In honor of 100k reads (seriously wth) I started a new Jameson/Avery book! You can find it on my profile if you're interested. They're short snippets I'd intended to put in this book but ended up too short for me to consider actual "chapters."
Thank you guys for reading!
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[HIGH SCHOOL AU]
"I can't believe you live here."
As I helped Avery Grambs out of the car, shooting Oren a look that I hoped would keep him at a distance, I nodded.
"My family's kind of a big deal," I murmured, resting a hand on the small of her back as we began walking up several stone steps. The massive house ahead of us had always embarrassed me, but more so today because the girl beside me had next to no money.
With the little information I'd gathered about her the past two months, Avery Kylie Grambs didn't have the same opportunities I did.
Didn't live the best life.
But she deserved to.
I'd invited her not only for the astrology homework she needed help with, but also because I'd been dying to get her alone. Heights County Day was not the best place to kiss a girl you were interested in.
But ever since she'd joined the school weeks ago, that's exactly what I had been — interested.
Avery didn't demand attention like I did, but her clever wit always seemed to snatch it.
I liked her more than I cared to admit. But even if I wasn't going to admit it, I was certainly going to kiss her.
As we reached the front door, I thought about doing it there. Avery was watching my lips, her dark eyelashes suggestive without even trying.
I, instead, opened the front door and led her with me. "Avery," I murmured.
"Yeah?"
"I know I said I'd teach you zodiac signs," I murmured, pushing her backpack off her shoulders and smoothly sliding it into a near windowsill. She didn't watch it fall. She watched my lips as I added, "but do you mind if I teach you something new first?"
She shook her head, swallowing, as I backed her against the door we'd just entered through. When my lips were two inches proximal, she said, "Except I already know how to do this."
"Yeah? Then how about I grade your performance?"
Our eyes danced with synonymous flames as her back met the door, as my lips collided with hers. I worried, for a moment, that Avery didn't feel the same as I did. But that was a moment before she slipped her hands into my hair and pulled my body against hers.
I did my best to not run my hands all over her as we kissed. Avery managed some semblance of self-control, her fingers only moving from my shoulders to my neck.
But even the simplest touches lit my whole body on fire.
"How did I do?" she asked after we'd pulled back an inch.
"Not bad for a beginner."
"Who said I was a beginner?" Her eyes were smoky; intoxicating. Mysterious.
My eyebrows raised, I smirked, kissing her again. "Kissing me," I murmured, "is not at all the same thing as kissing other guys, Miss Grambs."
"Why's that?" Judging from the look in her eyes, she already knew. But I continued anyway.
"Because Hawthorne men are a different breed. Which reminds me . . ." I took her hand, guiding her between up an adjoining staircase. As we passed my bedroom, the only commentary I supplied was that if — or when — she stayed over, it would be in there. When we reached the third floor, voices began circulating. I smiled as I said, "It's time to meet my brothers."
