I turn my attention back to Avery who is chatting with James, another good friend we’ve known since high school. They are talking about Brooklyn, and I can hear the happiness in her voice. James’s sister is married with a couple of kids, so he’s sharing his latest silly antic story about his niece and nephew.
I take a long pull from my beer bottle and walk up behind her. I lean in and catch a whiff of her coconut shampoo. I whisper in her ear so only she can hear, “You better be ready to play dirty. I don’t like to lose to Jake. Ever.”
She turns to me, eyes as round as saucers, surprise evident on her gorgeous face. Then she squints those beautiful eyes a little, and replies, “Oh, I can do dirty.” She gives me another shy grin and her eyes light up with mischief. I know she picked up on my not-so-subtle double meaning.
Hell yeah.
I spend the next hour and a half watching Avery bend over the pool table, chat with Holly, and laugh with her brother. I do everything I can not to draw attention to the fact I’ve been at half-mast basically since she walked into the Pub tonight. Her laugh, her smile, her body—it just does something to me.
After she sinks the eight ball to end our fifth game, she celebrates by throwing her arms around me in a victory hug. I catch her mid-leap and hold her close, savoring the feel of her body against mine. I don’t want to let go of her. “We did it! Three out of five! We win!”
“Yeah, yeah. I let you win,” Jake tells her with a chuckle, as he returns his pool cue to the rack on the wall. He heads over to the table to meet up with Emma and Heather who, apparently, have been patiently waiting, most likely eyeing us up and down for the past two hours. Shit, they’re still here? I didn’t even realize it. I’ve paid no attention to either girl since Avery walked in.
She peels herself off of me, and I feel the loss of her body heat pressed against me; immediately I want to pull her back in. She gives me a shy smile as she thanks me for being her partner and heads over to join Holly at the bar for another drink. I watch her go and then turn myattention back to Jake and the Double D twins. Jake is grabbing Emma’s hand and gathering their jackets.
He winks at me as he walks by, slaps me on the back, and tells me to enjoy my evening. Yeah, I know exactly what he means by that comment. Jake makes sure to walk over to the bar and hug his sister before he heads out the door. Avery catches my eye just as Heather slides up against me again, arms wrapped tightly around my waist. I see Avery blush and turn away quickly. I don’t really want to sit and chat with Heather, so I walk over to James and start talking with him. Unfortunately, Heather never leaves my side and starts cooing about needing another drink.
I take the bait and use it as an opportunity to put some distance between Heather and me, heading up to the bar to get us another round. When I approach, I see Avery slamming shots with Holly and Gabe, the bartender. Tequila—with salt and lime. It’s nearing closing time, and I really don’t think it’s smart of Avery to start pounding tequila shots. I slide up next to her at the bar, and she smiles her beautiful, full-wattage smile at me. Her eyes are starting to glaze over, and her cheeks are a little rosy. Yep, she’s well on her way to getting plowed.
I order a round of drinks for my group inback and ice water for myself and look back down at her. She doesn’t break eye contact with me as she licks the salt off the tender flesh between her thumb and index finger, grabs the shot glass, and tips it back. I reach out and grab the lime chunk from the counter and hold it out for her, but she doesn’t reach for it. Instead, she leans forward.
First, she sticks out her sexy pink tongue and gives the juicy lime wedge in my hand a little lick before putting it in her mouth and giving it a gentle suck. Watching her suck the lime wedge from my hand may be the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen, and my cock thickens almost painfully as I watch.
“Wanna shot, Maddox?” she asks as she slides the shot Gabe just set in front of her toward me. We have yet to break eye contact. No matter how hard I try, I can’t look away. Her eyes hold me captive and I’m helpless to their power, their depth. They are so damn lustful and heated at this moment, and I’m pretty sure they probably mirror my own.
“What are we toasting?” I ask.
She looks like she’s thinking for a moment and says with a sexy little grin, “To getting dirty.”
