Trust in Me

“You don’t need to remind me.” I turned, shoving my hands through my hair. “You don’t understand.”


He didn’t immediately respond. “You’re right. I don’t understand how this girl is leading you around by your dick. Have you ever considered that’s she playing you, for some fucked-up reason?”

I whirled on him, hands clenching into fists. If he hadn’t been my closest friend, the one to pull my head out of my ass when I was on home confinement, I would’ve broken his jaw. I took several deep breaths before replying. “She’s not like that, Jase. I know that’s hard for you to believe. I get it. You’ve been screwed over in a way I can’t even begin to fathom, but she is not like that.”

Shaking his head, Jase turned and leaned against the closed door. “That’s what every guy says before they are royally fucked over.”

“Avery is different,” I told him, pulling out my cell again. No response. A ball of unease formed in my stomach. “You don’t know her like I do. You don’t know her at all.”

He stared at me as he scrubbed a palm over his jaw. “I don’t know you right now.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that.

“What is it about her?” he asked, sounding like he truly wanted to understand the attraction I could barely figure out. “She’s not like any other girl you’ve gone out with. She’s fucking awkward as hell and quiet. She’s pretty, but—”

“She’s fucking beautiful,” I cut in, daring him to disagree.

He didn’t. “Is she worth this?”

“Yes,” I said, glancing at my phone again. Still nothing. “Yes, she is, and I need to make sure she’s okay.”

“Cam—”

“I’m leaving this room right this fucking second and you’re not going to stop me.” When Jase didn’t move, I cursed under my breath and reminded myself that he was only doing this because he was my friend. “I’m not going to go beat the shit out of someone. I’m going to go find Avery. That’s all I care about right now.”

Jase looked away, a muscle flexing in his jaw and then he shook his head. “I’m sure she’s okay, Cam.”

“You don’t . . .” I paused, rubbing a spot on my chest as the white walls in the room seemed to blur. My chest constricted. “You don’t understand, Jase. I think . . . I think something happened to her before.”

Comprehension settled across his face and then he stepped aside. “Aw, shit.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, feeling that horrible sensation along the nape of my neck. “Shit.”

My heart was pounding as I stared down at Brittany. “You haven’t seen her?”

“No.” She shook her head, causing her angel wings to droop. “After you went inside with Jase and Ollie, she said she was stepping outside for fresh air, but she never came back in.”

“Shit.” I glanced down at my phone as I pressed her name on my phone again. Walking out to the driveway, I cursed again when there was no answer. I hadn’t seen Tony inside or anywhere, but I doubted he would’ve gone after her. Jase was right. The guy was just a drunk idiot, but that didn’t tell me where Avery was.

And I had looked everywhere.

Brittany trailed behind me. “She hasn’t answered my calls or Jacob’s. I don’t even think she’s here anymore.” She paused, pushing her hair off her face. “I’m going to go to her—”

“No,” I said, clenching my phone. “I’m going to go.”

“But—”

“I’ll let you know if I find her.” I already started walking and then I was jogging to where my truck was parked near the cul-de-sac.

Slamming the door shut, I turned on the engine and gunned it down the residential street. Unease formed an icy ball in the pit of my stomach. The fear in her voice . . . she had been terrified when Tony grabbed her. The wigged-out feeling was back. As much as I wanted to deny it, to push it out of my thoughts, I couldn’t any longer. Something had happened to her. What, to be exact, I wasn’t sure.

I tried calling her on the way home, but as expected, there was no answer. My hands clenched the steering wheel until my knuckles bleached white. I pulled into the first parking spot I found at University Heights and raced across the parking lot. There was no point in checking for her car. In the darkness, it would be like looking for a needle in a pile of fucking needles.

My stomach was in knots when I reached our floor and rapped my knuckles on her door. If she didn’t answer, I would kick this door in, and if she wasn’t here, I would scour this damn county for her.

Then the door opened and Avery was standing there, eyes swollen and red, mascara and tears laying tracks on her cheeks.

But she was okay.

She was okay.

With my heart reaching my throat, I went inside and wrapped my arms around her, hauling her against my chest. Reaching up, I cradled her close, dropping my chin to the top of her bowed head.