in front of that organ, you will make it sing like no one’s business.”

  Avery squeezed my hand. “Thanks, Cade, and not just for the words, but for being here with me tonight. You can’t imagine what it means to me.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be collecting on it later on at the frat party.”

  She huffed out a frustrated breath. “Way to kill a moment.”

  We walked up the stairs and into the building where ushers were in the hallway handing out programs. Avery and I took one and then started into the sanctuary. “Do you have to go backstage now and meet up with Jamal?”

  “No. I’ll sit out here with you until one song before his performance.”

  I glanced down at the program in my hands. “Wait, there are like ten songs before Jamal’s performance.”

  Avery groaned as we took a seat on one of the benches on the right side of the church. “Don’t remind me. That means I have to be a nervous wreck through ten other songs.”

  “You know, it’s kind of interesting seeing you unhinged like this. You’ve always seemed to have your shit together—” Avery elbowed me hard for my use of profanity. “Ow, you seriously have the boniest elbows.”

  “Oh, please, don’t be such a baby.”

  “For your information, I’m not being a baby. My ribs are still tender from getting slammed at the scrimmage a few weeks back.”

  “Baby,” Avery muttered under her breath.

  “You try playing a contact sport and see how well you do,” I replied.

  Our bickering came to an end when Jamal and the choir took the stage. Jamal looked angelic in his choir robe, and it was certainly a change from how I was used to seeing him. When he met my gaze, he grinned.

  The choir director took his place, and then the music started. Although I had originally thought the night would be a snooze fest, I was pretty intrigued by the performances. It wasn’t all just holy rolling gospel. There was even a cover of Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror as well as Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water. From the high notes some of the guys were hitting, I had to wonder if their balls had yet to drop.

  After the performances started, Avery’s nerves seemed to fade a little. She watched with rapt attention, although I noticed her doing chord progressions on her thigh. With one song left before Jamal’s, she waved a quick goodbye and then headed backstage. When Jamal stepped up to the mic and Avery took her place at the organ, I couldn’t help feeling a little nervous myself. What if I had reassured her all this time and then she blew it? How would I make up for that?

  Jamal’s song was a jazzy number called Steal Away. In the chorus, the choir would accompany him, but my man held his own on the rest. He didn’t just sing the song—he felt the music. It was one of the most powerful performances I’d ever seen.

  Once Jamal finished, applause broke out all around me. I rose to my feet to give him and Avery a standing ovation. The moment she stood up from the organ bench, I brought my fingers to my lips to let out a catcall. Even from where I was standing, I could see Avery’s flush of embarrassment.

  When she started off the stage, I hurried down the aisle to the back of the church to meet her.

  “How did I do?” she questioned.

  “Fanfuckingtastic.”

  Avery’s eyes widened in horror as she glanced around to see if anyone else had heard me. “Cade, watch your language! We’re in church.”

  I brought my hands together in a prayer pose. “My bad. Your performance was fantastic—a real heavenly experience.”

  Her brows knitted together. “You aren’t just saying that to try to spare my feelings?”

  I laughed. “No. You really did great.”

  A shy smile curved on Avery’s lips. “Thanks.”

  After glancing around, I asked, “Does Jamal have any more solos?”

  “No. That’s it for him tonight.”

  “So now that you and Jamal are done, we’re good to go, right?”

  “Can’t wait to get out of here, can you?” Avery teasingly asked.

  “Nope.”

  “Fine. We can go.”

  “Hallelujah!”

  As we started down the church steps, Avery gushed, “Wasn’t Jamal amazing?”

  “He has a hell of a voice. He needs an agent.”

  “He really does.” Avery’s eyes widened in excitement. “Can you imagine if he got a recording deal and then became famous? We could say we knew him back in the day.”
>
  “We could.” I leaned closer to Avery. “You know what his performance reminded me of?”

  “What?”

  “Remember that outside project we had in Dr. Paulson’s class where we had to compare and contrast Zeferrelli’s 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet to Baz Lurman’s version?”

  “Yes,” Avery replied curiously.

  “You know the scene when Romeo and Juliet get married, and there’s a kid with an amazing set of pipes singing with a choir, something about being free.”

  “Everybody’s Free?” Avery suggested.

  “Yeah, that’s it.”

  Avery smiled. “I do remember, and you’re right. It was sorta like that part in the movie.”

  “I think Jamal was better than that other kid though.”

  “Me too. Now you have me wanting to watch that movie again or listen to the soundtrack.”

  “I think it was one of the few movies we had to watch for literature that I actually liked.”

  “Even though it was a little cheesy and over the top?”

  “Yep.”

  “I liked the Zeferelli version a lot, too.”

  “That’s because the Romeo dude looked like Zac Efron.”

  Avery giggled. “Oh, my God, he did, didn’t he? But that’s not the entire reason why I liked it better.”

  “I liked it because Juliet had a fabulous rack at fifteen.”

  Wrinkling her nose, Avery said, “Ew.”

  “That rack was amazing, and don’t act like you didn’t enjoy the butt scene.”

  “The butt scene?”

  “Yeah, the butt scene, when Romeo gets out of bed and flashes his ass for like five minutes.”

  A dreamy expression came over Avery. “Oh yeah. That was a very nice scene.”

  “Ha, I knew you dug it. Of course, that scene sucked for the straight guys because the camera was on Romeo’s ass way too long, and there’s only a brief flash of Juliet’s tits.”

  Avery laughed. “Whatever. I think we’re losing points of intelligence by appreciating the film for the hotness of the stars and not its literary merit.”

  “You can jerk off to literary merit.”

  “Cade!” Avery shrieked.

  I couldn’t help laughing at her reaction. All the talk of Romeo and Juliet got the wheels turning in my head, and suddenly I had an idea. “Do you have to be anywhere else tonight?”