The trip out of the building and back to the apartment wasn’t easy. I was still strung tight as a bow. Nothing seemed to make the raw edge go away. I tried reciting the alphabet backwards, tried thinking about the old lady who lived in the building nearby, who sometimes walked her dog in a white nightgown. The sight was not pretty, but it still didn’t work.
The rain was still coming down as we dashed across the parking lot and under the awning. I shook my head, spraying water everywhere. Avery stopped at the base of the stairwell leading up to our apartments, and I thought it was all the rain I’d just pelted her with. I opened my mouth to apologize, but she turned sideways, her face pale as she peered up at me.
A very different kind of ache sliced through my chest, stirring up that knot in there, at the stark confusion and fear in her eyes. Fear. I didn’t get it. Had I done that to her? No. I couldn’t believe that. Not the way she had reacted to me. I saw it in her eyes. She had wanted me to kiss her, probably even as badly as I wanted to kiss her, but she had pulled away because . . . I honestly didn’t know.
I thrust my hand through my hair, pulling it off my forehead. “Go out with me.”
“No,” she whispered.
I grinned slightly, and her chest fell, her shoulders relaxed, as if she needed to hear this. “There’s always tomorrow.”
She followed me up the stairs. “Tomorrow’s not going to change anything.”
“We’ll see.”
“There’s nothing to see. You’re wasting your time.”
“When it concerns you, it’s never a waste of my time.”
And that was the damn truth.
Ten
The Wednesday before fall break, I skipped nutrition again and searched Avery out, finding her where she always was during this class: in the Den with Brittany and Jacob. It was a good thing that I had. I discovered three important things.
Shortcake was talking about me to her friends, because they knew that I had been asking her out. Score for that.
And she also compared me to a serial killer.
Not that I was offended, but it wasn’t every day that one found himself mentioned in the same sentence as Ted Bundy.
But her friends totally supported a date. I liked them.
“Anyway,” Brittany was saying, her eyes glimmering with amusement as she stared at a blood-red, absolutely mortified Avery. “This is not about me and my vast knowledge of serial killers. I can wow you later about that. This is about you, Avery. This fine young gentleman, who is not a serial killer, is asking you out. You’re single. You’re young. You should say yes.”
“Oh my God.” She moaned, planting her hands against her face. “Is it time for all of you to go home yet?”
I laughed deeply. “Go out with me, Avery.”
She turned to me, somewhat surprised-looking. “No.”
“See?” I addressed Brittany and Jacob. “Keeps turning me down.”
Jacob looked dumbfounded. “You’re an idiot, Avery.”
“Whatever.” She stood, grabbing her bag. “I’m going to class.”
“We love you!” Jacob shouted.
She muttered, “Uh-huh,” but stopped to say good-bye. Fall break kicked off tomorrow and they were going home. I was still surprised that Avery was remaining behind. Traveling to Texas was a hell of trip for four days, but she could’ve gone home with one of them. Admittedly, I didn’t like the idea of her being alone here.
I waited until she was done and then followed her across the Den. She arched a brow at me. “Following me?”
“Like a true serial killer,” I replied.
“You know we weren’t being serious, right? And I’m sorry about saying something to them about it. They just started pestering me about you and the next thing I know—”
“It’s okay.” I dropped my arm over her shoulders, steering her toward the cluster of trees outside of the building. It was chilly and she hunkered down, pressing closer, whether she realized it or not. “I don’t care.”
“You don’t care?”
I shook my head. Maybe it should bother me that there was now an audience to my repeated rejection, but it just didn’t. I glanced down at her and smiled. Her attention was focused on one of the blue vans that were always on campus.
“Uh-oh,” I murmured.
“What?” She looked up at me.
I lowered my arm, catching a strand of hair blowing across her face and tucking it behind her ear. Ever since the night on the roof of Byrd, I took every freaking opportunity to touch her and she let me. “You’re thinking.”
“I am.”
“About?”
“Nothing important.” She smiled absently. It wasn’t a huge smile, but she was smiling more. “You going home this weekend?”
“I am.” I moved closer, gathering up her hair and separating it into two long sections. I smiled, thinking she looked cute like that. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning, bright and early. I’m not coming back until Sunday night. So, no eggs for you this week.”
“Boo.” Her face fell a little.
“Don’t cry too much about it.” I brushed the ends of her hair across her cheek and tried again with her doing something this weekend instead of being alone. “Are you going to take Brit up on her offer and go home with her?”
She shook her head no. “I’m just going to hang out here and get some reading done.”
“Nerd.”
“Jerk.”
I smiled as I spread her hair over her shoulders. “You know what?”