I didn’t know what it was about those purple glasses, but they’d driven me nuts when she was sitting in the front seat of my cruiser earlier.
I moved through the throng of curious students as I followed behind my girl to the front doors.
Once there, she hesitated.
One way would lead her to the front where my bike was parked. And the other way would lead her to the back where the buses loaded.
I could see the hesitation on her face so clearly that it made me smile.
Finally, she turned right, which would lead her to the buses.
“You’re going the wrong way,” I called out.
She froze mid-step, turning around slowly to blink owlishly at me.
Her mouth formed into a little tiny O, and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning wide.
Her eyes narrowed at my smile and her arms crossed defiantly over her chest.
The move put her breasts, which weren’t substantial by any means, on display. They were squeezed and pushed up, reminding me of the dress she’d had on last night.
“What are you doing here, Roberts?” she snapped.
I felt the kids around us start to take notice, as did she.
She growled in frustration and turned on her heels, marching this time to the front where my bike was parked.
She marched up to it and stopped, waiting for me to catch up.
I wasn’t far behind when I reached around her and picked up the helmet off the seat.
“Put this on,” I ordered.
She did, fitting it onto her head as if she was pissed.
Which she might have a right to be.
“Umm, hey, Avery.”
Avery turned to look at a girl that was in a cheer uniform, then turned away without replying.
“Is this your brother?” the girl teased.
Avery turned then, her eyes hot as she stared at the girl.
“You damn well know that I don’t have any brothers and sisters,” Avery snapped. “Just as you know that I don’t like you. So why are you talking to me?”
The cheerleader laughed, which pissed me off.
She looked like a vindictive little bitch.
“How’d it go in the counselor’s office today?” the cheerleader pushed. “Are you having issues again?”
I caught Avery’s arm and squeezed. “You ready?”
Even though I wanted to hear the answer to the question the cheerleader just asked, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be able to listen to the answer.
Because that cheerleader was pissing me off, and her words weren’t even directed at me.
“Ready?” I asked.
Avery’s jaw was tight as she nodded once.
“Let’s go then,” I said, getting onto the bike.
She followed shortly behind me, her feet hesitant as she moved.
“There are some foot pegs.” I picked one ankle up and put it on the peg. “There’s one in the same spot on the other side.”
Since my bike really didn’t have the room for an extra ass to be sitting on it, I had to urge Avery closer.
“Closer,” I ordered. “Press your thighs against mine.”
She did, trying to leave room.
But in the situation we were in, I wasn’t going to let her leave any room.
First, I didn’t like the way the bitchy cheerleader was sneering at Avery. And second, I wanted her pressed against me.
It was possible that I’d taken advantage of the situation and forced her to hold on to me, but dammit if I didn’t want her wrapped around me like a weed.
Avery did as instructed and practically pressed against me from thighs to chest.
“Now hold on,” I ordered.
She placed her arms around my waist and held on, and I started the bike.
The very few people who weren’t paying attention to us as we got on the bike now were, because my bike was loud as hell and drew even the faculty’s attention that were busy heading to their cars.
I put the bike into gear and then started off, being careful of all the teenagers who were dumbasses as well as obeying the speed limit.
The moment that we were no longer in the school zone, though, I opened it up.
Avery’s arms tightened around my waist and she let out an excited laugh, causing me to go just a little bit faster.
Sadly, when the turn to her house came into view, I took it.
Because no matter what I was feeling, my original assessment was the right one.
Avery was too young.
I’d had that hammered home by picking her up today from her high school.
The girls there staring back at me, one of those being one in a cheerleading uniform, were young. They had petty problems and even pettier attitudes. I was sure Avery wasn’t like that, but she lived in that world.
I didn’t.
By the time we arrived at her house, I’d talked myself down off the ledge again.
The ledge that was getting taller and taller, and harder and harder to get down from.
It was like a black hole.
Each time I thought I had myself under control, I realized that I most certainly didn’t.
As I pulled up into her driveway, my eyes took in the high grass and the even taller weeds that surrounded the flower beds.
I resisted the urge to ask her if she had someone to help her mow.
But she answered that question for me when she got off the bike and handed me her helmet.
“This place looks like a nightmare,” she murmured, pressing her hands against her face as she warmed her cheeks back up. “Thank you for the ride, Derek.”
I looked at her, frowning.
“Why does it look like a nightmare?” I asked, not able to help myself.
“I can’t get the weed eater started to save my life,” she admitted. “I’ve tried and tried and tried. And as for the grass, I have no way to transport gas to and from my house. So I haven’t been able to mow because I haven’t been able to figure out a way to get a gas can full of gasoline in my car just yet. Its trunk space is minimal at best. And when I tried to drive down the road with the trunk open, I broke something in the latching system and now I have to tie it down…”
I held up my hand.
“I’ll see if I can bring it by tomorrow,” I said. “Or my dad can drop it by.”
She looked at me in surprise.
“That’s not necessary. Thanks, though.” She turned her back on me and started walking up the driveway. The spot where she normally parked her car was empty, but her parents’ vehicles were there.
“Avery.”
She stopped and turned slightly to face me.
“Your dad has a truck,” I pointed out. “Why not use it?”
She swallowed hard. I physically saw the pain start to overtake her.
“I…” She looked at her dad’s truck.
It wasn’t new, but it definitely wasn’t old like her car was.
And her mom’s car was even newer than her dad’s.
“I can’t,” she admitted. “I just… I just can’t.”