Thirteen

Before you say anything, no, I'm not stalking Avery on Instagram.

I'm just doing... Research. Yeah. I'm checking the perimeter, making sure I know what I'm getting myself into before I wade into turbulent waters.

Also there's a lot of shirtless pics in here so that's a plus.

From what I could gather, he was a gym bro, given approximately seventy percent of his posts were of him working out, flexing a bicep or posing shirtless. There was one particularly artistic picture of him laying prone in bed with his butt and thighs spread, looking distinctly juicy and I had tucked it away for a rainy day.

Apart from that, there was the occasional reel of him playing basketball, an impressive layup or two and even the whole team doing coordinated drills. He didn't seem to post a lot of pictures with other people, but when he did they were mostly randoms I didn't really recognize from school. He also had quite the following, 58.9k to be exact. His Instagram looked meticulously well-crafted. Probably trying to be some fitness influencer or something.

"When are we gonna EAT?" I looked up momentarily to find Anya glaring at me from across the living room.

"Keep it down, would you? I'm working on it."

She glared, "No you're not. You've been standing there and smiling at your phone for like... Seven hours!"

I rolled my eyes, leaning against the counter. "Relax, kid. I've set a timer. The chicken needs to stay in the oven for about six more minutes."

"But I'm hungry right NOW!" She clenched her fists, looking angrier than I'd ever seen her. I believe ravenous is the right word for it.

"Oh my God!" I was the one screeching now, staring down at my phone in horror. Oh no.

"What? What happened? Is it a spider?!" Her anger was quickly replaced with fear as she backed away from the kitchen, jumping on to the couch with panic set in her eyes.

"No! Worse! I... I liked his picture."

"You... What?" She tilted her head to the side, confused.

There I was, thirty-seven whole weeks deep in a guy's Instagram, too distracted by the annoying demon child that I ended up committing the most heinous Instagram crime to ever exist.

Double. Tap.

What's worse- it wasn't even a picture that I particularly liked. Just a clearly dated, badly-positioned selfie of him with terrible lighting and an even worse haircut. I had liked a picture I didn't even like! The horror!

I quickly un-liked it, but as if on cue, I received a DM right that second. And guess who it was?

'Look who it is'

'Missed me already?'

Ugh. I promptly typed in a reply .

'That wasn't me'

'It was my niece'

'She was playing with my phone'

'And liked your picture by accident'

'And no I don't miss you.'

His reply was instant.

'Come on, you're gonna have to come up with a better lie than that'

'But to be fair'

'If your Instagram wasn't private, I'd have probably done the same'

I blushed, and just as I was about to reply, the shrill timer sounded on my phone. Sighing, I put my phone down and made my way to the oven, leaving him on read.

"Yayyyyy! That smells like... Something delicious!" Anya hopped, standing behind me as I pulled the oven tray out.

"Kid, what did I say about coming into the kitchen while I'm cooking?"

"But I want to learn!"

"Please, save that for when you become somebody's sad housewife."

"Wait, I'm gonna be a wife?" She blinked up at me, eyes shining with excitement. "Like with the white dress and everything?"

"You could be a husband too. Anything's on the table in this day and age." I said as I began to cut up the chicken into portions.

"Then... Are you a wife?"

"No I'm n.... You know what? Yes, yes I'm a wife."

She had a thoughtful look on her face for a long second before she grinned, hopping up and down excitedly. "Then does that make daddy your husband?!"

I groaned, shoulders slumping in defeat. Lord, lend me some patience. "Hey, you wanna be useful? Get us some spoons and forks and set up the dinner table. That'll be your wife training for the day."

"Yess!" She jumped a few times to get a better view of the utensil drawer before picking up two spoons and two forks and closing it again. By then I was already finished plating the pasta with a generous serving of chicken on each plate. I made sure to add a little bit of Cilantro garnish on each, along with some shredded parmesan. Presentation was key, after all.

Thankfully, the child person was quiet throughout dinner, eagerly gulping down her spaghetti. While I was busy scrolling Instagram, it took me a minute to notice that the clunking of silverware had stopped and that Anya was now sitting on the couch, watching television intently.

