Can you hear it, p.8
Can You Hear It, page 8
She was right, but dating Ashton wasn’t something that I wanted to think about. I just—I liked him. Why did anything have to be attached to that?
Grabbing my scarf from the bed, I began to loop it around my neck. “I don’t know, Nicky. It’s nice not having to think about that with him because he’s really just my friend.” I smiled. “Plus, he doesn’t drink or smoke, which I like. It feels like that’s all I do when I hang out.”
Nicky pursed her lips and stared at the flask in her hand.
“Not judging. I already took two shots from mine.” I shrugged on my jacket, and as I heard talking, I went to my window. My mom was in the driveway talking with Ben.
“We should go.” I grabbed my phone and my red coin purse before reading the text I missed from Ashton as I left my room.
Ash: What time should I pick you up tomorrow?
* * *
Me: Whenever. I wish I had a car. I hope you won’t have to go out of your way to get me.
I got through the front door and frowned at the last part of my mom’s and Ben’s conversation.
“You should have dinner with us next Sunday.”
“Sounds good,” Ben replied, his smile wide. What was he doing? Nicky was going to be pissed.
Mom knew Ben and I had gotten close a few months after James died, but that had also changed so long ago. I knew she hadn’t been paying attention, but Ben knew better and should have said something. Like no.
“Hey, Nicky could come, too,” I piped up as I approached Mom from behind.
“Actually, my family and I are going to the Rockies next Sunday,” Nicky said.
Damn it.
“Oh, ah . . .” I started.
“It’s okay,” Nicky finished with a small smile.
“Nice seeing you again, Doctor Price,” Ben said.
“Bye, Mom.” I settled into the backseat of Ben’s car, wanting to throw a fit that he’d agreed to come over for dinner without his girlfriend, but I also didn’t want to make a thing out of it, so I stared at the new message on my phone instead.
Ash: You do realize that nothing in this city is outside of a fifteen-minute drive, right? No. I’m not going out of my way
* * *
Ash: What are you doing tonight?
* * *
Me: The movies with Nicky, Ben, and some other guys.
* * *
Ash: What are you going to see?
* * *
Me: Treasure Chaser
* * *
Ash: The guys and I drove to Greymoor to see it two weeks ago. It’s sad.
Greymoor was the second largest city next to Denver, and closest to us. Usually, people made the drive so they could buy things that weren’t available here or to seek further entertainment.
Me: Really? Ugh.
I knew this movie was a true story, but the trailer had made it seem funny. A rags-to-riches story. I felt like I’d been bamboozled.
Ash: Sorry. Did I spoil it for you?
* * *
Me: No. Thanks for the warning. I’m just disappointed now.
The theater only featured one new movie per week, and I’d already seen the other four that were playing.
Ash: I’ll make it up to you tomorrow :)
A winky-face emoticon followed, and I smiled and stared at that message from him at least twenty times that night.
Chapter 16
ASHTON
My muscles tensed as Averie approached my car. A plaid shirt was knotted around her hips, and her brown hair blew across her face. Reaching up, she swiped at it, which caused her blouse to pull up and reveal a sliver of her flat stomach.
As she opened the door and sat, her perfume attacked my senses. Warm, sweet, seductive.
“Hi.” She smiled, and my cock made an answering twitch before I said, “Hey.”
She pointed to her lips. “Is the lipstick too much?”
Oh, man. She was oozing so much sex appeal that my cock was already throbbing. How could I put this nicely?
I stared at her lips, wanting to kiss them.
“Looks good.”
“Okay. I didn’t want it to seem like I’m trying too hard.”
“Don’t worry about them. You look good.”
Her cheeks flushed as she inhaled. “Thank you.”
Damn.
I’d invited her tonight because I wanted to abduct her out of her old habits, but I hadn’t taken my attraction to her into consideration.
A few minutes later, Averie and I got out of the car, her mouth ajar as she stared up at the three-story, eight-bedroom house.
Whereas we had to climb a hill to get a good view, Brody’s house was placed right where you could see everything from its windows.
“Wow.”
“Wait until you see the inside,” I told her, walking up the driveway.
Once we were inside the contemporary-decorated house, I watched Averie take in everything around her.
The large paintings and accent lights on the wall, the white and black furniture occupying the vast rooms, the high ceilings and second-floor balcony in the living room. As I dragged my gaze away from her, I noticed we had the attention of a few other attendants, including my friends.
Ryker was on the couch with Brody and a few other guys from our football and basketball teams.
I went over to them. “Hey, you guys remember Averie.”
“New Girl, of course.” Ryker grinned before taking a drink from his beer bottle.
“Hey, Averie,” Shane and two of the other guys said, smiling at her like she was their next meal. Possessiveness spurred through my veins, and I wanted to tuck her into my side.
Brody joined them with a lopsided grin. “Welcome to my humble abode. Make yourself comfortable.”
My eyes narrowed, which he failed to see since he was too busy staring at Averie.
