Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) (17 page)

“
Then what is it?” I want to know.

“
You’re going to find out soon enough.” He smiles.

I snort. “I don’t think that’s funny.” With a pout, I lean my head against his chest again and close my eyes.

“
Do you want me to tell you or would you rather keep pouting?” He smirks.

“
Please tell me,” I say sheepishly.

The tips of his fingers are playing on my neck, wandering up and down and around as he starts to speak: “What I want is for you to develop deeper feelings for me. I know that it’s a crazy wish, but I’ve had it for a few days now, Dale.”

I sigh. “I feel butterflies rise in my stomach whenever I see you,” I confess.

Suddenly, he pulls me up and close to him. I tuck back a strand of hair which has fallen into his face, and then I let him kiss me. My hand rises to his cheek as I return the kiss, while his fingers travel across my torso. Then he pulls me onto his lap. Sitting sideways on top of him, I pull away from his lips. “And what was that?” I ask softly.

Avery shrugs his shoulders, grinning broadly. “It just came over me.”

I nod and can’t help smiling at him. “Is it in any way related to the butterflies?”

He kisses me again. Then he slides his hand underneath my shirt and traces little circles on my belly. I don’t intercept his hand, because I know he’s going to try it again anyway, and also I don’t want him to stop kissing and caressing me.

The kiss lasts and lasts, and it makes me wonder once again why he triggers this much desire in me. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted, and I can’t help but think of what I’m going to lose if he ever finds out the truth about me. I suddenly desperately want to talk to Camille and ask her what she thinks I ought to do. She knows Avery well, so I hope she can give me some advice. If not, I’ll have to think of something else.

Avery breaks the kiss. “What’s wrong?”

“
Nothing, I’m just a little pensive, I guess.” I’m definitely blushing.

“
What are you thinking about?” he asks curiously.

“
It’s not that important.” I smile and breathe a kiss onto his lips. “What’s next? I’ve had enough of lying around, so how about going shopping? I’m in the mood for some new clothes.”

Avery raises an eyebrow. “Why do you suddenly want to go shopping?”

I blush. “I want to go out and have fun. I know it’s not really the perfect day for that, but I need distraction or else I’ll go crazy.”

Now he grins. “I’m in, but only if we also buy some new underwear for you.”

I grab the cushion and hit him with it, laughing. “You jerk!”

“
No. I’m just a guy who’d like to see you in pretty underwear … Well, maybe I’m a little bit of a jerk, but at least I’m a sexy jerk.” He chuckles. Then he all but twists his neck around to look out the window behind us. “The only problem is that the world outside is ending right now.”

He has barely finished the sentence when there’s a huge thunderclap that makes me flinch and hold on to him closely.

“
Wow … Are you afraid of thunderstorms?” he asks.

“
Yes,” I admit, hiding my face in the crook of his neck.

“
Then I guess we have to postpone the big shopping trip.”

I nod and deeply breathe in his scent. He smells like cologne, aftershave, and his very own smell, which I’ve grown so fond of. It’s a seductive and heady combination.

“
So what do you suggest we do instead?” he asks.

“
I don’t know.” Then there’s another thunderclap, and I squeal in fright.

Avery slides his hands underneath my ass and gets up. “I can think of something.” He grins and carries me into the bedroom.

“
What are you up to?” I ask, still wide-eyed. I assume he wants to have sex, which doesn’t bother me at all, but I’m afraid the recurring thunder will keep me from letting go.

“
Wait and see.” He drops me onto the bed, lying down beside me. Then he pulls me into an embrace and strokes me. “I just want to cuddle a little bit,” he murmurs.

“
We already did that on the couch,” I say softly.

“
I like it better here.”

With a sigh, I snuggle closer and can’t help smiling.

“
Would you spend my birthday weekend with me? I mean, spend it at my place?” he asks in a whisper.

“
Sure. I was going to ask you about that anyway, because I’m supposed to prepare the Jell-O shots and the strawberry punch.”

