The letter slot snaps shut, and the house goes quiet again. I peek around the corner. A white envelope is on the floor.
I retrieve the envelope and tear it open. It’s a homemade card, with a surprisingly good drawing of the two of us shopping together. Thank You is written in purple bubble letters across the front.
Inside, written in purple pen, it says:
Dear Avery,
Thank you so much for taking me shopping. I had so much fun and it’s so nice to have pretty bras. I hope we get to do it again, I love hanging out with you.
My dad says thank you, too. He said you’re super nice and funny, and how lucky we are that you live next door to us. He also said you can come for pizza another time.
And that he thinks you’re really pretty.
Piper xoxo
My heart bursts. She’s so sweet. I actually had a lot of fun shopping with her. I wonder if it’s possible to hang out with her and have zero contact whatsoever with her father.
Though I wonder why she’s telling me all the stuff he’s supposedly saying about me.
Knox
I haven’t seen Avery in days. It’s already Wednesday. She’s obviously scarred by my drilling comments. Except she posted the F*ck Buddies video after that conversation. Even though the video’s gone now.
Did she change her mind about wanting a fuck buddy? I haven’t. As long as she agrees to the no-relationship part.
Avery must feel like a sham, posting all these how to have sex videos online, when she doesn’t appear to be having any herself. No wonder she wants a fuck buddy. It’s not just for her body’s needs, she needs one for her job.
I’d be doing her a huge service.
On Monday, she didn’t answer her door, no matter how long I banged on it. Yesterday, she didn’t answer her door, no matter how much I tried to talk her out through her closed door and windows. It’s impressive that she’s kept all her windows shut so tight, since it’s been over eighty every day and I haven’t even worn a shirt all week.
Today, I have a different tactic.
I hear Avery’s front door shut, and jog to the front of her house. She probably thinks I’ve gone to pick up Piper from school, like I normally do. But not today, I asked her friend’s mom if she’d give her a drive home.
“Hey,” I say, rounding the corner of her house. She’s on her driveway, wearing a flimsy sundress that I want to tear off her right this second. She must’ve been making a break for her car. I stride over to her.
She looks at me like a deer in headlights, and a broad smile forms across my face.
“Knox,” she says as I near her.
“Thanks for taking Piper shopping.”
“No problem, anytime. She’s a great kid. You’ve done a good job, considering her mother is in Africa. I mean, what she’s doing is noble, but her priority really should be her daughter.”
Africa? What the fuck is Avery talking about? Focusing on my goal, I ignore the comment.
“She’s a good kid,” I say.
“Anyway, I’d better run,” she says, turning away.
On reflex, I reach out and grab her upper arm to stop her from leaving, before she can go hide again. The second my hand touches her soft skin, a rush of something shoots from my hand all the way down to me feet.
Judging from the way she looks to the sky and swallows, she felt it too.
“I’ve never seen a guy here.”
“Nope,” she says, and leaves her lips slightly parted.
“I was joking around the other day about you not having a man around. But I mean it, if you need any help with anything, I’m here.” I release her arm.
“Oh,” she says, and turns to face me. Our eyes meet, and the same rush blasts through me.
“You know, anything at all,” I say, raising my eyebrows.
Her nose twitches and her tensed shoulders drop.
“Hear me out. I’m single, you’re single. We both have itches that need scratching. We both know you find me… Well, you know, the whole window thing.”
Avery’s eyes widen and her cheeks turn red. She turns to flee again, and once again I grab her arm. Even though I’m touching her, we’re standing arms length apart.
“Let me go.”
“Just let me say what I want to say, then you can go hide from me in your house again.”
Avery lets out a long groan, her other hand flying to her mouth to stop it.
I smirk. “That’s a sound I want to hear more of. Because seriously, you’ve got the sexiest voice I’ve ever heard. That day,” she grimaces at my reminder, “when you screamed out the window…”
“Oh God, was it that loud?” she says, looking at the ground.
“That noise made me want to break down your door and help you out. I’m just saying this is a two-way thing. There’s no point in us having to do what you were doing at the window.”