And that was a lot of fucking stuff to put on one man’s shoulders.
“Hey, don’t you get that off today?” Rowen asked excitedly.
I touched the halo for one of the last times.
“Yes, actually,” I answered. “I do.”
Rowen’s grin widened.
“That’s great news,” she said.
It was.
“Is Derek taking you?” she asked.
Luckily I was saved from having to answer that question by the arrival of Dax.
“Oh, that must be Dax,” she said, standing up. “We’re going to dinner and a movie.”
I looked at my watch.
“At two in the afternoon?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I had today off for a few doctor appointments, and he got off at two, but has to be back in by four tomorrow morning. So, we’re doing it early.”
Made sense.
“Well, have fun!” I chirped, hoping that she didn’t follow up with the question she’d asked before Dax had arrived.
Rowen opened the door, and we all stepped out, just in time to see Katy barreling down on us from the yard.
“Avery!” Katy cried. “Can I buy that mom car from you?”
I looked at my mom’s mom car and grinned.
“I guess,” I said. “Why?”
She looked at her own vehicle, then at me.
“I’ve just spent all morning trying to get a third car seat in my car. Do you know that I have virtually no leg room when a car seat is in there?” she asked. “Either I have no leg room, or Logan doesn’t. And we both have long legs. I need a mom car. That car. An SUV. Can I buy it?”
I looked at the ‘for sale’ sign I’d slapped on it after printing it off at school, then shrugged.
“How much?” she asked.
I opened my mouth, then closed it, unable to come up with a number.
I had no idea how much the car was worth.
More so, the person I would’ve asked was Derek, and he wouldn’t want to lowball me or scam his sister.
I looked over at Dax.
Dax looked at the car.
“What year is it?” he asked.
“A 2016,” I answered.
He pulled out his phone then did some clicking and swiping.
“Kelley Blue Book gives it a thirty-two-thousand-dollar trade-in,” he said. “I don’t know how much…”
“Thirty,” I said. “Sound okay?”
Katy practically bounced on her toes.
“I’ll give you the trade-in, and…” she began.
“Listen, Katy.” I laughed. “You could probably go get a new one. I know that you’re just doing me a favor. Thirty. Which, I might add, seems like a lot.”
“Actually,” Dax said. “That car of your mom’s has less than ten thousand miles. Is top-of-the-line and is a fuckin’ Volvo. You could probably get a whole lot more than trade-in value.”
Katy clapped her hands. “Then that’s perfect!”
A car rolled up moments later, and I waved at the car.
“I have a doctor’s appointment to get this off.” I touched the metal contraption around my head. “I’ll have to look for the title when I get home.” I paused. “I have the keys right…” I opened my purse and found my mom’s set of keys. “Here. Why don’t you drive it around a little bit and see how you like it?”
Katy snatched the keys up, then did a small dance. “I can’t believe I haven’t thought about this sooner. I was coming by to pick up a t-shirt for Derek when I saw it and thought… that’s it!”
“Why did you get a t-shirt for Derek?” Rowen wondered.
I wondered the same myself, but I didn’t want to seem like a crazy stalker chick.
“Because apparently there was a fight, and he got blood all over his.” Katy shrugged, her smile still solidly in place. “You better go, Avery. I’m excited to hear that you’re getting that off.”
I smiled weakly. “Thanks, y’all.”
With that, I walked toward my car and away from Derek’s family.
***
Derek
“Thanks, Katy,” I said as I shrugged my old shirt off and pulled on the new one. “Do you still want to go grab lunch?”
Katy shrugged. “Sure. But I was going to drive Avery’s mother’s car around a bit to see how I liked it. I told her that I’m buying it. I’m going to give her thirty-two thousand for it.”
I blinked, staring at my sister.
“When did this happen?” I asked.
Because I sure the fuck hadn’t heard it from Avery.
Not that I’d heard much of anything from Avery in the last week.
Hell, the only time that I saw her now was when we happened to be passing each other on the way out of the duplexes. Her getting on the goddamn bus, and me just coming home from work in hopes that I would get there in time to take her.
I hadn’t.
Not once since she’d left my place.
Which pissed me off.
“Just a minute ago,” Katy answered. “I saw her when I was going to get you a shirt.”
“You did?” I asked in confusion.
“Yep,” she said. “I saw the car out there and thought… I need a new SUV. And that one is just right there. I know it was kept in great condition. So when I saw her outside talking to Rowen, I thought I would just ask her.”
“Wait.” I paused on our way to our vehicles. “Avery was home?”
And not at school where she was supposed to be?
“Right,” she said. “She had an Uber pick her up and take her to her appointment. Apparently, the halo comes off today.”
I gritted my teeth and tried not to get pissed.
It didn’t work.
“I’m going to have to cancel our lunch plans,” I found myself saying. “I’m going to go to her doctor appointment.”
Katy rolled her eyes.
“You’ve got it bad, little brother,” she teased.
I did.
And I wasn’t even going to deny it.
“I like her,” she continued as if I hadn’t ignored her. “She’s a great person.”
She was.
Avery was a beautiful human being, inside and out.
And to see her be so independent was humbling.
I wasn’t even that independent when I was her age.
“All right then.” Katy patted my shoulder. “You go meet with your girl. I’m going to go get my drive on. How about we meet at your place for dinner? Bring Avery.”
I rolled my eyes at her order, then got in my SUV and started it up before googling how to get to her doctor.
I found it easily enough.
But getting back there to see her wasn’t nearly as easy.
“Listen,” I said to the woman. “I’m her boyfriend.”