Simple Kind of Life

Avery finished running the flat iron through her dark hair and placed it on the counter of the bathroom. She peered at herself in the mirror and frowned at her reflection. What have I gotten myself into?

The urge to throw her hair into a messy bun and retire to a pair of sweatpants washed over her. She didn’t know how she got stuck in this rut or when she lost her confidence, but she felt trapped in a state of mind that simply wasn’t hers.

“Are you almost ready, momma?” Through the mirror, Avery saw Angie standing in the doorway decked out in barely-there shorts and a teal sleeveless top with beading around the neckline. Av felt severely underdressed in her striped tank and simple jeans.

“Cougar much?”

Angie wrinkled her nose. “Thirty-four is the new twenty, which makes you five years older than me, granny.” Avery ignored her friend’s flawed logic and turned back to the mirror.

“Do I look OK?” She felt pathetic and insecure for asking, but the words just tumbled out of her mouth.

“Av,” Angie sighed, placing her hands on her hips. “You look hot. Now let’s go. I have young frat boys to sexually harass.”

Avery fought a smile and finally exited the bathroom. She followed Angie to the living room, finding her daughter perched on the couch in Hank’s lap as the credits to The Lion King rolled on the TV. Aaron sat Indian style on the sofa across from the duo, his eyes fixated on his PSP.

“I thought you guys decided on the Little Mermaid.” She commented as she plopped down next to her brother and threw her arm around him. He leaned into her embrace, but didn’t say a word as his fingers nimbly punched the buttons on his handheld gaming console.

Hank shared a smirk with Lili briefly before peering at Avery sheepishly. “There was a change of plans.”

“You gave in, didn’t you?” Avery shook her head at the blond male.

“Of course I did. She gave me those big eyes and I couldn’t say no,” Hank sighed. “I’m not proud of this.”

“Spineless,” Avery said with a chuckle before turning her sights on her daughter. “Did you brush your teeth, Squeaks?”

Lili nodded as she rubbed her tired eyes. Avery wanted to believe her, but history proved she couldn’t. “You did? Let me smell.”

Angie covered her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing as Liliana rolled her dark eyes dramatically. Lil hopped off the couch and trudged over to her mother, who leaned forward and pulled her into her lap. Without prompting, the child opened her mouth and huffed in Avery’s face. The woman wrinkled her nose at the smell of popcorn and root beer.

“You did not. Go upstairs and brush those teeth.” Liliana hopped off her lap and frowned.

“Mommy!” Lili whined, crossing her arms over her chest. She added a pout for extra measure, but Avery wasn’t the pushover that Hank was.

“Get your butt up there,” The child sighed and stomped toward the stairs. “And don’t just swish the toothpaste around in your mouth.”

Hank whistled from his spot on the couch. “You are cold and heartless.”

Avery shot him a grin as she stood and slipped into a pair of simple flip flops. Angie was still buckling an elaborate looking heel to her foot when Aaron finally spoke. He must have reached a checkpoint in his game. “Where you guys going?”

“Next door. They invited us over for a couple drinks.” Avery watched the corner of his lip curl.

“Can I come?” He asked, scanning his sister’s face with his dark eyes.

Normally, she had no problem hanging out with her little brother, but she was unfamiliar with this crowd. She didn’t know if they were good people or lowlifes and she didn’t want to have to keep an eye on him as well as herself.

“This is girls’ night, Aar.” Angie cut in after finally getting her heels on. “Maybe another time.” Aaron simply glared at the blonde before turning his attention back to his sister.

“Whatever. Just be careful, OK?” The genuine concern written on his face was new for the teenager. Moody, aloof, sarcastic; Avery was used to these things. But concern…that didn’t make an appearance very often.

“I will,” She bent down and kissed the top of his shaggy head. “Be good for Hank.”

“All done.” A fresh breathed Liliana appeared from upstairs and kissed her mother goodnight. Avery expressed her gratitude to Hank once more before she and Angie were off to the neighbor’s house.

“How high are those heels?” Avery asked, amazed as her diminutive friend now towered over her.

“High enough, babe.” The blonde replied with a grin as she slipped her wedding ring off her finger and threw it in her purse. No matter how many times she seen Ang take that ring off, it still made Avery feel a ping of jealousy. Not that Avery had a wedding band or engagement ring to hide; James made sure of that that. She just wanted to feel as guilt free as her counterpart.

The pair arrived at the front door of the neighbor’s beach house and they could hear the music oozing through the wooden walls. Avery rapped her knuckles against the door a few times causing Angie to laugh.

“No one’s gonna hear that, newbie.” The older woman twisted the doorknob and let herself in, leaving Avery to follow timidly behind her. The living room was crawling with people that she didn’t recognize, not that she expected to know anyone other than Jeff, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Let’s go to the kitchen,” Angie yelled over the crowd as she grabbed Avery’s hand. “Drinks will probably be there.”

Avery nodded and her friend pulled her toward the kitchen, which wasn’t any less chaotic. But she did see the one familiar face she had been looking for. Jeff’s tanned face lit up when his eyes fell on her. He excused himself from his conversation and slid through the crowd.

“Hey, glad you made it.” His gaze shifted to Ang. “I’m Jeff, by the way.”

The woman smiled widely. “Angie.”

