Free Sweet Nothing by Jamie McGuire, Teresa Mummert

looking like her old self. I slipped into my shower, moaning as the cold water cascaded over my tired, tender muscles. Avery and our date drifted into my thoughts as I scrubbed off the hard work of the day. I expected her to give me shit about every detail throughout the night, so everything had to be perfect.
    I’d already picked out a royal-blue button-down and dark blue jeans. I didn’t own Italian shoes like Doc Rose, but I could still clean up pretty nice. After shaving my face, I almost looked like the type of guy a girl could take home to her mother. Almost .
    I hurried through getting ready and put down a plate of food for Dax before heading out the door.
    I knew Avery would be exhausted after her shift, so dancing was out of the question, no matter how badly I wanted to feel her body pressed against mine again.
    Damn it. I pulled into the lot twenty minutes early. The sun had already vanished behind the tall buildings, and the muted wail of an ambulance in the distance helped muffle the hammering of my heart. Am I actually nervous? I’d never cared about impressing a girl before, and the feeling was so foreign, I contemplated calling the entire thing off. But when Avery stepped outside the hospital in jeans that hugged her slight curves and a fitted white tank top, I knew I couldn’t back out. Leaning back against my car door, I shoved my hands into my pockets and waited for the moment her gaze met mine.
    When she noticed me, the dimples deepened in her cheeks. A few of my buddies from LifeNet had described feeling a bolt of electricity, and I had made fun of them, but that was exactly what I was experiencing. Her steps faltered before she continued toward me, as if she was thinking of bailing, too. She adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder, looking at me for a few moments before blinking and looking at her feet.
    A few steps behind Avery was her friend Deb. The moment Deb noticed me, she tapped Avery on the shoulder. Avery chuckled as Deb whispered something, and then laughed out loud as her friend placed money in her hand. Avery’s heels clicked against the pavement. She strode confidently toward me, but her expression told a different story. Deb veered off toward her own car, and Avery took one last glance at her friend before stopping a few feet away from me.
    “I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she said as she looked up at me, her nose scrunched as if regretting her words.
    “Deb bet against me?” I asked, glancing down at the wadded up bill clutched in her palm.
    “Me, actually. She thought I’d back out.”
    I nodded, trying to figure out what that said about Avery. “Well then, we better go before you make a run for it.” Placing my hand on her lower back, I guided her to the passenger side of my car and pulled the door open.
    “Who knew you were such a gentleman?” She slipped inside and I closed her door. I tried not to jog to my side, but I was anxious to begin our night.
    I started the car and cringed as AC/DC blared through the speakers. “You can change that,” I mumbled, reaching out and turning down the volume knob.
    “No, it’s fine. I like it.”
    I felt her watching me as I backed out of my parking spot. I shifted into drive and glanced to my left to see Deb dragging her finger across her throat in warning of what was awaiting me if I hurt her friend.
    “So … where are we going?”
    I cleared my throat as I looked down the street before pulling out into traffic. “Are you hungry?”
    Avery glanced into the back seat, and her smile faded. “Please tell me you didn’t cook.”
    “I still have my eyebrows, don’t I?” I said. She didn’t seem amused, so I cleared my throat, suddenly nervous. Avery was the type of woman who was attracted to a guy like Doc Rose. She was right; I was going to have to step up my game. “No, ma’am, I didn’t cook. Not tonight.”
    We drove out of town to back country roads, winding over small hills. I pulled into the back entrance of