Page 16 of Meet Me in Aveline

I had never wanted anything in my life as much as I wanted to say yes to the guy in front of me. The guy who looked like a walking Abercrombie and Fitch ad, and who had eyes that made my stomach do somersaults, and, yeah, so maybe he smoked, but I was willing to look past that just to see what it would be like to hold his hand, or…

It didn’t take long for reality to set in and the realization to hit me. I’d stumbled into this town by accident. Tuck and I were from two different worlds, and there was no way I could have gone on a date with him. My parents would never have allowed it, their hearts were set on me dating someone from their beloved country club, and I couldn’t sneak around without them finding out.

Or at least, I didn’t think I could. I never had before. Despite all that “bad habit” talk from earlier, I really was just a good girl.

“Listen, Tuck…”

His face dropped as though he already knew what I was going to say.

“It’s just, my parents—”

Tuck leaned back and shook his head. “Right, yeah. I get it. I’m sure your parents wouldn’t want you hanging around with someone like me. I mean, it wasn’t hard to figure out where you came from when you rolled up here in a car that costs more than most of our houses.”

I clasped my hands together under the table, wanting to lower my head and bang it a few times for being exactly who he thought I was. I didn’t know how to respond. He was right, after all, but it didn’t mean I shared my parents’ views or wanted to admit that they were the exact kind of people he probably thought they were.

“They just have my life pretty planned out, and I don’t think Aveline is part of it,” I admitted.

He nodded but didn’t say anything.

We were quiet for just a moment until Tuck moved forward, his forearms resting on the picnic table. He narrowed his eyes, and I noticed how light they were. Lighter than I thought they’d been, and I wondered if they changed with the sun or what he wore or even how he felt at a given moment. Were his eyes like a mood ring? Could you decipher what he was feeling just by their color? I didn’t know, but I wanted to be around him enough to find out.

“Isn’t it pretty boring to have your whole life planned out by people who don’t even know you?”

I felt heat in my cheeks. Embarrassment mixed with annoyance. This guy didn’t know anything about me, and yet he had hit the nail on the head.

“Says someone who met me an hour ago.” I rolled my eyes and started to stand up. “You don’t even know my last name, how could you possibly think you could know something like that about me?”

Tuck laughed and stood up. “Carlton. Violet Carlton.”

My eyebrows scrunched together, and I tilted my head to the side.

“I had your card, remember? Believe it or not, I can read.”

I sighed, nodding. “Right. Yes. Okay. Well that doesn’t change the fact that you don’t know me at all.”

“I know a girl like you doesn’t just wander into Aveline and decide to stay for a couple hours if she isn’t missing something in her life. Most people just pass on through, but you, well… you stayed.”

I huffed and placed my hands on my hips then scoffed, “I was hungry. I needed a donut.” I began to walk away.

Tuck caught up with me and gently took hold of my elbow. I spun around, looking back and forth angrily from where his hand was on my skin and up to his eyes.

Still light gray.

Maybe they weren’t a mood ring. Maybe they always stayed a mesmerizing shade of gray.

He released me quickly and stepped back. “I’m sorry.”

We stood, peering at each other for a moment before I turned and started to walk away again, only to flip back around and glare at him. “If this is how you greet everyone here, I’m not surprised people don’t stick around.”

“Is that right?” he asked, amused again. He took a few steps forward.

“And I don’t always do what they want, you know.” It was a lie, and judging by the smirk on his face, he could see right through it.

He took another step closer. He was standing in front of me, and I watched him look over my face and down to my lips. I wondered if that meant he wanted to kiss me.

I had never been kissed before. It was embarrassing, the fact I was seventeen and never been kissed, but the truth was, there had never been anyone who had made me want to kiss them.

Until now.

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