Chapter Twenty-Three

Avery realized that she hadn’t closed the curtains when the light of the blue dusky sunrise filtered into the hotel room. She squinted at the window, and everything came back. The amazing game, the pool, and Lucas was still in her bed. Well, Lexi’s bed.

She lifted herself up a little to see if Lexi was in her bed, and she wasn’t. They were still alone. Lexi must have crashed in LeVonn’s or Colin’s room.

“Morning,” Lucas said with an adorably hoarse voice. He groaned and buried his head against her neck.

“Morning,” she replied as she snuggled closer to him.

“Hmmm,” he replied, eyes still shut, and gathered her in his arms to hold her next to him.

He was warm and gentle. Holy shit. She wished Lexi were there so she could squee silently—but then she guessed that would also be weird.

She turned around in his arms so she was facing him.

“Don’t watch me while I’m sleeping,” he mumbled.

“You’re not sleeping,” Avery argued with a smile.

“Then don’t watch me kissing you,” he replied.

“You’re not—”

And then he was. Not a “good morning, this is a bit awkward” kiss, but a “come here and let me lay some awesomeness on you” kind of kiss. And she was there for it. It was a deep, sexy, but slow and deliberate kiss. A kiss for a kiss’s sake.

Eventually, he pulled away and nuzzled her neck. She was in heaven. For sure. Euphoria lifted her spirit and heart, and she felt happy. Like really happy. Happy that he knew a bit about her past and hadn’t steered clear of her like so many others at school had. Happy to be there, right in the minute. It wouldn’t even matter if they never went out or anything ever again. She had this. This feeling. She’d remember it.

“What are you doing tonight after work?” he said.

She popped up and leaned on her elbow. “I don’t know. Wait. Are you asking me out?” She furrowed her brow. “Or are you asking me to ‘hang out?’” She used air quotes.

He tucked his arm under the pillow, showing a crazy-hot, big bicep, and rolled his eyes. “I’m asking you on a date. A date. A date!” He shouted the last two words, making Avery stuff her hand over his mouth.

“Hush, it’s still only… Shit!” she said, looking at the clock. “It’s 7:30! We’re due at the bus, like, in thirty seconds!”

“Shit. Shit.” Lucas jumped out of bed. “I’ve got to get to my room to get my bag,” he said and raced to the door. Then he turned back, grinned, and grabbed Avery as she was also struggling out from under the comforter. He planted a kiss on her lips. “Date tonight? After work?”

She nodded. “Date tonight.”

“So we’re, like, officially dating now?” he asked.

A thread of excitement twanged inside her. “I guess.”

He kissed her again and ran for the door. “See you on the bus.” The door closed behind him, and Avery stood for a good five seconds with a grin on her face.

Then she grabbed her things from the bathroom and shoved them in her bag. She also grabbed Lexi’s bag and made a run for it.

…

Lucas got to the bus before Avery—mostly, he imagined, because he had virtually nothing save wet swim shorts, toothpaste, and a toothbrush to pack. He threw his bag into the baggage area and checked in with Coach so he could be checked off the list.

Lexi was already on board, looking tired and wearing a really large, long T-shirt. “Have a good evening?” he asked, perching on the seat opposite her in the aisle.

She laughed and then held her head. “Yeah, it was fun. Have you seen Avery? I hope she’s coming with my bag.”

He grinned and winked at her. “I have seen her this morning, and yes. I would imagine she’ll bring your bag with her.”

Glee passed over her face as she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and clapped silently. Almost immediately, she frowned and pointed at him. She opened her mouth to say something, and he was pretty sure he knew where she was going. He held up his hand. “I’m not going to do anything to hurt her. I swear.” And he meant the words, even though a small measure of anxiety crept into his belly as he remembered just what he was keeping from everyone on the team.

Everyone was on the bus except for the Stone family. He looked outside and saw them talking. It looked like Coach was telling them off for being the last on the bus. Colin got on, winked at Lexi, and Avery followed. She caught his eye, and it worried him how uncertain she looked, even though they’d been together less than ten minutes previously.

He stood up as she went to get in next to Lexi. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yes. Sure,” she replied, meeting his eyes.

He was overcome with the feeling that she was his now. Well, at least, she was his girlfriend, and he didn’t care who knew. He pulled her to him, hugged her quickly, and kissed her forehead before they took their seats again.

Literally everyone on the bus stopped talking and looked. He didn’t care. He wasn’t going to sneak around with Avery. He didn’t want to feel like what they were doing was wrong. Because, let’s face it—there were plenty of other things he was doing that were wrong. Coach’s gaze met his in the large mirror at the front of the bus.

He didn’t care. He was happy. For the first time in months. He’d rocked the game the night before and literally spent the night with Avery. And it had been amazing. He was good.

Avery reached for his hand across the aisle as the bus jerked out of the parking lot. She squeezed it, smiled at him, and went back to Lexi.

He was really fucking excellent.

Colin swiveled his head around to glare at him a couple times but didn’t say anything. Lucas guessed that was a conversation he was going to be having sooner or later, and if Colin did get him kicked off the team, he would, in all honesty, be relieved. He was still running through ways he could leave the team without disappointing Avery.

As they drove down the highway, dark clouds started to gather in the distance ahead of them, as if they were leaving the light, and sunshine, and victory, and heading toward a dark and stormy day. He hoped it wasn’t an omen, but he had too many bad things in his head competing with the good.

…

A few hours later, Lucas arrived at the back entrance of Hardy’s as Avery was being dropped off. He waited just inside the hallway that led to the store and workshop, holding the door open for her. She ran across the parking lot and in through the door. He let it close, and they were suddenly alone and just inches apart. His resting heart rate said goodbye and kicked off into a sprint.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” she said with a smile.

“Do we, though?” he said, bending slowly toward her.

She reached for him at the same time, tilting her head to kiss him. The warmth of her lips brought life. He took a step closer to her, and she pressed herself against him. It nearly undid him.

“I don’t know if I’m ever going to get used to kissing you,” he said, pulling her even closer.

Avery smiled against his lips as the store door rang. She jumped. “Gotta go. See you in a bit.” She dashed into the store and greeted Mr. Hardy.

“We need to switch out the tarps for the brooms again. We’re going to have another windstorm this weekend,” Mr. Hardy said to her before the door swung shut.

Through the small window, Lucas watched Avery reach for her red apron from a hook by the cash register.

He wished he could bottle that moment. The taste of her toothpaste still on his lips, his heart rate just settling down, the prospect of their date that night. The prospect of everything. For the first time, the future looked bright.

That was, except for the constant anxiety that pressed on his shoulders. His secret was becoming almost too heavy to bear.