Page 131 of Masters of Pleasure
Deleting his response, Nick typed inthank you, sent it, and then shoved the phone back in his pocket.He would have to deal with Avery later.Hopefully, he would have calmed down by then.
Avery
Sniffling on her spot in the middle of Domi and Rae’s couch, with Iris and Rae on either side of her, she couldn’t help but notice whatever Domi was working on in the kitchen smelled amazing.Her stomach rumbled, even though she would have sworn she couldn’t possibly eat a thing, not while she was so upset.
At least she’d calmed down and wasn’t still sobbing, but random bouts of tears kept welling up.She’d gone through half a box of tissues since arriving at Rae and Domi’s.Mitch was there, but he was out back, playing with Domi’s daughter, Ana.Avery had interrupted family night.Something else to feel guilty about.
“I can’t believe he said that,” Iris seethed.She squeezed Avery’s hand.Rae was snuggled up on the other side of her with an arm wrapped around Avery’s shoulders.“Want me to fuck him up?I know some people.”
The way she said it made Avery think she wasn’t kidding.There was something a little hard-edged about Iris, as though she knew how to get into trouble.
“No.I can’t even be that mad.I knew what people would think if they found out about me and Nick.”She’d known, yet let herself be convinced otherwise.
“Only people who aren’t using their brains would think that,” Rae countered.“Didn’t you say he was a jerk?And that he thought he was better than he was?”
“Well, yeah, but?—”
“Did anyone else say they felt the same way as he did?”Rae was ruthless in her cross-examination.
“Has anyone ever told you that you should be a lawyer?”Avery mumbled, dipping her head.“No, they didn’t say that, but they didn’t say they didn’t believe it, either.”
“Did you give them a chance to?”
Avery pressed her lips together.Damn it.Rae really should have been a lawyer.But she was making Avery feel a little better.Avery had taken everyone’s silence as condemnation, but maybe she was a little oversensitive.Maybe they hadn’t known what to say.
She sure as hell hadn’t.
“No, but?—”
“No buts.”Rae held up a finger, shaking her head slowly, making Avery smile, which felt like a minor miracle.“You know what they say about assuming.”
Coming into the room, the smell of something delicious and fried wafting alongside her, Domi put down a platter on the coffee table.
“Tostones.Start with these.The soup should be ready soon.”She flipped around and headed back into the kitchen.
“Yaaaaaas,” Rae said, letting go of Avery to lean forward and pick up one.“Ouch, ouch, ouch.”
“They’re hot,” Domi called from the kitchen.“Maybe give them a second to cool.”
“Nope.”Rae bit the end off of hers and opened her mouth, fanning it as steam rose from where she’d bitten it.“Ah, it burns, but it tastes so good.”After a moment, she seemed to realize Rae and Iris were staring at her.“What?”
“Doesn’t that hurt?”Avery was used to burning herself on hot food but waited until it was properly cooled before trying to eat it.
“Ignore her,” Domi came back into the room, dusting her hands off and shaking her head.“She thinks things are ready long before they are.”
“It’s not my fault things are Rae-Ready before they’re other people ready.”Rae took another bite of her tostones.“It’s already cooling.The rest of you should be able to eat them soon.”
“I should have left them on the cooling tray until they were actually ready.She does the same thing with cookies.”Domi sat in a chair, giving Avery a rueful smile.“So, I say we eat comfort food, we drink, and we talk as much as you need to.”
“Oh… I don’t know…” That sounded amazing, but Domi had a daughter and a boyfriend, who were both home.Avery needed to talk to Nick, eventually, even though she didn’t know what she was going to say to him or how to excuse herself.At least she had until the end of his shift to figure it out.“What about Mitch and Ana?”
“They’ll play outside until it’s time to come in and eat.Thankfully, she’s old enough to do most of her bedtime routine on her own, but Mitch can help her with some of it.I’ll pop out to do the rest at some point.”The matter-of-fact way Domi laid it out made Avery feel a little better.
“Okay.Thank you… SO much.”Tears welled up in her eyes again, but this time from happiness instead of the shame, frustration, and anger plaguing her.“You have no idea what it means to me.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for,” Rae said.“Now, we need to talk about why you didn’t call one of us.”
Avery blew out a long breath, using the time to think of an answer because the truth was, she wasn’t sure.Now that she was here, it seemed like an obvious thing to have done.She hadn’t thought.She’d reacted.
