The Avoiding Series Boxset

by K. A. Linde

  Then came the summer. This summer had been brutal. He wasn’t used to her being around all the time anymore. He wasn’t used to her being in his space, taking up all his time, and forcing herself into everything he did. He had just forgotten what it was like to have a girlfriend around.

  Seth had made fun of him all summer about it. Seth’s affectionate term for him was pussy-whipped. He could take Seth’s jokes when they were alone, but when Seth would say it around Danielle, Jack would get in a few good punches. Danielle thought it was cute and funny, and Jack thought it sounded like a slow, painful death.

  After a summer of agonizing torture, he had really thought it was over. He couldn’t take it anymore. Two weeks before school started, he had tried to break up with her, but she had looked at him with her coy smile and determined gaze right before she dropped down to her knees. How could he even argue with that?

  Since then, that had pretty much been the staple of their relationship—Jack thinking he wanted to break up with her, and Danielle convincing him rather thoroughly that he didn’t.

  Still, he had moved back to Athens with Seth the first weekend he could. He was ready to have his own life back. Yeah, he probably should have manned up and just told her to fuck off, but it wasn’t like he was getting it from anywhere else right now. Plus, he had the benefit of being four hours away from her. Maybe he would do it over fall break…or sometime when he knew he wouldn’t be going home for a long time.

  He ignored the message from Danielle. He might call her later or something—if he remembered.

  As Jack rang up the next customer, he found his eyes drifting to that girl again. She had a friend with her, which was new. With a bleached out pixie cut and tight-ass pants, she was cute, but not hot like her friend. The new girl kept looking up in his direction, her breasts falling out of her low-cut top. Jack quickly turned away, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention, but he could still feel her eyes on him.

  His phone beeped again, and he groaned, wondering when the messages would ever stop.

  Can we Skype tonight? I’m really missing you. ;)

  Oh, how the wink face wasn’t necessary.

  “You busy there?” someone chirped happily.

  Jack hastily put his phone away and stared up at the blonde girl with the big tits. Seriously, if her shirt were any lower, he would be able to see her nipples. Did she expect him to look at her face?

  “How can I help you?” Jack asked.

  The girl leaned forward on the counter as if he couldn’t already see straight down her shirt.

  “I’d like a caramel macchiato with a double shot of espresso and lots of whipped cream,” she said in a seductive tone.

  “Sure thing,” Jack replied, turning away from the overly flirtatious girl to make her drink.

  “So…what are you doing tonight?” the girl asked.

  Jack sighed. In a way, he had expected it. Before this job, he hadn’t known girls could actually be assertive enough to ask him out point-blank like that. He had always been polite about it, but they had never been his type, not that he really had a type. Blonde, blue eyes, nice ass, put together—that was Danielle. He didn’t know if it was a type, but none of the girls who had approached him were ever it.

  “Ah, you know, just hanging out with friends,” Jack said with a shrug, trying for nonchalance.

  He placed the drink on the counter in front of her as she slid a purple slip of paper toward him.

  “Do you see my friend over there?” she asked, nodding her head in the girl’s direction.

  Jack glanced over at the girl. Her head was buried in her books like she might never look up again. She was chewing on her bottom lip and pushing a lock of hair behind her ear reflexively before it fell back into her face again.

  “She’s coming to this concert tonight.” The blonde pushed the paper into his hands.

  Glancing down at it, Jack saw that it was an advertisement for a show at the Theatre. He had never heard of the group, but they were described as an original DJ-rap duo. Not really his thing.

  “And?” He was waiting for the kicker.

  “You should be there,” the girl said, raising her eyebrows.

  He folded the paper. “I’ll think about it.”

  “If you’re smart, you’ll show.” She straightened abruptly and took her drink. “Thanks for the coffee.” The girl winked at him before she departed.

  That hadn’t gone as expected. Jack was surprised that he had been wrong. Nonetheless, he was glad he didn’t have to turn the blonde girl down. It tended to hurt business.

  Jack’s eyes fell to the purple flyer in his hand. He knew he was a sucker for even contemplating the possibility of meeting her. Really, what could he accomplish by following those big brown eyes anywhere? He had been dating Danielle for three years now, and though he kept saying he was going to break up with her, he didn’t really even believe himself.

  He took one last look at the girl seated at the table across from him. When he stared her, he felt that same stirring in his body that he’d had when she had been at the counter. He didn’t know what it was. She was hot, but it was more than that. It was just something about her.

  Fuck. He was going to that concert.

  THAT GIRL

  “You want us to go to what?” Seth asked, leaning back in the dingy brown recliner and reaching out for his beer.

  “There’s a concert at the Theatre tonight.” Jack ran his hand back through his dark hair as he waited for some smartass comment from his best friend. He knew it was coming.

  “Dude, no one goes to the Theatre in the middle of the week unless they’re chasing townie pussy. I don’t recommend it,” Seth said, wrinkling his nose.

  “You’re such an asshole.” Jack shook his head and plopped down on the couch. “You know that, right?”

  “That’s why the ladies love me.” Seth raised his eyebrows suggestively.

  “You’re delusional.”

