Maybe Just One More

Chapter 29. I Want To Keep My Nuts

Avery's POV

It was the middle of June, and I hadn't seen Stormie much since graduation a few weeks earlier. Everything was in my truck, ready to go. I closed the tailgate and turned to face my mom and Austin.

Mom smiled at me and embraced me. "I'm so proud of you, baby. You deserve it. You worked so hard." She kissed my cheek.

I kissed her cheek. "At least one of us is proud of me," I said and chuckled. I shook my head. 

"I'm glad you aren't drinking anymore," she said.

"Hell, I'm not smoking either. Sober isn't half bad," I told her and smiled. 

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Mm, yeah. I'll live," I said and shrugged.

"I love you," she said.

"Yeah, me too," I said. I knelt down to get eye level with my little brother. "Take care of Mom, man, or I'll kick your butt."

"Okay," he said sadly. "Love you."

"Me too," I said. "Come here." I opened my arms for him.

He ran into them and held onto me tightly. "See you soon, right?"

"Yeah, of course," I said. I rubbed his back gently. "I'll visit as much as I can."

"Okay," he said. "Bye."

"Bye, bud," I said. I pushed his hat down over his eyes. 

He laughed and pulled it back up. He took mom's hand and waved goodbye to me. 

Mom and Austin got into the car and drove away.

My uncle Rob pulled into the drive. I stopped, confused. 

He pulled off to the side. He got out and smiled. "Hey, kid," he said.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear?" he asked.

"No?" I raised my brows.

"I'm moving in," he said and smirked.

"What?" I laughed. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I heard you needed to hire a hand. I thought I could lend a hand," he said.

"Rob," I started and shook my head. "That's great, but you have the trampoline park to run."

He shook his head. "That place has so many workers and is so damn popular that I don't need to be there. Missy is taking care of it for me. It's only for a few years," he said. "I didn't want to see all your hard work to go to waste. You did a good job keeping up on this place after your dad died."

I mashed my lips in a thin line and looked down at the ground. Tears built in my eyes, but I bit them back. "Thanks, man," I said and looked up at him. "I was getting ready to sell it," I admitted. "How did you find out, anyway?"

"Your girl," he said.

I swallowed hard. "W-what?"

"Stormie, isn't it? She called a couple of weeks ago. She happened to catch me while I was at the trampoline park. She was worried about you. She said you were exhausted and said there was no way you could do it alone," he said. "All you had to do was call me, kid. You know that" he said and rolled his eyes.

My throat was thick with emotion. "We're not–" I shook my head. "Nevermind. Thanks for doing this."

"Did she pop yet?" he asked.