Her plate was still half full, with an almost untouched chicken piece. Which was weird because the portion I'd given her was half the size of mine. And there was no greater offence than one not finishing a perfectly reasonable serving of my delicious cooking. I never overserved.

"Oh hell no. There's no food getting wasted on my watch. Get back here and finish it!"

"I'm full," she answered quietly, her attention stuck to the screen. Although I appreciated Bugs Bunny as much as the next person, that was no excuse for ditching food.

"No you're not. You've barely eaten. Your dad will say that I'm starving you."

"But I'm full!" She repeated, voice taking on a sharper tone but her eyes still stuck to the screen.

"There's no way you're full unless your stomach is the size of a ladybug. Besides, nobody's gonna eat your food after you got your saliva all over it! Now get back over here little miss-"

And then I was abruptly cut off.

By the most horrifying sound.

A deafening scream. Mouth wide open, eyes pressed shut, fists balled.

It was so loud it felt like my eardrums were playing tennis with each other. It lasted ten full seconds. Ten seconds of pure agony that seemed to pass like hours.

I stared at her in shock, wondering if that was normal, or if I needed an exorcist. She was breathing heavily, glaring at me, cheeks damp with tears.

"Fuck. You. Starve to death. See if I care!"

...Was what I wanted to say.

Instead, I painstakingly pressed my lips into a thin line and went back to eating my dinner, totally ignoring her for the rest of my meal.

_

I was helping Anya with her math homework when Vincent finally walked through the door. By helping I was mostly just watching her do it, clearly she had it all covered. Besides, I still wasn't talking to her after that tantrum she threw.

I internally let out a sigh of relief, knowing my day of labor was finally at its end.

"Daddy!" She hopped out of her seat on the dining table, running over to her father and hugging him tightly.

"Whoa there, I missed you too sweetheart, but you really need to slow down!" He smiled down at her lovingly before looking up at me. "Hey Jules. I take it you had everything under control?"

"To an extent," I rubbed the back of my neck. "Come, let me get you some dinner."

"Ah no, it's okay. You've had enough work for one day."

"Don't be ridiculous. Come have a seat." With a soft smile, he held Anya's hand and led her back to the dining table, taking a seat next to her.

"So, what do we have over here?" He cooed as he started looking through her homework. I took a moment to look at Vincent. He seemed exhausted, with bags under his eyes that, nonetheless, didn't take away from his bright smile. He was dressed in a navy blue suit with a white undershirt, unbuttoned from the top and a little haphazard, but he managed to make it look intentional.

"Did you give Anya her medication?"

I froze slightly as I picked up Vincent's plate.

"Oh... Sorry, I completely forgot."

"No worries, it happens. I should have reminded you but I got pretty busy. You should find them in the drawer over there."

"But daddy... I don't want to take it," she pouted.

"Baby, what did we say about taking our medicine?"

They argued back in forth for a bit while I rummaged the drawer for her medicine. There were quite a few boxes in there, none recognizable to me like Xanax or Aspirin, but all had one thing in common in that they all had long, difficult-to-pronounce names.

"It's the only pink box in there."

"This one?" I asked, holding it up for him. He nodded and I made my way over with a glass of water.

"Thanks, Jules. You can relax for the day, I've got it covered from here." He said with a friendly smile as he gave a pouty Anya her medicine.

"Daddy, Is Julie your wife?" She suddenly asked, after taking down a large gulp of water. He visibly froze, looking taken aback as heat rushed to my face.

"Anya, darling, what could you possibly be on about?" I said in a sugar sweet tone, glaring at her.

"You told me that you're a wife! And that daddy is your husband."

Vincent let out a laugh that was probably forced but sounded completely natural. "Oh dear, you're a little jokester aren't you? You haven't even finished your tables yet!"

She grumbled a little and went back to her work, ever the easily-distracted little devil. Vincent turned to me, eyes glinting in amusement.

"It seems I had little to worry about. You two look to be getting on just fine, banter and all."

Banter, huh? That's what we call it these days?

I forced a smile. "Yes, no sooner you'll find us the bestest of friends."

"I'm glad," he smiled, looking a little wistful for a split second, "You did good, Julias. Go on and get some rest for the day."

Well, not bad for my first day on the clock.

