Life After Taylah by Bella Jewel Page B

Thanks Nate.”
    I shrug. “Anytime.”
    A cool wind comes past and she shivers. “It’s getting cold in here.”
    “Yeah, we should get out.”
    We both swim to the side but as she climbs up, I can’t fight the urge. I grip her hips and I hurl her backwards, tossing her into the water. She comes up laughing and spluttering. “You’re awful.”
    I flash her a grin and go to climb out myself, but she lunges at me, hooking her arms and legs around me like a fuckin’ monkey and pulling me back. I lose my grip on the side and we both go crashing into the water. When we come up, she’s still laughing and goes to lunge at me again, but she sees something over my shoulder and stops. Color rises to her cheeks.
    “Kelly, Liam.” She smiles. “Hey.”
    I turn to see Kelly and Liam leaning against the gate, staring at us. Liam is glaring but Kelly has a concerned look on his face. He swings his eyes to me and narrows them.
    “Avery, your dad called your phone a few times,” he says to her.
    “Right, of course,” she says, quickly getting out of the pool.
    “What were you doin’ in there?” I hear him ask her as she rushes past.
    “Just practicing.”
    He grunts and she disappears, yelling, “Thanks Nate, I’ll see you later.”
    Nice.
    I get out of the pool, pull a towel off the chair beside it and give Liam a glare as I walk past him. Kelly stops me just as I get to the garden. I’m guessing I’m about to get a lecture, probably the same lecture Liam is giving Avery right now.
    “What’s goin’ on there, Nate?”
    I give him the stink-eye—hard.
    “What are you implying, Kelly?”
    He leans his hip against the arch surrounded in colorful flowers. “You’re married.”
    I stiffen and straighten. “When did you think I became unaware of that?”
    “The moment you saw her.”
    I narrow my eyes and cross my arms. “Avery and I have created a friendship, an innocent one. Since when was it not okay to be friends with a member of the opposite sex?”
    He steps close. “Avery isn’t the kind of girl that can deal with heart break, Nathaniel. Just you remember that. She’s had a hard time; she’s not the kind of girl for you.”
    “And she’s the kind of girl for you?”
    His jaw tics. It’s obvious to me Kelly has or has had feelings for Avery. I’m going with the first option.
    “I’ve known Avery for a very long time. I saw her suffer when her momma went missing. She’s complicated, she’s deep and she’s fragile.”
    “That’s the problem with people like you,” I say, leaning forward and getting in his face. “You treat her like a child. She’s a grown woman who is extremely smart and funny. Maybe you should try being her friend—just like I am—instead of treating her like a wounded child and you might just see that.”
    “Stay away from her, Nate,” he warns.
    “Or what?” I growl. “You don’t choose who I’m friends with, Kelly, and you certainly don’t dictate to me what I will and won’t do. She’s my friend and I won’t stop being her friend for you.”
    “You so much as touch her . . .”
    “This conversation is finished.”
    I turn and walk off, not letting him get another word in.
    I can’t—because if he digs too deep, he’ll see that part of what he’s saying is right.
    She makes me forget.

CHAPTER 9
AVERY
    “Y ou did good today,” Lyn says, throwing her bag over her shoulder.
    “I think I sent one of the kids spiraling out of control with my instruction.” I frown.
    Lyn laughs. “It takes a while; you’re only just starting out. You’ll do fine.”
    “Thanks, Lyn.”
    “Avery.”
    I look up to see Jacob walking in. He’s striding towards me with his usual stiff expression on his face. He reaches me, presses a kiss to my cheek and then straightens again, as though he just preformed a ritual.
    “Max is outside, he’s waiting for you.”
    My eyes light up and I rush past him, yelling a goodbye to Lyn. I step outside and let my eyes fall on the