always be Kendall’s friend, but there are some battles you have to fight yourself.” He hoisted Avery over his shoulder caveman-style and headed inside.
Avery slapped his ass. “Put me down, you Neanderthal.”
Jonah just ignored him and secured the house before carrying him upstairs like he weighed nothing.
Inside his room, Jonah laid Avery on the bed, covering Avery’s body with his own. “I want you,” he said before kissing a path down Avery’s neck. Jonah felt Avery’s happy purr vibrating beneath his lips.
“How?” Avery asked once more, stopping Jonah in his tracks. “I am a terrible person for getting involved with The Purists.”
“You did a bad thing, but it doesn’t make you bad,” Jonah argued. “How’d you get tangled up with the psychopath?”
“He had proof I hacked into my college’s computers and changed my grades so I wouldn’t fail a class. I’d come down with mono and missed several lectures. The professor wouldn’t work with me, so I made myself even sicker trying to make up for my grades. I fell two points shy. Failing the class would’ve impacted my scholarship and grant eligibility. It was wrong of me to do, and I regret it as much as getting caught up in The Purists’ schemes. He gave me the option of helping him, or he’d report me to the college. They would’ve expelled me, and no college would’ve accepted my application with the transgression on my academic record.”
“How’d you end up meeting my aunt Ellie?”
Avery smiled. “One day, I was web surfing on a computer at Bytes and Brew to avoid detection on my own laptop. Royce came in to get lunch, and there was another off-duty cop there too. Royce started asking the owner if he knew any hackers or anyone familiar with the dark web. I knew it was my cue to leave. Like an amateur, I left the café too quickly, which attracted Royce’s attention. I ran for it when Royce and the other cop pursued me. I made a wrong turn and ended up in a dead-end alley. Um,” Avery said, rubbing a spot behind his ear. “This part is bad.”
Jonah kissed him. “I’ve seen you around Royce enough to know he doesn’t harbor a grudge toward you. Just tell me the rest. You’ll feel better.”
“I picked up a board off the ground and swung it as Royce rounded the corner and ran into the alley. Luckily, his reflexes are amazingly fast because I missed hitting him. He tackled me to the ground and hauled me into the station for questioning. I kept my mouth shut even though they held me there until late that night. I didn’t know it then, but Royce and Sawyer set up a stakeout and followed me to the church where I planned to confront the sadistic bastard whose thumb I’d been living under for too long. I don’t even know for sure what I was going to tell him, but I intended to confess to the police the next day. When I went inside the church…” Avery closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “The Purists’ arsonist had the sick fucker tied up and was dousing him with gasoline. I turned around and ran out of there as fast as I could and nearly collided with Royce.”
“I know the rest,” Jonah said. “You’re the Samaritan who aided the firefighters in saving Royce and Sawyer when they got trapped in the burning building.”
“Samaritan,” Avery scoffed. “I was so fucking scared. I wanted to run and get away from there as fast as I could.”
“But you didn’t. You stayed because you’re a good person. Royce and Sawyer know it. Ellie knows it. I know it,” Jonah said.
“The situation was a horrible wake-up call. I went and spoke to my professor the following week and confessed what I’d done. I was a snotty, sobbing mess by the time I finished and fully expected him to report me to the dean.”
“He didn’t?” Jonah asked.
Avery shook his head. “He apologized to me. Professor Lafferty explained he had been going through a bitter divorce when I’d approached him for an extension to submit my makeup work. He said that he’d taken his bitterness out on me, and it wasn’t fair. We worked out a deal. I tutor students who are struggling with various computer concepts. That’s where I was on the night I couldn’t talk to you. I wasn’t sure how to tell you about that part without confessing to the whole story.”
“I don’t need perfection,