Owning Avery Ch. 01

Driving home at four in the morning, Avery couldn't help but feel disappointed. It had felt surreal when Jesse had danced with her at the party, showering her with the attention she'd hoped for over the last few years of high school. She'd had a crush on him since the beginning of her Junior year, and when he'd started following her around tonight at the graduation party it had been a dream come true. It had been especially satisfying to see Brianna's face when they'd started dancing; Jesse's ex-girlfriend who had always been one of the biggest bitches in high school.

But high school was over. It was the end of June and this was one final hurrah before Avery took off for college in September. The party had been much larger than Kelsey, one of Avery's close friends, had expected; people showing up that they hadn't even ever known, ranging from Sophomores to older siblings who had left high school a years ago, but were still friends with everyone, home for the summer from their schools around the country. This had included Avery's two stepbrothers, Carter and Mason, who had always been protective of her since their parent's marriage when Avery was twelve.

She'd been grateful not to see them too much through the night, as she knew they'd probably grill Jesse into oblivion. Luckily, there had been over a hundred people at the party, inside dancing and drinking, out in the yard and around the pool. It had allowed her to sneak off with Jesse as the party died out to make out at a park a few blocks away for the past few hours.

Which had ultimately been the disappointment.

They were both pretty drunk, but Jesse was much more hammered, she'd found out. He was sloppy and pushy, not nearly the prince charming she'd always dreamed he was. Still, she'd given it one hundred percent effort, still counting herself lucky to be receiving his attention. After a blowjob, the thrill of it had died out, however. His drunken fumbling and arrogance instead made her realize that he was kinda pathetic, and his insistence that they would take it up a notch to screwing in the park had only served as a major turn-off. She wasn't about to have a one-night stand under the stars when she'd only ever slept with one guy in her entire life, and only a few times at that.

So instead she left, feeling disappointed and lamenting that the great Jesse Meyers was nothing more than a sleaze-ball and sloppy kisser. At least high school was over. A few more months and she'd likely never run into him again, so that was a relief. There were a few more parties she intended to attend before moving, but she felt certain she could avoid him.

The uber pulled up in front of her house, the lights off inside. She took a brief second once she'd popped out to shake herself out. Once she'd decided she had to get away from Jesse's great expectations as he pushed her for sex, but it was too far to walk home while she was too tipsy to drive, she'd had to endure name calling while waiting for a car to arrive: insults that she was a cock-tease and attention whore, threats he'd just tell everyone they fucked anyways. It had been horrible.

What a fucking night.

On the screen of her phone were multiple missed calls and texts she couldn't even bring herself to open. Her best friends, her brothers, and even Jesse—all texts from him, likely continuing to lob names her way.

With a sigh, Avery put the phone in her pocket and feet into motion, letting herself in through the sliding doors on the patio by the pool. Luckily she didn't have to be too quiet; her parents had taken off to a cruise in Greece last week and they wouldn't be home until Sunday. But when she slid the door shut behind her, she could hear the TV on in the living room off to the left and winced. One of her two stepbrothers were up, maybe both, and she had no doubt they'd be pissed.

Growing up with them, they'd both been very protective. A little too protective, grilling guys who wanted to date her, warning guys who may hurt her, all the while teasing her as older brothers would. They weren't even brothers to one another; her stepmother had adopted Carter when she couldn't have a child in her first marriage, Carter's actual mother far removed from the picture. Carter was the older of the two, twenty-four and entering his last year of grad school. Mason was only two years older than Avery at twenty, and a surprise in her stepmom's first marriage that had lasted a decade or so before she'd met Avery's father. They'd struggled with infertility and had given up, and Mason was what she had called her miracle baby. He was heading into his junior year of university, newly twenty-one. When her dad had first started dating their mom, she'd had a crush on them both—as did all of her friends—but that had ended as soon as things became more serious between the parental units and had never returned.

As she snuck by, the lamp was turned on, illuminating the room from more than just the light of the tv; Carter upon the armchair and Mason leaning back on the couch. Avery cringed, halting in motion before biting down on both her lips with an innocent shrug that read: Sorry I'm home late, please don't be mad . . .?