“
Aha … So they did drag you into the party preparations.”

“
Yeah. Is that bad?”

“
Not at all. I’m glad they didn’t ignore you,” he answers cheerfully. “I’m happy that you get along with the girls.”

“
Me too. Who knows, maybe I’ll be good friends with them, after all.”

Avery nods slowly while I wiggle up higher and plant a kiss on the side of his neck, which makes him flinch. He laughs softly. “You caught me off guard there.”

I giggle and snuggle close again. “I just want to lie here and enjoy your sweet company.” Then I close my eyes and savor his scent.

Chapter 10

Avery and I have become closer and closer the last few days. Even closer than we were before. The butterflies have grown into a kind of tornado that rushes through my belly. Long live chaos theory. I don’t know how Avery feels about his emotions, but I yearn to confess that I love him, or rather that I have fallen in love with him. I’ve known him only a few weeks, so it happened really fast, but he has conquered my heart. As for the rest of my life, I haven’t heard from my relatives since the funeral. Now they’re finally rid of me, and I of them, which is a shame in principle, but doesn’t bother me at all in practice. We never were close. I am the family bastard, after all.

Now it’s midmorning the day of Avery’s party, and I’m standing in Cami’s kitchen, preparing the Jell-O shots. I prepared the strawberry punch the evening before, after Delsin bought the alcohol I needed for it.

“
Do you need any help?” Cami asks as I stir the Jell-O.

I smile at her. “No, thank you.”

“
Okay. Then I’ll just line up the cups.” She smiles.

“
Thank you again,” I say with a giggle, but then I become serious once more. “Can I ask you something about Ave?”

“
Sure. As long as it’s not about his sexual preferences, I can answer almost any question,” she says, amused.

After taking a deep breath, I blurt out, “I still haven’t told him how my mother really died, and I don’t know how I can do that without him being angry with me because I lied to him.”

Cami sighs. “He will be angry, but that will pass once you tell him why you weren’t honest. I mean, it’s not as if you were the one who was a drug addict, Dale.”

“
No, I’m not. But I was a crack baby,” I say softly.

“
What?” she asks loudly.

I repeat it, feeling very small.

“
Okay. You have to talk to him about it, seriously, Dahlia. He’ll understand why you haven’t told him before, but now it’s really time to tell him the whole truth.”

“
I don’t know how to do that,” I confess. “I mean, he helped me so much, and I lied to him. I have a feeling he’ll be more than disappointed.”

“
Avery’s not the kind of person to bear a grudge,” Cami says. “He’s going to need a little time, but he won’t kick you out of the house.”

“
Do you really think so?” I ask, barely audible.

“
Yes.”

“
But how do you know?”

“
Because I know Avery really well, better than you might think,” she answers with a smile.

“
Then I ought to talk to him right now,” I decide, feeling wobbly in the knees.

“
No, no, no … You’ll talk to him tomorrow, not today. Today we're having the party, and he’s supposed to have a good time.”

I nod very slowly. “Okay, then I'll do it tomorrow.”

I can’t imagine that Avery’s going to forgive me for lying to him. Maybe he won't want to talk to me anymore, or worse, he'll want to leave me. But I have to finally tell him the truth, otherwise my conscience will kill me.

“
I should pour the Jell-O into the cups now,” I say. “Do you want me to make another batch of grape flavor?”

Cami looks at the row of plastic cups I’m filling with Jell-O. “Yeah, I think we could use some more.”

“
Will you pour the rest of this batch into the cups while I start mixing the next?” I ask with a smile.

“
Sure.” Cami comes closer and takes the pot from me carefully. She continues pouring while I fill a second pot with the water-vodka mixture and stir in the instant powder. I wait for the liquid to get hot, but it isn’t supposed to boil, otherwise the alcohol will evaporate.

“
Hey, guys,” Thally says as she enters the kitchen. “How are you doing?”

