Driving home at four in the morning, Avery couldn't help but feel disappointed. It had felt surreal when Jesse had danced with her at the party, showering her with the attention she'd hoped for over the last few years of high school. She'd had a crush on him since the beginning of her Junior year, and when he'd started following her around tonight at the graduation party it had been a dream come true. It had been especially satisfying to see Brianna's face when they'd started dancing; Jesse's ex-girlfriend who had always been one of the biggest bitches in high school.
But high school was over. It was the end of June and this was one final hurrah before Avery took off for college in September. The party had been much larger than Kelsey, one of Avery's close friends, had expected; people showing up that they hadn't even ever known, ranging from Sophomores to older siblings who had left high school a years ago, but were still friends with everyone, home for the summer from their schools around the country. This had included Avery's two stepbrothers, Carter and Mason, who had always been protective of her since their parent's marriage when Avery was twelve.
She'd been grateful not to see them too much through the night, as she knew they'd probably grill Jesse into oblivion. Luckily, there had been over a hundred people at the party, inside dancing and drinking, out in the yard and around the pool. It had allowed her to sneak off with Jesse as the party died out to make out at a park a few blocks away for the past few hours.
Which had ultimately been the disappointment.
They were both pretty drunk, but Jesse was much more hammered, she'd found out. He was sloppy and pushy, not nearly the prince charming she'd always dreamed he was. Still, she'd given it one hundred percent effort, still counting herself lucky to be receiving his attention. After a blowjob, the thrill of it had died out, however. His drunken fumbling and arrogance instead made her realize that he was kinda pathetic, and his insistence that they would take it up a notch to screwing in the park had only served as a major turn-off. She wasn't about to have a one-night stand under the stars when she'd only ever slept with one guy in her entire life, and only a few times at that.
So instead she left, feeling disappointed and lamenting that the great Jesse Meyers was nothing more than a sleaze-ball and sloppy kisser. At least high school was over. A few more months and she'd likely never run into him again, so that was a relief. There were a few more parties she intended to attend before moving, but she felt certain she could avoid him.
The uber pulled up in front of her house, the lights off inside. She took a brief second once she'd popped out to shake herself out. Once she'd decided she had to get away from Jesse's great expectations as he pushed her for sex, but it was too far to walk home while she was too tipsy to drive, she'd had to endure name calling while waiting for a car to arrive: insults that she was a cock-tease and attention whore, threats he'd just tell everyone they fucked anyways. It had been horrible.
What a fucking night.
On the screen of her phone were multiple missed calls and texts she couldn't even bring herself to open. Her best friends, her brothers, and even Jesse—all texts from him, likely continuing to lob names her way.
With a sigh, Avery put the phone in her pocket and feet into motion, letting herself in through the sliding doors on the patio by the pool. Luckily she didn't have to be too quiet; her parents had taken off to a cruise in Greece last week and they wouldn't be home until Sunday. But when she slid the door shut behind her, she could hear the TV on in the living room off to the left and winced. One of her two stepbrothers were up, maybe both, and she had no doubt they'd be pissed.
Growing up with them, they'd both been very protective. A little too protective, grilling guys who wanted to date her, warning guys who may hurt her, all the while teasing her as older brothers would. They weren't even brothers to one another; her stepmother had adopted Carter when she couldn't have a child in her first marriage, Carter's actual mother far removed from the picture. Carter was the older of the two, twenty-four and entering his last year of grad school. Mason was only two years older than Avery at twenty, and a surprise in her stepmom's first marriage that had lasted a decade or so before she'd met Avery's father. They'd struggled with infertility and had given up, and Mason was what she had called her miracle baby. He was heading into his junior year of university, newly twenty-one. When her dad had first started dating their mom, she'd had a crush on them both—as did all of her friends—but that had ended as soon as things became more serious between the parental units and had never returned.
As she snuck by, the lamp was turned on, illuminating the room from more than just the light of the tv; Carter upon the armchair and Mason leaning back on the couch. Avery cringed, halting in motion before biting down on both her lips with an innocent shrug that read:
Sorry I'm home late, please don't be mad . . .?
Carter brought his hand down from the pull-chain of the lamp and raised a brow at his stepsister that was less than amused while Mason turned the TV off. He and Mason had searched the party for her as people were taking off, found her car outside, but Avery absent. After asking around, they'd heard she'd been seen taking off with that douchebag Jesse. And though no one had known when they'd gone, everyone had their speculation based off what they knew of Jesse.
On their way home, they'd become both pissed at the lack of communication, but moreover, extremely worried and decided they'd wait up no matter how long it took for Avery to come home. They'd called and texted to no avail. And while both were still fairly buzzed, they'd spent the last hour or so riling the other up in an echo chamber, deciding that they'd find Jesse at some point to have a discussion that may or may not end up with a punch thrown.
"Where have you been?" Carter asked, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees. He studied Avery, finding her honey blonde hair slightly disheveled and her sundress twisted at the waist, partially buttoned incorrectly and with a few pieces of grass clinging to her right hip, and his eyes narrowed.
Setting down her handbag, Avery stepped a few feet inside the living room with her shoulders up. "At the park," she said hesitantly, the final word curving upwards in tone as though asking a question. She glanced down, noticing her dress was out of order and quickly straightened it.
The buttons however . . . that was embarrassing.
"You know mom and Scott told us to look after you," Mason told her, sitting up on the couch now and eying her levelly. He did not like the thought of her alone at a park with some jackass and was trying to get a read on exactly how much Jesse had gotten away with.
"Yeah, well, I've been a legal adult for eight months now, so it's not like they really have a say in it," Avery argued, crossing her arms and shifting her weight.
"Except they do," Carter responded, quirking his dark brow at Avery. "You know exactly how they feel about
as long as you live under this roof
; you saw it with Mason two years ago."
Avery looked over at Mason, who nodded with his lips pursed to the side. After he'd graduated from high school, he'd decided to push the limits of arriving home late. Their parents had always been extremely strict, all to create stability after the chaos of divorces and blending a family, ensuring the three of them maintained good grades and even better behavior for fear of losing privileges. Mason had been threatened with summer restriction after staying out all night, which he'd ignored, arguing that he was an adult soon off to college. The second time he'd disappeared for a night, they'd told him that as long as he lived under this roof, he had to obey rules and he now had an earlier curfew for two weeks. When this went ignored, he'd learned the consequences. Mason had been gifted a fully paid two-week vacation to Mexico planned for August, and it was promptly stripped from him. And despite Mason being on his best behavior for the two months that followed—always arriving home early, never drinking or smoking pot, cleaning the house, etc.—when the time came, their parents had stuck to their word: he would not have their money for his trip.
And so poor Mason sat at home while his friends took off to Mexico late August before leaving for college.
"Okay, fair," Avery agreed reluctantly. "But they're in a different country, and it's not like you guys weren't out late too."
Carter shook his head. "It's not about being out late, Avery," he said, then rose from the chair. Pointing at Mason, he continued. "We didn't know where you were! We searched the party until finally finding out you took off with some douchebag, and now you're home an hour before sunrise. We've been worried about you! What the fuck were you doing?"
Avery finally felt embarrassed. Her time with Jesse was definitely not worth the interrogation, and it was perfectly fair that they'd been worried. "I don't know," she responded contritely.
