The Avery Shaw Experiment (4 page)

“Where are you guys off to?” my dad asked, being the first one to notice us.

Heads turned our direction and the air in the room turned thick and heavy. I felt the stares every bit as much as Avery did, but I didn’t pause in my efforts to bundle her up. I zipped her coat, then reached for her hat and scarf.

“We’re just going to go walk around town for a bit, grab some hot cocoa, and maybe head over to the resort in time to catch the fireworks.”

Scarf now securely in place, I plopped Avery’s hat on her head. Our eyes met and I whispered, “We’re almost free. You’re doing great.” I was shocked when I received a small smile from her.

Avery put on her gloves, while I grabbed my own coat. As I quickly shoved my hat on my head, Aiden finally opened his big, stupid mouth. “You’re taking out
Avery
?”

My jaw clenched. I knew it was too much to hope to just get out of there without anyone saying anything. The fact that it was Aiden bringing it up, along with the incredulity in his voice that made it sound as if Avery wasn’t good enough to be my date for the evening, pissed me off way more than I’d expected it would.

I felt insanely protective of Avery all a sudden. Instead of just walking out the door like I probably should have, I turned around and gave my brother a defiant look. “Is that a problem?”

Aiden’s eyes narrowed on me. “It’s just out of character. He flicked his gaze to Avery. “For both of you.”

As if he could talk about acting out of character. My hands clenched into fists, matching the tension in my jaw. “You’re the one who told her she needed to start hanging out with other people, and since when is it out of character for me to want to spend the evening with a beautiful girl?”

Aiden’s face flashed with pure rage, but I stared him down. If he tried to argue that statement in any way, I was going to lay him out.

I must have been pretty obvious because the adults all chose that exact moment to intervene.

“Be back by twelve thirty.”

“You haven’t had dinner yet!”

“Take your cell phones!”

I sputtered as I tried to figure out what everyone just said. “We’ll get some dinner while we’re out, Kaitlin. And Dad, come on. It’s New Year’s Eve. One o’clock.”

My dad rolled his eyes. “One,” he agreed grudgingly. “But only because it’s Avery, and I trust her to keep you out of trouble.”

Normally I would argue that, but I just wanted to get poor Avery out of there. I grabbed her hand and whirled around toward the door. “Thanks, Dad!”

We’d almost escaped and then my mom said, “Grayson you come over here and give your mother a kiss goodbye before you go.”

Suppressing a sigh, I grinned at my mom. “Last time I did that, you said it was bad manners.”

The look she gave me said she wasn’t in the mood, so I obeyed with no more arguments. “Thank you,” she whispered as she brushed her lips on my cheek.

I pulled back and Kaitlin was right there, waiting for her turn to hug me. This was not a standard practice every time I left the house by any stretch. This was our moms, the worry twins, inwardly gushing over my rescuing Avery, so I wrapped my arms around Avery’s mom and gave her an exaggerated bear hug. “Happy New Year, Kaitlin!”

She laughed when I gave her a big kiss on the cheek. “Always such a charmer, Grayson Kennedy.”

I grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Just make sure you don’t try to use that charm on my daughter tonight.”

“Ms. Shaw!” I pretended to be scandalized. “I would never!”

Except apparently I would. I almost did upstairs not five minutes ago.

Kaitlin sobered up and lowered her voice so that only I could hear. “I mean it, Grayson. You be careful with her tonight. I’m sure she’s really vulnerable right now.”

Talk about a mood killer. I tried to sound sincere when I said, “She’s practically a sister to me, Kaitlin. I’ll behave myself.”

This afternoon that statement would have been true. Now I just hoped I could get through the night without breaking my promise, because Kaitlin was right. Taking advantage of Avery right now would make me a bigger jerk than Aiden.

“You’d better,” Kaitlin said, but there was teasing in her tone now.

“I will.”

It was now or never. I grabbed Avery’s hand again and made another break for the door. I even got it open this time, but Aiden just couldn’t let us go. “Aves, are you really going to go out with
Grayson
?”

And I was back to being pissed off. I tried to keep walking, but Avery stopped. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

Balls! If he said yes, she would stay for him. Even after how much he hurt her today. And he
would
ask, the selfish punk. He’s always gotten his way with her, ever since they were kids. He says jump, and she happily asks how high? It’s not that he doesn’t care about her. He just has the more dominant personality of the two, and apparently her feelings run a lot deeper than his, so she gives in to his every whim.

“Aves, of course I want you to stay. It’s New Year’s Eve, and we came here to spend it together.”

Avery frowned. “But earlier you said—”

“I didn’t mean I never wanted to see you again. You’re still my best friend. You don’t have to go out with him just to avoid me.”

What the hell! I don’t know what I ever did to him that he thinks hanging out with me would be so awful. I’m an awesome big brother. “Maybe she wants to.”

Aiden glared at me and then stomped over to us. “Do you, Avery? Do you actually want to go on a date with
Grayson
? Or are you doing this because of me?”

“I—” Avery’s eyes darted frantically between Aiden and me and then they filled with tears.

“Aves,” Aiden said in a voice that he had no right using on her. “Obviously I hurt your feelings earlier. I’m sorry. I was nervous, and I guess I didn’t explain things right. Why don’t you stay home tonight and we’ll talk.”

