So I stay silent instead.
And Avery speaks first.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Tristan,” she says after I finish. “Parents can be so… cruel.”
“Yeah, they can,” I agree then force a small smile. “You’re a good mom, though. The way you are with Mason… he’s lucky.”
She frowns. “He’s lucky now, but I’ve had my moments of fucking up. I worry, you know, that what happened between Conner and I is going to affect him later on in life. I wish I could have walked away from all of that sooner…”
“But the important part is that you did walk away,” I say, thinking about Delilah. If only she could have walked away.
“And the important part is you haven’t done drugs in over four months, so that bad Tristan you kept describing to me moments ago doesn’t exist anymore. And if your parents can’t see that, then fuck them.” As Avery gets up from my lap, it leaves my body feeling chilly. I almost reach out to grab her and bring her back. “Now, come on. We need some cheering up.”
“Where are we going?” I ask as she takes my hand and pulls me to my feet.
“I’m not sure,” she says with a shrug. “But does it really matter?”
As I look into her eyes, I realize it doesn’t. Nothing really does when I’m with her.
***
A half an hour later, we’re eating take out on the side of the house in the shade. Clouds are rolling in, but a faint trickle of sunlight still drifts down on us and heats the air.
“You know, it’s been pretty cool helping put this house up,” Avery remarks, nibbling on a french fry as she stares at the side of the house. “It’s kind of like watching the foundation for a new life get created.”
“Yeah, I guess it kind of is,” I agree with her insightfulness then take a bite of my burger.
“Does it ever get old?” She adjusts her shorts over the bottom of her ass cheeks before sitting down on the ground beside me. “Building houses, I mean?”
I stretch out my legs, admiring the view of her as I reach for my soda. “I never really found it too exciting in the beginning, but now it’s kind of growing on me.”
She rests back against the wall as she picks up another fry. “Well, I think it’s very fulfilling. You get to get up every day to build something for someone who really needs it. Give them walls to protect them from the storms, the heat, the world. I just think it’s so amazing, and trust me, the families who get the houses do too.”
I get lost in the sound of her voice as my gaze traces her full lips and the diamond just above, the soft flutter of her eyelashes, the way her hair floats around her face in the breeze. “Well, when you put it that way, it sounds pretty amazing.” You’re pretty amazing.
“That’s because it is amazing.” She stuffs the fry into her mouth and then amusedly grins. “Just like you.”
Unable to help myself, my hand strays to her leg and my fingers lightly brush across the faint freckles on her upper thigh. I faintly smile when she shivers. “You know, if you were a guy, you’d be the kind who uses cheesy pickup lines on women all the time.”
“You mean I’d be you?” Her lips mockingly make an O, then she covers her mouth with her hand.
“Ha, ha.” Shaking my head, I slide my hand up to her waist and haul her closer to me.
“Although, it wouldn’t be that bad to be like you,” she says. “You’re one of the good guys.”
Her compliment makes me uncomfortable, so I dodge around it. “Speaking of Conner, have you heard from him lately?”
Her features harden at the mention of his name. “No, not since that night at work.”
“Good.” I dither before I ask my next question. “What about Taylor?”
After Avery stopped crying on her birthday, she broke down and told me about her worries, one that included her half-sister Taylor who contacted her out of the blue. The fact that she’s told me all these things makes me feel even worse since I should be telling Avery everything, not just the parts that will allow her to still like me.
“I still haven’t decided what I want to do about her.” Her mood deflates, and I feel like a dick for bringing it up. “I mean, I haven’t seen or heard from my dad in eighteen years, and suddenly, his daughter is contacting me.”
“Maybe she just wants to get to know you. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”
“But I’m not so sure I want to get to know her, especially if my dad’s had a relationship with her.”
“Yeah, but having a sister could be a good thing.”
Her frown deepens, and then her eyes pop wide as she slaps her hand over her mouth. “Oh, my God, I must sound so selfish right now after you’ve—”
“Lost my sister,” I finish for her. “You can say it. I’m not going to break. And that’s not what I was getting at. I was merely implying that maybe you should try to look past the father aspect and focus on the sister part.”
She nods her head. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Of course I am,” I joke then sit up straighter when my phone vibrates from inside my pocket. It reminds me that there’s something I wanted to give her today, so I set my burger aside. “Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you. Or for Mason, anyway.”
Her eyes light up like she just won the fucking lottery. “Really?”
The look makes me feel guilty because I don’t deserve it. Still, I nod then retrieve the miniature toy car that’s tucked in my pocket with my phone. “So, while I was there the other day, he made a point to tell me that one day he was going to be a famous race car driver.”
“He’s such a goof,” she says, glowing with pride, the same thing she does every time anyone mentions her son. It shows her love for him, like a mother should have for their son. I like her that much more because of it. “He wants to be everything.”
“Maybe he will be everything,” I tell her, opening my hand. “I saw this car in the store and thought you could give it to him because it looks like the one he described as what he was going to drive.”
She freezes then whispers, “Wow, you really did get him something.”
“I said I did.” I worry I’ve done something wrong, like crossed a boundary or something. “But you don’t have to give it to him if you don’t want to.”