Page 71 of Pressure Point

"Did I really do that bad of a job?” she asked, stepping into the living room.

“You missed six screws. And most of the ones you had in there weren’t tightened all the way,” Liam told her, his hands finding her waist and pulling her to him. The heat radiating off his body was so welcoming, like it was calling her home. She let out a long breath before looking up into his soulful blue eyes. “I’m just glad it didn’t collapse in the middle of the night while you were sleeping.”

“I’m just glad you two were still wearing clothes,” Talia remarked.

Avery blushed, embarrassed all over again. What a way to start off with a new roommate. She hadn’t meant to let it go as far as it had, but she’d just been so caught up in the moment of watching Liam flex as he moved the heavy mattress followed by the thrill of finally popping the cherry of a boy being in her room. So she was twenty-four instead of a teenager—it was still an exciting moment.

Liam gave her a squeeze, kissing the top of her head. There was an easygoingness to his gesture that made her sigh, loving the way they just seemed to fit together. He took a step back as there was a knock at the door, turning to go answer it.

“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!” Felicity sang, walking in with a small round cake in her hands. The pink icing was decorated with embellishments that looked like pearls and had two long sparkler type candles sticking out of the top, throwing sparks as she walked into the apartment. “Happy birthday, dear Talia! Happy birthday to you!”

“I thought we agreed we weren’t doing this. Birthdays aren’t a thing,” Talia said.

“Hurry, blow out the candles before we light the place on fire,” Felicity urged. Talia did as instructed, playfully rolling her eyes at the beautiful blonde standing before her with outstretched arms. “And birthdays are totally a thing.”

“It’s your birthday?” Avery asked, suddenly feeling out of the loop.

“Well, tomorrow,” Talia answered. “But I have to work and then figured I’d make an appearance at the party.”

The party. Dash’s party.

Dash.

“You share a birthday with Dash?” Avery asked, her heart sinking at the thought. Just one more thing Talia and Dash had that she didn’t. Stop it, it’s a birthday. People don’t bond over sharing a birthday…do they?

“I guess? I’ve never stopped to think about it.”

“His birthday isn’t for a couple of weeks,” Liam said. “He's just throwing his party now because we have a bye this weekend.”

Avery nodded, her stomach unclenching. She had no idea why the thought of them sharing a birthday was so upsetting. It was just a day. Besides, she was going to the party with Liam. Well, not with with Liam, but they were going together.

Another pang hit Avery as she glanced over at Liam, who had crossed the room and had his arm draped over Talia in a way that screamed big brother. Watching the two of them interact all day had been so much fun, making her miss her own brothers. The more she got to know Talia, the more she was liking her too. She was energetic and funny and had quick wit about her that made her great at comebacks. Avery could tell they were going to get along wonderfully as roommates.

But none of that was what was causing her to feel so…she wasn’t quite sure what the emotion was. Tomorrow was the day. What she’d been waiting for and counting down to for weeks. It was the culmination of Operation: Sexy Beast. She was finally going to get a chance to show Dash that she was the one he should want. So why wasn’t she more excited?

And why had she spent so much time thinking about Liam’s kisses and the way his arms felt around her? There wasn’t anything between them, not really. So they’d made out a bunch and slept with each other a couple of times. They were friends. Friends who had been working on finding her sexy, so of course some of the physical stuff had snuck in there. Right?

Except it felt like more than that. Being in Liam’s arms felt right. Like it was where she belonged. Just being around him was comforting in a way that she couldn’t put into words but still felt completely natural. That was what she had started to crave—his presence. But still, that was only because of how much time they’d spent together. It had to be. At least that’s what she was going to keep telling herself.

The slamming of the door pulled Avery from her thoughts. Gunnar smiled at her again, two large pizza boxes in hand, sliding them onto the counter.

“You okay, Avery?” he asked, his brows knitting in confusion.

“Yeah, fine,” she said, forcing a smile. “Just tired from the day.”

“And you didn’t even do any of the heavy lifting,” Liam teased, placing another kiss on the top of her head, squeezing past her and reaching for the pizza. She waited for the same warm fuzzy feeling she’d felt earlier when he’d done that, but it didn’t come. Now, she just felt hollow. What had changed? She wanted that feeling back.

The group moved to the table as they ate, conversation flowing easily between the five of them. It really was like a family with the way they joked with one another and were interested in what they each had going on. Talia talked about how finals were coming up and that even though she was just auditing the classes this semester, she was nervous about making sure she had learned everything she could. When the conversation veered over to the upcoming auction, they laughed about who they thought would bring in the highest bid and who would end up going home with whom.

“Cowboy is legitimately convinced that he going to have some seriously hot woman bid on him,” Gunnar said.

“I have no doubt that if he gets up there, flexes, and turns on that Texas twang, that he will have a bunch of women fighting over him,” Felicity countered.

“You don’t see the cougars who come into Bunz and make comments about him while he’s there though,” Talia added. “If there’s a fight over him, it’s gonna be between them.”

“Lord help us if that’s the case,” Gunnar muttered.

“Avery, you’re coming, right?” Felicity asked.