Some Kind of Normal

“I just…I’ve never…and you have and I don’t know if I can…” Ugh. I was making a mess of this.

He kissed my cheek and rested his head on my shoulder. “I don’t mind going slow, Everly. I don’t mind at all.”

When I could speak again, I whispered, “Thank you.”

“You’re worth waiting for.”

The tears, oh those stupid, silly tears, fell silently down my cheeks, and it took everything I had not to sniffle or shudder or let him know how affected I was by him. By the way he was with me.

Trevor Lewis had just knocked my world off its axis. He was the river.

And boy, I was glad that I jumped.

Chapter Twenty-one

Trevor

Our plans to spend the day out on the Tickfaw were ruined by a couple of things. First off, no one dragged their butts out of bed until nearly one o’clock in the afternoon. And well, the rain. It was coming down in buckets, and I’m not talking about a nice, soft, summer rain. This was a full on Louisiana sorry-about-your-luck kind of rain.

Whatever. Didn’t bother me at all. I could have spent the entire weekend in bed with Everly. Even if all we did was cuddle, because the girl was soft and warm and she smelled amazing.

Also. Everly. Nuff said.

If it weren’t for the other three people in the cottage, we might have, but Brent was a total douche and kept banging on our door, making inappropriate noises, the kind that made Everly’s cheeks go rosy and adorable. After the fourth or fifth time, we realized he wasn’t giving up. The guy couldn’t help it. He’d always been a bit of a dick.

And apparently he wasn’t staying either. Said the rain was depressing as hell and that hanging out with two couples was even worse. I knew he was not digging the fact that Link and I weren’t interested in getting loaded with him, and drinking seemed to be the only thing he liked to do these days.

After he ate a crap ton of eggs, he packed his stuff and took off for home. Said he’d catch up with us later, but I wasn’t so sure I’d see him before he left for Texas again. The guy was different. But then again, I guess we all were.

So, the way I saw it, Everly and I had a couple of choices.

We could stay in the cottage, maybe play cards (strip poker? not likely), and cuddle on the sofa while Link and Hailey disappeared into the other bedroom. And in the space of two hours, they’d disappeared at least three times.

Or we could head to Baton Rouge on our own.

We opted for Baton Rouge, because the thought of trying to act like we didn’t know what Hailey and Link were doing, while we kept busy doing everything but what Hailey and Link were doing, kind of sucked. We were taking it slow, and I was cool with that, but still, the cottage had paper-thin walls and our roommates weren’t exactly quiet.

Everly drove and I tried to ignore the tic behind my right eye and the dull headache that wouldn’t seem to go away. Wasn’t hard to do. She looked hot in a dress that showed just enough leg to get a guy thinking. Tight jeans or short shorts were great, but there was something about a girl wearing a dress that I liked.

By the time we rea

ched Baton Rouge the rain had stopped, and we decided to eat dinner at an outdoor place on Front Street. It was family owned, and according to my parents, had the best Creole and Cajun food in the city, which is why I suggested it. Turns out Everly had never been to Baton Rouge.

After digging into a plate full of crawfish-stuffed beignets, I had to agree. The food was top-shelf, and the company, well, I could have stared into Everly’s eyes all night. I know. I was the guy in the chick flick. Sue me.

“What?” I asked, wiping the corner of my mouth as I settled back in my chair.

Everly shrugged and twirled the straw in her glass of soda, that slow smile creeping over her face. The one that made my stomach tighten. The one that made me think about lying in bed with her the night before.

“You sure can eat a lot,” she said softly.

“I’m a growing guy.” I laughed. “With a big appetite.” There it was. The blush I’d been waiting for.

“Good to know.” She tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear. “I, uh,” she said slowly, so slowly that her slight southern drawl was accented. “I’m just happy to be here with you. Away from Twin Oaks and everything.”

“Ditto.”

She smiled then, a full-on one-hundred-watt smile, and man, it felt like I’d just won the lottery. It was amazing that a smile could do that.