“
Hi, Thally,” Cami greets her. “Fine. You?”

“
Hi, Thalia,” I say shyly, because I still don’t know her and I’m cautious with acquaintances, even though Avery told me she’s a really nice person.

“
I’m great,” Thally says, “and how are you, Dahlia?”

“
Fine, thank you.” Then I turn my back on her and concentrate on the contents of the pot again. Yes, I know I could be a little more open, but I need my time.

“
Are these going to be all the Jell-O shots?” Thalia asks. She looks doubtful.

“
No, Dale’s cooking up another batch in grape, and we already have lemon and cherry in the fridge,” Cami answers.

“
So that’s lemon, cherry, strawberry, and grape. Sounds like a party.” Thalia smirks.

Cami giggles. “Oh yeah. We have to keep Delsin away from these little babies. If he downs these together with his usual tequila shots, I won’t get any sleep tonight.”

“
Can’t he hold his liquor?” I ask with a half-grin.

“
He can, but there’s always a point where it gets to be too much,” Camille explains. “Delsin likes to drink too much at parties, but since he’s the one who wakes up with a bad hangover the next day, he regrets it, too.”

I nod. “Maybe you should just wake him up with very loud music after a particularly drunk night,” I suggest half-seriously.

Cami and Thalia start laughing. “He would kill me.”

“
If you ever try that, Cami, you have got to call me,” Thalia says, giggling. “I don’t want to miss it when he falls out of bed cussing.”

I don’t know why they think it’s that funny, but I smile along. Then I take the pot from the stove and walk over to fill the cups. Thalia starts putting the little plastic cups on trays so we don’t have to carry each individual cup to the fridge but can transfer a whole batch at once.

“
How are things between you and Ave, Dale?” Thalia asks.

Taken by surprise, I look at her. Why is she asking me that? “Everything’s fine,” I say. “We can hardly fall asleep without each other, and we spend a lot of time together.”

“
So you’re an item now?” she probes.

“
I guess you could say that. But we weren’t that certain of our feelings when we decided to start a relationship, so it was really more of an attempt,” I explain, while taking care not to pour too much into each little cup.

Thalia cocks her head and scrutinizes me. “And now? Are you certain what your feelings are now?”

“
I am,” I answer, feeling the heat infuse my cheeks again. “And he knows I get these butterflies whenever I look at him or hear his voice.”

“
No!” she yells happily. “You’ve fallen head over heels for him!”

I give a start because her volume has taken me by surprise. “Yes, I have,” I admit sheepishly.

“
Then it’s even more important to tell him, Dale,” Cami chimes in.

“
Tell him what?” Thalia wants to know.

“
It’s something rather private, and I-I don’t want to talk about it. I-I’m sorry, Thalia,” I stammer.

She exhales loudly. “Okay. Sorry if I was too pushy.”

“
No, you weren’t. I just want to talk to Avery first, before I tell anyone else,” I explain with a shy smile.

“
Hey, guys,” Hailey calls out as she enters the kitchen.

“
How’s everybody getting in here anyway?” Cami asks, sounding irritated. “Delsin and Avery are outside, and none of you has knocked or anything.”

“
Well, I came down the beach, and Delsin told me to take the stairs because the terrace door’s open,” Thalia explains.

“
Same here,” answers Hailey. “Can I help with anything?”

“
Yes, you and Thally could take care of the decorations,” Cami says. “By now, Avery knows we’re throwing the party tonight anyway, and he’s all excited to finally introduce Dale to everyone else.”

“
I thought he wasn’t supposed to see the decorations before the party?” Hailey says.

“
He won’t see,” Cami says resolutely. “The two of them are downstairs taking care of the stereo equipment with the technicians, so go ahead. Besides, you don’t need to decorate half the beach, just set up the torches. We can’t really use the rest of the decorations, since there’s no way of hanging up streamers and stuff. So I switched to a Hawaiian theme and bought some leis.”