"Aves." Eli breathed into my hair and with that one word, a million memories came flooding back. Memories of friendship and laughter in the early days. Surfing in the frigid Pacific waters, long boarding down steep hills in our neighborhood, watching movie marathons, drinking entirely too many sea salt and Carmel mochas at Cafe Luxxe.
He squeezed me a little and the memories morphed into those of love and loss, of heart ache and betrayal. The way he looked disgusted by the media coverage of us, the way guilt overtook his blue eyes when Denise emerged from his bathroom. Freshly showered. Freshly fucked.
I pulled away, feeling the sting as if it all happened just yesterday. I'd grown stronger in my time away, but somehow this man still made me feel so damn vulnerable.
"What're you doing here?!" I shouted over the music, trying to keep my voice light, but to me it still sounded accusatory.
"I'm in town to promote my new movie." Eli explained over the thumping base, the gravel in his voice was just as I remembered. "You look good." He praised and reached out, carefully playing with a couple of blood-dipped braids.
"Thanks." A shiver ran all the way down to my spine at the simple way he touched me. "It's semi-permanent."
"What is?"
"The hair dye, Leisha said it should wash out in a few days."
"Oh. That's good." He shifted his weight awkwardly, but didn't remove his hand from my hair.
"The shaved portion may take a little longer though..." I babbled self consciously.
"That's okay. It looks kinda hot..." He licked his lips a little.
"It does?" I flushed.
"Yeah."
"So, how do you two know each other?" Fi materialized to my left, sipping on the straw in her pink girlie drink and I felt thankful for the interruption. Eli's hand fell from my hair and his eyes unwillingly pulled away to my roommate.
"Aves and I go way back." He purred, flashing her his best toothy movie star grin.
"Yeah, we've been good friends for a long time." I confided and his smile slipped a little as the word friend crossed my lips.
"Leave it up to you Avery to be friends with a world famous movie star." Fi laughed a tick too long in that adorably intoxicated way of hers. "Next thing, you're going to tell me that your dad is some rock God and you're loaded." She laughed again.
"Yeah, about that..." Eli started, but I slapped my hand over his mouth. I hadn't told any of my roommates about my family. I didn't want to make it in modeling because of my parents. I wanted to make my own way, and Adams was a common enough last name.
"Have you seen Kevin?" I changed the subject. "I need another drink." I stood on the tiptoes of my combat boots that already made me impossibly tall, but I was still a few inches shorter than Eli.
"I think he's licking his wounds somewhere over by the couch." Fi giggled.
"Loser!" Eli fake coughed and I rolled my eyes, annoyed by his name calling. He didn't have any room to talk...
I stalked past him to where Kevin was indeed sulking in the corner. He perked up exponentially when I plopped down next to him on the red velvet upholstery. My white shirt/dress hiked up scandalously on my slim tan thighs and I jerked it back down. I was going to have to talk to Katrina about these hemlines. Maybe girls that were cool enough to wear EVOL were secure enough to flash a little thigh....
"There you are." I laid it on thick, forgetting the dress, and reached over to take a sexy sip from his beer. "I've been looking everywhere for you." I rested my hand on his arm and he blinked a few times. Come on, Kevin. Give me something to work with.
YOU ARE READING
The Sweetest Summer
Romance**COMPLETE** Elijah West was everything, and I was just...Avery Adams. The tomboy, the girl next door, the friend zone occupant. The girl who somehow grew up while he was gone filming his television show. But this summer he's back, and the sparks a...