  Seth chugged the rest of his beer, set the empty aluminum can on the table, and belched. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled at Jack.

  “Seriously, how do the girls resist you?” Jack asked sarcastically.

  “Can’t keep them off me.”

  Jack hated to admit how true that was. His friend had the weirdest game Jack had ever seen. It was like the less Seth tried, the more girls threw themselves at him. Since they had started college together, Jack couldn’t remember a single time when Seth didn’t have at least two or three girls around the apartment, vying for his attention.

  “So, why do you really want to go to the Theatre?” Seth asked, returning his attention to the football game on the screen.

  Jack was silent for a minute. It wasn’t that he couldn’t tell Seth about the hot girl he had seen at work. He had told Seth about hundreds of hot girls he’d met while working. He didn’t know why he wanted to hide it, especially after just asking Seth to go to the concert with him. It just…something about this felt different. Why was he making a big deal out of this? After all, it was just a girl, and it was just a concert.

  “I was invited.” Jack took out the purple piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it before handing it to Seth.

  He looked at it briefly and scoffed. “DJ-rap duo Nick and Neal? Dude, are you serious right now?”

  “What the fuck else do you have better to do besides work on finishing off that case of beer?”

  “Anything sounds better. I don’t have time for wannabe rappers when I have free booze sitting at home.”

  “If it’s any consolation, a blonde with huge tits gave this to me,” Jack said.

  Seth’s ears perked up. “Now I’m listening.”

  Jack chuckled to himself and grabbed the paper. “She and her friend are going to the show, and she gave me the paper while leaning against the counter and showed me her nipples.”

  Seth walked into the kitchen and grabbed another beer. “Wait, are you into her? Because you know how I love girls who
show off their nipples in the middle of the day,” Seth called out.

  “She’s all yours,” Jack offered. He hoped he sounded generous and not just like he was giving in too easily.

  Seth crashed back into the recliner, tossed Jack a beer, which was caught in midair with one hand, and then he popped open his own.

  “So, it’s the other girl then,” Seth said intuitively.

  Damn! Seth knew him too well. Even when he tried, Jack couldn’t hide anything from Seth. That was the problem with staying friends with people Jack had known all his life. Sometimes, he thought Seth knew him better than he knew himself.

  “I mean, she’s hot,” he said casually.

  Seth stopped mid-drink and set his beer down. “Whoa.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know, dude,” he said, staring at Jack. “First, you hesitated, which means she drew your attention. Most girls really don’t for some reason. Second, you answered me like you didn’t care, which immediately makes me think you do. So, who is this chick?”

  Jack shrugged and turned away. “Just a girl who comes into the coffee house. I don’t know her name or anything.”

  “Dude, you’ve got it bad.”

  “Fuck off. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack said gruffly.

  “Remember when you first started dating Danielle, and I told you it was a terrible fucking idea?”

  Jack slung his arm across the back of the sofa and threw his head into the cushion. He knew where this was going.

  “Well, it was a terrible fucking idea. She’s a fucking doormat. I mean, I didn’t blame you for getting laid all the time in high school, but now, you can get way better ass than that, man,” Seth said. He shook his head like he couldn’t believe that Jack was still with Danielle.

  “Whatever.”

  Great comeback.

  “I’m totally going to this concert with you, and I’m bringing the guys,” Seth said with a crooked smile. “I hope you fuck her until your dick falls off.”

  THE THEATRE

  The guy sitting behind the desk was about as townie as it came in this city. He was tall and lanky. No, he was more like skinny or even scrawny. Jack was sure the guy had never heard of a gym before. He had tattoos running up and down his arms and peeking out from beneath his perfectly rumpled ironic T-shirt. Jack liked to keep his hair long enough to fall into his eyes, but this guy’s hair was just too long and stringy. Hygiene was lacking all around.

  “ID?” The guy thrust out his hand while looking at Jack in disdain.

  At least the feeling was mutual.

  Jack handed him his fake ID, which was a duplicate of a friend of his. He didn’t think it looked much like him, but in Athens, it didn’t matter. If it said he was twenty-one, and it wasn’t just a flimsy piece of paper, then no one gave a shit.

  “Great,” the guy said. He barely glanced at it before handing it back to Jack. He placed a giant black turtle stamp on Jack’s hand and let him pass.

  Jack pulled open the door to the Theatre and walked into the music venue. The room was cool as if to make up for the Georgia heat, and he was glad he had worn his dark jeans and black button-up with the sleeves rolled to three-quarter length. His trusty navy Chuck Taylor’s were on his feet.

  His roommates, Seth, Luke, and Michael, had come with him to the show. The conversation to get all his roommates to come out with him had been about as embarrassing as Seth could manage, and he had a talent in such things. His friends, Clark and Hunter, had been over to witness the spectacle, too. None of them liked Danielle, and they were more than happy to help Jack find someone else, so he would grow some balls and dump her. Clark was the only one who had been hesitant, but peer pressure had won him over in the end. Clark and Hunter were going to meet them out for drinks later since they had an intramural soccer game.

  “So, which one is she?” Seth asked as he walked in behind Jack.

  Jack made a quick sweep of the room. “I don’t see her,” he said.

