Cruel Summer [N.H]

Chapter 2

Avery woke to the sound of the blender blaring from the kitchen.

"Shit," she grumbled, looking at the sleeping boy beside her. "Shit."

Quietly, she folded back the sheets on top of her and peeled Niall's arm off her waist.

"Cuddling with a one night stand," she grumbled. "Feels like a bad idea."

She grabbed her Northwestern sweatshirt off the desk chair and slipped out into the hallway. Before she closed her door, she peered at the boy in her bed. 

Shirtless. Tan. Hairy chest. Fluffy bedhead. Lips slightly ajar as he snored.

She needed coffee. Immediately.

Her roommate, Brit, was standing at the sink in her workout clothes. "I figured you were home since your door was closed," Brit said as Avery passed her and went straight for the coffee pot. "Did you get too drunk? Couldn't make it back to the hotel?"

"Not quite," Avery said. She poured the grounds in the filter and added water from their Brita. She then turned to Brit. "I need you not to freak out. And I need you to let me tell Ash."

Ashley was their other roommate; she was visiting her boyfriend's parents in Minnesota for Memorial Day weekend.

"Okay..." Brit replied. She stood facing Avery with her face scrunched together. Her brown eyes narrowed, and her lips pursed. "What happened?"

"In an undetermined amount of time, I'm not quite sure when, a boy is going to walk out of my room."

Brit shrieked, and Avery immediately clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shut up!" Avery snapped.

"Well, he has to wake up at some point, and I want to meet him before I leave for my workout."

Avery rolled her eyes. 

Ever since Avery and her ex had broken up, Brit was her partner-in-crime suffering through the millennial dating world. They'd been on Hinge double dates. They'd wing-womaned each other at bars. They'd hyped each other up when one stressed about something as simple as a text.

"Here's the thing," Avery warned. "You know him. Or you kind of know him. And you can't make it weird when I tell you who it is. And I need you to promise not to make it weird if you happen to run into him, like, on the way to the bathroom."

"Oh my god, is it that guy from Digital Marketing? I knew he had a crush on you!"

"Okay—no. It's no one from school." Avery grabbed Brit by her shoulders. "His name is Niall."

"I don't know anyone named Niall," Brit said. She took a sip of her smoothie.

Avery cleared her throat, dropping her hands to her side, and looked away.

"No—"

"Well—"

"But why would Niall Horan be in Chicago at a bar in Wrigleyville?"

Brit's eyes were wide, shiny with disbelief.

"He was at a bachelor party?"

"You're fucking with me."

"I'm not. Which is why you can't be weird."

"Avery, did you have sex with Niall Horan in our apartment last night?"

"No."

"You did, didn't you?"

"Maybe."

Brit's jaw dropped. Avery grabbed a coffee mug from the cabinet and moved to get the creamer from the fridge.