"Yeah," Avery replied sheepishly when she asked if he was cold. "I don't think I'm... contagious or anything, but I've been freezin' the past couple days." He took another sip from his glass, making sure to keep it small and careful. "Just lookin' outside makes you feel colder. I went out in it once, back when I first got here." It was an unprecedented amount of words for him, but he didn't want Jess to get bored and leave. He figured that was why most of his conversations with people were short: they found him uninteresting. It was possible that Avery wasn't spilling over with self-confidence. He'd never had any reason to.
He managed a smile when she started talking about how she preferred small towns over cities and said, "I'm like that too. My hometown's the smallest you could imagine. I lived in a bigger one for a while, didn't like it much." Obnoxious co-worker aside, Shreveport just hadn't been for him. And that was nothing compared to places like New Orleans, L.A., New York City, he felt sure. "D'you want some?" he asked belatedly as he realized he was drinking in front of her without offering her anything.