run from me."
A light giggle rolled off my lips. I didn't make it very far, maybe a few strides, when she figured out my secret. She whistled behind me. I peeked over my shoulder, biting the inside of my cheek. Shit. Her eyes were enormous with vivid certainty and a shocked smile spread across her face.
"You fucked him!" she hissed, walking toward me.
My stomach sank to the floor in a wave of nausea. Rattled with anxiety, I glanced around for listening ears and placed a finger in front of my lips, begging for her silence. Amelia Island was small. Everyone knew everything about everyone. A whisper of indecency was all it took to get the ball rolling. I felt like she was on a loud speaker announcing the loss of my virginity to the entire island.
"Avery. Please keep your voice down."
She ignored me and continued. "I knew it! I freaking knew it would happen! You little hoe bag."
Avery was hot on my tail and grabbed my elbow, turning me to face her. She eyed me strangely. "Why are you hiding this from me? Why can't you tell me?"
I shook my head and let out a defeated breath. "I'm not hiding anything from you, but remember the talk we had when you came to visit me? You were insistent about me not having sex with him."
"So."
"So?" I copied, my voice raised.
"Yeah, so what? I worried about the ramifications you two morons would face if caught. That doesn't mean I still don't want you to fill my cup up." Avery began playfully backhanding my arm while she pretended to hold up a cup with her other hand. It was an ongoing joke between us. Fill my cup right up with all the juicy and dirty details.
"Stop," I laughed and shooed her away. "Fine! I'll tell you everything. God." I rolled my eyes and heaved a sigh worthy of an Oscar.
"Does he have a big dick?" Her eyes were huge and humorous. I wasn't surprised in the least that was her first question. Avery was strictly dickey.
I lowered my voice to a tight whisper. "Considering he's the only guy I've ever been with, I'd say yes."
She squealed. Avery literally squealed, and I felt embarrassed for her over the sound that she just made.
"If we're going to have this conversation, it's not going to be inside Chanel where anyone can overhear us."
"Done!" she agreed. "I have the perfect place."
With a one-track mind, Avery tugged me down the stairs. I pulled her to a stop right before we reached the glass doors.
"Let me check out first. I highly doubt my dad wants to get a call from the manager saying we walked out with an arm full of high-end shit."
"Oh, right," Avery said, backtracking. "Orange was never your color. Then again, it might go with the six-six-six you have newly tattooed on the back of your neck."
Avery, always cracking redhead jokes and how evil they were. Jokingly, of course.
Two hours later, Avery was nursing what I’m sure was one hell of a mental hangover after I unloaded every little dirty detail on her, from the multiple doses of the morning after pill to the confrontation between Kova and Hayden the night before. We were sitting on a lounge chair facing each other on the small section of the private beach Avery's family owned. Each home on the water came with its own oceanfront walkway. While I lived on a golf course, her family lived on the water.
"You know, you should've told me to strap on a seatbelt for this crazy fucking story you just told me. I was not prepared for any of that."
"How do you think I felt when it was all happening and I had no one to talk to? I was a hot mess, Ave. So many times I wanted to call you, but I was scared." I didn't add in that the times I had called, she didn't answer.
She smiled apologetically. "I completely understand, I really do, but if you ever hold out on me like that again, I will fuck you up." A burst of laughter rolled off my lips and I fell back against the beach chair, amused at her harmless humor. "For the record, I hate Kova. Like, really hate him. Why couldn't you have gone for Hayden?"
"I don't know. It wasn't like I made a plan to pounce or anything. It just sort of happened."
"Oh, and you need birth control ASAP or you're never going to be