Fuck me, my pants are so tight right now. Avery licks her hand again between her thumb andfirst finger and drops a little salt from the shaker on her deliciously wet skin. She picks up the shot that she slid in front of me moments ago. I lean forward and take my time licking the tangy salt off her hand, sucking ever so slowly. Then I take the shot glass and slam it back, letting the cool alcohol burn its way down my throat toward my stomach. Her other hand holds the lime wedge, the same lime wedge I just watched her suck on. She holds it out for me. I give the lime a little lick as I place my lips around the wedge and suck. Her pupils are so big you almost can’t tell what color her eyes really are. They are dark and full of need and want, and I desperately want to forget about the fact she’s my best friend’s little sister and go home with her. Hell, I’d take her home with me—I don’t care! That’s how far gone I feel at this moment. This entire exchange has been one big seductive dance that I’d love to carry over to bed.
Reality starts to set back in when someone drops a beer bottle in the trash, breaking the private trance we are in. I throw some bills on the bar, gather my group’s drinks, and head back toward them. Heather is looking over my shoulder toward Avery with a curious and jealous expression on her face.
“Isn’t that Jake’s little sister?” she asks.
“Yep.”
She throws her arm back around my waist and gives me another flirty giggle as she takes her drink from my hand. I catch her glare at the back of Avery’s head when she thinks I’m not looking, and I know there is no way in hell I am heading back to Heather’s place. I turn my attention to James and try to disentangle myself again from Heather, but she’s just not budging. I sense I’m going to have to be rude to her, which I hate, but enough is enough. Last call is finally announced, and I know now is the time to get out of here.
I see Avery stand up from her barstool and give a little sway. Yep, she’s plastered. Holly is giggling next to her as they try to steer each other toward the front door. Gabe hollers at Avery to wait and offers to give her a ride home after he gets the bar closed up. Fuck that! No way in hell is she getting into that douchebag’s car.
I turn quickly to James and tell him I’m going to give Avery and Holly a lift home. Since it’s my weekend to work, I only had two beers over the past three hours with a lot of water in between, plus that shot with Avery. I don’t feel any effects of the alcohol and know I’m fine to drive.
Heather looks up at me with a questioninggaze. I peel her arm from my waist one last time, tell her to have a safe night, and head toward the front door without so much as a backward glance.
I approach Avery and Holly as they weave toward the front door and tell them to come with me. I hear Gabe speak up as he ensures me that he’ll give Avery a ride home. I’m pretty sure the look I give him tells him he is in no way going to get Avery in his car. I grab a hold of Avery’s hand, whose other hand is holding Holly’s, and we head out through the front door into the cold early morning darkness.
Chapter 7
Avery
Maddox’s hand feels so big and warm wrapped around mine. He’s pulling me along toward his Silverado, which might slightly resemble dragging me, since I’m having a hard time getting my legs to work properly. He unlocks it and helps me and Holly inside the cab. It’s a big blue crew cab truck that takes some effort getting up into. He helps us both into the front, me sliding into the middle space. I don’t question the fact he put us both in the front seat. Despite the slight smell of smoke and alcohol from the bar, Maddox smells delicious, and I take the opportunity to sit close and lean against him.
The entire ride to Holly’s house, we’re chatting about our pool games, Jake and her ultimately losing to Maddox and me. I throw in a few smart-aleck remarks about her being a sore loser and laugh at her when she starts hurling them back at me. I love our back-and-forth banter.
We pull up in front of Holly’s duplex, and Maddox gets out, helping her out of the truck. Ilean into her and give her a big best-friend hug, thanking her for talking me into going out. “I love you,” I say into her ear.
“I love you too,” she whispers back. She glances over her shoulder at Maddox as he approaches her door to help her out and turns back to me with a wide grin. “Enjoy your night. Don’t forget the condoms,” she says just loud enough that only I can hear. Holly laughs hard as she slides out of the truck and takes Maddox’s hand. He walks her to her front door and makes sure she gets inside safely before heading back toward his truck. That’s one thing I’ve always found attractive about Maddox. He’s always a gentleman.
