Chapter 40

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Bzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzz. I heard something crash onto the floor. Bzzzzzzz Bzzzzzz. I walked over to the bed where my phone had actually vibrated off my nightstand. I inspected the screen, no new cracks. Thank god. I looked down to see who was calling but it was a number I didn't recognize. I picked it up anyway out of curiosity.

"Hello?" I spoke into the phone.

"Hey Averanda, It's me." My dad. He's probably the only person on the planet who still calls me that.

"Oh, Rick. Hey." He was silent for a few moments on the other end. I know it was kind of cold calling him by his first name, but I just wasn't ready to call him dad. I don't know if I ever would be. "So what's up?" I asked him, breaking the silence.

"Oh right. I was just wondering if you wanted to come over and spend some time at my place today." He said. I sucked in my cheeks hesitantly. I guess he knew what I was going to say because he threw in his last two cents at the end. "You can bring your friends along if you'd like." Hmm, having my friends there would be less awkward than it just being my dad and I. 

"Are you sure?" I asked him.

"Of course! Your friends are always welcome. I've got a pool so don't forget to bring a bathing suit." We went over the last couple of details on the phone and texted the Strombros and Drew. I skipped into the kitchen to tell Adrianna and Owen but paused when I saw Adrianna was the only one downstairs.

"Where's Owen?" I asked shuffling over to the fruit bowl. I pulled out an orange and started peeling it over the garbage. Adrianna twirled her spoon in her hand before digging into her bowl of Lucky Charms. She gave me a sly smile.

"He's on a date." She grinned.

"Oh my god no way."

"Yes way! He started a job at the ice cream place in the middle of town and he met another girl on the same shift."

"That's awesome!" I exclaimed, genuinely happy for him.

"Yep. He was just clocking out yesterday and she asked him out. That chick's got serious balls." I cracked up. After I finished gasping between chuckles I got enough air into my lungs to ask a question.

"So what's this girl's name?" I asked putting my naked orange into a bowl.

"Amanda. Owen showed me her Facebook page, she's gorgeous." I plopped down across from her at the table. My phone buzzed with a text and I checked the time, it was almost 12. After we finished Facebook stalking Owen's girl, I told Adrianna about my dad. She said she would love to come and told me that we'd use her car.

Keaton texted me back and said that they all could go. I thanked him and said that Adrianna and I would pick the guys up. 

When we pulled up to my dad's house I was completely flabbergasted. Yes, flabbergasted. His house was probably twice the size of mine back home, and I could see the pool out back. Seriously impressed, I led everyone up the front walk. I pushed the doorbell and my dad answered a few seconds later.

"Glad you could make it guys." He said as he opened the door wider to let us in. The foyer was covered in white marble that glowed in the dim lighting. This place was amazing. "Just make yourselves at home guys, there's food in the kitchen." He told us. Naturally that's where all of the boys drifted off to. We all sat down around the little marble topped island in the middle of the room.

"Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Drew." Drew said standing up to meet my dad as he traipsed into the kitchen. They shook hands and my dad grinned. 

"Nice to meet you Drew, how do you know Avery?" He asked releasing Drew's hand from his own.

"I live with Wes and Keaton and we play in a band together." Drew said grinning. My dad smiled, recalling the boys’ performance.

"Oh that's right. I saw you guys on the news, you guys killed it." My dad nodded at them as he popped the top off a Coke. He turned to Adrianna next. "And you must be Adrianna." He smiled at her too. After we exchanged greetings we all started to eat. I guess Rick doesn't eat like a regular thirty-year-old guy because this was basically teenage paradise. 

I'm pretty sure if my mom saw all this food she would have a heart attack. There was a bunch of dominos pizza, breadsticks, and wings. We all made plates and started eating. Drew looked down at his food at gave me a thumbs up. "Your dad. Is awesome." He said picking up his piece of pizza. I shook my head and laughed.

"So uhh, Rick. When did you move here-" Eeeeeee Crash. I heard the front door open and slam shut.

"Yo! Rick, I'm back." I heard a male voice coming from the front of the house. I looked over at my dad and gave him a confused glance. He stared back at me and silently asked me to hold on a second. He walked up to the front of the house and brought back a kid that looked about my age.

"Avery, this is Tyler." Tyler? Who the hell was Tyler? I looked over at the kid standing next to my dad. He had brown hair that was spiked up with some sort of product; I could smell the gel from all the way over here. A pair of board shorts hung off his hips and a tank top showed off his muscly shoulders. My glance darted between him and my dad. They didn't look alike. Or did they? No, they didn't look alike at all.

"Is he...?" I trailed off.

"No. No. God no." Tyler looked taken aback. "No, Tyler I didn't mean it like that... this is my daughter, Avery." Something must have clicked in this kid's brain because he nodded.

"Ohhhh. Okay." He gave me a half smile and walked in my direction. Was he coming to talk to me? Instead he paused just in front of me, "Nice meeting you." He smiled again and winked in my direction. Then he peeled his shirt off and brushed past Wes and Drew on his way to the back yard.

I saw Wes and Drew exchange a look. Even with my back slightly turned to them I could see Wesley's jaw clenching. Even though he knew that he could trust me, he was very protective. He just didn't like when guys hit on me right in front of him.

"So...?" I directed my attention back to Rick in an attempt to distract myself from what just happened.

"Tyler was my best friend Jessica's son. I took him in last year after she died." Silence. "At the beginning of the summer we decided to move out of New Mexico. Everything just reminded us of her." I looked out at the boy in the backyard who was swimming alone in the pool. I glanced back at my dad, wow. He was really trying to pull his life back together.

Has he actually changed?