20. Nathan

There was a pounding at my door a little after midnight, and I was surprised to find Avery standing there with a suitcase sitting beside her. Her eyes looked exhausted and defeated. I could feel the heaviness resting against her soul as she grimaced.

“I need you,” she said with a weighted sigh. “Is the spare room at 505 West Chipper Lane still available for rent?” she asked shyly, brushing a hand over her soaking wet hair. She then sneezed and shook the rain off her body. “Because I could really use a place to crash for a little while.”

I grabbed the handle of her suitcase and pulled it into my house. She followed me.

“Let me grab you a towel,” I said quickly before darting down the hallway into the bathroom. I came back with two and wrapped one around her shoulders as she took the other and began drying her hair.

“Thanks.”

“Of course. I already have a room set up for you.” I grabbed her suitcase and pulled it down the hallway. I observed her taking notice of all the family photographs against my wall, but she stayed quiet as she trailed me.

Once we reached her room, I flipped on the light, and she tilted her head. “What’s that on the bed?”

“Oh. It’s a welcome basket. I had it made up when I thought you might stay with me. It has all kinds of stuff in it that you might need, including a few snacks. I tossed some towels into the attached bathroom for you, too.”

She arched an eyebrow. “You had a welcome basket made for me? What if I didn’t show up?”

“I thought of it as a ‘just in case Avery comes over’ basket. I would’ve moved it soon enough, but I guess it worked out.”

She looked perplexed by the idea of it but didn’t argue with me. That was somewhat surprising. Avery’s favorite pastime was arguing with me.

“Thanks,” she murmured. “That’s actually really nice.”

“Don’t thank me too much. My mom did most of the work. Perks of living on a family farm with a welcome-basket-loving mother.”

“Your mom knows you were offering me a spot to stay here?”

“She asked if you were okay after the wedding situation. I told her I offered you a spot if you needed it. She got to work on the basket right away. She also made me straighten up my place, too. I’m not this neat on my own,” I joked.

“I know. I remember sneaking into your place when we were younger. Your room was worse than the pigpens.”

“I’m glad to tell you I’m not that bad anymore. I’ll let you settle in. The fridge in the kitchen is stocked, too—with non-expired food this go-round. Let me know if you need anything. We can check in with one another in the morning.”

“This isn’t going to be a long-term thing,” she expressed. “Willow’s bus had a leakage issue, and the apartment complex in town has no vacancies until the end of the school year, but I’m going to keep looking for something else.”

“You can stay here as long as you need, Ave.”

“I think the last thing you want is to live with a bitter, almost-married woman while you’re single and, well, mingling.” She grimaced and tugged gently on her earlobe. “If you’re mingling, that is.”

“Right.” I smirked. “Of course.”

“Are you?” she asked as she glanced down at the carpet. “Are you currently mingling with anyone?”

“Are you asking me if I’m single, Coach?”

“It’s none of my business, but if you’re having women come in and out of this place?—”

“I’m not dating.”

“Oh.” She nodded once. “Well, are you, you know… Is there a rotating door or something going on around here?”

I narrowed my eyes. “A rotating door?”

“You know. With different women coming in and out at mysterious hours.”

I laughed. “Are you asking if I run a brothel?”

“No,” she shot out. Then she shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. Listen, I get it. You’re single and famous and handsome. You can get any woman you want. You might not be dating, but you might be banging, and I don’t want to be in here cockblocking you.”

I snickered and grinned. “Did you just call me handsome?”

She rolled her eyes dramatically as she groaned. “That’s the one thing you picked up on?”

“It sounded like the only thing that mattered.”

“It’s like there’s nothing in that peanut-sized brain of yours. Nothing but energy drinks, pre-workout, and vibes.”

I leaned against the doorframe as I flexed one arm. “What can I say? I’m just a simple, handsome guy with a rotating door of women coming to have sex with me.”

“Ugh. You know what? Never mind. Forget I asked. I was trying to be polite and allow space for you to get your whistle wet, but forget I even brought it up.”

I whistled low. “Don’t worry, Coach. My whistle hasn’t been wet in a mighty long time. Unless we are counting my faithful bottle of lotion and my own spit.”

“Nathaniel. Have you ever heard of oversharing?”

“You’re the one who made it sound like I’m the town’s slut.”

“I didn’t! I just assumed that you were getting…” Her words faded off as a sly bit of shyness hit her cheeks. “Never mind, okay?”

“You thought I was going to pound town regularly in the land of pussy, huh?”

“Don’t say pussy.”

“Okay, vaginas.”

“Don’t say that either.”

“Okay, lip land. The folds? The inverted hillside?”

“Oh my gosh. I get it. I now see why you’re not getting laid. You’re annoying and corny.”

I nodded in agreement. “What can I say? This handsome face can only get me so far.”

“Yes, it’s your words that dry up a woman like the Sahara Desert.”

“You’d actually be impressed at my ability to take a woman who’s been in a drought to the wetlands within minutes.”

She blankly stared at me before shoving me out of the room. “I need sleep. Sleep, and to erase this conversation from my mind completely.”

“If you get lonely, my room is down the hall on your right. You are free to crawl into bed with me for roommate cuddles at any point.”

