“You’re welcome. Hey… I knew you had these concerns before, but we resolved it, and I thought you were moving forward with the intention of giving it your all, and putting those old insecurities aside. What happened to that?”
I gave him to you because I thought you were going to do right!
I wanted to shake her, to scream, “Do not let your bullshit mess things up with this good man, dummy!”… However, that would be hypocritical of me.
“Nothing happened to that. Just know that I do like Avery, and I do want it to work. You did a great job matching us, and I really, truly thank you. I just have to make sure it’s right for me.”
I nodded, giving her a smile. “I can certainly understand that.”
We exchanged brief goodbyes, and she exited the store, leaving me alone with Melanie, who was still wearing a scowl. “What’s your problem?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow at her.
“I don’t trust that bitch. And I see you’re still stuck on stupid, giving that girl advice about a man that was supposed to be yours.”
I shrugged. “Avery was never meant to be mine. What are you talking about?”
She stared at me for a second before her lip curled in disgust. “Nothing, I guess. Are you gonna give him a heads up about her?”
“And say what?” I cocked an eyebrow at her. “The girl you seem to be falling in love with, and showering with gifts doesn’t quite feel the same as you, but she’s working on it, and she likes you, I just thought I would give you a complex about it anyway? No, I am not calling him.”
“So what are you gonna do?”
“Well… I’m gonna finish shopping, then we need to get you a plane ticket for this trip, don’t we?”
Mel was so distracted by her excitement she didn’t realize I tuned her out as she babbled on about all of the things we were going to do while in San Diego. My mind was already going a mile a minute, dissecting the run-in with Maya. I didn’t want to think I’d made a mistake in matching him with Maya, but the conversation had left me feeling a little uneasy. If that girl broke his heart, I would…
What would I do?
Even though I was fully committed to moving forward into a newly designed life, there wasn’t a day that went by without thinking about Avery. I couldn’t piece together when, how or why he’d made such an impact, but it wasn’t something I could deny. I could only try to forget, and hope it faded away— sooner, rather than later. My main goal was to be happy, and I couldn’t do that while I was holding on to hope for something that wasn’t going to happen. Avery went easily — very easily — into his new relationship with Maya.
He moved on. I should too.
He was obviously focused. I was too.
— 10 —
— Avery —
“Don’t you think you’re moving too fast?”
I chuckled, pulling to a stop at a red light as Des — on speakerphone— continued to ramble about how unsure she was about my relationship with Maya. She’d done a complete reversal on her assessment that I was womanizer, and now considered herself my personal love coach. I didn’t mind, because I mostly ignored Des’ bullshit anyway, and I appreciated having my sister back on my side, completely.
“It’s not a big deal, Des. Chill.”
She sucked her teeth. “Avery, did you forget you sent me a picture? Those diamond cuts are huge. Those aren’t the kind of earrings you give a girl you’ve only been dating for three and a half months. They need to be half— no, a quarter — of that size. Hell, actually, you shouldn’t be giving her diamonds yet anyway. The two of you aren’t even serious!”
“I’m trying to get serious.”
“You’re moving too fast. Now, I know I’m the little sister, and I also know I got in trouble for sticking my nose in like this with Tori, but I can’t just not say anything. It seems like you’re rushing things with Maya for some reason. I mean, yeah, she’s a pretty girl and all, but I’ve seen you two together, Avery. Something doesn’t quite curl all the way over there.”