Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 68247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Better to stick with his original plan and make himself such a large part of her life, so indispensable to her, to show her how in love with her he really was . . . she’d be willing to put up with anything for them to be together.
And he did love her. Not the memory of her, not the girl she’d been, but the strong, beautiful woman she was now. All of her. So he’d prove to her that he was willing to give up the touring and the insanity of the road for the chance at normal. With her by his side.
He gripped her hair, tilted her head, and kissed her harder, taking control before he lost his damn mind by thinking too much. He tugged at the long strands, and she rewarded him with a shuddering moan, rocking her hips against his. Arousal built swiftly, as did the need slamming inside her, reminding them both that together, they were bigger and better than they were alone.
“Avery? Is that asshole gone?”
“Ella!” Avery squeaked, her hands pushing against his chest as she quickly rolled off him. She scooted into a sitting position while he grabbed the nearest throw pillow and covered his straining, obvious erection.
“Oh my God, I’m sorry.” Her roommate spun around in a flash of light-brown hair so she could scurry back to her room.
“Don’t go!” Avery said to her roommate.
Why the fuck not? Grey wondered.
“Are you sure?” Ella peered over her shoulder, giving Grey his first glimpse of her face.
“Yes. I think introductions are in order.” Avery pulled herself together quicker than Grey was managing. “Ella Shaw, this is Grey Kingston.”
Since he and Avery had only been together for senior year—though because of the intensity of their feelings, it felt like much longer—he hadn’t met Ella in person. He had, however, heard a lot about her.
Cheeks flushed with embarrassment, she walked over and stuck out her hand. “Umm, nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” he said, shifting uncomfortably and grateful for the pillow, which she clearly hadn’t missed.
“God, could today get any worse?” Ella asked.
Grey shook his head, knowing he had to put the poor woman at ease. “It can only get better from here.”
“He’s right,” Avery said. “And Tyler’s gone, so that’s a start for you.”
That comment broke the ice, and Ella laughed, a genuine, honest giggle that Grey enjoyed, especially at Tyler’s expense.
“Are you leaving for the airport soon?” Avery asked. She turned to Grey. “Ella works for a Miami-based designer who keeps her hopping with photo shoots and meetings.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It actually is. I’m off to a tropical island, so no complaints here.” She smiled. “Anyway, I have to finish packing. I came out to check on you, but clearly you’re in good hands so . . .” She blushed at her inadvertent sexual innuendo.
Grey grinned. “Nice to meet you, Ella.”
“Same here, Kingston. Take care of my girl while I’m gone,” she said, pinning him with a warning glare he took seriously.
“I intend to.”
As he knew from his older sister, best girlfriends were not to be underestimated. Neither was the skittish woman who wasn’t taking his intentions seriously.
Chapter Seven
For Avery, the afternoon passed quickly. Grey stuck around, though they didn’t discuss anything serious, just hung out like old times. He told her he liked the bright, cheerful colors she’d chosen for her apartment and he appreciated the large, comfortable furniture. She had big brothers, she reminded him, and had decorated accordingly.
Tyler returned as promised and installed a dead bolt and a new lock, necessitating two keys for entry. She refrained from rolling her eyes at him, knowing not only was this his job, but he wouldn’t worry about her as much if she let him do his thing. Ella had already left for the airport, so Avery had no chance to observe her brother and her best friend again and figure out the reason for the tension she’d noticed earlier.
By the time Tyler had finished working and left for the day, it was dinnertime. “What time are we going to your parents’?” she asked.
Grey didn’t answer immediately, and she walked over to where he sat on the sofa. Head bent, notepad in hand, he hummed to himself, jotting things down, lost in thought. Or in his own head.
This was Grey as she remembered from high school. Often she’d find him sitting somewhere, anywhere—the cafeteria, at a desk, outside under a tree. To the outsider, he was daydreaming, but Avery knew he was writing songs in his head, putting words to paper.
She smiled and came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck and snuggling her face close to his.
“Hey, sugar.”
Her stomach tumbled at the endearment, and she sighed happily. Here, when they were alone, just Avery and Grey, she could pretend the outside world didn’t exist. She could put her problems, their problems, into a little box, shut the lid, and forget for a little while. It was one of the coping strategies her first psychologist had taught her, and it came naturally now.