Page 10 of Trust Me (Rivers Edge #1)

Maddox

I climb into the squad car with Jake on Tuesday morning, still reeling three days later from the kiss Saturday night with Avery.

When Jake wanted to stop by his parents’ house on Sunday night to grab some food, I was conflicted as hell.

I wanted to see Avery so badly, yet I didn’t want to risk her being able to see how much that kiss really impacted me and sent my head spinning, leaving a wave of confusion and lust in its wake.

“Hey, you never told me how it went with the girl Saturday night,” he asks.

“I didn’t go home with her,” I mumble.

He looks at me, wide-eyed and full of surprise. “What? She was hot with big boobs and was ready to show you a good time.”

“I know that. I’ve been there before with her, Jake. I ended up taking your sister home.” The words left my mouth before I considered their meaning to a guy like Jake. I quickly look at him as rage fills his face, turning it an ugly shade of red.

“You better explain ‘taking my sister home’ right now,” he growls through firmly clenched teeth.

I throw my hands up in the air as if waving the surrender flag. “No, no, no. I mean just that. After you left, she and Holly got drunk off tequila shots, so I drove each of them home. That’s it. End of story.” He didn’t need to know that was, in fact, not the end of the story.

“Oh. Good. For a minute there, I was about to drag you out of this car and beat the living shit out of you.” Well, now I feel like an even bigger pile of crap.

I can’t tell him I think his sister is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and I made out with her in her doorway like a horny teenager.

Fuck! I’ve done it twice. I am the world’s worst friend.

I change the subject back to the reason we are climbing into the car.

Work. Patrol. Safety. Our Tuesday morning is fairly busy with routine traffic stops, so the morning passes pretty quickly.

As lunchtime rolls around, Jake says he needs to run by the bakery to pick up some goodies his mom has for him.

We pull the squad car into an available spot along the street and head inside the bakery.

It smells delicious. But then I smell the one scent I can pick out anywhere.

Vanilla. Not just any vanilla, but a very specific vanilla.

I turn to see Avery sitting with her mom at one of the small tables in the back, eating a sandwich. She must be on her lunch break.

She looks up and our gazes meet. Jake is already walking over to her to give her a big hug, followed quickly by a hug to his mom. I quietly stroll up behind them, making myself look busy by checking out the treats in the display case.

Elizabeth walks up to me and gives me a big motherly hug. She kisses me on the cheek and gives me a warm smile. “I’m glad you and Jake could stop by for a few moments on Sunday night,” she says. “I always feel better knowing you both are eating a good meal every now and then.”

“I appreciate you feeding me every once in a while, Mrs. S. I’ve never had bad food when it comes from your place.

” I can’t tell her, the whole time I was standing in her house, I was pretending not to be thinking about the one girl who is now sitting in front of me.

Avery looks over at me and gives me a small smile.

Her cheeks redden a little, and I can tell she’s embarrassed.

I wonder what just went through her mind.

She goes back to talking with Jake and I turn my attention back to Mrs. Stevens.

Mrs. Stevens gives me a sly smile that makes me feel like she can see inside my soul and read my thoughts.

I start to sweat a little, pulling on my collared uniform shirt.

She leans in and whispers, “Nothing would make me happier.” She pulls back, gives me another kiss on the cheek, and walks away toward the back of the bakery.

I don’t know what to say or do. What the hell does she mean?

Nothing would make her happier. Me and Avery? My mind is all over the damn place.

Jake slaps me on my back and we head back toward the front.

He hollers a goodbye over his shoulder at his mom and heads outside.

As I’m getting ready to head through the door, I turn back toward Avery.

She’s watching me. Our eyes lock for a brief moment and it makes my heart stop.

Her eyes are the first thing I think of every morning and the last thing I think about before I fall asleep.

And now I’m thinking about that kiss. The most perfectly amazing kiss.

I’ve thought of nothing else since it happened Saturday night.

As if sensing where my thoughts are, Avery reaches up and lightly touches her lips like she did Saturday night after the kiss.

I give her a little smile and head out the door. Oh, yeah, she’s thinking of it too.

**** *

I’m heading home after work on Thursday when I remember my fridge is completely bare.