Carter brought his hand down from the pull-chain of the lamp and raised a brow at his stepsister that was less than amused while Mason turned the TV off. He and Mason had searched the party for her as people were taking off, found her car outside, but Avery absent. After asking around, they'd heard she'd been seen taking off with that douchebag Jesse. And though no one had known when they'd gone, everyone had their speculation based off what they knew of Jesse.

On their way home, they'd become both pissed at the lack of communication, but moreover, extremely worried and decided they'd wait up no matter how long it took for Avery to come home. They'd called and texted to no avail. And while both were still fairly buzzed, they'd spent the last hour or so riling the other up in an echo chamber, deciding that they'd find Jesse at some point to have a discussion that may or may not end up with a punch thrown.

"Where have you been?" Carter asked, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees. He studied Avery, finding her honey blonde hair slightly disheveled and her sundress twisted at the waist, partially buttoned incorrectly and with a few pieces of grass clinging to her right hip, and his eyes narrowed.

Setting down her handbag, Avery stepped a few feet inside the living room with her shoulders up. "At the park," she said hesitantly, the final word curving upwards in tone as though asking a question. She glanced down, noticing her dress was out of order and quickly straightened it.

The buttons however . . . that was embarrassing.

"You know mom and Scott told us to look after you," Mason told her, sitting up on the couch now and eying her levelly. He did not like the thought of her alone at a park with some jackass and was trying to get a read on exactly how much Jesse had gotten away with.

"Yeah, well, I've been a legal adult for eight months now, so it's not like they really have a say in it," Avery argued, crossing her arms and shifting her weight.

"Except they do," Carter responded, quirking his dark brow at Avery. "You know exactly how they feel about as long as you live under this roof; you saw it with Mason two years ago."

Avery looked over at Mason, who nodded with his lips pursed to the side. After he'd graduated from high school, he'd decided to push the limits of arriving home late. Their parents had always been extremely strict, all to create stability after the chaos of divorces and blending a family, ensuring the three of them maintained good grades and even better behavior for fear of losing privileges. Mason had been threatened with summer restriction after staying out all night, which he'd ignored, arguing that he was an adult soon off to college. The second time he'd disappeared for a night, they'd told him that as long as he lived under this roof, he had to obey rules and he now had an earlier curfew for two weeks. When this went ignored, he'd learned the consequences. Mason had been gifted a fully paid two-week vacation to Mexico planned for August, and it was promptly stripped from him. And despite Mason being on his best behavior for the two months that followed—always arriving home early, never drinking or smoking pot, cleaning the house, etc.—when the time came, their parents had stuck to their word: he would not have their money for his trip.

And so poor Mason sat at home while his friends took off to Mexico late August before leaving for college.

"Okay, fair," Avery agreed reluctantly. "But they're in a different country, and it's not like you guys weren't out late too."

Carter shook his head. "It's not about being out late, Avery," he said, then rose from the chair. Pointing at Mason, he continued. "We didn't know where you were! We searched the party until finally finding out you took off with some douchebag, and now you're home an hour before sunrise. We've been worried about you! What the fuck were you doing?"

Avery finally felt embarrassed. Her time with Jesse was definitely not worth the interrogation, and it was perfectly fair that they'd been worried. "I don't know," she responded contritely.

"Of course you know," Mason argued, leaning back on the couch while rolling his eyes. "You didn't just forget the last few hours, I don't care how much you had to drink."

"We just made out, okay?" Avery cried, flinging her arms to the side. Carter swept at his espresso colored hair to get it out of his eyes in the way someone pulls at the roots out of frustration, and she hated how he looked at her as he walked her way. "It wasn't even a big deal."

"Just made out," Carter repeated, now only a few feet from Avery. He again took her in, noticing how defiant she looked. There had certainly been more to it than that, just by how disheveled she was. "For two hours, you just made out?"

Avery narrowed her eyes at Carter. He was a whole head taller than her 5'6, and she felt smaller with him looming beside her. "I mean, we fooled around a bit. Why the third degree?"

"Because we want to know what to say to him when we see him," Mason offered dully from the couch with a little smile.

"Oh, no," Avery groaned. "Please, just let it go. We are all out of here over summer, I won't even see him again."