Jeff nodded and gestured to the refrigerator. “There’s beer and liquor in the fridge here.” He pulled the handle on the old appliance, revealing row upon row of bottled Miller Lite. Angie grabbed two and shoved one into Avery’s hand.

Jeff smiled at the small interaction between the two women. “Right, so let me introduce you around.”

Avery and Angie met a slew of Jeff’s childhood friends from Ontario, his hometown in Canada. Avery was a little surprised to learn he was Canadian; she thought he was just some college kid from Jersey. She made a mental note to apologize for the assumption.

“And these are some of my teammates,” Jeff yelled over the crowd as they reentered the living room. A gathering of guys were sitting around a coffee table, laughing and drinking. They all turned their attention to Jeff and his guests.

Avery arched an eyebrow at the blond male. “Teammates? You play a sport?”

The group exchanged strange glances before laughing boisterously at her question, making her feel pretty stupid.

“Yeah, ya know, in my spare time.” Jeff and the group snorted again, further confusing Avery.

What in God’s name is so funny? Canadians are so weird.

“So this is Dan, Scottie, Mike, James, and Claude.” He said in one breath, pointing out each teammate. “Where’s Cam?”

Just as he asked, a petite brunette joined the group and leaned against the arm of the couch. She didn’t even look old enough to be holding the beer in her hand. “I’m right here, just needed a refill.” The girl’s gray eyes shifted to Avery and she grinned. “Is this the neighbor you were talking about, Cartsy?”

Avery turned to Jeff and smirked up at him. “You were talking about me?”

She could have sworn she saw his cheeks turn pink briefly before he scoffed. “I may have mentioned you, whatever. This is Cam-a-lama-ding-dong.”

The brunette frowned. “No one calls me that.” She reached out and shook Avery and Angie’s hands.

“I’m Angie, this is Avery.” Angie introduced them then immediately launched into conversation with the new acquaintances while Avery stood back and half-listened as she sipped her beer. She wondered what the kids were doing, if they were behaving for Hank, if Hank was being stern. It didn’t take much for Lili to con a late night bowl of ice cream out of him.

“You want another?” Jeff’s deep voice cut through Avery’s thoughts. She looked up at him curiously, slightly embarrassed that he had caught her not paying attention. His gruff laughed rung in her ears. “A beer. You want another beer?”

She looked down at her empty bottle and chuckled before tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her face was already burning from the first bottle, but she figured a second one wouldn’t hurt. “Yeah. Yeah, I would.”

He nodded his head toward the kitchen and she trailed behind him through the crowd. Jeff grabbed two beers out of the fridge, handed one to her and kept one for himself. “I need some air. Come out on the balcony with me.”

It sounded more like a demand than a request, but she followed him anyway. She needed a break from the noise; her ears were starting to ring.

The blistering hot days were only mitigated slightly when the sun went down, but the breeze from the ocean made it bearable.

“So, I think I owe you an apology.” She leaned against the sturdy railing of the balcony and looked up at the blond. He arched a dark eyebrow at her.

He grinned and took a long swig of his beer before speaking. “Oh yeah? Why?”

“I thought you were some stupid, Jersey frat boy.” The male nearly spit out his beer, coughing and sputtering.

“What made you think that?” He choked out, wiping droplets of his drink from his chin.

“The late night ragers, the tattered jeans,” She tugged on his tacky shirt. “The Ed Hardy gear.”

He placed a hand over his chest as if he were offended. “This is stylish.”

“It’s garbage.”

The corner of Jeff’s lip twitched, threatening to break into a smile. “You were a lot nicer when you were over on your balcony.”

“So what brings a neighbor to the north to Sea Isle? You’re a little far from home, huh?” She mentally kicked herself. Neighbor to the north? Jeez, Av, stop drinking.

“Well, I moved to Philadelphia for work and I come here for the summer.”

Avery’s eyebrows knitted together. “You don’t ever go home?”

He shrugged and looked off into the darkened bay. “Every now and then.”

Avery scanned the side of his face and decided to drop the subject. If he wanted to talk about it, he’d be more forthcoming. “So what brought you from Ontario to Philly?”

He finally turned his head toward the woman, grinning slightly. “Hockey.”

Avery snorted and swatted at him playfully. “No, really. What do you do?”

Jeff began to laugh with her. “No really. That’s what I do.”

“What, like as a hobby?”

He shot Avery a strange look and took a final swig from his beer bottle. His lips pursed together before forming a smirk. “You really don’t know, huh?”

“Obviously not.”

“I’m a professional hockey player. Most people around here know that.”

Avery had no idea what he was talking about and frankly, he sounded pretentious and arrogant. There was no bigger turnoff than a guy which a huge ego. She was beginning to wonder if coming over was such a good idea.

“Don’t be an asshole.” She warned, narrowing her dark eyes at him. His cocky little grin dissolved instantly and his blue eyes widened at her bluntness.

“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just,” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Everybody around here kisses my ass, so I just assumed you knew who I was.”

“I’ve never really been into sports. I’m more of an artsy girl.”

His smile returned. “You’ll be a sports fan when I’m through with you.”

Avery highly doubted that, but she just shrugged.

“Good luck with that,” She was about say something else when a familiar face caught her eye. Her jaw dropped as she focused on the figure inside the house.

Jeff followed her gaze. “What?”

“I can’t fucking believe this.” She seethed, dropping her beer bottle and storming in the house.