I don’t even have beer, which is unacceptable.

So I make a quick left at the next stoplight and head toward the market.

I walk the aisles with my cart, grabbing a few things here and there.

I’m not a big cook, but I enjoy using the grill.

So I load up on steaks, burgers, dogs, and chops.

I make a quick trip down the produce aisle for some potatoes and other items, and then head back toward the bread aisle for buns.

As I turn the corner, I come face-to-face with Drake.

He hasn’t noticed me yet, but I can tell he’s in a heated discussion with someone. A girl. Shit, not just any girl. Avery.

She has her back to me so I can’t see her face, but I sense that this can’t be good.

Her entire body radiates tension and is as stiff as a board.

As far as I know, Drake has wanted nothing to do with his former girlfriend and their daughter since he found out she was pregnant.

My need to protect her kicks in and before I know it, I’m abandoning my cart and striding toward her.

I hear Drake say, “She looks just like you.” No reply from Avery. Drake continues, “So, still not seeing anyone? That doesn’t really surprise me, Avery. You’ve always been opinionated and difficult. You should meet Kelsey. She’s great. You’d probably really like her.”

I can hear her gasp in surprise. What an ass! Drake still hasn’t seen me approaching them, so I decide to walk up behind her, throw my arm over her shoulder, and give her a light kiss on the cheek. She tenses at first from the contact and turns to face me. I’ve clearly caught her off guard.

“There you are,” I say. “I was looking for you and Bean.” As if on perfect cue that I couldn’t have planned better myself, Brooklyn sees me and reaches up for me.

I gladly take her out of the cart and cuddle her to my chest, kissing her on her pudgy little cheek.

She gives me a big happy greeting that honestly melts my heart.

I could seriously love this little girl.

I throw my arm back around Avery and turn to scowl at Drake. He’s standing there with his mouth slightly gaped open, eyes flying back and forth between Avery and me.

“Huh. I didn’t see that one coming. I’m sure ol’ Jake loves you doing his baby sister.” I instantly see red. I want to punch this douchebag straight in his running trap. Before I can reply, I hear Avery say, “Well, as long as it’s not you I’m doing, he doesn’t seem to mind so much.”

He gives us a cocky little smile and starts to turn his back, but before he walks away, he throws over his shoulder, “Let me know when you want to get together and meet Kelsey.” I stand here with my arm around Avery, holding Brooklyn, and fight the urge to follow him outside and beat him bloody.

No one gives a crap about his high-maintenance girlfriend who he’s probably already cheating on.

“Did he seriously just ask you if you wanted to meet his girlfriend?”

She’s still staring off at the place he once stood and replies, “Yeah. Can you believe that? He didn’t even ask me about Brooklyn. Just said ‘She looks like you.’ That’s it. No ‘How has she been?’ or ‘Is she a good girl?’ Nothing.”

“He doesn’t deserve to know anything about her. He’s too narrow-minded to realize what he’s missing.” I lean down and give Brooklyn another kiss on her cheek. She was happily chatting to herself, oblivious to the ordeal that lay before her, or the fact she just met her sperm donor father.

“I know. I just feel bad for her sometimes,” she says as she rubs her hand on Brooklyn’s back.

It’s at that moment we both realize I still have my arm around her.

She clears her throat and steps back. I feel the void immediately when she steps out of my embrace.

I ask Brooklyn about the cookies she either ate earlier or is planning on eating.

I’m not sure which but she hasn’t stopped babbling about them since I got here.

She gives me her best toothy grin and hugs me one more time.

I close my eyes and breathe in her little scent.

She smells like baby lotion and cookies.

That douchebag who just walked away has no idea what he gave up. And if I have my way, he never will.

I put Brooklyn back in the cart and turn to face Avery.

She watched the exchange between her daughter and me but has kept quiet.

Everything inside me is screaming to ask her out, to take her to dinner.

Make her smile. But I can’t do that. Not if I want to live, and I do value my life.

Jake will kill me slowly and bury my body somewhere on the family property.

So I give her a quick goodbye and steer my cart toward the checkout after grabbing the first package of buns I find. I can’t help but think someday, someone is going to be the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet to get to share his life with Avery and Brooklyn. It just sucks it won’t be me .