Ryker stood, hooking an arm around her shoulders and redirecting her toward the kitchen. “Let’s get you a drink.”
Once Averie was out of hearing distance, Brody spoke over the blaring pop music spilling from the surround-sound system. “You still sticking to the story that you don’t want to get with Averie?”
“It isn’t a story.”
“So you say,” Brody replied.
Without Francis in attendance, things remained chill for the rest of the night. That was until I saw Averie leaning against the second-floor balcony talking with Brody. No, not talking. Flirting. In front of everyone. My stomach emptied, and my chest tightened.
I didn’t know why I was jealous. Brody was a good fucking guy. I couldn’t even put myself in the same standing with him. He had all of this. He was a virgin, and he didn’t have an issue with his heart. So, literally, I couldn’t even be mad because he was perfect for her.
I sat on the couch, trying not to think about it or look at them.
Heidi stepped in front of me with a smile. Why was she here? “He’s doing it to piss you off.”
I kept my mouth shut. The last person I wanted to discuss any of this with was Heidi. Besides, Averie and I were just friends. I shouldn’t have a problem with her talking to Brody. But I did, because I wanted her as more.
“There’s nothing for me to be pissed about,” I told Heidi.
She took a seat next to me, leaving me no room to scoot away from her.
“Oh. I guess there’s nothing for you to worry about, then.”
“Exactly,” I said. “How are things with you?”
“Good. I finally don’t have to feel guilty when I drink around you. I can have as much as I want without thinking, ‘Hey, Haigen may not like it if I’m drunk.’”
I’d never given her the impression I had a problem with her drinking unless she was trying to have sex with me while she was tanked. But, still, something cut deep inside me as I looked back up at Averie. She probably felt the same. I might be a talented quarterback the girls couldn’t wait to get their hands on, but let’s face it. I was also fucking boring.
Averie looked down, and her eyes moved from me to Heidi before focusing back on Brody.
“Glad you feel that way.” Standing, I told Heidi I would catch up with her later before I headed to the outside patio for some fresh air.
When I got back inside, Averie had taken my spot on the couch and Heidi was no longer in sight.
I smiled and sat next to her.
“Don’t tell me,” Averie said. “You just had sex.”
My body heated at the thought and memory of a similar conversation happening outside of her house. The answer was still the same. My eyes met hers. “No.” Then I grinned. “Am I giving off a vibe that I just got laid?”
“Yes.”
My eyes widened.
She chuckled.
“No.”
My lips curled into a smile again. “Good, because you definitely don’t know what I look like after sex.”
“Yeah, I do.” She shrugged. “You’re like, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’” she mimicked in what I supposed was my voice, a smug expression on her face. “And your face is all flushed.”
I swallowed, consciously forcing myself not to adjust the semi in my pants and not to think about what she would look like during or after sex . . .
“So, Ryker’s the complete opposite of you.” I followed her gaze to where Ryker was sitting on a barstool with his face buried against some blonde girl’s neck. “He does everything you don’t seem to do.”
“Not so much.” I grinned. I’d told her that Ryker was my half-brother just this past week, so it was funny that she already was making those distinctions between us.
“Are you kidding?” She set her beer bottle on the floor and began to count on her fingers. “You don’t drink. He does. You don’t smoke. He does. You don’t do any kind of PDA, and, well . . .” She glanced at him and grinned. “Do I need to go on?”
I laughed. “No. I think you’ve made your point. But why are you trying to figure out my brother?”
“I’m just trying to figure out you two. Or you, actually.” She picked up her beer and sipped. “Why do you go to these parties if you don’t drink? What’s the point?”
“I get to hang out with my friends. I don’t need to drink to have fun.” Knowing this would be the time to settle most of her questions regarding that or it would no doubt come up again, I continued, “I’ve been featured in the top-ten student athletes in the country since sophomore year. I want to be the best, even though I could never be, but I still cancel out anything else that could slow me down, and while some of the other players can do the whole alcohol or drug scene on their career path, it is an obstacle on mine.”
Averie’s fingernail chipped away at the label on the beer bottle, and for a few seconds, I wondered if I’d said too much.
Leaning back, she gave me a smile. “That’s admirable.”
Minutes passed, and we remained silent, her not taking another sip from her beer.
“I didn’t take the SAT last year, so I have to do it in two weeks,” she said.
“That sucks. Are you ready?”
“Not really. My GPA dropped from a 4.0 to a 2.7 last year.”
“That’s understandable. You went through a lot.”
Her head turned, and a hint of shock flickered in her eyes. Almost as if she’d expected me to say something else.
“Where are you planning to go to college?”
“I want to stay here and go to the college downtown . . . I like literature. My dream was always to be an English teacher, but—” She continued to scratch at the label on the bottle. “My mom wants me to think bigger. Apply to the bigger universities in Denver or Greymoor. But that isn’t me. I just want a simple life. Having all this stuff”—she waved a hand around as if to signal the house—“is great, I suppose, but it isn’t everything. I just want a family and a job.” She shrugged. “Any job, really.”
