School had been the best part about living in New York for me. I loved the changes then and learning everything I could about my passion in life.
My brother went to college and then stayed here. He couldn’t be happier with his life at the lodge and expecting a baby with Polly. She also stayed here and never seemed to look back with regret.
I could still have my dream here in Lake Placid. I could work at a bakery or even save up to open my own down the line. With all the tourists, I’d have business even though it likely wouldn’t get to The New York Times as a review.
Did that matter to me?
Things were happening here in Lake Placid, first with Charlie and now with Ben. I never imagined myself in this situation, but it excited me now. The very idea of the men turned me on in a way I’d never felt before, and that didn’t even include Jack yet.
My phone vibrated on the table in front of me. Thinking it might be Beth home from her night with Reuben’s parents, I reached for the device with a smile on my face.
To my surprise, I saw it was a message from Jack.
Hey Avery, have you given enough thought to our date yet?
CHAPTERTEN
JACK
Avery finally agreed to a date, and I felt like a man that won a trophy in one of my competitions.
I vowed to myself not to blow this and planned a great date to woo Avery. I knew I was attracted to her and felt like she had the same feelings towards me, but I wanted to show her a good time before we ended up in bed together. Avery was a woman that deserved that in her life.
We picked the weekend following week of the holiday since she had a lot of family in town, as well as her job at the lodge. I didn’t want to wait that long but understood that she had a lot going on right now. Jefferson told me how big the holidays were with his family before, even inviting me this year.
I’d made the trip home to see my parents for a few days, so waiting had been better for me as well.
I dressed in my best jeans and a thick blue and black checked flannel over a fitted white tee shirt. I added some thick boots to keep me warm against the chilly air outside and left my place to go pick up Avery at the lodge. She’d been working in the restaurant lately and asked me if I’d pick her up after work. Jefferson would be gone that way, and she didn’t want to answer her mom’s questions about who she spent her time with.
It made sense, and I agreed, just happy to be taking her on a date.
I pulled in and parked in the lot closest to the restaurant, leaving the engine in the Jeep running to keep it warm. I won this three-year-old Jeep in a contest brand new and loved driving the sporty blue car. It had to be one of my favorite prizes before Avery and I glanced up to see her walking through the snow-covered parking lot.
She climbed into my Jeep and looked at me with a smile. Avery’s cheeks were pink from the cold and the green in her eyes was strong tonight as I grinned back. She wore jeans and a black sweater at my suggestion and had a puffy pink jacket on that hid most of her gorgeous body.
For now, at least. Avery would be worth the wait.
I headed a few miles away to a pub that overlooked Mirror Lake and asked for a seat by the window. Once we were seated, I asked her how she felt about splitting a veggie pizza.
“You’re vegetarian?” Avery asked in surprise, tilting her head at me as her hair fell over her shoulder in waves.
“I was raised in an Adventist family back in California. We were strict in the house and never ate meat at all. Hell, I never drank coffee until I was seventeen because of the no caffeine at home rule. I think that changed my life,” I told her, thinking back to being younger. “I love my parents a lot, Avery. I also appreciated taking off to see what I could do with snowboarding and living a free-spirited life because of them. It gives me that much more adrenaline with everything that I do.”
“It sounds like an outlet for you and one that you’re good at,” Avery pointed out, and I nodded. “I think we all need that. After growing up here in the peace of Lake Placid, I ran screaming to the city for a change. I loved going to school there and learning everything I could. Walking the streets with all the people is incredible and there’s always something going on there. It’s addicting. Did you know Times Square is lit up every moment of every day and there are restaurants open all night?”
I had been to New York City to visit a friend, though the city life didn’t appeal to me as much as living in nature did. “I did. I visited a friend there for a week and it was a trip. I’ll give you that.”
“You didn’t like it?” She asked as I offered her a crooked grin.
“I live for the snow, Avery.” The server stopped by the table, and we ordered a large pizza and a pitcher of my favorite seasonal ale. “They do have an incredible array of vegetarian places to eat, though. All of them were delicious.”
“They have every kind of restaurant possible in New York. I loved that about it, but you can’t beat this view.” Avery glanced out of the window at the lake, barely visible in the darkening sky, but still beautiful with the snow and trees around it. I knew there was a full moon tonight, so we’d hopefully be enjoying that soon. “I never realize how much I miss this until I come back. It’s calming here.”
“It is,” I agreed, wondering what she meant by that.
We ate dinner and talked about her holiday. Avery gushed about her brother’s announcement about the baby being a girl, and I grinned at the idea of Jefferson having a daughter. He already acted so protective of Avery and Polly that another female might give him a heart attack.
She spoke like she wanted to be here through the rest of the pregnancy and birth, making me wonder what her plans were after all.