Page 121 of Never Say Never
She’s listening intently when I glance her way. “But it never happened?”
“It eventually did, sort of. We…had prom night together and I thought we’d start dating. But she made it clear she didn’t want that. We…slept together a few times senior year, but that was all it was.”
“That must have been hurtful on some level?” she says, her voice gentler.
“I tried not to let it bother me. I was about to go to play football in Texas, and she was going to a ballet academy in New York. We’ve hooked up a few times since then too.”
She digests this for a second, then turns her head my way, squinting. “You must have had so many other girls interested in you though?”
I’ve explained this to her before, but maybe it didn’t sink in? “Yeahhhh. But I’m just not that guy. I like who I like, and it’s not…fulfilling, for lack of a better word, to be with someone I’m not into.”
“Huh.” She looks back at me sharply. “But we’re…we’re…”
Fuck.I realize I might need to bend the truth.
“Yeah, I mean, we fit, we work, as it is. I’m into you, physically, obviously.” Maybe I’ve thrown enough words together that she won’t think on it too deeply.
“Okay.” She looks like she accepts that word salad. “So other than Stefani, was there anyone else that you were involved with?”
“There were a couple of women at Texas. One is the tattoo artist, Gretchen, who gave me these—” I nod down to my thighs. “But they weren’t interested in anything serious either. Or they didn’t want a relationship withme, anyway.”
“Their loss.”
We’re both quiet for a moment until Avery breaks the silence.
“So you’ve only been with three people? Is that what you mean?”
“Four, if you count losing my virginity at fifteen in an embarrassing three-minute moment.”
She laughs, but then sobers again. “You’re so different than I expected, Rawley. I would never have guessed any of this when we first met.”
I shrug and give her a small smile.
“Now you know. That’s just me.”
30
AVERY
Rawley’s confessions about his history and preferences are definitely a surprise.
But as I chew on them more after we change the subject, I realize they explain a lot.
I’ve never seen him flirting with anyone else, or even a suggestion that he has. He’s so much sweeter than I could have imagined, and humble. I can’t think of another athlete of his caliber I know that has so little of a cocky side.
If anything, he apologizes for too much.
He threw out similar observations at our dinner a few weeks ago, but I guess I wasn’t fully attuned to the implications. Now that he’s shared more specifics, they sink in deeper.
I’m still processing this when we get to his house. He opens the door for me, no one in sight.
Well, except Grover. He comes running up to us, eager for attention.
“I should probably let him out,” Rawley says.
“I’ll join you.”
He smiles at me, and I follow him—and an excited Grover—through the house to the backyard.
