Bad Decisions

Chapter Seventeen

-Devin-

The next morning, he was waiting by the truck even before Avery showed up. He had been late every single day, but that was going to stop now. When Avery approached the truck, he seemed startled when he noticed Devin. The hurt was also plainly visible in his eyes.

He gave Avery an awkward smile. "So, boss, what are we doing today?"

Avery looked at him suspiciously. "You finally decided to show up on time." He unlocked Devin's door before slipping away to his side of the truck.

Devin wanted more than anything to pull Avery into a hug and hold him tightly, and resisting that urge was almost painful. The silence in the truck was just as awful. He tried to think about what he could say to Avery, and just when the silence was becoming unbearable, Avery spoke.

"How was your weekend with your cousin?"

"It was good."

"Where did you go?"

"To an ocean town a couple hours away. We mostly went clubbing."

"I'm assuming that means you hooked up with someone you're actually attracted to?"

Any other person would have said that sarcastically, their tone laced with malice, but Avery just sounded sad as he asked.

"Uh, just one person. Nothing crazy." 

He figured honesty was the best way to go, although he didn't know what to say to Avery about the attraction part. The truth was that he had been thinking of Avery non stop because he was more attracted to him now than he was to the guys he used to consider his type, but he couldn't say this. Avery would never believe him. And if he tried to reassure Avery that nothing he'd told Carter was true anymore, that wouldn't go over well either. He felt stuck.

"How was your weekend?" he asked cautiously. "Did you hike?"

"I hiked with Sam on Sunday."

"Where'd you go?"

"You wouldn't know it."

With that, he let the silence settle back over them.

-

Once they arrived at their site, he did his tasks, finishing them quickly. It was amazing what he could get done once he put some effort into it and stopped screwing around and watching Avery do all the work. Even though he thought he was doing well, Avery seemed on edge and annoyed, and he wasn't sure why.

As they got in the truck to move to their next site, Avery slammed the driver's side door. When they began driving, he broke the silence. 

"Is everything okay?"

Avery's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "Are you just going to act like nothing happened?"

"I'm trying to do better. I was on time today and I've gotten a lot done."

"Do you think that finally doing your job means that everything is fine?" Avery asked, his voice breaking on the last word.

"Uh, yeah?" he said, as more of a question than a statement. Avery was getting upset, and he didn't know what to do about it.

Avery's brow was furrowed and the ends of his mouth turned down. "You never even said you're sorry. Not the other night when you came after me to try to explain, and not this morning or at any point today. But I guess that would require you to be sorry."

"I'm trying to show you that by not making your job hard," he argued, feeling out of his depth. "Aren't actions better than words?"

"Actions are great, but I still need to hear the words," Avery insisted, sounding frustrated. He wouldn't look at Devin. "But clearly, if you won't say them, it's because you do think I'm pathetic and that I wouldn't be worth your time if you weren't stuck here."