GHOST PORTAL (#1 GHOST PORTAL series)

SEVENTEEN

Avery showed up alone, sans Jamie. Jessamine opened her door to find him bearing a paper bag stuffed with goodies—and wearing tight jeans and a white tank top that left little to the imagination about the hot body under his clothes. A sheen of sweat swept over his forehead, but his eyes were kind, his smile sexy and genuine, and his arm muscles bulging with the weight of whatever he was carrying.

As she let him in, Jessamine snickered at her choice of black leggings and her loose, baggy sweater. When closing the door, she let the fabric slide a little down her shoulder, exposing her skin, in the hopes it'd make her look more appealing.

More appealing? Why?

"Nice place," said Avery, making his way straight to the kitchen. He set the bag on the dining room table and proceeded to unload his haul—a massive bag of tortilla chips, a jar of mild salsa, a bottle of tequila, and three bottles of wine. "I wasn't sure which you preferred, but I assumed you were a wine-drinker." He motioned at the bottles in question—a fruity red, a buttery white, and a crisp rosé.

Though she hated the assumption—and hated that he'd seen her as a basic wino girl—Jessamine smirked. "It so happens I like all three," she said, fetching a bowl and two glasses—one of them her well-used wine glass—from the cupboard.

She unscrewed the salsa, poured a healthy amount into the bowl, then put the jar into the fridge before grabbing a bottle opener.

"Sorry, it's not much—I don't get visitors often," she said, opting to start with the rosé. Avery watched her as she skillfully uncorked the bottle, smelled the contents, and unleashed the deliciousness into her glass.

"Not much? This place is awesome." He plucked a jug of orange juice from the bag and mixed it with the tequila he'd brought, as well as a splash of grenadine—a tequila sunrise, or so Jessamine believed.

"Ha!" Jessamine clinked her cup to his, took a sip, smacked her lips. "Sweet of you to say, but no need to flatter me. I'm sure you live in some huge pad in L.A., yeah?"

Avery's eyes had been stuck on her lips for a few moments, she'd noticed; but he snapped out of whatever trance he'd been in and set the cup down. "I live in San Francisco, actually, and Jamie is my roommate. We're renting a modest two bed two bath on the outskirts of town." He opened the bag of chips. "I'm YouTube famous, yeah, but it's not much of a paying job yet."

They took their drinks and the food and set it all on the cluttered coffee table. Avery didn't flinch once at Jessamine's little messes of magazines and notebooks, and settled on the couch, nursing his beverage.

"So then," Jessamine took another swig of wine, and internally applauded Avery for the choice, "what do you guys do for money?"

Avery spread out on one end of the sofa, his long legs bumping into the coffee table. Yet he seemed comfortable, loosened up, and despite his tight jeans had no trouble lounging and stretching. He set one arm over the top of the sofa, showing off the array of tattoos on his dark skin; designs that entranced Jessamine, took her on an exotic trip through a jungle of flowers and vines.

"Jamie does tech stuff—that's why he's not here now, he had to work." He smiled; a tiny, knowing smile, revealing he'd caught Jessamine's surprise at only seeing him at her doorstep. "I moonlight as a bartender at a super VIP bar where I get crazy good tips."

"And where you meet all the ladies?" Jessamine almost snorted; three gulps in and she was making a fool of herself?

Why is this wine hitting me so much already?

She hadn't eaten much that day, so she reached for the chips and grabbed a generous amount that she clutched in her hands and dipped into the salsa, trying not to chew too fast or swallow too hard.