_

"Baby, I miss you so much. Your absence has left a gaping hole in my heart- and butt."

I groaned, trying my best to ignore all the wild stares we garnered from the crowded hallway, with Tobias practically throwing his entire body weight on me from behind. Grabbing his wrists, I practically tore his arms off from around my neck, shoving him to the side.

"Ow, are you trying to give me carpal tunnel?" He pouted, rubbing his wrists.

"I would do much worse, if it was legal," I deadpanned.

"Hm... You're lucky I like it rough," he grinned, throwing his arm around my shoulder again. "Tell me everything! How's the new job?"

"It's fine."

"How's Anya? She's adorable isn't she?"

"She's annoying is what she is," I replied bitterly, remembering her blood-curdling scream with a shudder, "What have you been up to, anyway?"

"Just a whole lot of basketball practice really. Coach is really stressing over the game with the Westfield Hawks."

"Isn't that in like, three months?"

"Trust me, we all said that. But we're in business school. It's not like we have anything better to do."

"Ouch. But true."

A pair of guys that vaguely resembled familiar air-headed jocks muttered to each other, glaring in our general direction from further up the hall.

"What's up with those assholes?"

"Who?"

"There, by the Computer Lab."

Toby tightened his grip on me, eyes narrowing once he spotted them. He smirked.

"A bunch of closeted dudes that clearly have a crush on my man!" he wiggled his eyebrows, raising his voice every so slightly as we passed by them.

"Dude, what the hell?" I retorted, shoving him off me once more. I was about to tell him off but when I looked up once again, I was met with familiar icy blue eyes just a few feet away. Avery stood there, seemingly in a conversation he wasn't all that interested in, with some girl I didn't recognize. But the moment I caught his gaze, he immediately looked away, disregarding me completely. I snorted. Typical straight boy behaviour.

"Yo, Cap. What's going on?" Toby casually waved at him as I swore silently under my breath. Lucky for me, Toby had the memory of a goldfish and probably didn't remember our conversation about Avery, so he was likely just casually greeting his team captain.

"Tobias. Not much. This is Erica, by the way. Mass Comm major."

"Hey there," she smiled widely, displaying perfectly white teeth and lip fillers, flicking her straight blonde hair over her shoulder. "I happen to be quite a fan of the Ballers. I was just telling Avery about this sorority party next Friday, actually."

I stood one awkward a step behind Toby, trying not to notice Avery avoid my gaze and just waiting for the conversation to be over.

"Sweet! It's been a while since we had some fun around here. Assuming I'm invited of course."

She laughed softly, flicking her hair yet again, "Of course. The whole team's invited."

"In that case, I'll be bringing my plus one right here," Toby grinned as he wrapped his arm around me yet again, bringing me to the front. Erica's attention shifted to me for the first time, deep brown eyes shining curiously.

"That's okay, I'd rather not-"

"Handsome guy like you deserves an invite of his own," she said, looking me up and down appreciatively. "I didn't catch your name?"

"I'm Julias, but you can call me Jules," I said briefly, stealing a pointed glance up at Avery who seemed unusually quiet, having conveniently forgotten to introduce me.

"Jules, I like that. I'll be expecting you next week! You too, Toby."

"You got it."

She winked at me before stalking off, and I couldn't help but cringe internally. It wasn't the first time I got hit on by a girl, since I didn't exactly look the typical "gay" part, whatever that is. It's not like I had to explain my sexual orientation to everyone that breathed in my direction, so I didn't pay it much mind. However, if I were to be flirted with by the opposite sex, I did appreciate at least a little bit of tact and less general... Sliminess.

"I'm guessing you'll be there too, Cap?"

"Still thinking on it," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Come on, Ave. You're way too high strung for your own good, especially with the way coach has been grilling you these days. You could use a drink and a dance. And maybe a one night stand."

Avery's eyes flicked to mine momentarily as he cleared his throat, shrugging once again. "I mean, I'll probably swing by if I'm free."

"Sure, busy guy," Toby rolled his eyes as he began to walk past him, "Catch you later, then."

I lingered behind for a moment, holding out hope that he'd at least look at me once. Instead, his eyes flicked nervously around the crowded, bustling hallway. I was quickly disappointed and followed Toby to our next class.