Carter swept at Avery's hair, pulling a piece of grass from it and flicking it onto the ground. "How much did you fool around?" he asked calmly.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" Avery fired back, far less calm than Carter. He always had a coolness about him that felt infuriating at times, like now.

"Because we need to figure out your form of punishment," Carter responded easily, folding his arms over his chest.

"You can't be serious . . ." Avery breathed. The sheer audacity. "Just because Kelly and dad said to look after me doesn't mean you get to determine some form of punishment. Jesus Christ."

Carter dropped his hands and shrugged. "Okay, fine with me," he said. "We'll just tell them what happened and let them grill you on Sunday. Don't you have that big backpacking through Spain thing during spring break next year?" Avery's eyes widened in horror, Carter grinned back sympathetically. "Good luck with that."

Mason chuckled, though he felt bad. They were being a little harsh, but still! It had been terrifying searching for her, frustrating to hear she'd taken off with some guy and they had no idea when she'd get back. And as they'd waited, something had felt different. Jealousy perhaps? He didn't know. Either way, he was still fuming. And he was rarely one to fume.

"Wait," Avery cried, reaching out and grabbing Carter's bicep as he'd started to turn away. Straightening her shoulders and swallowing, she asked, "What's my punishment?"

Raising a brow and grinning a little more, Carter cocked his head to the side. "Two hours we couldn't find you," he began, rattling things off. "Drinking underage—"

"That's not fair," Avery interrupted, flinging her arm in Mason's direction. "He's been drinking, too."

"I just turned twenty-one, Avery!" Mason fired back. Unbelievable that she didn't get it.

"If they came home right now, you think they wouldn't be able to tell?" Carter asked, and Avery abruptly closed her mouth. "Making out at a park with that sleeze . . . well, fooled around." Reaching for the strap of her black and white sundress, he ran his fingers down the front until it met the top of the fabric. "I'd assume that means more than making out. Did his hands make it here?" he asked, then ran his finger across the bare skin above the squared neck of the dress over to the very obviously mismatched buttons across her chest.

Swallowing more heavily than before, Avery simply nodded. She was suddenly so confused, but moreover, she just wanted whatever punishment so she could go to bed. Eying Mason on the couch, he'd sat up again, perched on the edge staring at her.

"What else, Avery," Carter asked, bringing his hand up to lift her chin, bring her attention back to him.

Avery started feeling weak in the knees, and she moved her head from his hand. "I uh . . . I . . . well . . . I went down on him," she finally said, then brought her gaze to the ground. She could not believe she was saying this aloud to Carter and Mason; something she probably wouldn't have even told her best friends. "I swear to god, that was it. We didn't have sex. He wanted to and I didn't which is why I came home. That's everything."

"That's pretty fucking bad," Carter said, then looked over at Mason, frowning. "What do we do?"

"Well, she's definitely not going out again until mom and Scott are home," Mason said. "Grounded here at home."

Avery breathed a sigh of relief. A little over twenty-four hours, most of which she'd be asleep through. "Okay," she said simply, shoulders in a slump.

"We'll be babysitting you," Carter added.

"You're all ours until they're home," Mason continued. He'd said it earlier at one point while waiting for her—referring to Avery as 'ours' in the sense of looking after her—but it's meaning had oddly morphed, though he wasn't exactly sure into what. But as he'd been talking to Carter, this point had become stressed in their angst; that Avery was theirs, to protect and take care of. No one should be touching her that they didn't approve of, he was at least sure of that much.

"It's not quite enough," Carter decided. If their parents were gone another week, then it would make sense, but it was Friday night. Well, Saturday morning, really, and Sunday afternoon everyone would be home.

"What are you thinking? Laundry duty or something?" Mason asked Carter.

"Yeah, that works," Carter agreed. Avery was resigned, though again that was mostly because she just felt ready for bed. "Laundry duty, and we won't tell mom and Scott."

Suddenly a thought struck him, and his eyes lit up as he looked at Mason with a silent chuckle. "And a spanking," he said definitively, in a playful way, then laughed harder. It was just so ridiculous.