Silence moved between us as she lifted the beer to her lips, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was thinking about Lawrence and the happily ever after that life intercepted.
Chapter 17
AVERIE
Trying to get the thought of James out of my head, I chugged the rest of the beer in the bottle.
Half our senior class was sitting around drinking, sucking faces, and playing—a girl sitting on the carpet in the far corner of the room pulled her blouse over her head—strip poker.
To be in a room full of people, yet to feel so alone.
I stole a glance at Ashton. “You guys really do know how to party.”
“Oh yeah.”
“It’s fun and all, but you did promise me you’d make it up to me after my downer movie last night. It’s not that I don’t like hanging out with you like this, but I was kind of expecting more.”
“What? You don’t like watching people making out?” His eyebrows quirked in amusement.
“Ah.” I looked around the vast space, my face scrunching. “No.”
He grinned and stood, jerking his head for me to follow him. “Come on.”
He gestured for my empty beer bottle and deposited it on a counter inside the kitchen before grabbing two bottles of water and handing me one. The cool bottle in my palm sent a chill through my body.
“Would you rather another beer?”
Did I?
I’d had two bottles in the past two hours, plus the shots at home. The last thing I wanted was to act like a drunken fool around Ashton again. In this scenario, three times was not a charm.
“This is fine. Thank you.”
I followed his lead back to the living room and up two flights of stairs, and then we were walking down a hall.
The doors to each of the rooms were closed but when Ashton reached the last one on the left, he grabbed the door handle and pushed it open. The light from the hall gleamed onto the large bed inside.
Even though he hadn’t been giving me any sexual vibes, I felt the need to clarify. “I’m not sure what kind of fun you had in mind, but, um . . .” I glanced into the room. “I’m not going to sleep with you.”
His eyebrows arched, and a hint of humor glimmered in his eyes as his lips curled into a mischievous smile. “I haven’t even tried to kiss you.” His eyes dropped to my mouth. “I’m not here to ravish you, Averie.”
Want and awareness flooded me, causing my skin to tingle. What did his ravishing entail?
My lips dried and I licked them. “Ravish me?”
Smiling, he walked into the room and switched on the light. “There’s an awesome glass roof in here, and since you watched a sad movie last night, I figure we could watch something mindless on Hulu or Netflix.”
“Oh.” I stepped one foot into the room. “I guess we could do that.”
The television was mounted on the wall, and the remote was on the nightstand. I paused when I saw that the only place to sit was on the bed.
“Will it be awkward for you if we lay down to watch or—”
“No, it’s fine. It’s a huge bed.” I wouldn’t mind if it were smaller. His touch had done crazy things to my thoughts and body before, but that wasn’t what I wanted to happen, in the sense that sex was the furthest thing from my mind. I just wanted to be close to someone, to feel the heat of a body next to mine or the strength of someone’s arms around me.
I pulled off my shoes and crawled onto the bed, settling my head on one of the pillows and staring at the glass ceiling.
“Can we see the stars from here?”
When Ashton didn’t reply, I glanced at him. His eyes looked steel-gray as he stared down at me, wonder and a bit of something else in them.
“Not with the outside lights on,” he finally answered.
“What are we watching?”
His knees shifted as he kicked off his shoes. Then he turned on the television before switching off the lights. “Whatever you want.”
He climbed onto the bed, and I smiled when I saw that he’d left the door cracked. He caught my gaze. “I didn’t want you to think I’m here to ravish you, so . . . I figured you’d feel more comfortable if it were open.”
“You’re such a gentleman.” I wanted to tell him his mom would have been proud, but I didn’t want to ruin the relaxed mood we had.
“I try to be.” His Adam’s apple moved as he stared at the darkness beyond the ceiling.
“For some reason, I don’t think you have to try.”
He glanced at me with that same twinkle in his eyes as he said, “Futurama.”
His attention turned to the screen, and as he watched the show, I watched him.
It was as if each time something sparked between us, he wasted no time in repressing it. I didn’t know why, but asking about it would insinuate that I wanted us to explore and ignite this mysterious attraction between us, when I wasn’t sure that was what I wanted. I hated that he was a football player because, in some ways, he reminded me so much of James. But he seemed so passionate about the sport that . . . what could I do? Except maybe keep my distance after tonight.
The same misfortune might never happen to him or any of the other players, but that didn’t ease the discomfort. I could never be as great of a friend to him as anyone else could be. Anyone else would be willing to go to his game and cheer him on, but it wasn’t something I wanted to do. Even thinking about it, and I could feel the tears threatening to fall. I smoothed a hand down my arm.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.”
He didn’t push, and I eventually turned to the show. After an hour of Futurama, and dozens of random bursts of laughter, I told Ashton, “I can’t believe I’ve never watched this before.”
The lights were off, but the blue light coming from the screen glowed across his face. “I can’t believe you haven’t, either . . . come closer.”
