Free The Avery Shaw Experiment by Kelly Oram

completely missing my meaning. “You’re Grayson Kennedy. I’m sure you’ve already got your sights set on three or four different girls, and we aren’t even in the front door yet.”
    Her comment stung. She hadn’t meant it to be mean, and honestly, I totally deserved it, but things were changing for me, and I didn’t like that I was the only one noticing. That moment was the first time I realized that I really, really liked Avery, and that I wanted her to like me too. For real like me.
    “Aves, I was talking about you. You’re my date tonight. I’m here with you because I want to be, okay? I don’t need to go find anyone else. I may still need to hook up, though,” I teased.
    Avery frowned. “I don’t understand.”
    Her naïveté was cute and frustrating at the same time. “That’s because you don’t see yourself the way I see you, but I’m going to fix that if I can.”
    I started walking us toward the house again, giving her time to let my words sink in, but the moment we stepped inside, all thought flew from Avery’s mind. She froze, taking in the sight like a deer caught in the beams of a giant semitruck. The place was loud, chaotic, and packed—basically the opposite of everything Avery Shaw needed.
    “Let’s get something to drink and then see if we can find Owen and the girls,” I shouted over the noise.
    Avery turned around, buried her face in my chest, and held me like I was a life preserver. She squeezed me so tight I could barely breathe. I rubbed her back until I felt her take a breath.
    After another look around the room, I sighed. I’d expected it to be a little crazy but not quite this much of a rager. This party was about as far from Avery’s comfort zone as you could get. I figured she had about ten minutes in her. Tops.
    We were still standing there like that when Owen and the girls found us. “This is wild, isn’t it?” Owen asked slapping me a five.
    “Is she okay?” Pamela asked, placing a hand on Avery’s shoulder.
    “I didn’t think it’d be quite like this. Aves is having a little trouble with her anxiety. We might have to get out of here.”
    Both Pamela and Chloe looked disappointed. They’d really taken a liking to Avery. They treated her a little like a pet, but it worked well for all three of them. Pam and Chloe knew all about Avery’s experiment—not that I was part of it or that I’d had to join the science club, but they knew Avery was doing this all for the science fair, and that I was trying to help. They loved the idea of a Get-Over-Aiden crusade and had instantly appointed themselves my co-assistant captains on Team Avery.
    “Let’s take her down to the basement for a minute before you give up. The DJ and the kegs are up here. They’ve still got the music playing downstairs, but it’s not as crowded.”
    I dipped my head down to Avery’s ear. “What do you think, Aves? Give it a try, or should we jet?”
    Avery took a deep breath and then turned her head to the side so that I could hear her. It brought her face just inches from mine. If I tilted her head up the tiniest bit our lips would meet.
    I kicked myself. The girl was fighting a panic attack. It wasn’t exactly the time to be fantasizing about her hot sweet mouth on mine . . . or nibbling those soft pink lips . . . our tongues dancing . . . maybe I’d taste the freckles on her beautifully bare shoulder.
    “I promised I’d give it a try.” The quiver in her voice snapped me out of my daydream. “If Pamela says it’s better downstairs, let’s at least go see.”
    There is a God. It was much calmer downstairs. The lights were dim, the music was a little quieter, and there was plenty of room to breathe. It was a close call, but we didn’t have to leave the party. After a while Avery even settled down enough that she sent me over to play a game of pool with Owen, while she chatted on a sofa with Pam and Chloe.
    “Dude,” Owen said after he’d missed his shot and I failed to notice