Chapter 6
Pete
The aroma of fresh baked bread fills the shop as I opened the door and entered. It seems that they bake their own bread for their sandwiches. At least I know the bread will be fresh. There are three people behind the counter, an elderly couple and a young man who looks like he's in his early twenties. He's quite nice looking and I find myself immediately attracted to him. Since I came to the Full Moon pack I haven't had any relationships or even been interested in anyone. This is the first time I've felt something like this in a very long time. The older woman looks up at the jingle of a small bell above the door and smiles.
"Welcome to our shop. Please take a moment to look at our menu and let us know what you would like." She says pointing to a large menu board on the wall behind them. They offer quite a variety for such a small shop. I look over the menu and then make my choice.
"I'll have a Reuben on rye, that sounds good. I'll also have a bowl of your Tomato Basil soup, a large soda and some chips."
"Would you like that to stay or take-out?" The woman asks me.
"Hmm, I pause for a moment, I think I'll have it to stay today." I inform her and I watch as they make the sandwich then I move over to the cash register to pay the bill.
"That'll be $9.25." The young man smiles as I glance down at him.
I'm captured by the most stunning brown eyes I think I've ever seen; I can't look away. After a moment that seems to last forever, a light blush colors his cheeks and his smile becomes shy.
"Hi, my name is Pete Danver." I hand him a twenty-dollar bill. "I work at the NorthStar Advertising Agency just up the road."
"I'm Avery, I work in this sandwich shop." He responds cheekily, suddenly losing the shyness as he counts my change back into my hand.
So instead of taking my food back to the office as I'd originally planned, I take a seat at a small table by the window. A few of the other tables are occupied, but most of them are empty now that the lunch rush was over.
As I eat, my eyes keep wandering over to the counter where the young man and the older woman are chatting as they tidy up from the lunch rush. His voice has a pleasant tone, though he speaks softly. When he laughs at something the woman says, his laughter sends chills down my spine. It's totally intoxicating; I could sit here and listen to him all day.
After a while, I have finished my meal and have been sitting here without an excuse. I rise from the table and find myself wishing I had a reason to stay longer. Somehow, I want to get to know this guy better; I see something in his eyes that says he might be interested in me too. Yeah, I'm interested in a guy, so what? I've learned a lot about myself while I've been here and one of them is that I can be attracted to both men and women.
Avery
That good looking guy who came into the diner this afternoon seemed nice. The way he introduced himself gave me the impression that he was giving me more than just his name. It felt like he might be interested in me, which might be nice since it's been quite a while since I've been in any sort of relationship. My last relationship ended badly so I've avoided getting involved again as a result.
Of course, none of my relationships have lasted very long to begin with. Most of the guys I've dated don't like hanging out with someone like me; they usually find out pretty quickly how wimpy I am and how little self-confidence I have. My last boyfriend decided it meant that he could knock me around to get his way. I'm still not sure how I found the courage to break up with him. I did end up with a black eye and a sprained wrist for it though. I missed three days of work because of it; calling in sick because I didn't want Beth and James to make a fuss over me.
***
Pete has been coming into the diner every day now for the past two weeks. He always sits at a table by the window, but he never says anything before he leaves. I guess I was wrong about him being interested in me. I still think he's good looking though. Beth keeps saying he's interested in me; she likes to play the matchmaker whenever she can. She keeps dropping hints whenever he comes in; she's so embarrassing! This afternoon, she just started talking right there about how I don't have a boyfriend as she was preparing his meal. I turned as red as a fire truck and just sputtered, unable to say anything. He grinned at me when he paid for the food before heading over to his favorite table by the window.
"Is she always like that?" He asked as he paid for his food. I just nodded and handed him his change. He put it in his pocket without bothering to count it.
Andy and Sheila got a huge laugh about the situation when I told them about it later that day. Sheila is urging me to make the first move, but there's no way I can do that.
Pete
There is something about Avery, the guy who works at the diner down the street that makes it so I can't stop thinking about him. My mind wandering to him when I should be focusing on some task or other here at the office. I keep losing myself in thought and daydreaming about him. Goddess, I hope I'm not heading towards another obsession type situation like I had over Jaxon back at White River. Am I prone to that type of obsession? I have to talk to Elliott about that. If he thinks I have the type of personality to become obsessive, I will have to refrain from going to the diner.
I'd like to ask Avery out on a date, but I think it will be best if I hold off until I have a chance to get to know him casually first. It's hard to focus on my work. Ugh! I just want to go to the diner and see him. Is this an obsession?
---
"So, you're concerned that you might be obsessing over this guy, and you don't want another situation like you had before with the mate you rejected." Elliott summarizes. Hearing it put like that makes me flinch internally.
"You want to ask him out and you can't stop thinking about him. Is that right?" He asks."That's about it. Yes." I agree, nodding my head.
"Do you think he might be your second chance mate?" He queries.
After taking a moment to think about the question, I answer, shaking my head. "No, I don't think so. I don't feel any of the pull or any sort of bond like I felt with Jaxon. I just find him attractive."
"So, maybe this is just a normal human attraction you feel then." He responds, looking directly at me. "That's how humans usually feel when they meet someone they find attractive, they think about them and want to get to know them. Unless they have a werewolf as a mate, they don't have mate bonds like we werewolves do, so all they feel is a strong sense of attraction."
"I think it's a good thing you're worried about being too obsessive, Pete. It tells me that you're thinking about your situation in the right way. Frankly, I don't think this is an obsession, but I do think you should be careful, take it slow and not let it get out of hand."
"I would like to suggest that you take some time and get to know Avery on a personal level, casually, before you take the next step. Once you two know each other a little better, then I don't see any harm in you asking him out."
"If you think you're starting to get obsessive, you can always come talk to me and we can talk it through. My door is always open, and I'm glad you came to talk to me about this today."
We continued to talk about the differences between obsession and normal attraction until I felt confident that I wasn't falling back into old habits again. After a while, I thanked him for taking the time to talk to me, shook his hand and went back to the packhouse and the room that I still kept here. I really appreciate everything this pack has done to help me; they could so easily have thrown me to the wolves, metaphorically speaking, and made me a rogue.
---
Over the next several weeks, I continued to have lunch at the diner every afternoon. I made it a point to go a little after the main lunch rush was over so that I had a few minutes each time to spend talking to Avery.
The more I get to know him, the more I find myself drawn to him. There is something about him that is innocent and yet, at the same time experienced. It's so different from anyone I've met before, and I find it alluring. He is a bit shy when he first meets new people, but once he gets to know them, he seems to be comfortable around them and the shyness disappears.
Our conversations haven't been anything long or in depth. Just small talk, like what's new at the diner, or what is going on over at the agency at the moment. I've learned a little bit about him; some of it from the older woman he works with. She seems to like playing the matchmaker for him and it's clear she adores him. She keeps hinting that he's single and doesn't have a "boyfriend". A not-so-subtle way to tell me he's gay. I'm pretty sure she can tell that I am interested in him.
I have plans to ask him out on a date today; it's Friday and I hope he'll be willing to do something with me this weekend. There is a small lake not too far out of town that is popular for recreation. They rent out boats and jet skis; I'm thinking that we could rent a pair of jet skis and have a nice day outside in the sun and then maybe stop and eat afterwards.
A/N: Avery and Pete finally meet for the first time. I changed their first meeting slightly from their meeting in Chains; but not too much. I hope you all like it.Let me know what you think about the story so far.