He reached up to wipe the tears from her face, and I almost decked him. I really wanted to, but I didn’t have any claim to her. This was between the two of them as much as I didn’t like it.

“Maybe that’s a good idea,” Kaitlin interrupted. “I think the two of you need to try and work this out.”

I cringed. To have to go through all this with our freaking
parents
eating up every word like a trashy novel? I would hate to be Avery right then. I wanted to kill Aiden for putting her in this position!

Avery’s grip on my hand loosened, but she didn’t let go. She glanced around the room and then set those big, honest eyes on Aiden. “Do you love me?” she asked.

I choked on some spit.

“Aves, you’re my best friend. You’re practically my twin sister. Of course I love you.”

He was clueless. The friggin’ moron was completely clueless.

Avery’s face paled and her hand started shaking in mine. I gave her a gentle squeeze just to let her know I was still there, and suddenly she clamped down on my hand so hard I almost cursed.

Her voice trembled as she whispered, “I love you too, Aiden.” Then, still crushing the bones in my hand, she looked up at me. Her desperation was obvious. “You ready?”

I didn’t miss a beat. “Hell yeah.”

I dragged her out of there without letting her look back.

Avery

If Grayson weren’t propelling me
forward with the arm he had around my shoulders, I would probably have still been standing on the front steps to the condo building. I was in shock all over again.

I couldn’t believe it. I mean I
literally
could not believe it. As in, my brain physically wouldn’t accept the information.

“He has to be wrong,” I mumbled as Grayson strolled me down the street. “He didn’t know what he was saying. He didn’t understand what I was asking.”

“He definitely didn’t get it, but Aves . . .” Grayson sighed.

“He can’t know whether or not he loves me if he’s never given it a thought. I’ve been so patient, all these years. Maybe I just needed to say something. Maybe if I’d just kissed him once.”

“I don’t know, Avery. He’s pretty dense, but a guy doesn’t just ask for space if he’s in love with you. Even if his love is subconscious.”

I think this conversation was making Grayson uncomfortable, but I couldn’t stop myself. My brain was stuck in a loop because moving forward meant acknowledging that Aiden saw me as a sister, and that was simply unacceptable.

“He just hasn’t ever considered the possibility of a relationship between us,” I insisted. “Maybe he hasn’t hit that level of maturity yet. I mean it’s not like he’s ever gone out with anyone else. He never talks about any other girls.”

“Maybe he’s gay.”

“Grayson!” He was laughing at his own joke. “Aiden is not gay! Don’t you even joke about that! It’s
not
funny.”

“Come on, it’s a little funny. It would also explain how he could spend almost seventeen years with a girl like you and never make a move, because no straight guy could do that.”

My stomach did this weird flip. Had Grayson always been so sweet? I hadn’t thought so, but he’d been incredible since the moment I jumped in his shower.

I leaned into him, sagging against his side, and the next thing I knew, my arms were around his waist and I was hugging him. He stopped walking and hugged me back. When his arms pulled me tight against him, all of the tension left my body.

“I didn’t realize you were so nice, Grayson.”

The warm sound of Grayson’s chuckle rumbled pleasantly against the side of my face that was resting on his chest. “Damsels in distress have always been my Achilles’ heel, but don’t let that fool you. I’m really not that nice.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not. If I was nice, I wouldn’t be having such a hard time not grabbing your butt right now.”

I gasped and shoved away from him. He let me go but caught my hand and intertwined our fingers. His holding my hand made me blush even worse than his perverted comment had.

Since I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, I didn’t notice when he stopped walking until I was yanked to a halt. He stood in front of a small bistro with a questioning look. “Hungry? Dinner’s on me tonight.”

The restaurant was dark and cozy with soft lighting. Grayson helped me out of my coat, then held out my chair for me before taking his seat directly across from me at the small, candlelit table for two.

The moment was so surreal. I always knew Grayson was charming. There was a reason he’d dated most of the girls in school, and yet they still kept lining up to be his next fling.

Seeing Grayson Kennedy in action and being the focus of his attention were two entirely different things. He wasn’t doing it on purpose to seduce me or anything, but even set on “friendly,” he was freaking me out a little.

The server brought out glasses of ice water, and I started chugging mine because Grayson was making me so nervous.

“You might want to slow down there, slugger, before you get a . . .” I winced and Grayson laughed. “. . . headache.”

As Grayson watched me, his eyes sparkled in the dim light, making him look like he’d just stepped off the set of a Hollywood movie. Aside from his tall, broad frame and amazing body, Grayson Kennedy had the entire package where looks were concerned. He was Spanish Fork High’s golden boy: hair the color of amber, eyes so blue they looked unreal, and golden skin that didn’t have a single blemish, freckle, or scar.

His teeth were perfect, and he spent so much time smiling that the gesture on him was a work of art. He even had this one adorable dimple that only showed itself when he was really, truly happy about something. That dimple was present now.

I broke the silence with a nervous laugh. “This is awkward, isn’t it?”

Grayson pursed his lips until they turned white because he was trying so hard not to laugh at me. “Awkward? What’s awkward?”

He knew darn well what I was talking about! Grayson was always torturing me like that. I asked him why he did it once, and his answer had been because it was fun to make me blush. Well, mission accomplished, Mr. Kennedy. I was beet red. Again.