Page 25 of Letters From Avery
Anger began to rise like bile in my stomach. “Right, that’s why every light on his dashboard is on, and his tire pressure was all fucked up, right? Looks like you’ve been takingreal goodcare of him.”
“JR!”
I barely registered Jack’s muffled attempts to get me to shut up. The cop frowned and cocked an eyebrow before taking a few steps further into the garage. I got up from the stool I was sitting on and stood to my full height. I hadn’t done anything wrong, and, as far as I knew, badmouthing a cop wasn’t against the law.
He seemed to hesitate when he got a good look at me and stopped walking. “And just who might you be?”
I shrugged. “Nobody.”
“You sure do have a lot of opinions,Nobody,” he spat.
“Is that an opinion?”
“What?” he sneered.
“Making sure your partner is safe and taken care of, and that the car they’re in is suitable for them to drive. That’s an opinion?” I looked over at Jack. “How often do you check Jenna’s tire pressure?”
“Weekly, same with the fluids,” he respondedinstantly.
“Hmm… when was the last time you even looked at Avery’s car, officer?”
His stance changed slightly as he looked between the two of us, “You’ll do well to mind your own business. And stay away from Avery. He doesn’t need any help from people like you.”
Three seconds after he’d turned and walked away, Jack jumped up and hurried across the garage to make sure he was out of earshot. “Bro, what the fuck? When were you gonna tell me homegirl—I mean,” Jack shook his head. “Sorry…homeboywas married? And to a fucking pig? Are you serious? Bro, we can’t have the cops sniffing around here like that, JR! Seriously, how could you think this was a good…” Jack stopped mid-sentence. “You didn’t know. Oh, fuck.”
I tossed the towel I had slung over my shoulder down onto the counter, “I’m gonna get some air. I’ll see ya at home.” I made a beeline for the car before any more of my emotions had a chance to surface in public.
How could this be happening?That prick had to be a fucking liar, right? Avery isn’t engaged to some cop. That was… not possible. I have hundreds of letters from that man, and never once did he ever mention even being interested in anyone else except for me. Obviously, when we first started writing to each other, I didn’t even have the faintest fantasy that he would wait for me. Not for three years. Not for someone he’d never even met or seen. But then, as the months went on, and he sent me more and more of his words, secrets, and desires, it felt like we weretogetheron some weird level.
There’s got to be some mistake. He wouldn’t do that to me, right?That creep had his location, and knew his name. Fuck, that was the first time I’d ever heard Avery’s last name.
Avery Thompson.
On the other hand, Avery being engaged would explain why he ran away when I kissed him last night. Fuck, that was so out of line. I don’t know what came over me! I kissed a taken man. Avery still didn’t know who I was, either. At this point, he probably saw me as a random creep wanting to exchange car service for sex. I’d been waiting to taste his lips for years, and being so close to him, I kinda lost control over myself. Looking back, I’m pretty sure hedidn’twant me to.
But the way his entire body melted against me…
To make matters worse, his partner was a fuckingcop. What if he tried to press charges? To make my life a living hell for stealing the love of his life?
“Fuck!” I slammed the palm of my hand against the side of the steering wheel in frustration. I needed to talk to Avery. I needed to find out the truth. If Avery was about to marry another man, the plans I had for the rest of my life had to completely change. Not that I had much of one at the moment, but every time I hadimagined any scenario for my future, Avery was always by my side.
He was all I had. Him and Jack. No one else I knew could even stand to look at me. I was an embarrassment to my mother, and Jenna hated my guts, which I found terribly ironic. I felt more alone at that moment than I ever had in prison. At least before, I could dream about one day being with Avery. Kissing him, holding him, making love to him. It never entered my mind that someone else was already doing that.
I pulled off on the side of the road and wiped my stinging eyes with my knuckles. Once I had regained composure, I flipped the car around and started heading for downtown. It was time to clear things up with Avery once and for all.
The drive was quick with the lunch rush well past gone. I sat in the parking lot of June’s for a minute or so, trying to figure out what to say to him. My heart raced out of control, and my face felt hot, like my cheeks were burning.
“I’m sorry I kissed you, I didn’t know you werefucking engaged!”
“Hey, Avery, how’s your car? Do you have a fiancé?”
“Hey, Avery, so you’re probably going to think this is really funny, but my real name is James, and I’m the guy in prison you’ve been writing letters to… by the way, thanks for lying to me all this time?”
I guess I technically wasn't telling him the whole truth about who I was, either, but I felt like hiding a secret partner was worse.
Wasn’t it?
I took a deep breath and opened the car door. The parking lot was fairly quiet. That’s probably why, as I approached the diner’s entrance, I could clearly hear raised voices around the back side of the building. I stepped over a small hedge and found a narrow alleyway. The voices got louder as I approached the far corner of the brick building.
