Page 19 of Trust Me (Rivers Edge #1)

Maddox

The first twelve-hour weekend shift is finally over, and honestly, I’m beat. Jake and I are heading toward my house so he can drop me off. “Vanessa coming back over tonight?” he asks.

“Nah, I’m hanging at home tonight…alone.”

“Want some company?”

“Sure. Pull into the liquor store and grab some beer. I’ll call in the pizza while you’re inside.” Jake steers us toward the liquor store and while he’s inside, I call in a quick pizza order to the local pizzeria. Before he comes out, I also send a quick text to Avery.

Me : How was your day?

She replies right away.

Avery : Excellent. Met up with a hot guy for lunch today.

I love her playfulness. It’s sexy as hell.

Me : Really? Anyone I know?

Avery : Nope. Just some guy I’ve got my eye on.

Me : Well, tell him to get in line. You’re gonna be busy every day and every night for awhile.

Avery : Did you just get off work?

Me: Yep. Jake is coming over for pizza and beer.

Avery : Sounds like fun. You boys behave.

Me : Always. Talk to you soon.

Avery : Bye

I’m slipping my phone back into my pocket when Jake opens his truck door and gets in, sliding the case of beer behind his seat. “Pizza ordered?” he asks.

“Yep. It’ll be there shortly.”

Jake parks his truck behind mine in my driveway, and we head inside.

He puts the already cold case of beer in the fridge, leaving two out, and we settle on the couch, flipping through Saturday night primetime movies and sports channels.

We finally settle on the Bulls game and are just waiting for dinner to arrive.

The doorbell finally rings, so I jump up and retrieve our dinner, pulling some cash and a generous tip out of my wallet as I go. Jake and I can do some serious damage to a large deep dish meat lover’s pizza.

When a few crust crumbs and a pizza sauce stain are all that remain in the box, I decide to try to get to the bottom of Jake’s quiet mood lately.

He hasn’t said much at all tonight, and I can tell something is still bothering him.

“So, what’s up with you, anyway?” I ask, watching him to gauge his reaction.

He sighs heavily before answering me with a vague, “Nothing.”

“Obviously it’s something, Jake. What gives? You’ve been more than a little quiet and more short-tempered than usual. You’ve already mentioned that you’re not sleeping well, so what’s going on?”

He’s quiet so long that I think he’s ignoring my questions and just watching the game. “A couple of weeks ago, when I was grabbing some groceries, I ran into someone we knew a long time ago. Remember Erin Anderson?”

“Erin Anderson?” I think back to high school and dig for a memory of an Erin Anderson. “Oh yeah, redhead who was here for about a year or so in junior high. What about her?”

“She’s apparently back in town. Said she was going to be starting a job here but wouldn’t elaborate about it.”

“Okay. So, what’s the problem? ”

“When I ran into her in the aisle, she was turned toward the shelves and gave me a full side profile view. I couldn’t help but just stare at her.

She’s this short, little redhead with big green eyes.

She turned toward me and gave me a stunning smile.

Then, it’s like she realized who I was, and her smile faded faster than an ice cube on a hundred-degree day.

I tried to smile at her, but she just turned away.

So, I walked up to her and tried introducing myself and she responded with, ‘I know who you are.’ That was it.

She turned her attention back to what she was looking at, as if to just completely dismiss me, like I was no longer standing there. ”

“So, the great Jake Stevens was dissed by a girl?” I ask as a questioning smile appears on my face.

“It wasn’t just that I was dissed, Maddox.

When I asked her what her name was, she said, ‘Doesn’t surprise me that you don’t remember my name.

Why would you? You only made my life a living hell in seventh grade.

’ I had no clue what she was talking about and even asked her about it.

The only thing she would tell me was her name was Erin, and then she walked away. ”

“Wasn’t that the girl you teased in seventh? ”

“Yeah, once I got home that night, I couldn’t get her out of my head, so I called my mom and asked her if she remembered an Erin from when I was in school.

