Love Leaves Its Mark

Chapter 8

Thank you for sticking with me through all this time. I hope you like this chapter. I thought an Avery/ Ryder chapter was in order after 2 months away.

This is dedicated to CeceAnnT because without her I never would've written this chapter. Heck! I probably would've stopped writing this story all together. But it was through her encouraging words, persistence, and help when I had writers block that I managed to finish this chapter and get newfound inspiration for this story.  

Enjoy!

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The sweet Autumn air was whirling all about, the leaves on the ground swirling around like a mini tornado, my hair occasionally falling into my eyes as I stood outside looking through the mail.

It was a sunny Saturday morning, just a few hours before noon. My parents left for a romantic weekend away late last night and wouldn't be back until tomorrow night. I hadn't seen Hunter since before I went to bed; when I woke up, I found a note that said he went over a friend's house and would be there for the weekend as well. Staying home alone for the weekend wasn't exactly a new thing; it happened every couple weeks or so. I have no complaints though. I get to lounge around the house in my pajamas, eat whatever I want, and sleep whenever and however long I want.

It was warmer out than usual for this time of year... too warm for a long sleeve shirt. With my quick thinking, I thought of a wonderful alternative- a redish leather bracelet I got when I was younger. It was thick enough to cover the mark and stylish and comfortable enough for me to wear with just about anything.

The warm sun and fresh air felt so nice on my skin, I decided to sit on the porch for a little while. I found a letter addressed to me in the stack of mail; I could read that while I was out here. That thought was shortlived as I heard somone approach. I didn't have to guess who it was, i just knew.

"What do you want Ryder?" I asked lazily without looking up.

"What made you think I wanted something at all Avery?" He took a seat next to me as he said this.

"Oh, I don't know maybe because you walked all the way over here and sat down on my porch. But hey, maybe you were just looking for the ice cream man."

"Haha, very funny... not. To be honest, I just saw you out here and you looked so great in that pair of shorts I just had to come over here and get a better look." That comment sent my heart racing, no matter how much I wish it hadn't. I really need to learn to control this whole mate attraction thing before something bad happens.

"You asshole! God, you're like you're like a...a... a banana!" Gah! Out of all the things I could say, I had to say that? I'm usually so good at this kind of stuff. It's just him that makes me all tongue tied. I bet it's another side effect of being mates. Is there anything about this at all because so far, I got nothing; It's just a huge pain in my ass.

"A banana? What the hell does that even mean?"

"Well you know, you get worse with age just like a banana. I however am just like wine. I get much better with age." He actually started laughing at me because of that. I punched him in the shoulder,, careful to avoid touching him. I couldn't take that chance. Even though I had hit him... that's the opposite of what I felt. His laugh, his smile just takes my breath away- as girly and cliche as that sounds. He took me out of my train of thought when he spoke again.

"It's starting to get a little chilly out here. You might want to go inside." I hadn't even noticed how cold it'd gotten until he mentioned it. Another minute out here and I would've started shivering.