Page 44 of She Used to Be Nice
Pete stirred under the blankets, then rolled over and propped himself up with his elbows. A grin spread across his face. “Morning, sunshine.”
Avery folded herself back under the covers. Her temples throbbed. She didn’t have the energy to kick him out yet.
“Morning,” she mumbled.
Pete yawned, the grin returning when he finished. “Last night was fun, huh?”
Avery nodded but said nothing else. Sex with Petewasfun. She was glad she could have that with him, at least.
“Sorry for texting you so late,” he said. “I was pretty drunk.”
Avery closed her eyes to block out the grating sounds of a garbage truck humming and a child screaming outside her window. “Same. I’m very hungover.”
“Too hungover for Taylor Swift?” Pete navigated to Spotify and jerked his head toward the window. “She’ll help with the noise.”
“I can only handlefolklore. Orevermore.”
Pete hit play on “my tears ricochet.” Taylor Swift’s breathy vocals trickled into the air, a balm over the chaos happening outside. Avery rested her head on her pillow, feeling soothed.
“Nice choice,” she said.
They listened in silence for a few minutes, exchanging the occasional peaceful glance and lazy, tired grin. A warm tranquility settled over Avery as she buried herself deeper into her bed, let her bare leg press against Pete’s under the covers. She could stay just like this all day with no complaint. Maybe he didn’t have to leave. Not yet.
When the song was over, Pete smoothed down his slept-in cowlick and turned to face her. Avery tensed. He looked like he was about to say something important.
“You know, I’m surprised you answered me last night,” he said. “You didn’t follow me back on Instagram.”
Avery very much hoped they weren’t going to have this conversation. “So what?”
Pete picked at a lint ball stuck to the sheets. “I kind of thought you hated me. After what happened with my parents when you came over.”
Avery rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “I don’t care about that. I don’t hate you.”
“Well, maybe hate is the wrong word …”
Avery narrowed her eyes. Pete clearly had something to say, and he should just say it before Avery’s hangover worsened. Already she felt the beer shits gurgling in her stomach.
“I guess I thought you were done with me,” he said simply. “That’s why I haven’t reached out in so long. If you were wondering.”
Avery rubbed her hands up and down on her face. And here she was thinking this was just a booty call and not that deep. She should’ve known there was too much history between them to keep things casual, that he’d already shown her he was interested in more than she could give him.
“What do you mean,done?” she asked.
“Like … I don’t know. We were starting a thing. Afreshstart, I might add.” His voice was soft, calling back to their conversation at Kenn’s Broome Street bar. “And then we stopped.”
Avery walked to her closet to grab a worn-in hoodie. Pete stared at her. She knew he was waiting for a response, but she needed to think carefully about how she was going to phrase this, how to tell him there was no beginning here because all it would lead to was an end.
“I mean, we haven’t stopped anything,” she said, slipping her head through the neck of her sweatshirt. “You can’t stop something that never started.”
“Of course it started. We’re practically engaged. You’ve met my parents! My mom’s already got her Italian-American grandbabies’ names picked out.”
Pete tried to play off his reply with a smirk, but Avery didn’t budge with even a chuckle. After a beat, she relaxed her face. His jokes weren’t funny right now, but she didn’t need to be such a bitch. Even though shewassuch a bitch.
“Sorry, it’s early,” she mumbled as an explanation. “And my head is pounding.”
Pete gave a brisk, clipped nod. “Right.”
Avery crossed her arms. She was disappointed. She thought Pete finally understood her and was giving her what she wanted. She thought they could hang out in a way that would allow her to remain surface-level. But she could no longer subtly dodge his attempts at emotional intimacy. She had to confront him directly, for his own sake. It was the only way. He would thank her in the long run when he found someone better.
