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Iasked Henn for another glass of champagne and my nerves calmed a bit by the time we got to Reed’s house.
But as soon as he slipped into the limo, my night took an unexpected turn.
I’d seen Reed dressed up before, nothing unusual about that.
Like me, he’d chosen a classic black tux. Except, he wore a crisp white shirt with a dark green tie, and a matching pocket square. The slim fit suited him to perfection. His blond waves were tamed with product, and he was sporting a bit of scruff on his face that brought all the attention to those plump lips of his.
In short, he was sexy as fuck.
I never allowed myself to stare at Reed for too long, but right here and now, I couldn’t look anywhere else. He was so beautiful that I nearly swallowed my tongue along with the champagne.
And when Reed sat down across from me and caught my stare, something flashed in his gaze.
My heart jumpstarted.
It’s just pre-event nerves. It’s nothing.
His date slipped into the seat next to him. I nodded at Jules, but I didn’t offer my hand. I didn’t like Jules and I wasn’t about to pretend otherwise.
I wasn’t that good an actor.
Introductions were made all around and everyone began to chatter away.
Except me, of course. I was the odd one out, silent and brooding, all up in my head.
Thankfully, my musings were interrupted by Reed’s phone ringing.
“Hey, can I call you back?” Reed answered. “I’m just on my way to the event.”
He paused, then burst out laughing, and the familiar sound filled me with an intense kind of ache.
I rubbed my chest and reasoned it was heartburn.
“Hold on on a sec.” Reed held his phone up with one hand and motioned to me with his other. “Tate, Henn, lean in together.”
For once, I didn’t need to fake a smile. Looking at Reed, and him looking at me, it was one hundred percent genuine.
“My sister insists on a picture,” Reed explained, tapped his phone, and brought it back to his ear again. “I just sent it. Now do you believe me?... What?... Okay.”
Reed offered me his phone. “Rissa wants to say hi.”
I took it, clearing my throat, suddenly unsure what, if anything, I should say. I’d never met any of Reed’s family, even though he talked about them a lot. The times when they had visited him in LA, I was either off shooting, or in rehab. And I wasn’t sure that given the latter, they’d ever want to meet me.
“Hey, this is Tate Aduma.”
“Nice to talk to you, Tate. Reed’s told me all about you, but every time I’ve asked him to send a picture of the two of you, he says no. I started to think he was lying about being your friend.”
I barked out a laugh and everyone in the limo turned to stare.
Shit.
“That’s ‘cause he knows that I hate taking pictures. I mean, it’s part of our job, but other than that, I’m not one for photos.”
“Well, you take a great one. That smile is something else.”
Your brother is something else.
And goddamn it, what the fuck was with my head tonight?