Avery's gaze bolted up at Carter with wide eyes. "What the fuck?" she cried, then gave Carter a shove. "I've never been spanked in my life!"

Making for her waist, Carter wrapped his arms around her and slung her over his shoulder, gripping the back of her thighs. "That's not true," he said as he carried her toward the couch, still chuckling. He was still furious, but this would at least lighten it up a little. Maybe not as much for her, but definitely for him. He hoped so anyways. "We've wrestled a million times and I know for a fact that both Mason and I have spanked you."

"That's different," Avery cried, wriggling against his grip. She was deposited onto the couch, and propped herself up on her elbows, staring up at Carter, who was laughing. "We were playing around! It wasn't a punishment."

"And we're playing around now," Carter said. "Want to wrestle too?"

Avery rolled her eyes, attempting to get up but finding the effort difficult with being tired and tipsy. "I don't want to wrestle," she groaned.

"So just the spanking, then," Mason offered with a sideways smile; his chin length chestnut hair more out of its ponytail than in it.

"Oh my god," Avery cried, exasperated. "You guys are drunk."

Carter nodded infinitesimally. "Yup, but not as much as we were, after waiting up for you," he said. Looking over at Mason, he asked, "How many?"

Avery collapsed onto the couch, giving up the fight as she closed her eyes. It was so absurd. Honestly, spankings, good lord. But she'd been carried exactly the same way she just was by Carter before when they'd play around, wrestling and fighting all in good fun. So be it, a "punishment" for their amusement. If it meant her trip next spring would be safe, fine.

Fucking stupid as it was.

"Five each?" she heard Mason ask. Rolling her eyes beneath her lids, Avery blew air out between loose lips. At least that was like . . . nothing. Hardly any at all.

"Sounds fair," Carter agreed.

Avery rolled off the couch, placing a hand on the floor to catch her fall and get to her feet, knowing how ridiculous she probably looked. Throwing her hands up in the air, she cried, "Alright! Ten it is! Do whatever ya gotta so I can go to bed!"

"Good girl!" Carter sang back in the same lighthearted, playful tone, then patted the arm of the couch. "Now bend over and we will get this over with."

Making a show of her protestations by stomping her feet, Avery walked to the end of the couch and stood, staring at the armrest. It was just so entirely stupid, but at least their attitude had changed. They'd been so angry when she walked in, so moving toward playful was far more welcome than the two remaining pissed off at her. Continuing with the over dramatization, Avery took a deep breath, bent over the arm until she could place her elbows on the couch, then wiggled her butt. "Like this?"

Carter inhaled sharply. Despite being angry initially, he had warmed up to the situation after talking about a spanking, turning it into an amusing game. But he had not expected this: the lean line of Avery's body bent over the couch, her ass raised, back in a low arch, hair tousled. It wasn't that he was unaware she was beautiful, she'd always been gorgeous, but he'd never seen her in this light.

On the other hand, Mason had risen from the couch and was standing beside Carter with his mouth slightly agape. He'd had a small crush on Avery when they'd first met back when he was fifteen, but that had gone away over the years. That wasn't to say, however, that he hadn't woken up from a dream about her in the middle of the night; something he'd damn himself for later. But it hadn't been easy for an adolescent boy to be around a stunning adolescent girl as she matured who wasn't related by blood.

"Like that," Mason responded hoarsely, suddenly hyperaware of how much this was not just playing around.

Carter walked around the back of the couch, never taking his eyes off of Avery. "Just like that," he agreed slowly, her dress hiking up in the back revealing the bulk of her thighs. When he noticed Mason had followed, they shared a look of surprise, and Carter quickly knew that Mason was noticing the same thing. Mason was slowly shaking his head back and forth in a 'what the fuck do we do' motion, and Carter—who had always been the bolder and stronger of the two—had no idea. But he knew it was up to him to take the lead, start it, as Mason would never step in first.

"Alright, Avery," Carter said, placing his palm flat on the small of her back, then let his hand drift over the curve of her ass. He lightly pinched the fabric of her skirt and turned to Mason. "Up or down?" he mouthed.

He didn't mean to answer as quickly as he did, but it exited nonetheless. "Up . . .?" Mason breathed.