Page 31 of Talk About… History

Avery

“Okay, I need to know why you’re ignoring your best friend,” Sidney called out as she burst into my room, the door slamming hard enough I jumped.

She had a point.

After the meeting at the clinic and the exam afterward, I buried myself in my project for days, refusing to dwell on any of it. They were taking the lead and talking to my lawyer, Lance. He’d reached out after they contacted him so I could sign a few consent forms. He knew I didn’t want to be present for anything to do with my exes.

My looming deadline made it easy to not dwell on the Network or my exes, at least.

Mama popped in every so often to give me a drink or a plate of food. My brothers tried but they must have sensed my need for this and backed off pretty quickly.

They all knew something happened, but not exactly what. At some point, I’d have to talk it out but it wasn’t happening now.

“I’m sorry, I’ve got the meeting with the mayor coming up in like two days,” I said as I stood up and stretched. My voice felt scratchy and unused. Fuck, how deep had I gone into my work?

“Girl, you need a break… and maybe a shower.” She wrinkled her nose but burst out laughing when I threw a pillow at her.

“I showered this morning,” I laughed. “Don’t be an ass.”

“Sorry, it just comes naturally to me,” she said, completely unapologetic like she always had been. “I ran into Grace. She was excited you’re back and wants us out for a girls’ night soon.”

“That might be fun. I haven't done a girls’ night in… well, since I left.”

“Damn,” Sidney said, shaking her head. “I thought you were supposed to be out there living your best life.”

After she said that, she winced, opening her mouth to apologize most likely.

“No, don’t take it back. I was supposed to and I knew you didn’t mean it in a bad way. Exes aside, I did try in college but I didn’t really fall into a ‘party’ crowd, more of an ‘order in pizza and study’ crowd.”

“Ew,” she laughed, wrinkling her nose. “Come on, let’s grab some lunch. I’m starving and I swear you’ve lost ten pounds in the last three days. You need food.”

“Mama, fed me,” I said, glancing at the last plate and realizing it was mostly full. “Oops.”

“Girl, the guys told me they were worried about you, which means your mama is, too,” she admitted. “Get dressed and meet me down there in ten. If you don’t I’ll sabotage your video.”

She was bluffing but I wasn’t going to risk it. “Fine. Give me ten.”

Sidney gave me one last glance and left, tapping her watch to remind me to hurry before she was heading down the stairs.

I finally checked my phone and winced at the insane number of texts lighting up the screen. My brothers had all apologized about not trusting me the other night. After the stuff at the clinic and prepping for this, I’d nearly forgotten about it.

Avery: We’re fine. Just stop assuming I make bad choices. I know they lied to me and used me, but you don’t get to hover over every choice I make now.

Cameron: We’re your brothers. It’s our job.

Nash: What Cam means is we’re sorry for making you feel that way and we will try better to trust you.

Maverick: While also looking out for you.

I rolled my eyes and dropped my phone, knowing that was as close as I was getting to what I wanted. They knew I wasn’t going to be a pushover but we all knew they’d never truly back off.

Especially now that I was back.

Dressing up was the last thing I wanted to do, but one glance in the mirror and I was a bit more motivated. The dark circles and tangled hair wasn’t a vibe.

Ten minutes came and went, but by twenty, I was freshly dressed, hair was brushed and put in a loose braid, and I’d put a bit of makeup on.

I had to give it to Sidney, I already felt more human.

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