  He had only been here a handful of times to see some pretty popular bands or to catch a couple local bands that had a strong following in Athens. Last October, he and all the guys had come here for a Halloween blowout full of angels, devils, cowgirls, and every other variety of slutty costume imaginable. People were crushed wall-to-wall while a DJ blared club music. This was nothing like that. The venue was actually quite sad on a weekday.

  About two-dozen people were standing in the center of the room, bobbing up and down to the college rap music some guy was spitting into the microphone. A handful of townies sat around the perimeter of the room on cheap couches and bar stools, drinking PBR, and ignoring the music.

  And then, there she was. She was wearing a short black dress and heels that accentuated her toned legs and butt. Jack had only ever seen her in the outfits she wore to study in at the coffee shop, which usually consisted of a loose T-shirt and jeans. She had gone from hot to off the charts in that dress.

  “That one,” Jack said, gesturing to the girl.

  “And she’s not even blonde,” Seth said elbowing Jack in the side.

  “Ha-ha,” he responded dryly.

  “I’d fuck her,” Seth said with a shrug.

  “You’d fuck anything.”

  “Yeah. Anything that hot.”

  “That’s the girl with the big tits.” Jack pointed out the girl who was jamming out to the music at the front of the stage.

  “She’s actually into this music?” Seth looked contemptuous about the girl’s lack of taste. “I’m going to pass. If Chasity is working at Chamber, I’ll see if she’ll give me a blow job in the bathroom.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  “Anyway, go talk to your girl. I’ll take the guys to the bar.” Seth walked away with the rest of their entourage, leaving Jack alone to determine his course of action.

  She was here, swinging her hips side to side as if in invitation. Her lips were moving along with the music, and he could see the shine of that damn pink lip-gloss teasing him from a distance. He had come to the show with the intention of meeting that girl. He was too committed to back out now.

  Taking a deep breath, Jack walked across the empty room and stood next to the girl. She was so enthralled with the music that she didn’t even notice him. Her eyes were glued to the duet on stage, and she was yelling out all the words she knew.

  “You’re not bad. Maybe you should show them how it’s done,” Jack said, leaning over to her.

  When she giggled, her curls bounced all around her face. One strand was stuck to her pink lip-gloss, and he had to fight back the urge to brush it away. What had gotten into him?

  The girl turned toward him, and the look of shock on her face was about as obvious as her friend’s flirtation had been earlier that day. She tried to recover, and damn, was it cute to watch her try.

  “You think so?”

  “Honestly, no,” Jack teased.

  She was good, but he kind of liked to see her all flustered.

  “Well, thanks. I’m very offended right now.”

  Her hand fell to her heart as if she was wounded, and Jack took the opportunity to let his eyes drop to her chest. Yeah, she had a pretty nice rack.

  “So...do I know you or do you always just insult people when you first meet them?” she asked.

  He snapped his eyes back to her face. He could drown in those dark eyes.

  She was so tiny that he had to bend down to avoid yelling over the music. He cleared his throat softly before he responded. “I think you study at the coffee shop where I work.”

  He breathed the smell of her in. How did girls always smell so good? He didn’t even know how to describe it, except that it could have been edible.

  “I think you might be right.” She shot him a smile that could kill.

  She removed the tiny piece of hair still stuck to her pink lip-gloss and then tucked the loose strand behind her ear. They never broke eye contact, and he wondered if she knew what she was doing to hi
m.

  “Are you much into college boy rap?” she asked abruptly.

  He laughed at the turn in conversation. “No, not really, but this guy’s not bad. Is he a friend of yours?”

  “Yeah, he lives in my dorm.”

  So, she was a freshman. He wouldn’t have guessed that. Something about her confidence and the sexuality she exuded had made him think that she was his age or older, not that he minded the age difference in the slightest.

  “Nice. Those guys over there.” Jack pointed at the bar where his roommates were sitting. “They lived on my hall last year in the dorms. Which one are you in?”

  “Um...Russell.”

  “That’s where we were. Fifth floor east. You?”

  “Five north,” she told him.

  Fuck. If she were a year older, they would have lived on the same floor together.

  “Small world.”

  “Yeah, it is,” she said, tucking another lock of hair behind her ear. “How exactly did you hear about the band? I mean, if you don’t really listen to the music.”

  Jack reached into his back pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper. “I believe a friend of yours gave this to me.” He pointed the girl out in the crowd.

  Her eyes were brimming with happiness as she became all giggly. “Well, yeah, that’s Olivia for you,” she said, shrugging. “Oh, I’m Lexi, by the way.” She extended her hand to him.

  “Lexi...hmm...I like that,” he said, taking her outstretched hand firmly in his. “Jack. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Jack let the silence stretch between them as all hope of conversation died with the increasing volume of the hip-hop beats. When the duo’s set ended, everyone started to leave the venue. Lexi filed out of the room with the rest of her friends, and he followed. He caught Seth’s eye and nodded his head toward the door.

  They made it outside and past the townie that had stamped his hand. As Lexi’s friends all turned and started walking to the backstage door, she stood with Jack off to the side and waited. His friends stood on the sidewalk a short distance away.