Chapter 33

New York City…

Avery's pov;

It is currently 8am in the morning, I am on my way to Eric's apartment in my Uber. Why? You may ask, well I remember promising him coffee for using his name to cover for myself and getting him to back me up and I still have to treat him to desert and not any place , a quite chic bakery downtown . My accountant is going to kill me after this. Ugh .

What I do for secret keeping.

I arrive at Eric's apartment which is on the 3rd floor , had to go up many unending stairs because the elevator was broken but got there finally and knocked on the door. Normally he should be awake by now.

"I am coming" I hear from the other side of the door.

The door opens and in front of my eyes is Eric with no shirt on and only a loose fitting pair of black pants.

I think I stared for a little more than a minute because he then said "Eyes up here Avery" ,

Caught in 4K , damn Avery , could you not put yourself in such situations?

I clear my throat , "Yeah whatever, it's not like it's my fault my guy best friend opens his door while being half naked" I reply and he smirks at me. He fucking smirks!

"Oh pardon me for spoiling your innocent eyes Avery but please come in , don't let this stop you" he says and smirks again. What's up with him today? He is a little more flirty than usual , not that I am complaining. Avery hold your horses , you came here for coffee , keep that in mind .

He tells me to sit down on the red couch in the middle of the room and asks "Did you have breakfast?" and he moves to the kitchen area right behind me.

"No , I didn't because I owe you a breakfast at the other bakery downtown remember?"

"Oh yeah . I actually thought you were bluffing and just trying to convince me so you said that" he scratched his nape and chuckled.

"You brat. When did I ever make empty promises to you? Huh? You think I am thrilled to spend that much money on you? *Stick tongue out , not at all" I tell him as I make my way angrily at the kitchen area with my stomping feet almost wanting to throw the coffee at him. Jokingly of course.

"Calm there little chipmunk , you were going to spill my coffee" he said as he grabbed the coffee from my hand and laughed at my facial expression.

"Being angry really doesn't suit you , you know. Plus it will give you early wrinkles" he adds laughing at me and ruffling my hair, a habit he has grown for some reason.

"Don't touch my hair! I styled it today" I say pouting as I was trying to fix it , he came back towards me and started fixing my bangs for me and pushing the rest of my hair behind my ears . When he was done he looked up at me and we held each other's gaze in a soft moment I didn't expect.

His lips were so close to mine that my breath stopped in my throat, his Adam apple moved as he swallowed and moved away from me.

Wow talk about tension.

How do we go from teasing and laughing at each other to almost kissing, this situation seems to happen a lot recently.

I clear my throat and sip on my coffee and say "You should go get dressed so we can go eat , I am starving and I assure you , you don't want to deal with a hungry version of me" he chuckles and then goes to what I assume is his room to change.

Ouf , thank the lord we overcame the awkward tension, it was starting to get hot in here.

In the mean time why not look around this apartment, after all it's my actual first time here .

In the living room he has a big red couch with a coffee table in the middle , there is a big tv screen on the way opposite to it and in the corner I see a shelf full of books , and I know for a fact it's not for decoration, the man is smart and cultured , one of his many qualities. Have I ever told him that? No , his ego is big enough *chuckle.

"What is this fine lady doing in my humble home?" I hear behind me and feel someone's hands on my ass , because of reflex I turn around and kick him in the balls.

"Ouch , slow down pretty girl , no need to get aggressive" he groans as he sits down to relieve his pain.

When I look at him better I realize it is Eric's roommate Fred. He was right , he is a jerk.

"Well next time don't go around touching people inappropriately if you want to avoid such repercussions" I snort back.

"First of all , who are you? And why are you in my apartment, if not to get my attention. I knew I was famous among the ladies but I didn't know it was this much. I even have a stalker now" he smirks and chuckles to himself . What a self absorbed jerk.

Before I could answer , the door to Eric's room opens and he answers the question for me ,

"This is Avery, you can call her my future potential girlfriend" that is one long description of our relationship.

"So hands off , Fred" he says as he holds my waist and look at me softly . Wow there lover boy , at this rate I am going to melt.

"Oh interesting , so miss violence is your potential boo?" He grins at me , "Welcome home then , future sister-in-law" he says and bows jokingly at me while I roll my eyes at him and stick my tongue out to him.

"Okay okay , that's enough kids, Avery let's go" Eric interrupts and holds my hand as we head out of the door.

"Who are you calling a kid?" I ask Eric while putting my hands on my waist .

"You" he says and laughs at my facial expression .

"You two will definitely get along well, you are so similar" he shakes his head while laughing,

"I am nothing like that dude , he is so annoying" I reply and cross my hands facing the other way .

"Okay okay , I take that back cutie . Now can we go eat , you have classes to attend soon so we got to go" he says and I sigh remembering the tutor session I have later on too , plus my research work I have to catch up on.

We finished eating our chic breakfast already and Eric refused that I pay for it , even though I am the one who invited him . He said something along the lines of "I can't let my girl spend her money when I am around" Macho men , they are really something.

"At least let me buy you a gift" I plead with him , I don't like that I owe him a favor and he doesn't let me pay him back.

"Avery it's okay , really. Plus you brought me coffee this morning, it's the effort and thought that counts . Plus you never have to owe me anything, we are close friends so when you need me I will be there unconditionally, just like how you would right?" He asks and I reluctantly nod , then he smiles while buckling my seatbelt.

Eric dropped me at the campus for my lessons. I first head to the library to use the computers there so I can get some research work done .

I am trying to get as much information about Alba as I can , but now that I take part in the story I try to know as much as possible to avoid interrupting the course of events .

I have watched enough time travel movies to know that if you change even one event in history , the rest will be affected and it mostly is negative and I certainly don't have the shoulders to assume such big repercussions.