“Roommate cuddling isn’t a thing, Nathaniel.”

“Then what’s the point of having a roommate?”

She placed her hands against the edge of her door and gave me a small smile.

She smiled at me.

Damn…

Avery and her rare smiles.

“Good night, idiot,” she said.

There was a slight twitch in my crotch area. Maybe I did have a real shame kink when it came to Avery Kingsley. “Night. Oh wait, I have something for you.” I headed to my room and grabbed an item off my nightstand, then hurried back out toward Avery. “I know you said burn the dress, but I saw this stitched to it, and I figured you might want it back.”

Her eyes glassed over as she studied the ring in my hand with the blue jewel. “Mama’s wedding ring,” she murmured, taking it from me. “Oh my goodness. I can’t believe I almost lost this. My father would’ve been heartbroken. Thank you, Nathan. I’ll get it back to him.”

“Of course.”

She reached out and placed a hand on my arm. “No, really. Thank you. You have no clue what this means to me.” The flash of emotion in her eyes told me just how much it meant.

I smiled. “Good night, Coach.”

“Is it just me,or is that Avery Kingsley wandering around on the farm today?” River asked me a few days after Avery came to stay with me. I stood in the chicken coops with him, collecting eggs. The guys at the butcher shop always sold fresh eggs to customers, and River somehow pulled me into helping him collect them, seeing how Grant had come down with the mysterious flu that had been moving around the farmland. It had taken out a handful of employees, leaving us short-staffed. Luckily, somehow, River and I were still free from the illness. Easton recovered after a week and a half, which was good, seeing how he spent the past week or so being a pathetic crybaby.

I looked over at the horse stables, where Avery stood with Mom. Within seconds, my mind was transported back to the days we used to hang out beside those same stables.

“I love you, too, Nathaniel,” Avery whispered, brushing her lips against mine. “I love you more than I love breathing.”

Those words had been etched in my brain ever since she’d said them.

I shook my head back to reality as Avery and Mom walked into the stables. Tearing my gaze away from the area, I returned to collecting eggs. “Yeah. She’s staying with me for a while.”

River narrowed his eyes. “Staying with you? You hate roommates.”

“Since when have I ever said that?”

“Uh, when my house was being remodeled, and I crashed in your spare room. You said you hated it.”

“You were messy,” I countered. “Avery isn’t messy.”

“You’re messy, too!” he argued.

“I know. You can’t have two messy people living together. Might as well be living in the pigpens if that’s the case. Besides, I cleaned up my spot. It’s not messy anymore.”

“You cleaned for Avery?” He blew out a cloud of hot smoke. “I didn’t know you had the hots for Coach K, brother.”

I shot him a look. “I don’t have the hots for her.”

“Uh, you definitely do if you picked up your dirty boxers. You never clean when I come to visit.”

“That’s because I don’t care what you think of me.”

River smiled. “But you care what Avery thinks, huh?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t make this a thing. She needed a place to stay after her weekend from hell. I had a spare room. That’s all there is to it.”

River kept giving me that goofy-ass grin. “Yeah, okay. Whatever you say, brother. Whatever you say.” He picked up three more eggs. “That blows that her wedding was called off, though. It’s been the trending story all over town.”

“Yeah. It sucks.” Screw Wesley and his “best friend.” I hope they rode off toward unhappily ever after together. If you asked me, Avery dodged a bullet.

“Well, at least you can continue sleeping with her and not feel guilty about it,” River commented.

“We aren’t sleeping with each other!” I spat out. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He shrugged. “Just wanted to see your reaction.” He narrowed his eyes. “But you do want to sleep with her, right?”

“I’m not answering your stupid questions.”

“Because the answer is yes?”

“No. Because the question is stupid.”

“Stupid questions can still be answered, and your avoidance of answering shows that the answer is yes. I wouldn’t blame you, Nate. Avery is beautiful. Come to think of it… If you aren’t sleeping with her and she’s now on the free market?—”

“Don’t you fucking dare go near her,” I growled, shooting him a look packed with daggers.

He laughed and pointed at me. “There it is. The answer you didn’t want to give. Don’t worry, brother. I get it. Avery Kingsley is off-limits. I’ll make sure the other guys know, too. She’s all yours.”

I grumbled and rolled my eyes. What a dumbass. “Finish up in here, will you? I’m gonna go check on accounting for a few hours,” I said, shoving my basket into River’s grip.

He still had that stupid smirk on his face as he nodded. “For a long time, I thought you were a loner like Evan. I didn’t worry about Evan like I did you, though, seeing how he has Priya, but you don’t have anyone. So I think this is good for you, Nathan.”

“What’s good for me?”

“You having a crush.”

I didn’t say anything back to him because he was right, and that sort of pissed me off a good amount. I did have a crush on Avery. How could I not? She was everything I loved about her when we were kids, but only now she have more fire. More passion. More bite.

There was no getting around the fact that my heart felt indescribable happiness whenever she came near me. But the messed-up thing about said crush was the fact that nothing would ever come from it. There was no way in hell she would ever crush on me back.

And that realization?

Crushing.