She reminded me Erin Anderson was only in school with us for less than a year.

Her dad was in the military, and she moved around a lot.

Mom knew instantly who I was talking about because that’s the girl I got that in-school suspension for.

We had to meet with her and her parents after school. Remember that shit?”

“Absolutely. You teased and picked on her that entire year. She was the journal girl, right?”

“Yeah, as soon as Mom started talking about it, I knew immediately who she was. I guess I just keep thinking about what a dick I was to her back in school. Apparently, she still thinks that of me because she wouldn’t even talk to me.”

I sit here and watch as the play of emotions crosses his face. I can’t tell if he’s upset there’s actually a girl out there oblivious to his charms or if he might feel guilty for how he treated her twenty years ago. Could Jake finally have met his match?

“So what are you going to do about it?” I ask and take another drink of my beer.

“Nothing. She doesn’t want to talk to me, and I’m not gonna make her.

” Jake then focuses his attention back on the game, but I can tell he’s not actually watching the action on the screen.

I’m glad that he finally confided in me what’s been eating at him.

He’s apparently not going to do anything about it, but that’s not really my problem.

After the game and Jake heads out, I grab my phone before climbing into bed. It’s after eleven and I can’t help but wonder if Avery is still awake. I don’t want to call her just in case she’s sleeping, so I settle on sending her a text.

Me : Sleeping?

Avery : Nope. Reading. Jake leave?

Me : Yep, just left. We’re back on at 9am tomorrow morning.

Avery : Well, you should head to bed then. Good night, Maddox.

Me : Good night.

I hit send and then stare at my phone for a few more moments, wondering if she’s going to reply. I’m just starting to set my phone back down on the nightstand when it rings. I glance down at the screen and smile when I see her name.

“You’re supposed to be sleeping,” I answer in way of greeting.

“Can’t sleep. My book just got scary. ”

“Scary? Do you need me to come over and protect you?”

“Like check under my bed and in my closet for monsters?” she asks with a chuckle.

“Definitely. I’ll have to check under your sheets too. Maybe in your pajamas. You never know what kind of scary monsters can lurk within your pants.”

“I didn’t even think about my pajamas,” she replies with mock horror. “Whatever will I do if there’s something in my pajamas?”

God, I love her playfulness. “Well, first things first. I’m gonna need to take them completely off. That’s the only way to ensure you don’t have any monsters hiding anywhere.”

“Makes sense. What happens after my pajamas are off?”

“See, that’s where my experience as a master monster hunter comes in. You can’t just look and know that everything is fine. You have to get your hands dirty, really explore the entire body. Between my hands and my mouth, I can make sure there are no monsters lurking anywhere.”

“Sounds like you know how to do a very thorough job…of checking for monsters. ”

“Fuckin’ right. How about the next time I see you, I give you a thorough monster check?”

“I think that sounds like the only way to keep me safe and sound from lurking monsters,” she teases.

“Done. I’m on another twelve hours tomorrow. What time does Brooklyn go to bed?”

“Around eight.”

“I’m off at nine. How about I stop by after I’m off and check your bed for you?”

“It’s a date,” she replies, and I can hear the smile in her voice.

We talk for another forty-five minutes until I realize it’s almost midnight. “I should probably go. You have work tomorrow morning,” she says, which comes out more like a yawn.

“Yeah, you sound like you’re ready to pass out. I’ll stop by then tomorrow night?”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you then. Bye, Maddox.”

“Sweet dreams, Avery.” As I hang up the phone, I can’t help the smile on my lips.

I actually just spent almost an hour on the phone with a woman.

I hate the phone. I hate talking to women on the phone.

But, when I talk to Avery, there’s just something so natural and right about it.

I could have talked to her all night if we both weren’t fighting sleep.

I lie back on my pillow and get comfortable again. Tomorrow night. I’ll be exploring Avery’s perfect body tomorrow night, checking it for monsters. I smile, again, as I start to drift off to sleep.