Wrong Quarterback | ✓

13 | non-friends with benefits

As her phone buzzes from in between the couch cushions, Avery takes her eyes off of the pages of her book, resting it between her thumb and index finger as she scoops the device up, lips immediately twisting into a smile at the sight of the notif.

'that god-awful son of my boss'

i'll be at yours in 15

Thirteen minutes later she closes the front door behind her, a warm breeze of early evening air passing through her hair and fluttering the silk fabric of her thigh length skirt as she takes the two step stair in a jump and makes her way down the gravel path to where Ethan's Volvo SUV idles on the street outside her house.

    Climbing into the passenger seat, she adjusts her bag – holding her phone and keys – where it hangs across her chest, making sure to smooth down her skirt as it rides up her legs before fastening the seatbelt, tugging at the hem of her cream colored knitted sweater.

    Ethan shoots her a glance as she settles back, the leather of the car seat hot against the bare skin of her legs, as if the vehicle's been parked out in the sun all day long. "Ready to go?"

"Yep."

They've barely left her neighborhood before she's swapping between the radio stations. She doesn't miss the way Ethan's lips quirk as she sighs, struggling to find a song in between all the ad breaks that won't give her a headache.

As they slow down by a red light he looks over at her. "You must've been really bored to want to come with me for this. Either that or you're a fan of car rides."

"I don't particularly have anything against car rides," She says and leans back against the headrest, lips slipping into a small smile. "But me coming with you is all because of wanting to hang out with Ella."

    Having come home from work a couple of hours earlier, she'd barely taken a seat on the couch to read her book when she slipped into a lengthy conversation by text with Ethan – forgetting all about the words on the page. Now here she is, having decided to tag along to fetch Ella from her soccer practice.

"Ella," He echoes. "Right."

She shrugs, glancing out the window as they get onto the highroad and lets her gaze linger over the blue body of water stretching into the never ending distance. "She's my friend."

"Oh so she gets to be your friend?"

"Mhm, yeah."

    Leaning forward, she's fiddling with the radio again before settling back in her seat, letting her fingertips draw patterns on the fabric of her bag.

    She flickers her eyes to the road as the chill of the AC leaves a trail of goosebumps up her legs. The cool inside of the car quite a contrast to the otherwise warm day and she pulls at the arms of her sweater to cover her palms, interlacing her hands in her lap as she hums along slightly to the song – already reaching her arm out as it's fading out, ready to swap to the next tune that will do.

She's barely touched the buttons of the stereo before she draws her hand back, a loud ringtone echoing through the speakers as the screen flashes 'Dickhead calling' next to a phone symbol. Her lips quirk up and Ethan simply rejects the call with a smooth click of a button beneath his thumb on the wheel. They only experience four seconds of radio music bliss before the ringtone overtakes the car's bluetooth system again. Avery shifts in her seat, a small cracking to her bones as she rubs her hand over the goosebumps on her right knee, shooting Ethan a glance.

"You can pick up you know."

Again, he rejects the call. "I'll call him later."

'Dickhead' however, doesn't seem to get the memo, as the ringtone immediately fills the car again.