Page 23 of Ice Cold Heart
She dropped her messenger bag on the couch and crouched to look at the games stacked under the TV, mostly sports, but we’d branched out into a couple of fighters and Eva had picked up some adventure thing last week. I followed her, and Henry crept around the couch toward us. She shuffled up next to me, peering suspiciously at Avery from behind my leg.
“Most of those are Mase’s games, though I can kick some ass at the latest NHL.”
She turned to glance up at me and came face to face with our house duck. “I assume this is Henry?”
“Yeah. She technically belongs to Eva, Gavin’s girlfriend, but we all adopted her. I’m taking care of her while Eva and Gavin are away for a cheer thing.”
“How many of you live here?”
“Right now? Five. Gavin, Eva, Reece, and I are upstairs. Mase lurks in the basement.”
Henry took a tentative step forward with a tilted head, and I amended my answer. “Sorry, baby girl. Six.”
Avery smiled at the diaper covered in a hockey puck print. “Creative. Where do you get the diapers?”
I tried not to move so I didn’t spook either of the ladies. “No idea. Eva handles her wardrobe. I think Henry has more outfits than I do. There’s a stockpile in her room.”
As if she knew we were talking about her, Henry straightened her neck and preened, making a clicking noise. Avery crooned at her, and Henry abandoned me to nudge Avery’s hand hanging loose between her knees.
“She likes you,” I said quietly.
“How do you know?”
“The last time Reece had a sleepover, Henry chased the poor girl across the living room, flapping her wings and screeching.”
“Poor Henry, having to defend her harem from invaders.” She addressed the duck, and Henry sent me a look that clearly said see, she gets it.
With a gentle pat on Henry’s head, Avery stood and brushed her hands together. “How many of your roommates are home?”
“Right now? Just Mase. He won’t bother coming up from the basement.”
“The living room it is then. We’ll save the bedroom shenanigans for another night.” She winked at me, and I ordered my dick to stand down.
Avery was teasing. She was always teasing. I had every intention of following through on my end of the deal, but I wondered if she’d back out when the time came. Her brash attitude made me think she wasn’t nearly as confident as she wanted people to believe.
“Give me two minutes to grab my laptop and the book. Be right back.” I sprinted up the stairs as Avery complained to Henry about the unfairness of athletes.
When I hit the living room again, Henry waited by the back door and Avery had made herself comfortable on the couch. I stopped to let my girl out and set an alarm for ten minutes to make her come back in. She couldn’t get past the covered patio, but she liked to stand at the edge and talk to her friends in the little pond behind our backyard.
Avery watched me over the back of the couch. “Is she okay out there by herself?”
I slid the door most of the way closed, leaving her with enough space to come in on her own if she wanted. “Yeah, she’s not interested in the great outdoors too much, but she likes to flaunt her house duck status at the other wildlife beyond the fence.”
She nodded, a speculative look in her eyes, and patted the cushion next to her. “Let’s get this going.”
The hardest part about circling the couch and joining her was choosing the right distance. I could sit on the other end, putting a full person of space between us, or I could sit next to her. Good manners dictated I pick the farther choice, but fuck good manners. Avery was here to help me with this book, I might as well set it up so we could both see the words.
I sank down in the middle of the couch, close enough for us to work together but not in her lap, and set my computer on the coffee table. Avery craned her neck to look at the title of the book under my arm.
“Arabian Nights? What class am I helping you with?”
“World literature. It’s a requirement of my major for some idiotic reason.”
Her mouth tightened at my hasty words, but she gently pulled the book away from me. “I’m familiar with this one, so it shouldn’t be too hard to walk you through it. I didn’t take any lit classes here, but I assume they’re the same as the ones I took at my previous school.”
“Read the book, take a test, write an essay,” I said.
“Yep, the same.” She didn’t open it, simply turned it over in her hands like she had the day in the library. “How far have you gotten?”